One Nation Under Sex Saturday, April 30, 2011

According to One Nation Under Sex: How the Private Lives of Presidents, First Ladies and Their Lovers Changed the Course of American History by Larry Flynt and David Eisenbach, American politicians are and have always been a bunch of filthy perverts. The book, which both authors will discuss and sign tonight, exposes sex scandals going as far back as the founding of our country, from Thomas Jefferson's secret teenage love slave Sally Hemings, to Alexander Hamilton paying to have sex with another man's wife, to Abraham Lincoln's beard (literal and figurative), to Bill Clinton's cigar inside Monica Lewinsky. True to the Hustler publisher's style, chapter subheadings are prurient puns: "The Pink Scare" for the Hoover administration's Cold War days, "Came-a-lot" in the JFK era, and "Follow the Honey" under Clinton. The book's ultimate message, and Flynt's long-held philosophy: "We, the people, need to grow up and understand that our politicians are adults with intense sex drives. We need to be more like the Europeans, who just assume their leaders are promiscuous." Or perhaps more like the Philippines, whose notoriously philandering president Joseph Estrada once said: "Clinton and I both have sex scandals — he has the scandals and I just have the sex." Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., W. Hlywd.; Wed., May 4, 7 p.m.; free, book is $25. (310) 659-3110. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, April 29, 2011.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 1:15 AM, ,

Superhero Saturday Marathon Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Superheroes have come a long way, baby. From comic books and radio serials to cheesy TV and blockbuster movies, those costumed do-gooders have defended us from evil for nearly a century in a "never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way." Watch it all unfold at Cinefamily's Superhero Saturday Marathon, opening with Jerry Beck's "History of the Animated Superhero," a time-capsule rewind of cartoon heroes, from Max Fleischer's Superman to Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Director Phillipe Mora appears in person for a screening of his 1983 film The Return of Captain Invincible, a superhero musical-comedy starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee, with Rockie Horror-esque songs by Rockie Horror's own Richard O'Brien and Richard Hartley. Abar, The First Black Superman, follows ("5:30 p.m.-ish"), and dig this crazy plot: After moving his family into an affluent, and completely racist, L.A. neighborhood, a black scientist administers a mind-expanding super-serum to his bodyguard, transforming him into a white-ass-kicking master of mental manipulation. (Oh, 1977!) Director Frank Packard and Abar himself, actor Tobar Mayo, appear in person for a Q&A after the film. Guillermo del Toro's 1994 Hellboy tells the story of a reluctant demon recruited by a shadow agency to battle the worst of the worst of the underworld, and then it's time for "Mondo Superhero!," a collection of offbeat clips and a feature film TBA, co-presented by Everything Is Terrible. Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A.; Sat., April 30, 1 p.m., until past midnight; $10 per screening, $20 all-day pass. (323) 655-2510, cinefamily.org. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, April 29, 2011.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 11:14 PM, ,

The Big Book of Breasts 3D Sunday, April 24, 2011

Everybody loves boobs! Whether you're gay, straight, man, woman or child, nobody ever seems to get enough. TASCHEN's 2006 The Big Book of Breasts celebrated the bosom with vintage photos, from Candy Barr to Candye Kane to Candy Samples, and now the art-book publisher takes topless technology to its next logical level: The Big Book of Breasts 3D. Ninety images from the original skin tome, plus many more new pics, literally pop off the page, thanks to digital manipulation by FX masters Jon Schnitzer and the Brain Factory. Unlike the flat (so to speak) layers of traditional three-dimensional rendering, Breasts 3D adds naked-lady curves in all the right places, viewable via the red/blue anaglyph glasses included with the book. Come one, come all to the book signing with editor Dian Hanson, where you're sure to get an eyeful. TASCHEN Store, 354 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills; Thurs., April 28, 7 p.m.; free, book is $39.99. (310) 274-4300, taschen.com. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, April 22, 2011.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 1:33 AM, ,

Buster Keaton Weekend Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Flip the switch on that time machine and let's go back to the 1920s, when Calvin Coolidge was president, ice-cream cones cost a nickel, and a hapless man in a pork-pie hat could outrun an avalanche of boulders. That's what happened in Seven Chances, Buster Keaton's loser-must-marry-by-7-p.m.-to-get-his-inheritance comedy, one of six Keaton silents screening at the Aero's "Buster Keaton Weekend." Certifiable classics like The General, Go West and Sherlock Jr. are on Friday and Saturday's schedule, but it's Sunday you'll regret if you miss: The Navigator, with Keaton adrift at sea with the girl who spurned him, and Steamboat Bill Jr., a Mississippi riverboat ride gone awry, culminating in a cyclone and one of Keaton's most astonishing stunts. They don't make 'em like this anymore, kids. Without sound, I mean. Aero Theater, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., April 22-23, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., April 24, 5 p.m.; $11, $9 seniors & students. (310) 260-1528. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, April 22, 2011.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 12:46 AM, ,

