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Los Angeles Times
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
A ‘Tombstone' tribute to Val Kilmer, plus the week's best movies in L.A.
Hello! I'm Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies. Opening this weekend and winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, 'Sorry, Baby' is the feature film debut for writer, director and actor Eva Victor. Personally, it's among my favorite films of the year for its complex mix of comedy and drama, offbeat whimsy and deep vulnerability. (I'd previously called it 'fresh, inventive and invigorating' and that still feels right to me.) The story tells some five years in the life of Agnes (Victor), a teacher at a small East Coast college attempting to move forward following a traumatic event. In her review for the paper, Katie Walsh called the film 'a movie that lingers,' attributing that to 'the profound and nuanced honesty Victor extracts from each moment.' I spoke to Victor about the process of making the film. The story is rooted in Victor's own experiences, so every stage, from writing to production to bringing it to audiences, has had its own nuances and contours. 'It's a very personal film for a lot of people and there's a sadness to that because it's a community of people who have experienced things that they shouldn't have had to,' says Victor. 'It's life-affirming for me to know that I wrote the film in a leap-of-faith way to be like: 'Is anyone else feeling like this?' And it's nice to know that there are people who are understanding what that is.' On Saturday, the Academy Museum will screen the world premiere of a 4K restoration of 1993's 'Tombstone' as a tribute to actor Val Kilmer. Directed by George P. Cosmatos, the film tells the legendary story of the shootout at the O.K. Corral, which has become one of the foundational myths of the American western. Kilmer stars as Doc Holliday, who comes to the aid of his friend, retired lawman Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell). The cast also includes Bill Paxton, Sam Elliott, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestley and Dana Delany. The role was a special one for Kilmer, who titled his memoir 'I'm Your Huckleberry' after a line in the movie. In his original review of the film, Peter Rainer declared the film the latest of the then-in-vogue 'designer Westerns' and highlighted Kilmer's turn, writing, 'Val Kilmer's Holliday is classic camp performance, although it may not have started out that way. His Southern drawl sounds like a languorous cross between early Brando and Mr. Blackwell. Stricken with tuberculosis, his eyes red-rimmed, Doc coughs delicately and matches Ringo line for line in Latin. He also shoots straighter than anyone else in the movie — his powers of recuperation make Rasputin seem like a pushover.' The film will also be playing on July 26 at Vidiots. Winner of three prizes at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, 'Familiar Touch' is the narrative feature debut of writer-director Sarah Friedland. The sensitive and compassionate story follows Ruth (Kathleen Chalfant), an 80-something retired cook, as she settles into an assisted-living facility while grappling with memory loss. Friedland and Chalfant will be at select showings throughout the weekend for Q&As. In his review of the movie, Robert Abele wrote, 'The mystery of Ruth's mindfulness — which ebbs and flows — is at the core of Chalfant's brilliant, award-worthy performance. Hers is a virtuosity that doesn't ask for pity or applause or even link arms with the stricken-but-defiant disease-playing headliners who have gone before her. Chalfant's Ruth is merely, momentously human: an older woman in need, but no less expressive of life's fullness because of it.' Esther Zuckerman spoke to Friedland about shooting the film at Pasadena's Villa Gardens retirement community in collaboration with staff and residents. The production held a five-week filmmaking workshop, involving the residents as background actors and production assistants. 'It came a lot from the anti-ageist ideas of the project,' Friedland says. 'If we're going to make this film the character study of an older woman that sees older adults as valuable and talented and capacious, let's engage their capaciousness and their creativity on all sides of production.' Tsui Hark's 'Shanghai Blues' in 4K Though he is best known to American audiences for his action movies, Hong Kong director Tsui Hark has been versatile in many other genres. Now getting a new 4K restoration from the original negative for its 40th anniversary is Tsui's 1984 screwball romantic comedy 'Shanghai Blues.' Opening in 1937 Shanghai, the story concerns an aspiring musician, Do-Re-Mi (Kenny Bee), and a woman, Shu-Shu (Sylvia Chang), who, after a chance encounter, vow to meet again in the same spot after the war. Leaping forward to peacetime a decade later, the two find themselves living in the same building without realizing it, as he becomes involved with her roommate (Sally Yeh). The film will be playing at the American Cinematheque at the Los Feliz 3 on Fri., Tues. and Sat., July 5. It will also play multiple Laemmle locations on Weds. And expect more on Hong Kong cinema later this summer when Beyond Fest launches a series of new restorations of such classics as 'Hard Boiled,' 'The Killer' and Hark's 1986 'Peking Opera Blues.' 