For Those Who Think Outside the Box Office

Matt Chernov isn’t sure he’ll like “Dead Creatures.” The new British film about flesh-eating women might be awful, but he’s sure the American Cinematheque matinee will at least deliver more surprises than the mainstream films showing at the mall.

Hollywood’s latest batch of summer blockbusters feels less like entertainment and more like “punching a clock,” the 33-year-old hotel manager said.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw something really good at a multiplex,” he lamented.

Chernov, who sees up to six movies a week, frequently skips the corporate megaplexes in favor of smaller venues--including American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre--where the challenge isn’t wading through 80 people to buy a box of Milk Duds; it’s on the screen.

Despite profit margins that are often paper-thin, a limited audience and a proliferation of video stores that all but wiped out the revival houses, Los Angeles’ alternative venues manage to lure film lovers such as Chernov away from the mall with creative, edgy programming, screenings at such classic Art Deco venues as the Warner Grand in San Pedro and the promise of a rare--or even once-in-a-lifetime--experience.

It can be a tough crowd. For instance, the Laemmle theater group, the city’s leading operator of alternative venues, recently shut down the old Colorado theater in Pasadena because audiences preferred the new amenities of the chain’s nearby Playhouse 7.

“If we opened a film at the Colorado and played it there a couple of weeks, then moved it to the Playhouse, the audiences waited for it to move to the Playhouse,” said Robert Laemmle, the chain’s president. “The handwriting was on the wall.”

Laemmle said business has been quite good at his 29 other venues. He’s even expanded as other chains, such as Landmark Theatres and Edwards Theater Circuit, have closed alternative venues. Attrition has left only a few such venues outside the heart of Los Angeles: for example, Seal Beach’s 54-year-old landmark Bay Theatre, Edwards’ South Coast Village in Costa Mesa and Laemmle’s Town Center in Encino.

Meanwhile, actual independents such as the New Beverly, L.A.’s last true revival house, are increasingly competing for an audience with the area’s institutional powerhouses, such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Film Institute and UCLA’s Film and Television Archive.

Business is not what it was in the ‘80s, the halcyon days when revival theaters proliferated all over the country,” said New Beverly proprietor Sherman Torgan. “There were quite a few in Los Angeles, and there was still a large audience to share. The museum venues have become more revival theaters than they were before. Look at the programming at the [Los Angeles County Museum of Art]; it’s a much hipper type of programming than it was years ago, when it seemed that they were going after an older audience. Now they’re going after a younger, sort of more film-sophisticated audience.”

This tough competition is great for film buffs. Nowhere else outside New York does the audience have more choices. And though some cineastes argue that New York’s alternative film scene is superior, L.A. benefits from an insider’s edge.

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to celebrate the 25th anniversary of “Nashville,” there was no doubt filmmaker Robert Altman would be there to discuss his masterpiece. Cast and crew reunions are common at L.A. venues, and they are easier to pull off because most of the key players live nearby.

And because Los Angeles is home to many of those leading the effort to preserve rare films (and the enthusiasts willing to spend considerable time and effort to track them down), audiences are often treated to screenings of one-of-a-kind films--including the only remaining 70-millimeter print of “Ben-Hur,” a rare edit of Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” and a version of Terrence Malick’s “The Thin Red Line” enhanced by dye transfer.

“The colors were amazing. That’s the kind of thing you’re only going to see at the Cinematheque,” said Dennis Bartok, the theater’s programmer.

But the scene doesn’t stop at foreign art films and Academy Award winners. In the coming weeks, “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” “Infra-Man,” “Young Frankenstein” and other campy classics will return to the big screen. The New Beverly, the cornerstone of Los Angeles’ revival scene, is joined by theaters such as the Rialto in South Pasadena and the “Friday Night Classics” series at the Warner Grand in San Pedro.

Meanwhile, the Silent Movie Theatre in Hollywood is introducing old-school Hollywood to a new generation of film lovers. Proprietor Charlie Lustman said the theater is popular with 20-and 30-year-olds who often dress in period clothing for screenings.

“It’s a true, hip revival,” he said.

Hip, yes. Sometimes painfully.

Lustman was criticized for showing silent films that are too mainstream--as if screening all Danish films, all the time, wouldn’t drive him out of business inside a month. “We’re the only silent theater for a reason; there’s no money in it,” Lustman said with a laugh.

Sometimes, the hipper-than-thou crowd can be accused of being aggravating.

“I hate LACMA screenings,” said Robert Parigi, a screenwriter and movie buff. “Sometimes they’ll show something good, but the screening environment is so smirky and pretentious, it robs the fun from it. I went there to see a screening of Warhol’s ‘Flesh for Frankenstein,’ and Udo Kier was there to speak after the film. And it was great for that reason.

“But then you’re stuck with this kind of mainstream museum crowd, and it’s just no fun,” he said. “I’d rather see that movie at midnight in a room full of slavering gore hounds.”

Pretension aside, Los Angeles’ eclectic collection of art houses, alternative venues and film festivals aims to accommodate all tastes with one common theme: It’s about the movie, not the money.