The Hollywood Sign Sunday, April 17, 2011

You can't think about Hollywood without thinking of the Hollywood Sign, those iconic hillside letters overlooking L.A. like a sentinel of cinema, and film historian Leo Braudy explores the reasons why in his new book The Hollywood Sign: Fantasy and Reality of an American Icon (Yale University Press). The sign's past is as checkered as any paparazzi-worthy celebrity: After its construction as a promotion for a never-completed real estate development called Hollywoodland in 1923, the sign eventually started falling apart, right before the very eyes of the city's residents below. In 1932, 24-year-old actress Peg Entwistle threw herself to her death from atop the letter "H." In 1939, the sole caretaker of the sign's 4,000 light bulbs was dismissed after he drunk-drove into the "H" and knocked it over. In 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce rebuilt the sign, despite repeated calls for its demolition, though as the decades wore on the sign again wore down. In 1978, when the sign reached its apex of dilapidation, rock star Alice Cooper led a restoration campaign, garnering donations from a consortium including Hugh Hefner, Andy Williams and Gene Autry, and the sign, originally wood and metal, was re-created in steel. The author discusses and signs his book at Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., L.A.; Sun., April 17, 5 p.m.; free, book is $24. (323) 660-1175. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, April 15, 2011.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 3:57 AM, ,

We're Alive Wednesday, April 13, 2011

You got your Good Food podcast from KCRW, you got your Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me from NPR, you got your This Week in Tech from Leo Laporte, and your No Agenda from Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak. What about zombies? Turns out there's a zombie podcast called We're Alive: A Zombie Story of Survival, and it's coming to you live at Meltdown Comics and live-streamed across the Interwebs. Created by Shane Salk and Kc Wayland, the program marries old-time radio drama with the brain-eating undead, and it's not a pretty wedding. The blood flows freely in We're Alive's theater of the mind, as soldiers and civilians try to survive a zombie apocalypse in L.A. The cast and crew are currently on their second season (58 episodes so far), releasing a new episode every Monday. You may go to bed safe and sound on Sunday night, but prepare for a new world order in the morning. Meltdown Comics, 7522 W. Sunset Blvd., L.A.; Sat., April 16, 7:30 p.m.; free, live-streamed via Justin.tv. (323) 851-7223, ZombiePodcast.com. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, April 15, 2011.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 2:39 AM, ,

Japan Film Festival Los Angeles 2011 Friday, April 8, 2011

"See Movie! Save Japan!" That's the slogan of the Japan Film Festival Los Angeles 2011, a five-day, multi-venue screening of the latest, greatest cinema from Japan, benefiting tsunami and earthquake relief. Among the more than 20 films: The Billion Yen Jackpot, Terry Itoh's documentary on the calculated marketing of a Hello Kitty-esque character called Nanity; Shodo Girls Blue Blue Sky, Takafumi Ota's drama about desolate high school girls inspired by a calligraphy teacher; Twice Bombed: The Legacy of Yamaguchi Tsutomu, chronicling the later years of a survivor of both atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Birthright, following an adopted daughter watching her birth mother from afar; Takamine, a biography of Japanese chemist Jokichi Takamine, who sponsored the 1912 planting of cherry trees in Washington, D.C.; and Turning Japanese, Paul Bickel's short film starring Brian Austin Green and Zibby Allen. Where's Godzilla? New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd., L.A., Fri.-Sat., April 8-9; East West Players, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Little Tokyo, Sun., April 10; Starplex Cinema 5, 4626 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, Sat., April 16; Yamaha Music Center, 4620 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, Sun., April 17. Full schedule and ticket info at jffla.org/2011. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, April 8, 2011.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 4:20 PM, ,

Wizard of Oz Sing-along Monday, April 4, 2011

Somewhere over the rainbow (okay, Glendale), a theater full of people who can't sing but won't let that stop them are about to sing their hearts out at the Alex Theatre's "Wizard of Oz Sing-along." Fans of the 1939 film are encouraged to dress up as their favorite character (a flying monkey? a twister? anything goes!) and compete for prizes in a costume contest, then sing along to the entire soundtrack, from "Over the Rainbow," "The Lollipop Guild" and "If I Only Had a Brain" to "We're Off to See the Wizard," "The Merry Old Land of Oz" and "Ding, Dong! The Witch Is Dead." In person: actress Dorothy Barrett (Emerald City manicurist), Judy Garland impersonator Elaine Horn, and Richard Stanley, onetime assistant to George Cukor. There's no place like Glendale! Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Ave., Glendale; Sat., April 9, 2 & 8 p.m.; $13.50, $9.50 seniors, students, and kids 12 & under. (818) 243-2539, alexfilmsociety.org. (Originally published in L.A. Weekly, April 8, 2011.)

posted by Derek Thomas @ 2:59 PM, ,