The Cinefamily

"The Eric Andre Show" Season One sneak preview (Eric Andre in person!)

Bret — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:30:00 +0000

Co-presented by Adult Swim

Fans of Space Ghost: Coast To Coast and Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, it’s time to get excited — The Eric Andre Show is the brand-new slab of total talk show madness to hit Adult Swim! This brand-new anarchic kid on the (programming) block, hosted by Andre (co-star of Don’t Trust The B—- in Apartment 23) and partner-in-crime Hannibal Buress (writer on both SNL and 30 Rock), takes the form of a dingy late-night public-access chat program within an alternate reality. Amongst the stragneness, it creates its own distorted pop culture universe by conducting interviews with an unpredictable mix of actual celebrities, ‘fake’ celebrities and extreme real-life weirdos. Join us for a sneak preview of some upcoming Eric Andre Show episodes, plus a panel discussion/Q&A with Eric, Hannibal Buress, directors Andrew Barchilon & Kitao Sakurai, and producer Daniel Weidenfeld!

if you’re unable to make it out to our event, “The Eric Andre Show” premieres on Adult Swim on May 20th!

Watch the trailer for “The Eric Andre Show: Season One Sneak Preview”!

Click here to view the embedded video.

MEMBERS-ONLY POTLUCK: Doug Benson's "The Greatest Movie Ever Rolled"

Bret — Sun, 13 May 2012 23:20:00 +0000

NOTE: Only current Cinefamily members are eligible +1 to attend this members-only potluck. In order to help us track attendance and limit waiting line size, you must pre-register for “first-come, first-serve” admission. As well, it is indeed a potluck; things like bags of chips and drinks are not encouraged — please bring a dish. Impress us!

If this sounds like the kind of event you want to have more of in your life — then consider getting a Cinefamily membership!

Join Doug Benson as he hosts a work-in-progress screening of his brand-new documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Rolled, following him and fellow comedian Graham Elwood as they embark on a seriously memorable weed-soaked stand-up comedy tour across the country!

Watch the trailer for “The Greatest Movie Ever Rolled”!

Click here to view the embedded video.

HFS: Airborne

Bret — Sun, 13 May 2012 05:30:00 +0000

Co-presented by Everything Is Terrible! & the Warner Archive

“Airborne is very likely the most 1990s movie ever made. We’ve got: surfing, rollerblading, street sports, no less than four separate montages (including one, I shit you not, to the song “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred), bullies, an intense rivalry decided by a race, and tons of wailing guitars.” — Filmdrunk

As the film’s totally tubular tagline reads: “How do you become the most popular kid on earth? Take to the sky.” Fuck yeah we will, mís amigos! Bodaciously babelicious teen heartthrob Shane McDermott plays “Goose”: a cooliphonic happy-camper Cali surfer who digs on Ghandi, bean burritos, and big-mamma waves. Shipped off for the winter to the most epically bogus of badlands (Cincinnasty, no worries, brah), Goose, along with his twerp cousin played by Seth Green(!), must fend off the increasingly dangerous squad of school bullies — with only a neon pair of rollerblades to get him out of this digital fart of a situation! Featuring one of the most legit gnarly triple-black-diamond street races ever filmed, this stylin’, shreddin’ paean to good vibes and in-line skating (also starring Jack Black and Edie McClurg) will leave ya breathless, brah!
Dir. Rob Bowman, 1993, 91 min.