'Much Ado About Nothing' On Monday, Vidiots will screen Kenneth Branagh's 1993 adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing.' About a bunch of incredibly good-looking people having a great time in the Italian countryside, the film stars Branagh, Emma Thompson, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Keaton, Robert Sean Leonard, Keanu Reeves and Denzel Washington. Branagh and Thompson were married in real life at the time, and in his original review of the film, Kenneth Turan wrote, 'Actors as well as athletes have a prime of life, a time when everything they touch seems a miracle. And the crowning pleasure of watching Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh in this rollicking version of 'Much Ado About Nothing' is the way it allows us to share in that state of special grace, to watch the English-speaking world's reigning acting couple perform at the top of their game. … Seeing them beautifully play off each other is an enormous pleasure for lovers of the romance of language as well as fanciers of romantic love.' 'The Spirit of '76' live commentary On Thursday, July 3, as part of the 7th House screening series at the Philosophical Research Society, there will be a screening of 1990's 'The Spirit of '76' featuring a live commentary by stars Jeff and Steven McDonald of the band Redd Kross. The film is something of a singular object: a loving satire of the 1970s made from the perspective of the burgeoning '90s, written and directed by Lucas Reiner, with a co-story credit to Roman Coppola, costumes designed by Sofia Coppola and a cast that includes David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Olivia d'Abo, Don Novello, Rob Reiner, Carl Reiner and Devo. From the extremely drab future of 2176, three adventurers are sent back in time to July 4, 1776 but mistakenly land in the year 1976. They meet two teenagers (the McDonald brothers) who help them navigate the present and find their way back to their own time. In his original review of the film, Kevin Thomas did not catch the vibes, as he wrote, 'Movies do not get more inane than 'The Spirit of '76' … You have to wonder how this film ever got made, let alone released.' Jerry Bruckheimer is still revved up Among the big releases this weekend is Joseph Kosinski's racing drama 'F1,' starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris. The film reunited Kosinski with screenwriter Ehren Kruger and producer Jerry Bruckheimer following their huge success with 'Top Gun: Maverick.' Josh Rottenberg spoke to the 81-year-old Bruckheimer about his legendary career working on movies such as 'Beverly Hills Cop,' 'Bad Boys,' 'Armageddon' and countless more, making sleek commercial pictures that have been defining the Hollywood blockbuster for decades. 'It's changed a lot,' Bruckheimer says of the movie business. 'Streaming hit a lot of places hard. They spent too much money and now they've got problems with that. Some of the studios aren't healthy. But the business, if you do it right, is healthy.' Bruckheimer is not one of the doomsayers foretelling the end of movies. 'I've been doing this over 50 years and that doom has been there every time a new technology shows up,' he says. 'And yet, look at what's happened. Look at 'Minecraft.' Look at 'Sinners.' Look at 'Lilo & Stitch.' If you do it right, people show up.'
Time Out
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
It may not have any art yet, but LACMA's new building offers plenty to look at inside
There's not a single piece of artwork to see on the concrete walls of LACMA's new building right now. And yet, this is undoubtedly the most exciting art destination in Los Angeles this weekend. Months ahead of the galleries' planned April 2026 debut, and before the institution begins installing artwork, LACMA has allowed the public to take a peek inside its new David Geffen Galleries—to the tune of a one-of-a-kind performance from local saxophone extraordinaire Kamasi Washington, no less. For the museum members and everyday Angelenos who were lucky enough to secure tickets, they'll find more than 100 musicians split between 10 performance areas, with each ensemble playing a different component of the six-part jazz suite Harmony of Difference; you might catch Washington soloing on sax toward the center of the building, but round a corner and you'll hear the buzz of a brass section or the echoing voices of a choir. But what about the building itself? The Peter Zumthor-designed replacement for LACMA's myriad mid-century buildings on its eastern campus consolidates collections into a single-floor, 110,000-square-foot amoeba-shaped space. It's also, since its unveiling in 2013 and start of construction in 2020, invited plenty of strong opinions about everything from its aesthetic to its footprint. So what's it like to actually step inside (still sans art, of course)? I was invited to the museum on Thursday for the first of three performances. About an hour before sunset, I filed past the familiar spider-like lines of Tony Smith's Smoke sculpture and hoofed it up the long staircase into the David Geffen Galleries (there are elevators, as well). I passed by what looked like a ground-floor restaurant space and a future bookshop but could only gawk from outside. Upstairs, though, I was free to roam across the entire floor—and roam I did. The building isn't broken up into traditional rooms; instead, there are roughly two dozen enclosed galleries toward the center of the structure, while the