SPECIAL TO FIVE-O

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre - that's where the Hollywood red carpet premiere was born in 1922. But this time the special engagement wasn't for an evening. It was for life, as American Cinematheque programmer Dennis Bartok married producer Susan Gold in a creative, unconventional ceremony that captured the couple's unique, heart-felt chemistry.

He's the laid-back mastermind whose know-how gives Los Angeles a cinematheque to rival Paris, Barcelona and Moscow. She's the ray of golden light whose professional talent as a producer is matched only by her prowess in Iron Man triathlons and yoga performed at 105 degrees.

Relations imported from the mighty Midwest made an attractive mix with the bride and groom's down-home L.A. loyalists. Here's the full account by social reporter Lisette Diamond-Nimitz:

SUSAN GOLD AND DENNIS BARTOK
MARRIED SEPTEMBER 15TH 2002
EGYPTIAN THEATRE
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA
"to love and be loved forever"

The Gold-Bartok wedding was a smashing Hollywood event! Who would guess the chance meeting of these two would lead to marriage when Dennis and his friend PJ crashed Susan's birthday party at Bar Marmont on West Hollywood's Sunset Strip? As Dennis entered the restaurant a glimmer of light caught his eye. There was Susan wearing a princess tiara. But Dennis, a self-described old movie nerd, did not impress Susan, who thought he was a Hollywood hipster and definitely not her type. Not her type, that is, until she got him to give an interview for AMC, the cable channel where she worked. Then the tide changed.

On her wedding day Susan looked every bit the Botticelli goddess with her golden curls. She wore a graceful long silk lehnga and top with gold embroidery and over-the-shoulder train. Her wedding dress was the creation of her friend, designer Denise Wingate. Susan also carried a bouquet of white hydrangeas.

Eddie Muller, San Francisco author and leading authority on Film Noir, conducted the ceremony. Erin Berkowitz sang "Fields of Gold" a cappella. The matchmaker Melissa Smith read a poem and caught the bouquet. Concert violinist Brooke Wharton played Ravel's "Pavanne for a Dead Princess." During the ceremony Susan remembered: Terri Parris her college friend; her grandparents Fredrick Arthur Grosse and Nancy Dootile Grosse; Alexander Joseph and Ida Nemeth Berkes; and her dog Robey. Dennis remembered his mother Leann Bartok and his grandparents Margaret and Joseph Bartok. He gave a special thanks to Budd and Mary Boetticher and Joe Massot. The wedding vows, spoken with warmth and passion, were written by the bride and groom for each other. Eddie Muller, having received his marrying credential over the Internet, pronounced the couple husband and wife.

The reception held in the courtyard of the Egyptian Theatre included a stand-up lunch. The beautiful decorations of hydrangeas and pomegranates were well matched by the colorful slip dresses worn by many of the ladies present. Also attending were a few dogs and babies keeping the celebration lively. It must not be forgotten that Thai Elvis made a surprise appearance, singing three selections from the film "Blue Hawaii." And following the reception a special screening of Richard Fleischer's uplifting family film "The Happy Time" (1952) was presented.

Many notable guests were present, including: the families of Susan and Dennis, Mary Boetticher, actress Marsha Hunt ("The Happy Time"), noir celebrity Ann Savage, world record swimmer Bob Strand, world class duathlete Gerard Degan, and the new "Terminator" girl, Kristanna Loken. Also present were: Max Rosenberg, producer of "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors," distributor Harry Novak ("Mantis in Lace"), actors Frederic Forrest ("Apocalypse Now") and Nicky Katt ("Boston Public"), cinematographer Patrick Steward, and film critic Leonard Maltin. A distinguished list of directors was in force at this wedding, including Richard Fleisher, Werner Herzog, Curtis Harrington, Monte Hellman, Joe Dante, Adam Rifkin and Val Guest.

Susan is a triathlete and producer. Dennis is a screenplay writer and runs programming for the American Cinematheque.

Farewell To Andre

We're deeply saddened by the recent death of director Andre de Toth, a longtime friend of the American Cinematheque and a member of the Board of Trustees, who passed away at his home in Burbank on Sunday, October 27th - just a few blocks from Warner Bros. Studios, where Andre made some of his best known films, including HOUSE OF WAX, SPRINGFIELD RIFLE and CRIMEWAVE (and where Andre's wife Ann worked for many years as Executive Assistant to former Warner Bros.' CEO Robert Daley.)

