The Moviegoer, Dec. 10-16

Family Flicks Film Series Director Carroll Ballard’s 1986 film The Nutcracker, a collaboration with children’s author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, hews closer to E.T.A. Hoffman’s 1816 fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” than does Tchaikovsky’s popular ballet. There is dancing performed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet, but the result is a bit darker than traditional productions. With the 1973 animated short of Sendak’s classic, Where the Wild Things Are. UCLA Film & Television Archive, Billy Wilder Theatre, Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 443-7000. Dec. 10, 11 a.m. Free. www.cinema.ucla.edu/calendar

Ism, Ism, Ism: Experimental Cinema in Latin America Five short experimental films constitute Views From Outside (La mirada foránea): Leandro Katz’s Guatemala-set “Los Angeles Station” (1976); Mexican filmmaker Dalia Huerta’s “Olvidó usted algo?” (2012); Macarena Cordiviola’s Argentinian “Ultimos Brillos” (2008); Felipe Esparza’s “Soga de Muerto “(2015) from Peru; and José Luis Bongore’s “Nariño” (2014). Huerta will attend the screening. Film Forum, Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 377-7238. Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m. Free. www.lafilmforum.org

TCM Big Screen Classics Director Stanley Kramer’s 1967 comedy-drama Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner about a young white woman (Katharine Houghton) introducing her African American fiancé (Sidney Poitier) to her patrician but liberal parents (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in their final film pairing) broke new ground, featuring one of the first onscreen interracial kisses. Hepburn and screenwriter William Rose won Oscars, though some of the dialogue will seem dated to modern audiences. AMC, Cinemark, Regal and other theaters, Dec. 10 and 13, 2 and 7 p.m. www.fathomevents.com

Throwback Thursdays Sean Penn plays the cocksure and impulsive LAPD rookie to Robert Duvall’s diplomatic and respected veteran in Colors, director Dennis Hopper’s 1988 take on the war between L.A. street gangs the Bloods and the Crips. Maria Conchita Alonso, Don Cheadle and Damon Wayans costar. The catchy title track is performed by Ice-T. Laemmle NoHo 7, 5240 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, (310) 478-3836. Dec. 14, 7:30 p.m. $12; $9 for ages 62+. www.laemmle.com

Auntie Mame Rosalind Russell gives a tour-de-force performance as the title character, a fabulously wealthy Park Avenue socialite who becomes the caretaker of her orphaned nephew. Released at the end of 1958, the Technicolor fantasy was the top-grossing film of 1959. Lo, that we all had the good fortune to have an auntie like Mame! American Cinematheque and Outfest, Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 466-3456. Dec. 13 and 14, 7:30 p.m. $15; $12 for Cinematheque members. www.americancinemathequecalendar.com

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