The Cinefamily

Bob Mitchell (1912-2009)

2009-07-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

Cinefamily,

I have sad news. Our organist, Bob Mitchell, has passed on at the age of 96. I did not know Mr. Mitchell well, but I did have the pleasure of seeing him play many times over the past year and a half. Mr. Mitchell, who started playing at the Pasadena Playhouse at the age of only 12 years old, had actually played for silent films in the '20s. It was a pleasure and a privilege to witness someone who wasn't just a master at his craft, but was a human portal to another time. There will be wonderful silent musicians continuing the tradition of live, improvised accompaniment, but there was a certain unforgeable authenticity that comes from not simply recreating another time, but being of it. Bob's entire musical background and earliest memories lent a texture to his performance that was quite unique; his musical quotations, his sense of humour, his reference points were all of the era. He knew and remembered the songs and themes that were contemporaneous with the films he accompanied, and would weave them into the scores at natural points. If you were watching William Hart's silent western Tumbleweeds -- sure enough, he would play the hit song "Tumbleweeds" as the credits rolled.

It is short notice, but this evening, before our screening of Greta Garbo's Love, we will have a short memorial for Bob.

Jacob Ciocci of PaperRad performs

2009-02-19T18:07:00.001-08:00

And boy was it awesome!

The night started with a screening of two episodes of "Problem Solvers", an animated series by paper rad featuring a whimsical cast of...well... problem solvers! I think it's gonna be on Adult Swim--we kind of got a preview.

A 20 minute video mix was up next and anything that features a video mash up of Rihannas "umbrella" with the Cranberries "Zombie" is A-OK in my book.

Then the performances set in.

First up was Fortress of Amplitude. I don't quiet know what to say about Fortress of Amplitude other than he had an amp painted to look like van-halens amp and he played the same note for a REALLY long time.

After Fortress of Amplitude Jacob Ciocci took the stage, taking time to explain to the audience the things he was thinking about while he created "I let my nightmares go" (title of which is taken from a Kanye West song) which included: Paramore, spirituality, support bracelets, sexman, whats up with you? (the Eddie Murphy/Micheal Jackson collaboration), amongst others. All of these things collided on the screen as Jacob danced on stage in front of a video mix which resulted in a cathartic and uplifting explosion! WHOA!

"Evilspeak" Q&A (from Oct. 7th, 2008)

2009-02-02T18:41:00.000-08:00

We've finally opened the floodgates on the Q&A sessions we've taped in the theater over the past several months --

Here's the session from our October 7th screening of the Satanic computer gore film "Evilspeak" (1981), with star Clint Howard and director Eric Weston in attendance!

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

Tom Verlaine & Jimmy Rip: live at the Cinefamily, January 7th!

2009-01-05T15:19:00.000-08:00

Tom Verlaine, founding member of the classic NYC band Television and guitarist extraordinare, will be here live at the Cinefamily along with collaborator Jimmy Rip to perform their live scores for a host of avant-garde silent film shorts -- and it's happening this Wednesday!

They'll be here for two shows on Wednesday, Jan 7th -- at 8:00pm and 10:15pm. There's a terrific write-up of the show over at the L.A. Record, posted here.

Buy Tickets! - 8:00pm show
Buy Tickets! - 10:15pm show

Don Hertzfeldt tickets are on sale!

2008-10-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

We've just posted a Buy Tickets link for our upcoming event "An Evening With Don Hertzfeldt"! The award-winning animator will be live in-person at the Cinefamily on November 30th, to premiere his latest film, "I am so proud of you".

Buy Tickets

Our upcoming horrorfest in the news!

2008-09-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

Our upcoming October horrorfest has been getting some advance notice! Check out the profiles on Arbogast On Film and Hollywood Gothique!

Is He Your Friend...?

2008-09-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

Just watch. Don't say anything, don't talk through it...just WATCH.

You'll have this song stuck in your head for DAYS. We showed this last Saturday, as part of our Mondo Christploitation night!

Hecuba - live at the Cinefamily, 08.05.08

2008-08-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

Here's some shots from Hecuba's live performance on the Cinefamily stage, filmed by Dublab for their ongoing series of live performance films called VisionVersions.

Pics courtesy of Olivia Wright.

LAist interview with Don't Knock The Rock's Anders tag-team

2008-08-18T12:15:00.001-07:00

LAist has posted a new interview with Don't Knock The Rock co-curators Alison and Tiffany Anders...

"Shakma" in the news!

2008-08-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

Sam Sweet, writing for the L.A. Weekly, just did a write-up of our August "Holyfuckingshit: When Animals Attack series. He even devotes a whole third of the piece to "Shakma"! Finally -- the baboon gets its due!!!!

