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Series co-presented by Don't Knock The Rock, Pimpadelic Wonderland and Dublab

Garage Rock is everything that "Sgt. Pepper" isn't. Unlike what was heard on mainstream radio at the time, this primitive form of angsty ear-shredding straight-up rock 'n roll was not polished--it was crude, loud and simple. It was neither the Byrds nor the Beatles--this was the music that parents really, really hated. And, just a few years after its short life cycle, it was taken off the shelf, dusted off and called "Punk". Its overpowering immediacy is the real reason why still, even today, forty years later, the racket made by unknown schmoes who only know three chords and shouted their lyrics are still loved today.

1/15 @ 8pm / SERIES: Garage D'Or
Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback
Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback tells of one of the strangest bands ever to hit rock 'n roll. Formed by five American G.I.s stationed in Hamburg in the mid-'60s, the band came up through the nightclub scene, looking for an edge to catch the eye of disaffected German youth. Their answer? Shaving their heads and wearing noose-necked robes as "The Monks", a primitive, reductio-ad-absurdum version of early psych rock. Songs like "Shut Up" and "Complication" paired blasting feedback with stomping rhythms and anti-war sentiment--a sound they and their Nietzchean manager Kurt called "The Over-Beat". This doc tells their story, stranger perhaps than their music. How did a band this weird ever end up on German T.V., at a dinner party with the cream of the German intelligentsia, open for the Kinks and show a young Jimi Hendrix how to use a wah-wah pedal? The Transatlantic Feedback may give us the answers, but you'll have a hard time believing your ears.
Dirs. Dietmar Post & Lucia Palacios, 2006, 100 min.
Tickets - $10

1/22 @ 8pm / SERIES: Garage D'Or
1960s Garage Mix Night
We've clicked the garage door opener, and trawled through dusty boxes to bring you the awesomest vintage video nuggets we could grab.The night's mix includes clips from: Dom Kallar Oss Mods, an obscure Swedish doc featuring the Lea Riders Group that covers the lives of the aimless youth on the streets of Stockholm; Kiddie-A-Go-Go, a '60s Chicago variation on Romper Room where garage bands would play for gyrating five-year-olds; Beloved Invaders, which documents The Ventures' tour of Japan; movie musical moments from Japan's "Group Sound" scene, with bands like The Spiders and The Tigers; highlights from Dame Un Poco De Amooor...!, the lone vehicle for Los Bravos, Spain's answer to the Monkees; and, in its entirety, the 40-minute doc Little Black Egg, about the song of the same name first done by The Nightcrawlers (who took it into the Billboard Top 100), which has long been a garage covers standard.
Tickets - $10

1/29 @ 8pm / SERIES: Garage D'Or
Riot On Sunset Strip
shown with
Bummer
The real-life '66 Hollywood youth culture "hippie riots" formed the conveinent basis for Riot On Sunset Strip, an entertaining case of AIP producer Sam Katzman cashing in right at the crucial flashpoint of teenage fads. Aldo Ray stars as the cop stuck in the middle between obsequious peaceniks and bloodthirsty "Normals", and Mimsy Farmer is his long-lost rebellious daughter who, after getting dosed at a party, gets tossed into an transcendentally hardcore trip sequence, a fetishistic heaven for fans of the form. Performances by The Chocolate Watchband and The Standells bookend the madness. Going toe-to-toe on the madness tip is Bummer!, which thoroughly lives up to its title. "The Group", a scrungy go-nowhere L.A. band, features a fat, ugly drunken bassist named Butz who's got more in common with De Sade than Dee Dee Ramone. No groupies will fuck him, so he starts raping them. Enjoy!
Riot On Sunset Strip Dir. Arthur Dreifuss, 1967, 35mm, 87 min.
Bummer Dir. William Allen Castleman, 1973, 35mm, 90 min.
Tickets - $10

Released in the early days of talkies, before Hollywood censors took an ax to all forms of lascivious wit, Ernst Lubitsch's musical comedies have enough cunning and sparkle to turn modern audiences every which way but loose. These are dazzling examples of the form--not surprising, considering that their creator went on to wow the film world with the "Lubitsch Touch," an ineffable balance of comedy, sophistication, edge, and sweetness that's never really been replicated (though many have tried). Almost 80 years since hitting the silver screen, these films still pulse with the deep joy that only the marriage of melody and comedy can produce. They'll leave you smiling for days, and humming for weeks.