entirety of the exterior is lined with floor-to-ceiling windows. The views are absolutely dreamy and offer a fresh vantage point that makes it feel as though you're floating above one of L.A.'s most crowded cultural corridors. Each curve unveils a new, unexpected perspective: overlooking the lake at the La Brea Tar Pits, eye-level with the bubble-like theater of the Academy Museum and literally on top of the traffic on Wilshire Boulevard. Yes, the building spans the busy road (Jeff Koons's floral Split-Rocker sculpture will eventually anchor the outside of the southern side), and it's tough to articulate just how wild it is to shuffle along the museum floor and suddenly find yourself crossing over the iconic street. At every point, the architecture perfectly frames each vista, so—for better or worse—expect plenty of posing, particularly as the setting sun floods the west side with dramatic lighting. Despite all of those windows, it was easy to get a little bit turned around inside of the space—but I imagine that'll be much less of an issue once there's actually artwork installed. For now, it's a lot of unadorned concrete, so if you're not looking out a window, there are no other visual cues to place exactly where you are. Without paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations, the interior galleries feel raw and empty because they're, well, raw and empty right now—so I'll hold off any sort of proper judgment until after the installation process has wrapped up. (You can see how the galleries will look with art inside over on LACMA's site.) When Washington's performance wound down, it was dark out. As I descended the staircase out of the David Geffen Galleries, Urban Lights' rows of streetlamps glowed in the background. On my way in, I thought some angles of the building were more flattering than others; the profile of the tar pits side looks beautiful, but stand close enough to the western tip and it feels a little like a low-angle selfie. But as I was exiting and looked back up the staircase at night, it was as if the entire building was floating. It was oddly peaceful—and already difficult to imagine the museum and Wilshire Boulevard without it. Check out some more photos below. Kamasi Washington continues his performances on Friday and Saturday—tickets are unfortunately sold out—followed by a series of member previews of the building. The David Geffen Galleries open April 2026.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Academy Museum to Host Marilyn Monroe Exhibit Honoring the Late Icon on Her 100th Birthday
Never nominated for an Oscar, Marilyn Monroe is finally getting her due posthumously from the Academy. IndieWire can announce that the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will host a 2026 exhibition honoring the late actress. Aptly titled 'Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon,' the exhibition will run from May 31, 2026 to February 28, 2027. Monroe would have been 100 years old in 2026; she died at her Brentwood house at age 36 in 1962. 'Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon' will include hundreds of original objects, including posters, portraits, photographs, production documents, letters, and rarely seen personal materials, as well as costumes from Monroe's most iconic roles. Highlights include the rarely exhibited famous pink dress from 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' and two costumes from 'Some Like it Hot.' There are also items from Monroe's final and unfinished film, 'Something's Got to Give.' More from IndieWire 'Jimmy & Stiggs' vs. the Gore Wars - Eli Roth Backs Joe Begos and Neon Aliens as His Answer to 'Terrifier 3' 'Lilo & Stitch': How Director Dean Fleischer Camp Followed the Chris Sanders Animation Manual in Adapting His Misfit Alien The Academy deemed Monroe a 'visionary actor and image-maker' in the announcement of the exhibition. 'Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon' is curated by Associate Curator Sophia Serrano, with the support of Curatorial Assistant Simran Bhalla. Additional Academy Museum 2026 exhibitions include Studio Ghibli's 'Ponyo' about the making of Hayao Miyazaki's 2008 film, and 'Hidden Worlds: The Films of LAIKA' about the technology and artistry of stop motion animation from 'Coraline' to 'Kubo and the Two Strings.' LAIKA has a slew of productions in the works, ranging from an adaptation of 'Piranesi' to bringing Taylor Jenkins Reid's latest romance novel 'Atmosphere' about two female astronauts at NASA in the '70s and '80s to life with the live-action department. 'Dune' and 'A Minecraft Movie' screenwriter Jon Spaihts will also make his directorial debut at the studio with an original sci-fi thriller, which is additionally among one of the first live-action movies for the famed animation house. 'This incredible array of exhibitions demonstrates how the Academy Museum collaborates with filmmakers, studios, and collectors to bring to life the most compelling histories of cinema,' Amy Homma, Academy Museum Director and President, said. 'We all look forward to welcoming visitors of all ages to celebrate their favorite films and be introduced to new behind-the-scenes stories.' The 'Ponyo' exhibition runs from February 14, 2026 to January 10, 2027, with the 'Hidden Worlds: The Films of LAIKA' exhibition taking place from December 13, 2026 to September 9, 2027. Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Everything has an expiration date': Amy Poehler on her ‘inappropriate' ‘SNL' moments, including portraying Michael Jackson and Kim Jong-il