For those who don't believe the hype, check it out for yourself -- watch the trailer below.

Betty At Large

2008-08-08T12:42:00.001-07:00

Blogger Betty At Large was in attendance for our screening of Rockabilly 514 (part of Don't Knock The Rock '08) this past Saturday, and took some great photos of the theatre, as well as doing a nice write-up of our humble home, and also the Danny B. Harvey steel guitar demo we had before the film.

"Sylvia" teaser trailer

2008-08-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a glimpse at "Sylvia", the very rarely-screened 1965 camp classic starring Carroll Baker and George Maharis, which we're showing this Friday, August 8th, at 10PM.

Rub-A-Dub reviewed!

2008-08-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a review from LAist regarding our screening this past Thursday of director Steve Hanft's reggae documentary "Return Of The Rub-A-Dub Style", shown as part of our Don't Knock The Rock '08 series.

George Kuchar speaks!

2008-07-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

In addition to having him curate our Summer "Camp" festival throughout all of July and August, we're also screening large handfuls of underground filmmaker George Kuchar's films from throughout the '60s to the '80s.

We presented an evening of some of Kuchar's NYC-made shorts back on July 6th, and this Sunday, August 3rd, we're doing an evening of his San Francisco-made shorts! The films will include: I, An Actress (1977), Wild Night In El Rio (1977), Prescription In Blue (1978), The Woman And The Dress (1980), Yolanda (1981), Cattle Mutilations (1983), and Insanatorium (1987).

Since he's not able to attend the events in person, George (in his typical fashion) made a video introduction to both the upcoming SF night, and last month's NYC night.

Check out some of George's films on-line here!

George's SF Films intro (1 of 2)

George's SF Films intro (2 of 2)

George's NYC Films intro (1 of 2)

George's NYC Films intro (2 of 2)

LA Weekly reviews Don't Knock The Rock 2008's Far East Punk triple bill!

2008-07-25T18:49:00.001-07:00

Rena Kosnett of the L.A. Weekly's music blog Play reviews yesterday's Far East Punk triple feature here.

Gary Wilson show review

2008-07-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

LAist did a nice write-up yesterday of the Gary Wilson event from a Don't Knock The Rock '08 screening two weeks back. Check it out here.

Coming up next week in our Thursday night Don't Knock The Rock '08 screenings are two different films: This Is The Life (directed by Ava DuVernay), chronicling the story of a group of teens who, starting in 1989, regularly met at the South Central L.A. health food store The Good Life and revolutionized hip-hop by innovating rhyme patterns, melodic concepts and lyrical styles used by many of today's biggest rap stars. Also next Thursday is Return of The Rub-A-Dub Style, which charts the dual history of reggae soundsystem culture in Jamaica and its renewal at L.A.’s weekly Dub Club, held in Echo Park.

Find out more about Don't Knock The Rock '08 here!

Earthless - live at the Cinefamily, 07.17.08

2008-07-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday's live performance by the skull-shatteringly loud San Diego psych band Earthless, as part of the Don't Knock The Rock '08 festival, kicked ass. The cops even came -- we had 6 noise complaints from the band's sound shooting straight out the back patio -- but luckily the cops was very accomodating about the whole situation. Hadrian sez:

It turned out I was wrong when I told the police it won't be much longer until their set's over" I knew the set was supposed to be 45 minutes, but I thought there'd be a break between songs where I could subtly walk up and mention to them to cut the set short -- not knowing there were no songs. This band’s plan was to jam non-stop at peak volume. I waited and waited for the song to end, so I could cut the set short, but unfortunately their set was just too awesome to be interrupted. I really started to sweat. The only thing I could think of to do--which I ended up doing--was to walk up to the side of the stage with a dry erase board and write in all-caps: "COPS. END SOON." Their guitarist visibly laughed when he saw it, and I found out later that he was particularly happy about it all, since the band was having the whole set filmed for posterity. Best of all, it actually worked! Their set ended 5 minutes later, and I managed to get the night over peaceably, without bumming everyone out.

Thanks to Fidelis Fuchs for the photos, and Pimpadelic Wonderland for the great visuals behind the band.

More Siskel & Ebert wackiness...

2008-07-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

Hot on the heels of our post two weeks ago about Siskel & Ebert outtakes, here's a selection of some choice "At The Movies" moments from the '80s.