In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king, goes the old saying - and Andre was a very special kind of royalty, a Hungarian genius of the old school who cut his cinematic eye-teeth with the Kordas in the late 1930s and early 1940s working on THE JUNGLE BOOK and THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, before immigrating to the U.S., where he kick-started his career by directing one of the first (and most prescient) movies about the menace of Nazism, NONE SHALL ESCAPE in 1944. To the end of his life Andre was immensely proud of the fact that he had sounded the alarm bells about the Nazi death camps before almost anyone else in Hollywood.

In an industry known as much for compromise as for achievement, Andre was one of the rare few who really stuck to his guns - he continually made films about dark, disturbing subjects such as adultery (PITFALL), drug addiction (MONKEY ON MY BACK), spiritual and physical violence (DAY OF THE OUTLAW), the sheer insanity of war (PLAY DIRTY), without ever talking down to his audience, or attempting to sugarcoat the painful reality of the subject at hand.

In person and on film, Andre was direct, honest, and to the point - his one good eye acted as a powerful and inescapable lens, focusing on the raw, emotional truth of the story. Put The Drama In Front Of The Camera was a favorite saying of Andre's, one he firmly believed in.

Andre also had a wicked and mischievous sense of humor - he pulled me aside once, just before the beginning of a post-screening discussion of one his films, and whispered in my ear, "Remember, whatever I say, I'm your friend." It was that sense of humor, coupled with a natural camera-eye and his pared-to-the-bone instincts, that earned him the admiration of directors like Martin Scorsese, Bertrand Tavernier and Curtis Hanson, film scholars like Todd McCarthy and Anthony Slide (who co-authored Andre's wonderful book "De Toth On De Toth"), and film programmers like Andre's dear friend Thierry Fremaux of the Institut Lumiere in Lyons, France.

For those who love movies, Andre was the real thing, a director's director, the last of a rare breed of Old World craftsmen and artists.

To the end of his life, Andre enjoyed nothing better than having a cup of coffee at his favorite café, Priscilla's, in Burbank; he insisted on sitting outside, where he could enjoy the fresh air, hear other people talking, dreaming, arguing about the movies. I think it reminded him of his days growing up in Hungary, the cafes and coffee-shops in Budapest before the war.

— Dennis Bartok, American Cinematheque

IN PRAISE OF
"Over The Edge" (1979)

Perfect case in point. This is a screening that demonstrates exactly why good Cinematheque programming is the antidote for over-produced mediocrity. Why bother with what you're supposed to be lining up for when you could have cult films, films with their own unique legend - and check out the incredible web of associations on this bad boy. The warning came to me in the form of an email from Cisco, the Laurel Canyon Kid:

"Subject: Yes, it is that thing, that wonderful thing.

"Flash! Alyse, Felicia, and Cisco will all be attending 'Over the Edge' at 4 pm -- one of the finest films of the '70s, and one of the best teenager movies of all time — and one of the best soundtracks of all time. Featuring lanky junior high school stoners who look like real lanky junior high school stoners. Excellent cinematography. Great Cheap Trick/Van Halen soundtrack. Corrupt parents, adults, and community leaders (including "Officer Doberman"). Weed ("420") aplenty. And a junior high school burning to the ground like Post Toasties.

"Four stars. Or... "420" stars.

"See you Sunday, Imperator. -Cisco"

To concur with Cisco, "Over the Edge" is up there with "Payday" and "Rolling Thunder" - one of the best movies of the '70s and the feature debut for 13 year-old Matt Dillon as babyface outlaw Ritchie White.

So who better than Matt Dillon (this was his tribute series) to appear in person at the Egyptian with his friend Tim Hunter, writer of "Over the Edge" and later Dillon's director in "Tex" and "The Fort of Saint Washington." Where else can you get an in-person as righteous as that?

Actually, we know the answer: it's Cinematheque again, awarded the silver medal for last year's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" screening with Jennifer Jason Leigh and VIP novelist Hubert Selby, Jr. in person ("Last Exit to Brooklyn" screened after the Q&A). And of course Cinematheque gets the bronze too. Let's just pick one: OK, Gloria Stuart, 92 sparkling years young, in person with two of her best, "The Invisible Man" (1933) and "The Old Dark House" (1932).

So what's with this "Over the Edge" movie, exactly? Basically, it's a cousin of the juvenile delinquent exploitation film. The only difference is it's artistically ingenious.