Watch Cinefamily’s original trailer for “Airborne”!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Spirited Away (subtitled, 5/12, 8:00pm)

cinefamily — Sun, 13 May 2012 03:00:00 +0000

“It’s a masterpiece, pure and simple — certainly the finest thing that the distinctive Japanese style of animation, called anime, has produced — and a film that can stand with the Disney classics of the ‘30s and ‘40s in the range of its imagination and the quality of its execution.” — Dave Kehr, New York Times

Completely wiping off the table all preconceived notions of anime by simply being one of the greatest animated features ever inked, this richly envisioned tale — which truly astounds with every beautifully conceptualized moment — is a timeless triumph of style, storytelling, color, texture, wonderment, emotionality and pretty much any other category you can dream up. Separated from her parents on a chance outing to a ghost-town amusement park, ten-year-old Chihiro is engulfed in a mind-boggling spirit world whose ever-shifting landscapes resemble a M.C. Escher-inspired “Legend Of Zelda” labyrinth — one teeming with a multitude of yokai folklore monsters to boot. Like Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” (who provides much inspiration here), all of Chihiro’s learned tasks, brave interactions, and blossoming emotions are symbolic of the trials of childhood — and are rendered by Miyazaki in a perfect balance of humor, horror and unabashed surrealism. Like all of cinema’s great masterpieces, Spirited Away can only truly be experienced on the big screen, so get over here NOW and see it with us! Our May 12th presentation of Spirited Away is presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 2001, 35mm, 125 min.

Spirited Away (subtitled, 5/12, 5:00pm)

cinefamily — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

“It’s a masterpiece, pure and simple — certainly the finest thing that the distinctive Japanese style of animation, called anime, has produced — and a film that can stand with the Disney classics of the ‘30s and ‘40s in the range of its imagination and the quality of its execution.” — Dave Kehr, New York Times

Completely wiping off the table all preconceived notions of anime by simply being one of the greatest animated features ever inked, this richly envisioned tale — which truly astounds with every beautifully conceptualized moment — is a timeless triumph of style, storytelling, color, texture, wonderment, emotionality and pretty much any other category you can dream up. Separated from her parents on a chance outing to a ghost-town amusement park, ten-year-old Chihiro is engulfed in a mind-boggling spirit world whose ever-shifting landscapes resemble a M.C. Escher-inspired “Legend Of Zelda” labyrinth — one teeming with a multitude of yokai folklore monsters to boot. Like Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” (who provides much inspiration here), all of Chihiro’s learned tasks, brave interactions, and blossoming emotions are symbolic of the trials of childhood — and are rendered by Miyazaki in a perfect balance of humor, horror and unabashed surrealism. Like all of cinema’s great masterpieces, Spirited Away can only truly be experienced on the big screen, so get over here NOW and see it with us! Our May 12th presentation of Spirited Away is presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 2001, 35mm, 125 min.

Friday Night Frights presents Demons

Bret — Sat, 12 May 2012 06:45:00 +0000

Taking its cues from Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead and ramping the madness up to 11, Demons pushes forward from the ‘80s Italian horror mold of basic giallo/slasher tropes to become a freaky, fucked-up funhouse of amazing grisly setpieces. Directed by Lamberto Bava (son of Mario Bava), and with a script written by maestro Dario Argento, Demons centers around a movie theater that’s screening a film about demons — during which the patrons become possessed by (you guessed it) demons! It’s meta-horror that pre-dates the meta-horror boom of the ‘90s/’00s, and frankly, it’s a million times more fun. Wacky characters, awesome monster make-up and gallons of grue abound, with its breakneck pace and non-stop gore gags making it a wild ride from frame one. A screening of this Satanic masterwork is rare indeed; we can’t promise you won’t get possessed, but we can promise you’ll love every sinful second!
Dir. Lamberto Bava, 1985, 35mm, 88 min.

Watch Cinefamily’s original trailer for “Demons”!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Castle in the Sky (subtitled)

cinefamily — Sat, 12 May 2012 03:00:00 +0000

Come soar with the first feature ever created by Studio Ghibli! Castle In The Sky finds Ghibli maestro Hayao Miyazaki in full-blown visionary mode, confidently piloting another high-altitude adventure — one stuffed this time around with magic levitation crystals, giant robots, and wisecracking steampunk sky pirates. The adventure of two orphans on a fated mission to restore order to Laputa (Earth’s last floating city) is steeped in familiar film fantasies, but is far too much fun to ever feel trite. From the film’s opening airship escape to its spellbinding finale, Miyazaki’s flair for imaginative worldbuilding elevates the intricately conceived dream architecture and gripping action sequences that would soon become Ghibli’s stock-in-trade. Castle in the Sky remains a seminal moment, encapsulating Miyazaki’s obsessions while providing a framework for everything that was to follow. Our screening of Castle In The Sky is presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1986, 35mm, 126 min.

