Check out Marquee's complete calendar of screenings and events.
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KILLER OF SHEEP (1978)
dir. Charles Burnett
February 5, 1:30 PM
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Skirball Cultural Center (MAP)
There is nothing like Charles Burnett’s independent film, which was all but lost for 30 years. Superficially, it looks like the photography of Robert Frank, feels like the minimalism of Robert Bresson, and sounds like the pop-soundtracked movies of Martin Scorsese. But Killer of Sheep, shot in the early ‘70s and never commercially distributed until 2007, is wholly unique.
Shot in and around Watts, Burnett's inner-city L.A. movie is different from the 1990s film wave that portrayed life in South Central Los Angeles. The loose drama — more a collection of vignettes than a plot-driven narrative — follows a collection of characters oriented around slaughterhouse worker Stan and his family. They work and play and try to make it from one day to the next.
Burnett doesn’t moralize or demand any specific emotional response. He observes, and unerringly guides non-professional actors into scenarios with an almost documentary realism. A young girl sings along to Earth, Wind & Fire while her mother wearily prepares for a date night that will never happen. Two toughs stealing a TV growl at a neighbor, “I’ll kick your heart out!” Stan cleans blood off floors and arranges a row of hanging hooks and tries to affirm his dignity. “I ain’t poor!” he declares. “That ain’t me, and damn sure won’t be.”
Format N/A | INFO | Free
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HORROR NOIRE (2018)
dir. Xavier Burgin
February 1 ,7:30 PM
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Egyptian Theatre (MAP)
This documentary scans back through a century of black characters and stories that have been treated as exploitable afterthoughts, and unearths the roots of black horror in mainstream movies. Horror Noire investigates the full span of cinema, from the silent era to Night of the Living Dead and modern efforts like Get Out. The Shudder-produced feature will be available on the horror streaming service soon, but this L.A. premiere is followed by a discussion with the director, producer Ashlee Blackwell, executive producer Tananarive Due, actors Rachel True, Tony Todd, Ken Foree, Keith David, and Blacula director William Crain, moderated by Lisa Bolekaja. (A free 35mm screening of Blacula plays after the film and panel.)
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AND MORE
POISON IVY (1992) / STREETS (1990) / STRIPPED TO KILL (1987)
dir. Katt Shea
January 29, 7:30 PM - New Beverly Cinema (MAP)
Katt Shea honed her considerable skills making movies with Roger Corman, but working in exploitation kept her on the margins until she arrived at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992 with Poison Ivy. The Drew Barrymore-as-manipulative Lolita thriller — which like many of Shea’s films is more quietly effective than the lurid concept suggests — became a kind of whisper success on cable and VHS, the furtive flipside to '90s teen movie smashes like Clueless. This triple feature traces Shea’s career backwards from that breakout success to her directorial debut, Stripped to Kill. (Note: Online tickets are sold out, but the theater will have an allocation available at the door.)
THE IRON GIANT (1999)
dir. Brad Bird
February 1, 7:30 PM - Aero Theatre (MAP)
Brad Bird’s loose adaptation of Ted Hughes’s novel The Iron Man barely made a ripple in original release 20 years ago, but this “boy and his dog” story — where the dog is a giant weaponized robot from the deep reaches of space — has become a new animated classic. Bird will be in attendance for a discussion following the film.
TALES FROM THE HOOD (1995) / TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT (1995)
dir. Rusty Cundieff / Ernest Dickerson
February 2, 7:30 PM - Egyptian Theatre (MAP)
The Egyptian has some great programming to complement Horror Noire. Ernest Dickerson’s feature-length Tales From the Crypt has one of Billy Zane’s most entertaining performances. Tales From the Hood is simply a blast from beginning to end — a set of four bleak and bloody short stories wrapped up in one of the few satisfying horror anthology framing devices.
WILD AT HEART (1990)
dir. David Lynch
February 2, 11:59 PM - Vista Theatre (MAP)
David Lynch calls his pop-noir riff “a picture about finding love in hell.” As Sailor and Lula, who are all but consumed by their passionate fervor, Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern are the ideal vessels for Lynch’s bleak romantic optimism. This movie is a battering whirlwind of American cultural landmarks — Elvis, The Wizard of Oz, Southern gothic, heavy metal — but Sailor and Lula lean on one another to weather the maelstrom.
FATSO (1980)
dir. Anne Bancroft
February 3, 7:00 PM - Billy Wilder Theater (MAP)
Anne Bancroft’s lone directorial effort is an unusual romantic comedy with no interest in playing by studio rules. Dom DeLuise, in a rare dramatic leading role, plays Dom, a nice guy who equates eating with affection and happiness. A cousin’s obesity-related death pushes Dom to change his habits, but following through proves difficult — until he falls in love. Sweet and tender, this small film never found its niche.
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