The Moviegoer, July 16-22
Acropolis Cinema Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong’s 2016 film By the Time it Gets Dark is a risk-taking film that grapples with the horror of the 1976 paramilitary massacre of dozens of Thassanat University students and the artistic dilemma of how to honorably re-create such a moment in history. Suwichakornpong, born the same year as the massacre, uses multiple techniques such as parallel storylines about a young woman trying to make a film about the events, time-lapse shots of fungi growing, and even a clip from Georges Méliès’ “A Trip to the Moon.” This is a rare chance to see a film that screened at the Locarno, Hong Kong and Toronto film festivals. Downtown Independent, 251 S. Main St., Los Angeles. July 18, 8 p.m. $12. www.acropoliscinema.com
Die Hard Year after year, this 1988 Bruce Willis-starring macho, action movie edges up the list of Christmas favorites alongside beloved holiday staples such as “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “White Christmas.” The December-set “Die Hard,” screening as part of EatSeeHear’s annual “Christmas in July” event, is also notable for being the late Alan Rickman’s American big-screen debut in a deliciously menacing turn as bad guy Hans Gruber. Los Angeles State Historic Park, 1245 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. July 22. Doors, 5:30 p.m.; movie, 8:30 p.m. General admission, $14; reserved, $21; children 12 and under, $8. www.eatseehear.com
Family Flicks Vittorio De Sica’s 1951 neo-realist fantasy, Miracle in Milan pits the wide-eyed teenage orphan Totò, his rag-tag group of down-and-out friends, and an enchanted dove against the greedy oilmen who attempt to evict them from their Milanese shantytown. All ages are welcome, but because of the subtitles, the film is recommended for children ages 10+. UCLA Film and TV Archive, Hammer Museum, Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. July 16, 11 a.m. Free. www.hammer.ucla.edu
Paul Newman (as Director) Double Feature Newman cast his wife, Joanne Woodward, and daughter, Nell Potts, in his 1972 film version of Paul Zindel’s Pulitzer-winning play, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, about a shy but brainy teen (Potts) and her more rambunctious sister (Roberta Wallach) who are doing their best to raise themselves in spite of their dysfunctional mother (Woodward). In Sometimes a Great Notion (1970), Newman directs and stars in a drama about an Oregon logging family that refuses to honor the local union’s strike. The film also stars Lee Remick, with Henry Fonda as the stubborn family patriarch. New Beverly Cinema, Beverly Blvd., 7165 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. July 16, 6:30 p.m. July 17, 7:30 p.m. $8. www.thenewbev.com
Retroformat 2017: Silents with Live Music Pioneering director D.W. Griffith made hundreds of silent short films between 1908 and 1914 and this program features several from 1912 including: “The Girl and Her Trust” with Dorothy Bernard, “The Female of the Species” with Claire McDowell and Mary Pickford, and “The Goddess of Sagebrush Gulch” and “The Lesser Evil” starring Griffith favorite, Blanche Sweet. Worth noting is that the shorts are, while perhaps not feminist by modern day standards, all female driven stories. With live accompaniment by Cliff Retallick. American Cinematheque, Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. July 22, 7:30 p.m. $12; $8 for Cinematheque members. www.americancinematheque.com
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