These theaters aren’t as convenient or comfortable as the multiplex with its stadium seating and faux-velvet chairs. Films are often screened only once, and it takes a little effort to find out what’s playing (hint: look for calendars, fliers and postcards in theater lobbies). The Silent Movie Theatre doesn’t have cup holders. Parking is terrible at the Nuart. And the academy doesn’t serve popcorn. But the reward for a little extra effort is a true movie experience.

The Academy ofMotion PictureArts and Sciences

The group that gives out the Oscars hosts April-through-December screenings of Academy Award-nominated and -winning films once a month at its Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The academy’s screenings boast true star power--and are open to the public.

Producer Kim Aubrey introduced “Apocalypse Now Redux” when it screened at the Goldwyn a month before it went into limited release.

For the “Nashville” anniversary last year, producer-director Altman was joined in a discussion of the film by screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury and stars Ned Beatty, Jeff Goldblum and Keith Carradine, to name a few.

Every year, the academy screens the Oscar-nominated animated and live-action shorts, offering a chance to see films that rarely make it to the big screen.

The next big event is the Sept. 21 screening of a restored print of 1979’s “All That Jazz” with a cast and crew reunion and discussion.

“It’s a very pristine experience,” said Leslie Unger, the academy’s publicity coordinator. “We frequently invite screenwriters and cinematographers to the screenings--people who bring an intimate perspective and dialogue to the event. Our facility is state-of-the-art. And there’s no one chomping popcorn next to you.”

The New Beverly

Since it opened in 1978, proprietor Torgan has watched L.A.’s other revival houses shut down or switch to first-run films. Torgan has stayed in business by keeping up with the younger crowd--no simple task, considering his audience grew up with a video store just around the corner.

“The core audience for revival theaters, generally, is college age,” he said. “You have to constantly stay in touch with what is interesting to a younger generation.”

The New Beverly screens three programs weekly, with double bills based on an actor, director or theme.

Hard-core fans try to predict upcoming pairings or guess the less-than-obvious link between films on the theater’s popular calendar.

The distinct double-sided calendars are an in-the-know cultural icon (one appeared on Jon Favreau’s refrigerator in “Swingers”).

Coming movies include Larry Clark’s “Bully” paired with Tim Hunter’s “River’s Edge”; Tom Tykwer’s “The Princess and the Warrior” with his earlier hit, “Run Lola Run”; Christopher Nolan’s “Memento” with his first feature, “Following”; a New York heist double feature of “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” and “Dog Day Afternoon”; and a tribute to Jack Lemmon featuring Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment” and “Some Like It Hot.”

Most of these titles are available on video, but Torgan said his audiences want the experience. “People want to see films on a screen with an audience.There’s no comparing seeing a film on the big screen and seeing it on video.”

Universitiesand Festivals

The best and most obscure films tend to find their way onto the screens at the city’s universities or diverse film festivals.

The annual AFI Fest, with screenings at several Hollywood theaters, offers the first opportunity for rank-and-file filmgoers to see some of the year’s Oscar contenders, in addition to independent films that may not get commercial distribution. Last year’s festival included “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Before Night Falls,” “You Can Count on Me” and “Quills,” all of which went on to earn major award nominations. This year’s festival begins Nov. 1.

Other festivals include summer’s Outfest screenings of gay and lesbian films, September’s women-themed WinFemme Film Festival, the Silver Lake Film Festival and, in October, the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival and Doctober, the International Documentary Assn.’s film fest.

The UCLA Film and Television Archive uses its connections to bring in rare and cutting-edge films from around the world. Many movies screened at the James Bridges Theater in Westwood have never been shown previously in Los Angeles and often are national premieres. This fall, the archive will screen films ranging from Italian director Ermanno Olmi’s “The Tree of the Wooden Clogs” to Hong Kong action director Johnnie To’s latest, “Fulltime Killer.”

UC Irvine and Chapman University in Orange County and USC screen programming ranging from obscure Korean films such as “The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well” to American classics-turned-cliches such as “Easy Rider.”

The Sunset 5and Nuart

“Thank goodness for the Laemmle chain,” said Larry Mantle, host of “Film Week” on KPCC-FM (89.3) and a critic of this summer’s mainstream movie offerings. “The domination of the international box office and the need to deliver the familiar to audiences [have] left the majority of studio films uninspired. Even the independent name has been hijacked. So what fills the void are these smaller chains like Landmark and Laemmle, as well as the nonprofits.”

Laemmle Theatres are the commercial cornerstone of L.A.’s art-house scene. Although chains such as Edwards are shutting down some art houses in a struggle to stay in business, Laemmle has devoted all but one of its theaters to screening foreign and smaller U.S. films.

Look for films by international auteurs Akira Kurosawa, Jean-Luc Godard and Ingmar Bergman as well as tributes to American greats Orson Welles, Billy Wilder and Martin Scorsese at the chain’s Sunset 5 and Monica 4-Plex.

“Laemmle’s success with the Sunset 5 has had a huge impact,” said Bartok, programmer at American Cinematheque. “That’s become ground zero for independent and foreign filmmaking. And the Nuart does a great job too.”

