The HollyShorts Film Festival, an
annual short film festival showcasing the best and brightest short films from
around the globe, takes place August
10-12, 2007 in Hollywood. Opening night is Friday, August 10 and features the Hollywood premiere of Entourage star Adrian Grenier’s short
film Euthanasia, at Nacional, located
at 1645 Wilcox Ave.

Hosted by LATV’s VJ Viviana Vigil, the festival will feature an action-packed
showcase of 58 short films, along with a creative panel on Saturday, August 11
and a business panel on Sunday, August 12 at the Cinespace Digital Superclub in
Hollywood. The closing night party will be hosted by legendary hip hop emcee Biz
Markie. Festival day passes are $20. For all other information, click here.

A consensus slice of cinematic crap screens at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles on August 10. Released in 1990, Troll 2 has nothing to do with the
original Troll. In fact, there isn’t a single troll in it. Instead, a traveling
family is menaced in the town of Nilbog
by vegetarian goblins (!) that turn their victims into plants and devour them.
With endlessly quotable one-liners, terrible acting, plot non-sequiturs, homemade
special effects, and ’80s synth music, Troll 2 epitomizes the type of movie to
experience in shared darkness, in a theater with an enthusiastic (and possibly intoxicated) crowd.

Guests at this special midnight screening on will be actors Michael
Stephenson, George Hardy, Jason Steadman and Darren Ewing, as well as  the
film’s director/co-writer Claudio Fragasso, and co-writer Rossella Drudi,
coming all the way from Italy. All will be present to answer questions
about the production of the worst movie ever made, and lead actor Stephenson
will also be compiling footage from the event for his documentary on the film’s
cult following, Best Worst Movie. For directions and ticket information, click here.

Presented in association with Los Angeles Filmforum, the
Film and Television Department of the French Consulate, Los Angeles and the Los
Angeles Film Critics Association’s “Films That Got Away” program, the Los Angeles
premiere of Jacques Rivette’s legendary 1971 12-and-a-half-hour masterwork
Out 1 takes place this Saturday and Sunday, July 28 and 29, at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer
Museum in Westwood, via a new 16mm print with electronically projected English
subtitles.

Jean-Pierre Léaud and Bulle Ogier star in this shaggy-dog
tale, seemingly about two theater groups rehearsing Aeschylus, that takes off
into a complex mystery loosely adapted from Balzac (with a nod to Lewis
Carroll). Hailed by Jonathan Rosenbaum as the definitive film about 1960s
counterculture, Rivette said famously of his work, “The fiction swallows
everything up, and then self-destructs.”

The first Saturday screening will begin at 2:00
pm with an introduction by Variety’s
Robert Koehler, followed by the first two episodes. The one-hour dinner break
will begin at approx. 5:30 pm. Episode 4 will end at approximately 10 p.m. The Sunday schedule follows the same rough pattern. The Billy Wilder Theater is on the courtyard
level of the Hammer Museum,
which is located at 10899 Wilshire Boulevard,
at the intersection of Wilshire and Westwood Boulevards. For more information,
phone (310) 206-8013 or click here.

For those in the Los Angeles area, the gloriously zonked-out Wet Hot American Summer will screen at the Nuart Theatre this Friday, July 27 at midnight. A brilliant send-up of 1980s summer camp flicks like Meatballs, the movie charts an entire summer of pent-up sexual frustrations, unresolved
post-traumatic stress, pending separations and of course, talent shows, all of which weigh heavily on the minds and groins of counselors and campers alike. At once a parody, subversion and lovingly detailed, bear-hug embrace of the summer
camp genre, director David Wain’s movie — starring Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Zak Orth, Christopher Meloni and Amy Poehler — is an underappreciated gem of 2001, and definitely deserves to be seen… even if on the big screen, where one can’t appreciate the extra DVD audio track with more farts. For tickets and more information, click here.

I did quite mean to mention this earlier, but for those in Southern California, David Lynch’s Inland Empire is screening this weekend at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, with special in-person guests. The final screening is tomorrow night, Sunday, July 22, at 7:30 p.m., with a discussion following the film. For directions and ticket information, click here. Also, for reasons related to Phoebe Cates, it’s worth mentioning that Fast Times at Ridgemont High is also gracing the Aero, with a special 25th anniversary screening scheduled for Thursday, July 26, also at 7:30 p.m.

Dinner, cocktails and mingling are on order as indie filmmakers of Los Angeles screen their work under the stars in Hollywood tonight at Citizen Smith between 8:30 and 11 p.m., on Selma Boulevard just between Ivar and Cahuenga. Victoria Lane hosts, and tickets are $8. For more information, visit Citizen Smith’s eponymous web site, or phone (323) 461-5001.

Disney’s animated fare gets all the glossy DVD treatment and Academy laurels, but its estimable live action canon is the focus of a special screening series July 11-15 at the Aero Theatre.

