Hollywood Film Festival arrives at ArcLight; ‘Garbage’ is opener

The 16th annual Hollywood Film Festival (of which the Los Angeles Times is a sponsor) screens Friday through Sunday at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood. It opens with “Garbage,” directed by Phil Voken, about two trashmen who find Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Oscar in their collections.

Other films in the festival include “Caroline and Jackie,” with Marguerite Moreau; “I Will Follow You in the Dark,” starring Mischa Barton; Bernard Rose’s “Two Jacks,” with Danny and Jack Huston; “Hello Herman,” starring Norman Reedus of “The Walking Dead”; and the documentary “Bound by Flesh,” directed by Leslie Zemeckis, the wife of Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis.

There will also be short films and trailers. The Hollywood Discovery Awards close the festival Sunday evening. www.hollywoodfest.com and www.arclightcinemas.com.

The UCLA Film & Television Archive and the UCLA Confucius Institute’s 1st China Onscreen Biennial festival continues this weekend at the Billy Wilder Theater. The festival features both new and vintage films from mainland China.

Screening Friday evening is Fu Jie’s 1970 drama “The Red Detachment of Women.” Several experts will be on hand to discuss the film, including UCLA professor Robert Chi and theater director Peter Sellars. Saturday’s offerings are the U.S. premiere of Zou Peng’s 2011 drama “Sauna on Moon” and the North American premiere of Zhang Qing’s 2010 satire “The People’s Secretary.” On tap for Sunday afternoon is the U.S. premiere of Li Hongqi’s 2010 documentary “Are We Really So Far From the Madhouse?” cinema.ucla.edu.

REDCAT is also screening films in the Chinese series. Monday’s programming features classic Shanghai animation from the 1950s through the early 1980s. On Tuesday, director Zhang Yuan will present his 2012 film, “Beijing Flickers.” www.redcat.org.

Film Independent at LACMA shines the spotlight on horror director William Lustig on Thursday evening at the Leo S. Bing Theater with screenings of his 1980 “Maniac,” starring co-writer Joe Spinell, and the 1983 thriller “Vigilante,” with Robert Forster. Lustig will be on hand to talk about the films. www.lacma.org.

Elijah Wood will be present Wednesday at the Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre to chat about his role as a psychopath in the 2012 version of “Maniac,” directed by Franck Khalfoun. www.cinefamily.org.

The American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood celebrates its 90th anniversary Thursday with a screening of Douglas Fairbanks’ beloved swashbuckler “Robin Hood,” which opened the movie palace on the same date in 1922. A Fairbanks historian will be on hand to introduce the film. A piece of furniture from the theater’s original powder room will be presented to the Egyptian by Hollywood Heritage.

Screening Sunday at the Egyptian are two films starring the legendary magician Harry Houdini: 1922’s “The Man From Beyond” and 1920’s “Terror Island.” Magician Mark Paskell will present rare Houdini photographs and footage, as well as try to escape from a straitjacket a la Houdini. www.americancinematheque.com.

LACMA’s “The Surreal Screen” series, which leads up to the opening of the “Drawing Surrealism” exhibition, examines the various ways filmmakers have utilized Surrealism. The festival opens Friday at the Leo S. Bing Theater with “Animating the Subconscious,” which features animated shorts from the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. Animation historian Jerry Beck hosts. Other programs include “Collage in Motion” early Saturday evening and “Spotlight on Lewis Klahr” on Saturday evening. www.lacma.org.

Hollywood Heritage’s Evenings@the Barn presents its first “Halloween at the Barn” on Friday evening. Hollywood Heritage is teaming with Hidden Los Angeles and CreepyLa.com for the programing that will include screenings of ghost-themed short subjects, a horror-themed photo booth and the results of a paranormal team’s investigation of the building. www.hollywoodheritage.org.

Cinefamily has teamed up with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to present the 10th annual Home Movie Day this Saturday at the Silent Movie Theatre from noon to 4 p.m. People are invited to share their home movies. Film drop-off and inspection begins at 11 a.m.

On Saturday evening, Cinefamily moves to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for an outdoor screening of George Romero’s 1978 zombie classic, “Day of the Living Dead.” www.cinefamily.org.

The New Beverly Cinema presents the restored 1961 classic World War II adventure thriller, “The Guns of Navarone,” Sunday and Monday. J. Lee Thompson directed this best film Oscar nominee starring Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn and David Niven. On Tuesday, the New Beverly celebrates Quentin Tarantino’s seminal film noir “Reservoir Dogs,” on the 20th anniversary of its release. www.newbevcinema.com.

Los Angeles Filmforum presents “Mirrored Curtains: The Films and Videos of Lori Felker” on Sunday evening at the Egyptian. The experimental filmmaker will appear at the screening of several of her shorts. www.lafilmforum.org.

The UCLA Film & Television Archive’s “Out of the Past: Film Restoration Today” free series Monday evening at the Billy Wilder presents selections from the archive’s Hearst Metrotone News newsreels. www.cinema.ucla.edu.

Tippi Hedren wil appear in person Tuesday evening at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater for a screening of the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock classic, “The Birds.” www.oscars.org

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