The Nuart is the rebel flagship of Landmark Theatres, which devote many screens to films that might otherwise never reach the public. The Nuart was a traditional revival house, but as video stores rose in prominence, the theater reinvented itself and is now known for edgy programming, specializing in exclusive engagements of foreign films, U.S. indies and revivals.

“The Nuart [attracts] a younger crowd-- cineastes, real hard-core film fans--people who want to see something that’s not anywhere near the Hollywood mainstream stuff that’s out there,” said Mark Valen, the theater’s film buyer. “We have a policy of playing exclusives for L.A. The kind of films we show can’t really play at another theater in Hollywood, because it’s going to spread out what’s already a limited audience.”

The SilentMovie Theatre

Time warps on weekends at Hollywood’s Silent Movie Theatre, as Buster Keaton’s comedy wins over fans not born when he died.

“Buster Keaton keeps my theater alive,” said proprietor Lustman, who reopened the silent-film venue in 1999. “His movies keep packing them in.” (Keaton’s 1924 classic “Sherlock, Jr.” screens there over Labor Day weekend.)

The silent cinema delivers an experience unlike that of other art houses--songs, vaudeville acts and an accompanist who plays an organ as the film rolls.

“Every weekend the show changes,” said Lustman, who opens every show with a song. “Mainstream movie theaters run a show until it’s dead. We come up with something new every week.”

This month, for example, 94-year-old accompanist Bob Mitchell played “Metropolis” to a rapt, sold-out crowd, just as he played it when the film first came to America in 1927. The silent film experience is mesmerizing to some in a generation accustomed to an abundance of computer-generated special effects.

“It’s such a different moviegoing experience,” Parigi said. “In some ways it’s more dreamlike, like when you’re listening to an old radio program and you use a lot more of your imagination to fill in what’s not there. It’s like that with the silent cinema, except it’s even more vivid because the imagery is there.”

Los Angeles CountyMuseum of Art

LACMA is best known for its screenings of black-and-white Hollywood classics, such as its current retrospective of the works of Fritz Lang. Film exhibitions are treated almost like gallery exhibits, offering a chance to see a filmmaker’s evolution. While other retrospectives might focus on Lang’s many American classics, LACMA also will screen his German films.

“Some audiences want to see a picture of the whole artist,” said Ian Birnie, director of LACMA’s film program. “It’s the difference between looking at one painting by Cezanne and going to a retrospective of Cezanne paintings. You’re getting a different perspective.”

LACMA has a reputation for screening only the best of the best, but not without a sense of fun. In November, the museum will screen the Bill Murray comedy “Stripes” during a 50th anniversary tribute to prolific composer Elmer Bernstein, best known for his groundbreaking jazz score for “The Man With the Golden Arm” and the dramatic score to the classic western “The Magnificent Seven.”

Movie Palaces

What better place to see a classic movie than in a classic venue, a shrine to old Hollywood such as the Warner Grand in San Pedro or the Egyptian in Hollywood?

Built in 1933, the Grand is the last of a trio of Warner Bros. Art Deco movie palaces, complete with etched-glass chandeliers, elegant staircases and lavish mezzanine lounges. After decades of decline, the theater was purchased by the city of Los Angeles and serves as a movie location and as a revival and an art house.

The Grand screens classics on Fridays. Coming attractions include 1962’s Frank Sinatra film “The Manchurian Candidate” and “Guantanamera!” a 1994 Cuban movie praised for its sharp, witty depiction of life on the communist island.

In Hollywood, American Cinematheque brings together art and campy fun in a classic venue. For 20 years, loyal fans had to tramp all over town to catch a show screened by the nonprofit institution. But the organization is now settled in at the restored Egyptian Theatre, a Hollywood landmark since 1922. The theater inside is state-of-the-art (right down to comfortable megaplex-style seats), but the lobby and courtyard are restored to their classic grandeur.

The Egyptian is part revival house and part art house, but with the kind of Hollywood connections that enable it to, for example, obtain a rare print of “Blade Runner” and get director Scott to discuss it. Another night it can bring together stars and makeup people from “Young Frankenstein.”

There’s no judgment here. All film is celebrated. Screenings of campy sci-fi flicks “Infra-Man” or “Konga” share space with retrospectives of such festival favorites as Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku or Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti. Or a series might be connected to a current movie, say, British spy flicks running while “Austin Powers” plays at the mall.

The Egyptian’s state-of-the-art theater and huge screen--what indie filmmakers lovingly refer to as “the Big House”--give film lovers a better look at movies that might end up on a smaller art-house screen. Or, in the case of some short films, nowhere at all.

“We offer a very pristine screening environment,” said Margot Gerber, Cinematheque’s publicity director and programmer of the alternative and short film series. “A lot of filmmakers can’t believe their film is going to play the Big House.”

It’s the only place to see a movie like “Dead Creatures,” which so far hasn’t broken out as a film festival favorite, and probably won’t.

“It sounds really depressing, but in a good way--a genuinely depressing movie instead of something that’s trying to be,” said Chernov, thumbing through a copy of Fangoria magazine as he waited for the show to start. “I might walk out feeling kind of bummed, but at least I won’t walk out feeling nothing.”

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Times staff writer Kevin Crust contributed to this report.