The picture is directed by '70s ace Jonathan Kaplan. Don't be surprised if he knows what a good performance is all about — he's the nephew of Van Heflin, top-flight star of Noir Fest hits "The Prowler" (1950) and "Act of Violence" (1948). Van Heflin is like Edmond O'Brien, the top of the game in screen acting. You also saw him in Woody Allen's all-time #1 picture, "Shane" (1953).

The director's father, blacklisted composer Sol Kaplan, is well known for "Star Trek" themes he did in the '60s, as well as composing great scores for Noir Fest faves "The Burglar" (1958) with Dan Duryea and Jayne Mansfield, AND Joe Newman's immortal noir classic starring Edmond O'Brien, "711 Ocean Drive" (1950). Fans of Marilyn Monroe's first runaway hit, "Niagara" (1953), will also recognize Kaplan's lush swells.

Sol Kaplan's first film score credit is for "Tales of Manhattan" (1942), an all-star musical affair with Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Edward G. Robinson, Paul Robeson and Ethel Waters.

At the other end of the rainbow you'll find "Over the Edge" - featuring a cast of unknowns drawn from Colorado reform schools. Sol Kaplan's last score is one of his best, and definitely one of the best ever to land in a "youth movie." That's because its modernist orchestral themes are interwoven as emotional counterpoint to the on-the-edge rock outbursts of Cheap Trick, Ramones, Kiss, AC/DC and Van Halen.

As a youth Jonathan did some stage acting and was directed by Elia Kazan - his sister and mother are both actors as well. Kaplan studied with Scorsese at NYU and got his start in features with a Roger Corman number called "Night Call Nurses" (1972). He then directed two popular hits on either side of the color line: Isaac Hayes as "Truck Turner" (1974) and Jan Michael Vincent in "White Line Fever" (1975).

Kaplan directed drag-race drama "Heart Like A Wheel" (1983) and is most highly regarded for "The Accused" (1980), starring Jody Foster, the most significant film about rape since "Something Wild" (1961), produced and starring Carroll Baker, and "Outrage" (1950), written by Malvin Wald and directed by Ida Lupino (sorry, "The Conqueror" is disqualified). And then there's genre-specific crowd-pleasers like "Bad Girls" and "Unlawful Entry," in keeping with Kaplan's diploma from Corman U.

By the way, scripter Tim Hunter's father was also a blacklist VIP, one who counted Ring Lardner Jr. as a co-writer. And in another parallel, it seems Ian McLellan Hunter wrote "The Amazing Mr. X" a.k.a. "The Spiritualist" (1948), which brought down the house a couple years ago at Noir Fest with Turhan Bey in person. As for Tim's mother, Aileen, she wrote "Christmas in Connecticut," starring Barbara Stanwyck. And "River's Edge," the film regarded as Tim Hunter's masterpiece, launched Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye and Crispin Glover in 1986.

In the mid-'70s Hunter penned "Over the Edge" with his student Charlie Haas. The script originated from a story they saw in the paper, reporting vandalism sprees by teens in the planned community of Foster City, south of San Francisco.

The movie was shot in Greeley, Colorado in 1976. But the results were too much for the distributor to cope with. The same damn thing that makes the film play - a naturalistic, teenage POV, equal parts vulnerability and volatility, culminating in a "Lord of the Flies" youth riot - made it undistributable. It's a picture that died a swift theatrical death, but was resurrected by cinema heads in New York City. It's been a known quantity ever since.

Matt Dillon and his two co-stars, everyman kid Michael Eric Kramer and junior cherry-bomb Pamela Ludwig, were each drawn from auditions of teen actors. But the rest of the cast was drafted from the schools, reform schools, and special schools of 1976 Colorado.

"I was used to New York," Dillon said, "but these Western kids, I don't know, man. They were wild." Matt recalled going to the casting call, and seeing some of the kids from "Bad News Bears" trying out. "I'll never get it," he thought, "these other kids are too big." OK, so they didn't use Jackie Earle Haley of "Bad News Bears," but its Juvenile Delinquent Verité proves to be the movie's major virtue, prefiguring "Bad Boys" (1983), "Kids" (1995) and "Gummo" (1999).

