American Cinematheque honors two Oscar hopefuls

By Susan King

Nov. 22, 2012 12 AM PT

With awards season in full swing, two Oscar hopefuls -- director Robert Zemeckis (“Flight”) and actor Richard Gere (“Arbitrage”) -- are being feted with retrospectives at the American Cinematheque.

“Who Framed Smart Entertainment: An In-Person Tribute to Robert Zemeckis” is to kick off Nov. 26 at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica with two of the director’s early works: the 1984 hit comedy-romance-adventure “Romancing the Stone,” with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas, and the 1980 comedy “Used Cars,” with Kurt Russell and Jack Warden. The festival continues Dec. 1, and Zemeckis is scheduled to appear in person Dec. 2 at a screening of “Flight.”

“American Virtuoso: An In-Person Tribute to Richard Gere” begins Nov. 27 with his supporting role in 1977’s “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” with Diane Keaton, and one of his early seminal roles: the 1980 drama “American Gigolo.” The retrospective continues Nov. 29. Gere is to appear in person Nov. 30 at a screening of “Arbitrage.”

The Aero is also getting in the Thanksgiving weekend holiday spirit Friday night with Terrence Malick’s 2005 period drama “The New World,” chronicling the 1607 founding of the Jamestown colony and the romantic triangle between Captain John Smith (Colin Ferrell), Pocahontas (Q’orianka Kilcher) and John Rolfe (Christian Bale).

And what’s Thanksgiving without a little Scarlett, Rhett and Tara? The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood is to screen a newly restored digital edition of the 1939 Oscar-winning epic “Gone With the Wind” on Saturday evening. https://www.americancinematheque.com

The New Beverly Cinema presents two recent Woody Allen comedies Friday and Saturday: 2012’s “To Rome With Love,” which marked the filmmaker’s return as an actor, and the 2011 romantic comedy “Midnight in Paris,” for which he earned a screenplay Academy Award. https://www.newbevcinema.com

Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre presents a 15th-anniversary screening Friday at midnight of “Alien: Resurrection,” starring Sigourney Weaver and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. https://www.cinefamily.org

The Academy Film Archive’s Mark Toscano will appear in person at the James Bridges Theater on the evening of Nov. 26 to present J.J. Murphy’s 1974 experimental “Print Generation.” The program is part of the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s free “Out of the Past: Film Restoration Today” series. https://www.cinema.ucla.edu

Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth dance up a storm in Charles Vidor’s 1944 Technicolor delight, “Cover Girl,” screening the afternoon of Nov. 27 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Leo S. Bing Theater. Phil Silvers also stars. https://www.lacma.org

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