2/5 @ 8pm / SERIES: Lubitsch Musicals
The Merry Widow
Among the many adaptations of this much-loved Franz Lehár operetta, Ernst Lubitsch's version is best remembered--it's a dazzlingly elegant whirlwind of a film, down to the tips of Maurice Chevalier's shoes. Lubitsch paired the archetypal suave Frenchman with the incomparable Jeanette MacDonald, who plays wealthy widow Sonia, the main taxpayer for the tiny kingdom of Marshovia. When she leaves for Paris to marry again, Marshovia's king realizes the monetary threat this poses to his realm and sends Count Danilo, played by Chevalier, to woo her back. Romance and musical magic ensues, climaxing in the famous "Merry Widow Waltz" sequence. Always obsessive about the details, Lubitsch topped things off with stunning art direction by Cedric Gibbons and Gabriel Sconamillo, and gowns by Adrian, the quintessential face of '30s high fashion.
Dir. Ernst Lubitsch, 1934, 35mm, 99 min.
Tickets - $10

2/12 @ 8pm / SERIES: Lubitsch Musicals
One Hour With You
An earlier pair-up of Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, this Lubitsch gem is a sophisticated, saucy musical comedy of manners, with a oddly charming "European" view on fidelity. This pre-code era love-quadrangle is lighthearted, peppered with the risque dialogue and clever musical numbers that made early thirties films such a perfect escape for Depression-era audiences. Chevalier and MacDonald shine as wealthy Dr. Andre Bertier and his wife Colette, two happily married charmers who, unsurprisingly, have some trouble beating their suitors off with sticks. Today, MacDonald is best remembered for her operatic, fussy performances with Nelson Eddy, but One Hour with You shows her as a witty comedienne who's as sexy and alluring as a slinky negligee.
Dirs. Ernst Lubitsch & George Cukor, 1932, 35mm, 80 min
Tickets - $10

2/19 @ 8pm / SERIES: Lubitsch Musicals
The Smiling Lieutenant
In his third musical, Lubitsch spiced up the formula with a twist ending that's unconventional even by today's standards. Sensational musical numbers, including the memorable "Jazz up Your Lingerie", complete the unusual sensibility of The Smiling Lieutenant. Three iconic '30s talents appear at the start of their careers in turns that are ripe with sophisticated comedy and naughty innuendo. While marching in a parade, Maurice Chevalier's roguish lieutenant smiles and winks at the object of his affection, bohemian violinist Franzi (Claudette Colbert). The flirtatious gesture is misinterpreted by visiting Princess Anna of Flausenthurm (Miriam Hopkins). Niki is forced into an unhappy marriage with the princess, a woman whose dowdy naivete contrasts starkly with Franzi's saucy joie de vivre. We won't give the risque finale away, but be assured that the resolution is as pre-Code as they come.
Dir. Ernst Lubitsch, 1931, 35mm, 89 min.
Tickets - $10

2/26 @ 8pm / SERIES: Lubitsch Musicals
The Love Parade
Restored 35mm print courtesy of UCLA Film And Television Archive

An early talkie brought to wonderful life by its music, The Love Parade was Lubitsch's first foray into the genre, starring (who else?) Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, the latter in her very first film. The plot is classic and clever: Count Alfred, the Paris emissary of mythical Sylvania, is called back home due to his scandalous life abroad. Queen Louise takes a liking to him, and marries him. Rather than inheriting a kingdom, the Count is shoved into the role of "prince consort", a sort of male First Lady. Manly Alfred resents taking orders while Louise gets to run the kingdom, and the battle of the sexes rages over the course of several charming, effervescent musical numbers. In true form, Lubitsch has the last laugh in this parade, filming the ending reconciliation as a reversal of the first wooing scene between the Count and Queen.
Dir. Ernst Lubitsch, 1929, 35mm, 107 min.
Tickets - $10

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