So you have the planned community and its radioactive desolation. You have the feathered hair. You have the white underclass trying to pass for middle class; the rec center with the kid-friendly liberal in charge. You have the frustrated local cop. You have the lanky, tow-headed stoner and his little brother the mute New Wave skate-punk. You have the runaways shooting pellet guns at police cars from the highway bridge. You have confused, scared, uptight suburban parents; headphone overtures courtesy of Cheap Trick ("Momma's alright, Daddy's alright, they're just a little weeeird"). You crash a blockbuster basement party featuring '70s delinquents in their natural, wastoid 8-track habitat. You got tripping in school during anti-vandalism public service movies; running away from home and living in a sleeping bag inside an abandoned half-built condo unit; getting beat up by teenage toughs; stealing a gun from an unlocked condo; using it to threaten kids who "rat on other kids".

Everything culminates in the Parent-Teacher meeting inside the school and I'll let you check out the rest for yourself. We call it good, old-fashioned catharsis with a beat you can dance to, and as Carl is carted off to youth detention, it even delivers a sound lesson about crime and punishment.

A big "Billy Jack" fist in the air to "Over the Edge" with Matt Dillon and Tim Hunter in person. Along with Tarantino-touchstone "Rolling Thunder" (1977), followed by director John Flynn and writer Heywood Gould in person, this was the Cinematheque-Seventies screening of the year.

I'm happy to report this picture was a big, stroppy, "adult entertainment" scenery-chewer in the tradition of "The Bad and the Beautiful," with George Peppard as a Howard Hughes-type dynamo cad. Harold Robbins wasn't so far off the mark, though he neglected to predict the Barcalounger and the injectable codeine. Still, it's trash with class, courtesy a good cast, righteous Elmer Bernstein score, and the arch momentum applied by director Edward Dmytryk (famed of Blacklist and Film Noir).

Jonas: What do you want to see on your honeymoon?

Monica (kissing him): Lots of beautiful ceilings.

Carroll Baker enjoyed seeing the picture again. She pointed out Dmytryk was generous in allowing characters to exist in long shots while the trend even then was to crash into the close-up as soon as possible.

But back to the Trash. Future "A-Team" commander George Peppard does a lot of sleazy pimping in this movie and it still goes over great. He betrays his mentor, played by Alan Ladd. He rips off his sexy step-mom's clothes and behaves like a sociopath, echoes of "The Conqueror."

Carroll laughs about such then-provocative moments, saying, "At the time there was so much deliberation doing anything racy - should I do it, should I not do it? I see those scenes now and I think, that's great! I'm glad I went for it."

It's all part of the Carroll Baker arc from whole cream-wholesome (19 years old on "What's My Line?" in 1950) to precocious method girl (Kazan's "Baby Doll" in 1956) to indie producer (she hired Aaron Copland to score her production of "Something Wild" in 1961) to sex symbol bio-pics ("Harlow" in 1965 with Leslie Nielson swapped in for Peppard as horny megalomaniac) to the Bob Hope Vietnam Christmas Show in 1966, to the eye-popping denouement: Carroll Baker's designer Italian soft-core phase, in the late '60s, but of course.

"Paranoid" (1969) played recently - they were definitely onto something, the Romans, with their flashy genre trash and their weird Euro-rock, trippy cutting and tasteful insistence on Carroll doing scenes in see-through macrame. And naturally, I respect any American who flees to Rome for their sanity. She's been back in L.A. working for 20 years, but those '60s films? Psychotronic gold - they don't fake the funk at Cinematheque.

And the best part is, "Carpetbaggers" came in just under the wire, because in 1966 one melodrama movie cad and his wheeling-dealing and womanizing would go too far, way too far - so far that the whiz-bang adult drama crashed through the looking glass into accidental comedy. It was a monumental stinker called "The Oscar," with Stephen Boyd (Masala in "Ben Hur") in pole position alongside the new-fangled "Mad, Mad World" craze of a hundred star cameos, plus Tony Bennett as "Hymie Kelly." Carroll Baker wasn't in it - Eleanor Parker and Jill St. John have the distinction. But would anyone object if I pitch a double feature of "Carpetbaggers" and "Oscar" as the good cop, bad cop of the Great Man Melodrama?

Given her liberal convictions, at the very least we must discuss the urgency of reviving Carroll Baker's other Italian titles like "Orgasmo" (1968) or "L'Harem" (1968) or "Il Dolce corpo di Deborah" (1969) - The Sweet Body of Deborah - or at the very least, "Cosí dolce...cosí perversa" (1969) - So Sweet, So Perverse.

"Bon Cinema."