Ishtar

The Black Cauldron

Scarface and Mickey's Christmas Carol

TRS-80 live at the Cinefamily

2008-07-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

Dublab's June 17th event at the Cinefamily, "A Labrat Matinee: Daytime Goes Dark", brought over two hours of great short films, as well as a live performance by Chicago-based band TRS-80. Of the band, Epitonic sez:

TRS-80 are a Chicago-based trio who mix up live drums, samples, and an array of vintage analog circuitry to create pulsing hypnotic sound collages. Using a live drummer and almost anything they can plug in, TRS-80 delivers a full-on sonic experience with the drive of Renegade Soundwave and the complexity of Kraftwerk.

One of our patrons, Daiana Feuer, was kind enough to send us a recording she made of some of the band's live set that night, as well as some photos she took as well. Also, for a rundown of the evening's goings-on, check out the L.A. Record's review here

TRS-80, live at the Cinefamily, 06.17.08 - part 1 (MP3)
TRS-80, live at the Cinefamily, 06.17.08 - part 2 (MP3)
TRS-80, live at the Cinefamily, 06.17.08 - part 3 (MP3)
TRS-80, live at the Cinefamily, 06.17.08 - part 4 (MP3)

TRS-80's MySpace page

For Those That Forgot To Rock...

2008-07-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

Our 4th of July all-day/all-night party was as much fun as we thought it'd be --

As part of the celebration, our head programmer Hadrian, along with VJ Pimpadelic Wonderland, cut together this patriotic montage of explosions, baby Boosterism and Hulkamania -- the collective effect of which we dubbed "virtual fireworks", cut to the sounds of AC/DC (yeah, sure, they're Australian, but what of it?).

Gary Wilson live at The Cinefamily on Thursday night!

2008-07-07T19:18:00.000-07:00

As part of the Don't Knock The Rock festival happening at the Cinefamily all this July and August, we'll be screening the film You Think You Really Know Me: The Gary Wilson Story.

Championed by the likes of Beck and Matt Groening, and obsessed over by record collectors, Gary Wilson’s album “You Think You Really Know Me” is one of the most unique, personal musical statements of the 1970s. Inspired by the seminal album’s 2002 reissue, director Michael Wolk set out to learn more about its creator, only to find that Wilson had vanished shortly after its release, making for a story just as peculiar as the album itself. You Think You Really Know Me: The Gary Wilson Story is a look at the bittersweet life of a musician well ahead of his time and ripe for rediscovery.

As part of the evening, Gary Wilson himself will perform live on the Cinefamily stage after the screening! Here's some clips of Gary in action elsewhere in recent times...

Linda Wants To Be Alone music video

Feel The Breeze music video

live, 7.5.06

In anticipation of our 4th of July party...

2008-07-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

To celebrate our country's 232nd anniversary, here's a peak behind the curtain at one of our national institutions: "At The Movies". Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert hosted the show together for 17 years, from 1982 until Siskel's death in 1999. The two's pointed jabs at each other on the show always hinted at their off-screen feelings for each other -- after watching the clip below, we feel we have a better understanding of their dynamic: Siskel was a drunk, Ebert was kind of a douche, and neither of them had any idea that their off-the-cuff behind-the-scenes behavior would ever been seen outside of their own studio.

Make sure to watch this clip all the way to the end!

Hadrian's on TV!

2008-06-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

Our head programmer, Hadrian Belove, was recently the subject of two separate late-night 3AM basic cable TV profiles, on "Secret's Out...With Leonard Maltin", and "The Florence Henderson Show". Hey, Byron Allen...you takin' notes?

The "Secret's Out" segment focuses on Hadrian's involvement with the Cinefamily, and the "Florence Henderson Show" segment focuses more on the history of our home (the Silent Movie Theatre), and also includes a brief interview with silent film accompanist Bob Mitchell, whom you can catch a performance by most Wednesday nights at the Cinefamily.

"Secret's Out...With Leonard Maltin"

"The Florence Henderson Show"

"Imagine" our night...

2008-06-04T20:21:00.000-07:00

We all had a blast last week at our night called Psychedelic Healing Visions: A Celebration of Lavender Diamond's film "Imagine Our Love". Lavender Diamond performed live on our stage, and we got to see clips from their work-in-progress visual album (that takes its music from the LP of the same name). Upstairs, we had a photo booth going, and one of the members of our ever-growing Cinefamily posted all the photos in an on-line photo gallery, which you can view here.

A/V Geeks in the mix!

2008-06-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

Great new news! We've been in contact with the good folks over at A/V Geeks, a collection of 20,000 industrial, ephemeral and educational 16mm shorts -- and each month, they'll be sending us a package of 5-10 films to screen that are thematically linked to our programming. In short, we're stoked.

To see a wide array of the kind of stuff they're gonna be providing, check out the A/V Geeks channel on Veoh, or, check out the cool videos below --

Ballet Robotique (1982)

Why Do You Buy? (1971)

Soopergoop (1976)