LACMA focuses on Korean oeuvre

South Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo’s “Night and Day” will have its Los Angeles premiere Saturday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Shot on location in Paris, the comedy revolves around a married Korean painter living in exile in the City of Light. Hong will participate in a Q&A; after the screening.

Other Hong films will be screening at LACMA this weekend: “Turning Gate” and “Tale of Cinema” are scheduled for Friday, and “The Power of Kangwon Province” screens Saturday before “Night and Day.” www.lacma.org.

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Class works

The UCLA Film & Television Archive celebrates “School Days,” an eclectic program of films set in a college environment. The festival is in session Friday at UCLA’s Billy Wilder Theater with a newly restored print of 1971’s “Drive, He Said.” Rated X when released, the drama about a college senior who gets involved with radicals and a professor’s wife, marked the directorial debut of Jack Nicholson. William Tepper, Karen Black and Bruce Dern star.

The retrospective continues Sunday with the family-friendly 1925 silent comedy “The Freshman,” starring Harold Lloyd as a college freshman who joins the football team to become popular. Cliff Retallick will supply live musical accompaniment. www.cinema.ucla .edu.

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A Malden tribute

Hollywood lost one of its greatest character actors when Oscar winner Karl Malden died in July at the age of 97. And this weekend, the American Cinematheque pays tribute at the Aero Theatre to this remarkable and versatile performer.

Screening Friday is 1954’s “On the Waterfront,” the best picture Oscar winner directed by Elia Kazan and penned by Budd Schulberg. Malden received an Oscar nomination for his turn as a working-class priest who persuades has- been fighter Terry (Marlon Brando) to quit being a lackey for the dockworker union’s thugs. Following “Waterfront” is the 1961 western “One-Eyed Jacks,” starring and directed by Brando. Malden plays Sheriff Dad Longworth, the former friend of outlaw Rio, played by Brando.

Malden’s Oscar-winning supporting turn as Blanche DuBois’ (Vivien Leigh) hapless suitor Mitch is on display Saturday in 1951’s landmark “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Kazan directed this explosive adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play that also brought Oscars to Leigh and Kim Hunter. Rounding out the bill is Kazan’s 1956 dark comedy “Baby Doll,” starring Carroll Baker as the thumb-sucking child bride of a middle-aged cotton gin owner (Malden).

The legendary MGM art director Cedric Gibbons is feted Saturday afternoon at the Egyptian Theatre by the American Cinematheque and the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. John Thomas, vice president of the society, will discuss the influential art director who incorporated Art Deco designs into his work. “Grand Hotel,” the 1932 all-star melodrama that won the best picture Oscar, will screen after the discussion. www.american cinematheque.com

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susan.king@latimes.com

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THIS WEEKEND

“American Casino” A documentary look at how the greed of Wall Street led to the mortgage crisis.

“Bright Star” The love story between the 19th century Romantic poet John Keats and his young muse.

“The Burning Plain” A woman on the edge takes an emotional journey back to the defining moment of her life.

“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” In this town, food falls from the sky like rain.

“Crude” A look at the oil-related environmental damage in the Ecuadorean Amazon.

“The Informant!” A corporate whistle-blower’s facts keep changing.

“Jennifer’s Body” A high school girl is possessed by a hungry demon.

“Love Happens” A self-help author and a florist who has sworn off men find love.

Also:

“Dil Bole Hadippa”

“Laila’s Birthday”

“Paris”

“You the Living”