That's what it's all about. The phrase shot over the Atlantic and to our attention when my fellow film nerd Cisco inquired with the French experts by email about his latest resident obsession: the Cinema of Jean Gabin, best known as Pepe le Moko and star of Renoir's "Grand Illusion." The Gaullic cinephiles were psyched someone in L.A. was asking about the Spencer Tracy of France, the A-1 official bar-none Coolest Guy in the World. So in the close of their email correspondence, our man in Paris wished Cisco: "Bon Cinema." That's when it hit us. That's exactly what we're advocating. "Bon Cinema." Look for the Jean Gabin round-up next issue, formidable.

Meanwhile, early 2003 at the Egyptian has been quality all over the map. The Egyptian lit up in tribute to Ascended Master Sam Fuller with screenings of "Park Row" and "House of Bamboo." There was also the complimentary screening of "Play Dirty," starring Michael Caine, to honor Andre de Toth - plus Alan Arkin in person with comedy classic "The In-Laws."

Then there was the always-rousing Technicolor Fest, featuring the Omega Man himself, Charlton Heston in person to view the adventures of sexy Moses foiling sexy heathens Yul Brynner and Anne Baxter - Mr. DeMille's Masterpiece, the Greatest Film of the 1950s. Ten-Comm at the Egyptian with Heston - how much more "Hollywood" can you stand it?

Technicolor Fest also featured classic Sean Connery Bond, big screen Elvis, some vintage Peter Sellers, Brit super-duo Powell & Pressburger, Brit super-duo Alfred Hitchcock, swashbuckling by Tyrone Power, Brando's "One-Eyed Jacks" (a great Scope print) and crowd-pleaser "The African Queen."

It's all served up for you on a screen the size of a 18-wheeler for $9 ($6 for members). Not-for-profit cinema. Featuring the most deluxe commercial spectacles, blockbusters and flops of all time. Programmed for the delight and instruction of humanity. Uncanny.

Then there's all the event screenings with the hot titles for this year: "Chicago" with director Rob Marshall in person, "The Hours" with Nicole Kidman in person, ditto Diane Lane ("Unfaithful"), George Clooney ("Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"), and the Julianne Moore In Person Tribute.

You had Robert Evans in person with "The Godfather," "Chinatown," "Marathon Man." Robin Williams with "One Hour Photo," Ray Liotta with "Narc," the Christopher Walken In Person Tribute, ditto Nic Cage, adventure effects all-star Ray Harryhausen in person! Not too shabby.

It's always a good sign when the year begins with a big-ass Sergio Leone Festival. You can count on the Eastwood westerns, and maybe more important right now, the resurrection of Leone's first film, "Colossus of Rhodes," starring Rory Calhoun, shot in "SUPERTOTALSCOPE," a rare wonder of cool Italian genre know-how.

Don't forget the 4-Track Mag Fest showing off the lush sights and sounds of Preminger's "Porgy & Bess," Fosse's "Sweet Charity," climaxing in an evening of "Paint Your Wagon" as a prelude to John Wayne in Howard Hughes' "The Conqueror"! The Old Gods are angry! We must bring back 4-Track Mag!

There was some Steve McQueen action that dependably kicked major ass: "Magnificent Seven," "Papillon," "Bullitt," "Great Escape," "Getaway" - a schedule packed chock full of McQueen gold, especially the Don Siegel rarity "Hell Is for Heroes," co-starring James Coburn ad Bob Newhart in a combat ensemble that didn't sugar-coat your warfare for you.

October hosted the George Ratliff documentary "Hell House" (see this issue's interview), plus the Egyptian's 80th birthday was celebrated with the original grand opening title: "Robin Hood" (1922) with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

That was the night special guest Joseph Newman recounted how he attended the grand opening night 80 years prior, as a boy scout performing in the stage prologue. I love a guy who can tell you about his first day of work at MGM - in 1925!

You say you crave a bitchin' 70 millimeter festival? How about Peter O'Toole rarity "Lord Jim," along with "2001," "Patton" and "Hello Dolly"? Like Benny Hill used to say, "I like 'em big." And while we're in London, you already read about Val Guest & Yolande Donlan in the last Five-O. That tribute featured Val's great '50s and '60s British flicks across all genres: "Expresso Bongo," "Jigsaw," (both starring Yolande), and "The Day The Earth Caught Fire."