Thursday, July 12, starting at 7:30 p.m., there’s a double feature of 1961’s wonderful, Oscar-nominated (for its lush, black-and-white cinematography) The Absent Minded Professor, starring Fred MacMurray, and the same year’s The Parent Trap, with Haley Mills preceding Lindsay Lohan. The following night, also kicking off at 7:30 p.m., is Escape From Witch Mountain, with Donald Pleasance, and 1977’s superb Freaky Friday, starring Barbara Harris and a young Jodie Foster. Other films screening during the series include 1960’s spry, delightful Swiss Family Robinson, 1950’s Treasure Island, the classic Mary Poppins and more. The Aero Theatre is located at 1328 Montana Avenue in Santa Monica; for 24-hour recorded information on tickets, directions and the venue’s upcoming schedule, phone (323) 466-FILM.

For those in Southern California, capping off a weekend of moviegoing
with a classic cinematic experience just got easier, with the Rialto Theatre‘s announcement of its slate of midnight summer screenings. One of the last remaining single-screen movie palaces in the
Los Angeles area, the beautiful and
historic Rialto is located in the heart of South
Pasadena, and has been operated by Landmark Theatres since 1976. Built in 1925 and sporting a unique blend
of Spanish Baroque and Egyptian stylings, the Rialto was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It has been
featured in many films and commercials, most notably Robert Altman’s The Player.

Screening this Saturday, June 23, will be Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, a brilliant examination of the Vietnam War and the dehumanizing process that turns people into trained killers. Ticket prices are $8.75. For tickets by phone,
call (626) 444-FILM; for regular engagement showtimes and other
information, call (626) 388-2122, or simply click here.

Rialto Theatre is located in the heart of South
Pasadena. Built in 1925, and sporting a unique blend
of Spanish Baroque and Egyptian stylings, the Rialto
was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and has been
featured in many films and commercials, most notably Robert Altman’s The Player. Ticket prices for the midnight shows are $8.75. For more information, phone (626) 444-FILM, or click here.

For those in Southern California, capping off a weekend of moviegoing with a classic cinematic experience just got easier, with the Rialto Theatre‘s announcement of its slate of midnight summer screenings. One of the last remaining single-screen movie palaces in the
Los Angeles area, the beautiful and
historic Rialto is located in the heart of South
Pasadena, and has been operated by Landmark Theatres since 1976. Built in 1925 and sporting a unique blend
of Spanish Baroque and Egyptian stylings, the Rialto
was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It has been
featured in many films and commercials, most notably Robert Altman’s The Player
and, more recently, Scream 2.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window will screen on Saturday, June 2, The Rocky Horror Picture Show will screen the following week, on June 9, and Steven Spielberg’s Jaws will screen on June 16. Ticket prices are $8.75. For tickets by phone, call (626) 444-FILM; for regular engagement showtimes and other information, call (626) 388-2122, or simply click here.

Fox Searchlight is taking a double-barreled approach to the promotion of Day Watch, Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov’s follow-up to the edge-dancing, apocalyptic fantasy action thriller Night Watch — so much so that they’re holding a series of free screenings in more than a dozen cities across the country.

Rightly billed as a dazzling mix of state-of-the-art visual effects, nail-biting horror and rousing action sequences set in contemporary Moscow, Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor) revolves around the conflict and balance maintained
between the forces of light and darkness — the result of a medieval truce
between the opposing sides. To RSVP, click here, then click the “attend a free screening” box on the righthand side. New York’s screening is May 29 at the AMC West 34th Street 14, Los Angeles’ screening is May 31 at the ArcLight and San Diego’s screening is June 5 at the AMC La Jolla, but there are also screenings slated for Austin, Washington D.C., Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Sacramento, Houston, San Antonio and Tampa, among other cities.

For those on the left coast, following several sold-out
shows in December, the American Cinematheque
at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles presents a three-day, exclusive encore engagement of
Crispin Glover’s What Is It? later this
summer, June 22-24. Known for a variety of memorably quirky characters in everything from Back to the Future to Wild
at Heart, Glover’s first effort as a feature director tangentially assays the stigma of
disability, and is bound not to disappoint fans of his offbeat sensibilities
and eccentric taste.

What Is It? features
a cast largely comprised of actors with Down Syndrome, and Glover describes the
taboo-smashing work thusly: “Being the adventures of a young man whose
principal interests are snails, salt, a pipe and how to get home, as tormented
by an hubristic, racist inner psyche.” Preceding the film is an hour-long live
dramatic presentation of Glover’s “Big Slide Show,” which features illustration
and commentary from eight of Glover’s books. Glover will appear for an extended
Q&A session following all screenings, and each evening will end with a
signing of his books Rat Catching, Oak Mot, and What It Is, And How It Is Done. Special ticket prices for this
engagement only are $12 for Cinematheque members, $15 for students and seniors, and
$20 general admission. For more details visit Glover’s personal web site by
clicking here, phone (323) 466-FILM, or visit the Cinematheque’s eponymous
Web site by clicking here.

