One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – 4/25/19 Film Events April 25, 2019April 12, 2020 Screening Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 7:30 PM One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was released in 1975 to critical and popular acclaim. It garnered the top five Academy Awards®: Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress. Only two other films have accomplished that: It Happened One Night (1934) and Silence of the Lambs (1991). The story of a "free spirit" clashing with a "control freak" is a classic sixties theme of man against the system. Ken Kesey, author of the 1962 best-selling novel, became the godfather of the hippie movement after he and his Merry Pranksters were profiled in Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test. That non-fiction book chronicles a group of hippies as they follow The Grateful Dead around, spiking Kool-Aid with LSD and serving it to concert-goers. Kesey wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest while working at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Menlo Park, California. "Yes, McMurphy is fictional," Kesey said, speaking of the novels protoganist, "inspired by the tragic longing of the real men I worked with on the ward, the sketches of whom, both visual and verbal, came more easily to my hand than anything before or since, and those sketches gradually enclosed for me the outline of the hero they wanted. And yes, I did write the book both on the ward and on drugs, double checking my material so to speak." Director Milos Forman (Ragtime, Amadeus), said that he directed the film in a naturalistic style. "I was fascinated just to see real faces
The French Connection – 2/28/19 Film Events February 28, 2019April 12, 2020 Winner of Five Academy Awards® including Best Picture Screening Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 7:30 PM Arguably the greatest American crime film ever made, The French Connection stars Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider as two NYPD detectives doggedly pursuing the ringleader of a global heroin smuggling syndicate (Fernando Rey). Based on actual characters and loosely mimicking real events, the film rebuffs political correctness to portray a grungy, streetwise view of the mean streets of 1970s New York City. Distinguished as the first R-rated film to win the Oscar® for Best Picture, it also took home trophies for director (William Friedkin), best actor (Hackman), adapted screenplay (Ernest Tidyman) and editing (Gerald B. Greenberg). In addition to the Oscar® haul, the film is famous for the most relentless and brain-jangling car chase in cinema history. Also featuring Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, who were the real-life inspiration for the Hackman and Scheider characters, as well as Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi and Bill Hickman, who also doubled as the film's fearless stunt driver. Introduction by Richard Crudo, ASC Richard Crudo, ASC is a six-term past president of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). He has worked as a cinematographer on more than thirty features, including American Pie and American Buffalo. He'll share insights into Owen Roizman, ASC's knockout cinematography for The French Connection, which has just been voted No. 10 on the ASC's list of 100 Milestone Films in Cinematography of the 20th Century. 35mm print courtesy of the ConstellationCenter Collection at the Academy Film Archive. Gene Hackman Views Owen Roizman's Setup for The
The Greatest Cartoons Ever! – 12/26/18 Film Events December 26, 2018April 13, 2020 Spend Boxing Day at the Alex Theatre What better way is there to spend the day after Christmas than sitting in Glendale's historic Alex Theatre with friends and family, enjoying the 8th edition of The Greatest Cartoons Ever!. This year we'll feature a celebration of Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday. In addition, many of your favorite animation characters will appear on the big Alex screen, including Popeye and Olive Oyl, Porky Pig, Jerry of Tom & Jerry, and of course Bugs Bunny. Please join us at the Alex on December 26th for fun the entire family can enjoy — shows at 2:00 and 7:00 PM. Among the animation classics to be screened this year: PLANE CRAZY (1928, Walt Disney, Ub Iwerks) Mickey Mouse's first cartoon – Here he tries to imitate ace pilot "Lucky Lindy" and takes Minnie Mouse on a dizzy airplane ride. THRU THE MIRROR (1936, David Hand) One of the best Mickey Mouse color spectaculars – here he dreams himself into an "Alice Through The Looking Glass" situation, dancing like Fred Astaire with caricatures of Greta Garbo and Charles Laughton as the King and Queen of Hearts. PROTEK THE WEAKEREST (1937, Dave Fleischer) Popeye is forced to take Olive's little pup for a walk and runs into Bluto with his vicious bulldog. Be sure to look for the 3-D backgrounds. TO SPRING (1936, Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, William Hanna) A rarely seen "Happy Harmonies" cartoon. The trolls who live underground prepare the Earth for the arrival of Spring. CRAZY MIXED UP PUP (1955, Tex Avery) Sam and his dog are given blood transfusions which get mixed-up,
The Brides of Dracula and Horror Trivia! Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 7:30 PM Film Events October 26, 2017April 7, 2020 Plus, The Ultimate Horror Trivia Challenge: Hollywood Scares! The 2017 Alex Film Society Halloween Event will feature a full length stage production of Hollywood Scares! …a classic, "all ghoul" send-up of the long running Hollywood Squares quiz show. Writer, actor and stand-up comedian Dana Gould will join forces with AFS to present an evening of challenging classic horror trivia and irreverent humor. No soft balls allowed …our questions will test all the arcane knowledge that horror fans have been hording in those Brains That Would Not Die! But wait …there’s more. As always, we'll present a classic animated short and feature film. This year we are saluting the vintage horror produced by Hammer Films. In the late 1950s, London based Hammer brought exciting new life to the horror film genre. Now all the old favorites could be re-imagined in bold colors and wider screen formats. In quick succession Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy all got new productions that proved box office gold for the English producers and their American distributors. Brides of Dracula (1960) was the first follow-up to Horror of Dracula (1958) in a series that would eventually include eight titles. Many fans consider Brides… to one of the greatest in the Hammer canon. The scenery is beautiful, the well-constructed plot has globs of gothic perversity, the ladies are as lovely as ever and Peter Cushing is at the top of his game. So join us and find out the real name of Baron Frankenstein’s demonic assistant. And, no… it was not Igor! Plus, Our Halloween Cartoon A WITCH'S TANGLED HARE (1959,