The Herzog Tribute? The best. Awesome, ultimate. Last issue we also covered Werner's misbehavior on the Amazon with Best Fiend Klaus Kinski. Riveting.

Summer approaching? That's the time to be ready for the Sci-Fi, Animé, Fantasy & Horror Festival - last year ranging from "Jaws" and "Carrie" to "The Car" and psychotronic Brit rediscovery "Blood on Satan's Claw" (and let's not forget Carroll Baker in "Paranoid").

The other summer ritual to prepare for is the trusty, tried and true Mods & Rockers Festival. Anglo-cinephiles, you have reached your Avalon of trash and treasure: "The Buttercup Chain," "The Italian Job," "Alfie," "The Magic Christian," "Wonderwall," "Tommy," "Darling," "The Ipcress File," "Billion Dollar Brain," "The Song Remains the Same." The sun never sets on the rocking mod movies of these guitar-happy redcoats!

For those who enjoyed Chris D.'s Tribute to Japanese Action Stars Raizo Ichikawa & Shintaro Katsu, he's the man, along with Dennis B. and David Schultz, directing operations on the yearly Japanese Outlaw Master festival, again for the benefit and instruction of all mankind. It's a bona fide education on Japanese Action Cinema from the '60s through today, courtesy of Seijun Suzuki, Kinji Fukasaku, Takashi Miike and Kon Ichikawa, with titles including "Black Rose Mansion," "Pistol Opera," "Female Convict Scorpion - Jailhouse 41" and "Black Tight Killers."

June 2002 also hosted The Haunted World of Mario Bava, featuring his son Lamberto and producer Alfredo Leone in person, and a screening of his lost last film "Kidnapped." For me the moment of truth was Bava's debut feature and formal masterpiece, "Black Sunday," with Barbara Steele in person! Don't forget genre uber-movie "Twitch of the Death Nerve," which single-handedly coined the Slasher Genre and pre-emptively spoofed itself. You had to dig "Lisa and the Devil" with Elke Somers in person, bearing tales of sinister co-star Telly Savalas. Then there was "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" with mighty John Saxon in person to testify to the magic of Rome in the '60s. Audience favorites included "Planet of the Vampires" and "Hercules in the Haunted World" - Bava-vision: to this we say, Bravo, Encore!

In May, Dennis saluted the late Bud Boetticher with excellent prints of his famed Randolph Scott Westerns: "7 Men from Now," "The Tall T," and "Ride Lonesome" (James Coburn's debut feature). "The Bullfighter and the Lady," with Robert Stack in person, was Bud's most personal effort: a big disappointment, we learned, because of a painful recut by Boetticher mentor John Ford. Ouch!

If this wasn't enough, the Bava and Boetticher were preceded for the awe-inspiring Powell & Pressburger Festival: "Black Narcissus," "The Red Shoes," "Peeping Tom" - Good God, what bon cinema they have here on Hollywood Boulevard.

Like Gloria Stuart in April, as mentioned, hosting two Universal horror classics: "Invisible Man" and "The Old Dark House." That's only a few nights after a run of John Woo in person and the crime film ritual called Film Noir Fest #4.

Last February puts us back near where we started: Technicolor Dreams Fest, with sumptuous titles like "Forever Amber" and "Blood and Sand." War movie fans got to ride "Blackhawk Down" with Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer in person. There was the Patrick MacNee 80th Birthday screenings (chilling with the original John Steed!), and in January of 2002, "Mothman Prophecies" with director Mark Pellington, and before that, the Kubrick Retrospective with producer James B. Harris and actor Malcolm McDowell. 2002 began with Sean Penn in person with "Carlito's Way," "The Pledge," "At Close Range," "Sweet and Lowdown," good stuff in the way of screen acting and hilarious and weird Q&As.

Mind you, there's also the Annual Festival of Recent Spanish Cinema, one of Cinematheque's landmark traditions, as well as new Irish Cinema and Icelandic Cinema, Slamdance contenders, new documentaries and shorts. It's a boggling list, so pick your specialties and make that espresso a double.

Film nerds, cinema scholars and wanderers of the boulevard, let us now give thanks for the Cinematheque. In the spirit of the great lost library of Alexandria, this is the place for telepathy, time travel and rare masterworks. Join the Cult of the Argon Ray. Drink the Film Nerd Kool-Aid. Join up with a Dual Membership. Screen the greatest hits and misses of all time. It's film school for under $10 a night.

— Nate Nichols