For those in or around Washington, D.C. and looking for something to do over Memorial Day weekend, the first annual GI Film Festival will unfold May 25 through 28, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Honoring America’s armed forces through the medium of film, the festival will consist of 22 screenings, two panel discussions and three VIP cocktail receptions; guests will include Gary Sinise, Texas Chainsaw Massacre‘s R. Lee Ermey, musician Pat Boone, comedian Jeff Ross, director John Dahl and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers. To purchase tickets and for more information, click here. Also, if you can’t make it but are interested in doing so, you can help send a veteran to the festival in your place.

For those on the left coast, PEN USA is honoring Kirk Douglas for his efforts in defending the freedom of expression by hosting “Forbidden Fruit,” a brunch/raffle on Sunday, May 20 that will feature readings from banned works of literature. The event will take place at the Skirball Cultural Center, with the raffle commencing at 11:30 a.m., brunch starting at noon, and readings beginning at 1 p.m. Those participating in the latter portion include Lou Diamond Phillips, Samantha Mathis, Evan Handler, Radha Mitchell, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Richard Schiff, Gary Dourdan, Catherine Dent and Robert Wuhl. Attire is casual and complimentary parking is provided, but it’s not free, alas. For ticket information and other details, contact Sara at (310) 862-1555, ext. 365, and tell them Shared Darkness sent you.

For those on the left coast, Ian Gurvitz’s LA Blues will kick off the small-ish, fourth annual Pacific Palisades Film Festival, which will also honor Dick Van Patten with its Friends of Film Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor previously bestowed upon Dom DeLuise. Running May 17 through 19, the festival also includes Cherry Arnold’s Buddy, a documentary, narrated by James Woods, about former Providence mayor Buddy Cianci. Sounds somewhat interesting, that one. For a full festival line-up, recaps of previous years and more information, visit the Pacific Palisades Film Festival’s web site by clicking here.

As previously mentioned, those in the Los Angeles area are in for a treat with the long-awaited, 30th anniversary theatrical presentation of Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep, which bows in preserved form in a new 35mm print at the Nuart Theatre this Friday, April 6, and runs for a week.

Things get even better, though. Actors Henry Sander and Charles Bracy will appear along with UCLA Film and Television Archive preservationist Ross Lipman for Q&As following Friday’s screenings. Tickets are $9.50, and are available at the theater box office, and through Moviefone. For information, phone (310) 281-8223. For more information on the film, click here.

For those in the Los Angeles area, actor Dennis Hopper and director Curtis Harrington will
appear for an in-person discussion of 1961’s Night Tide, an indie tone poem to the dark world of the
fly-by-night carnival, lonely midways at dawn and the siren call of eons-old
passion spawned by the devils of the deep blue sea. The film screens on Friday, March 30 at 7:30
p.m. as part of the two-night “Beats in the Movies” series. For screening and ticket information, phone (323) 466-FILM, or visit the Cinematheque’s eponymous Web site by clicking here.

For those in the Los Angeles area and predisposed to seek out dark independent film delights, Kill House will enjoy its theatrical premiere at the Egyptian Theatre’s American Cinematheque on Wednesday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. A modern day tale of bloodlust, rivalry and greed starring
Susan Artigas, Iris Berry and Drew Droege (TV’s Reno
911), the movie is a
bloody black comedy with a satirical twist.

The story centers around a brutally murdered San
Francisco realtor. News of the death throws the local real estate community into a tailspin, and fear
and panic spread further as more and more agents start turning up dead. Who’s behind these
crazed serial killings? The prime suspect is an ex-con hired by one of the
property owners. But after he’s caught, the killings don’t stop — in fact, they only get
worse. Written and directed by Beth Dewey, Kill House harkens back to campy “slasher” films
of the 1970s, while also fixing horror
movies and consumerism within its satirical sights. For screening information, phone (323) 466-FILM, or visit the Cinematheque’s eponymous Web site by clicking here. For more information on Kill House, click here to visit their Web site.

For those in the Los Angeles area, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s Oscar-winning The Apartment will open the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s new Billy Wilder Theater on Friday, February 9 at 7:30 p.m. Appearing in person for a post-screening chat will be Shirley MacLaine, Audrey L. Wilder and Curtis Hanson. Some Like It Hot, meanwhile, will screen the following evening. For the full calendar of upcoming events, click here.

For those in the Los Angeles area, director David Lynch will appear live via webcam at a special screening of Inland Empire to be held Thursday, January 25, at 7:20 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. Lynch will introduce the movie and host a brief Q&A with the audience before the screening. Tickets are $9.25 for general admission, and only $7.50 for AFI members. For directions and more information, click here.