Amy Poehler's Good Hang comedy podcast is getting serious. In this week's episode (watch below), she caught up with Tina Fey and Will Forte, her former Saturday Night Live costars, and opened up about how certain aspects of comedy don't age well. Poehler was an SNL cast member between 2001 and 2008, and returned later to host the show in 2010 and 2015 (she won an Emmy for the latter appearance alongside Fey, her cohost). The funny ladies most recently appeared in February's SNL50 anniversary special, where they took questions from the star-studded audience members. More from GoldDerby Owen Wilson returning for 'Meet the Parents 4,' Academy Museum details 'Jaws' exhibit, and more of today's top stories Will '28 Years Later' take a bite out of 'Elio'? Will 'Dragon' continue to soar? Here's our box-office prediction 'Jaws' turns 50: Steven Spielberg's caught-on-camera Oscar snub still smarts - and shows need for Best Director reform "Getting older and being in comedy is [figuring out] that everything has an expiration date," Poehler said on the podcast. Addressing the anniversary special's comedic "In Memoriam" montage that alluded to problematic sketches, Poehler added, "They had that segment which was like, 'Here's all the ways we got things wrong,' and they showed way inappropriate casting for people." While the actress didn't specifically name any of her past controversial moments from Saturday Night Live, she did portray several non-white people on television, including Michael Jackson in a tree and on a roller-coaster, former North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, and Japanese singer-songwriter Yoko Ono. Plus, Poehler was involved in a sketch in which Ben Affleck yelled at a "mentally challenged guy," played by Fred Armisen. "We all played people that we should not have played," Poehler readily admitted. "I misappropriated, I appropriated ... I didn't know." While stopping short of specifically apologizing, she did go on to say, "It's very real, and the best thing you can do is make repairs, learn from your mistakes, do better. It's all you can do." The "In Memoriam" montage in question began with Tom Hanks proclaiming, "These SNL characters and sketches have aged horribly. But even though these characters, accents, and — let's just call them 'ethnic wigs' — were unquestionably in poor taste, you all laughed at them. So, if anyone should be canceled, shouldn't it be you, the audience? Something to think about." Good Hang With Amy Poehler is undoubtedly a frontrunner to receive a Golden Globe nomination in the brand new Best Podcast Award category next year. The goal of the honor is to celebrate excellence in podcasting by recognizing a contender's "quality, creativity, audience engagement, and impact." Each week, Poehler welcomes celebrities, fun people, and famous friends to her studio where they swap stories and talk what's been making them laugh. SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2 Adam Brody, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and the best of our Emmy Comedy Actor interviews Kristen Bell, Tina Fey, Bridget Everett, and the best of our Emmy Comedy Actress interviews Click here to read the full article.
UPI
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Famous birthdays for June 17: Will Forte, Odessa A'zion
1 of 4 | Will Forte attends the premiere of "The Studio" at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles on March 24. The actor turns 55 on June 17. File Photo by Greg Grudt/UPI | License Photo June 17 (UPI) -- Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include: -- John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1703 -- Musician Igor Stravinsky in 1882 -- Artist M.C. Escher in 1898 -- Writer John Hersey in 1914 -- Filmmaker Ken Loach in 1936 (age 89) File Photo by Rocco Spaziani/UPI -- Egyptian Nobel Peace Prize laureate/former Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei in 1942 (age 83) -- Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1943 (age 82) -- Musician Barry Manilow in 1943 (age 82) -- Musician George S. Clinton in 1947 (age 78) -- Comedian/actor Joe Piscopo in 1951 (age 74) Photo by Mark Peterson/UPI -- Actor Mark Linn-Baker in 1954 (age 71) -- Actor Jon Gries in 1957 (age 68) -- Musician Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) in 1958 (age 67) -- Filmmaker Bobby Farrelly in 1958 (age 67) -- Actor Thomas Haden Church in 1960 (age 65) -- Actor Greg Kinnear in 1963 (age 62) File Photo by David Silpa/UPI -- U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame speed skater Dan Jansen in 1965 (age 60) -- Actor Jason Patric in 1966 (age 59) -- Fashion designer Tory Burch in 1966 (age 59) -- Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye in 1968 (age 57) -- Musician Kevin Thornton (Color Me Badd) in 1969 (age 56) -- Actor Will Forte in 1970 (age 55) -- Musician Paulina Rubio in 1971 (age 54) -- Tennis star Venus Williams in 1980 (age 45) File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI -- Actor Jodie Whittaker in 1982 (age 43) -- Actor Arthur Darvill in 1982 (age 43) -- Actor Manish Dayal in 1983 (age 42) -- Musician Mickey Guyton in 1983 (age 42) -- Musician Kendrick Lamar in 1987 (age 38) -- Actor KJ Apa in 1997 (age 28) -- Actor Odessa A'zion in 2000 (age 25) File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
