FilmWeek

The topic:
Movies on film are having a resurgence. Just take late year’s biggest movies: One Battle After Another, Sinners, and Marty Supreme. But the craft of screening movies on film is a dying one, with few projectionists experienced enough to handle the delicate prints.
A film stronghold: In L.A., it's the local repertory theaters that have helped maintain the art of film projection with many offering screenings of old movies on vintage prints. The task may be tedious, but for audiences, it’s a striking viewing experience.
Guests: Spencer Christiano, a senior projectionist at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Boris Ibañez, technical director of Vidiots, a repertory theater and DVD/video rental store in Eagle Rock.
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Austin Cross and LAist film critics Claudia Puig, Tim Cogshell, and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.
Films:
Is God Is, Wide Release
Life Hack, In Select Theaters
The Propagandist, Available on select digital platforms
Decorado, In Select Theaters
Silent Friend, AMC Burbank & Laemmle Royal [West LA]
American Agitators, Laemmle Monica Film Center [Santa Monica]
The Wizard of the Kremlin, In Select Theaters
Marty, Life is Short, Streaming on Netflix
Obsession, Wide Release
The A List: 15 Stories from the Asian and Pacific Diasporas, Streaming on HBO Max
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The topic:
Last week, the Academy Awards released new rules for the Oscars. Some of the changes include awarding the director rather than the country for Best International Feature and allowing actors to be nominated for multiple films in the same category, such as Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress.
Other changes: Two of the new rule changes included explicit language about acting performances and screenplays being “demonstratively human” and “human-authored” respectively. These new rules come as the Oscars are planning for a change in venue and a new broadcast partner in YouTube starting in 2029.
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Guest host Austin Cross and LAist film critics Claudia Puig and Peter Rainer review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.
Films:
The Sheep Detectives, Wide Release
Mad Bills to Pay: (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo), Laemmle NoHo, Laemmle Monica Film Center [Santa Monica], and Vidiots [Eagle Rock]
Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour, Wide Release
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause, Laemmle Monica Film Center [Santa Monica]|Airs on PBS May 19 at 9 p.m. ET
Couples Weekend, Available on Digital & VOD
Group: The Schopenhauer Effect Laemmle Monica Film Center [Santa Monica] & Laemmle Royal [West LA]
Mistura, Laemmle Town Center [Encino], Laemmle Monica Film Center [Santa Monica] & Regal Edwards in South Gate
Broad Trip, Streaming on Roku
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In order to keep up with the changing film landscape, Canada’s Motion Picture Bureau was re-established as the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). It was helmed by filmmaker John Grierson, known for coining the term ‘documentary.’ Grierson recruited filmmaker and animator Norman McLaren to lead the NFB’s animation division, and under the two of them, the NFB supported pioneering artists pushing Canadian animation and filmmaking forward. This time on FilmWeek, Larry Mantle speaks with FilmWeek’s own Charles Solomon, animation historian and critic, about his new book “Animation for the People: An Illustrated History of the National Film Board of Canada.”