Watch the trailer for “Castle In The Sky”! (NOTE: This trailer contains scenes from the English-dubbed version of the film. Cinefamily’s May 11th screening of the film is in Japanese with English subtitles.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Porco Rosso (subtitled)

cinefamily — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Porco Rosso is a perfect storm of Miyazaki madness: a stylish, dizzy aerial adventure tracking the intrigue and romantic exploits of a heroic fighter pilot — one who just happens to be an anthropomorphic pig! Set in Italy between the World Wars, Porco Rosso follows Marco Pagot, a flying ace rendered porcine (but no less valiant or capable) by a magical curse. The “Crimson Pig” divides his time between bounty-hunting feuds with sea pirates, and Casablanca-inspired passages reminiscing with his old flame Gina, beautiful owner of the Hotel Adriano. Based on Miyazaki’s manga “Hikōtei Jidai”, the story centers around the epic, escalating duel between Porco and dashing American blowhard Donald Curtis, who makes for a delicious rival, due in large part to his shifting loyalties and romantic intentions toward the women in Porco’s life. Complete with thrilling, complex airborne battles, this tender, reverent, underrated homage to chivalrous post-war cinema is pure luxurious escapism that gets even better with repeated viewings!
Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1992, 35mm, 94 min.

Watch an excerpt from “Porco Rosso”!

Click here to view the embedded video.

IDA's Doc U: The Future of Docs On PBS

Bret — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:30:00 +0000

PBS has long been an important outlet for independent documentary programming. Through POV and Independent Lens, millions of households gain free access to doc programming that addresses the most important issues of our time. However, the landscape is shifting for these programs, as PBS just announced a change in schedule for both series, resulting in less favorable and inconsistent timeslots. With these shifting realities, as well as significant cuts in funding to PBS’ nonfiction programming from the National Endowment for the Arts — what does the future hold for both independent documentary films and public broadcasting? What can you do to impact the decisions and changes being made right now? IDA invites you to join Simon Kilmurry (Executive Producer of American Documentary | POV), Lyn Goldfarb (award-winning documentary director and producer) and Gordon Quinn (Artistic Director/founding member of Kartemquin Films) in a discussion on the changing outlook, and opportunities for growth in independent PBS doc programming. The evening’s on-stage conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A, and a reception on the Cinefamily’s backyard Spanish patio!

NOTE: we are unfortunately unable to offer Cinefamily members discounted admission to this event.

Howl's Moving Castle (dubbed)

cinefamily — Thu, 10 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

“An organic, childlike wonder, fabulously unpredictable and seethingly inventive. I haven’t in years seen an American film, live-action or not, that has attended so carefully to the details of aging, gravity, destruction, and atmosphere.” — Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice

Amongst the machinations of a hyper-saturated, stupendously detailed steampunk-meets-Sound Of Music universe, Hayao Miyazaki evolves Spirited Away’s theme of “navigating into adulthood” by taking you on a beautiful and fantastical journey into old age, rebirth and beyond. Sophie is an unconfident young woman cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, and her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent, yet insecure young wizard and his companions living inside a magical, roving behemoth contraption that’s part-motor home, part-ancient castle. Combining a meditation on the effects of aging with a heartfelt anti-war message (Miyazaki has stated that the film’s impassioned anti-war message was directly inspired by America’s 2002 invasion of Iraq), Howl’s Moving Castle is a film as rich as it is poetically righteous. A moving tale for both the heart and the mind. Our presentation of Howl’s Moving Castle is presented with an English-dubbed audio track.
Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 2004, 35mm, 119 min.

Watch the trailer for “Howl’s Moving Castle”!

Click here to view the embedded video.