When this old world starts getting you down, just like Carole King sings – go up on the roof! Even better, go up on the roof and watch a movie.
Where can you go to watch a film with the glittering skyline of Hollywood soaring around you? Have a gourmet burger, nitro frozen custard, sip mixologist specials, craft and specialty beer — all from the comfort of a luxurious striped Brighton Beach deck chair?
That would be the Rooftop Film Club at The Montalban Theater, where an astro-turfed roof-top becomes the ultimate in plush outdoor movie going.
Yes, the weather has turned a bit chilly in LA but there’s a complimentary micro-fiber blanket to keep you warm. We were in great shape to snuggle up and enjoy a movie.
We attended on Halloween, when the rooftop deck was decorated with fluffy ghosts and black cats, and many of the guests came clad in film-themed costumes- saw several Audrey Hepburn’s, and as the film screening was Beetlejuice, a number of Michael Keaton clones.
I love outdoor films, and have long been a fan of the screening series in the unique and well curated Cinespia location at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. But there are always certain drawbacks that I reluctantly note there: the wait to get in and mad-dash for the best picnic spots, carrying your own chairs, packing your own picnic, and that occasionally robust group of chatty film-goers to avoid.
Rooftop Film Club gives you great retro films, and the comfort of a theater – only even better. Cutting edge technology in the form of wireless headphones means the sound is always crisp and clear, and even if people are ordering drinks at the bar or munching on their popcorn, candy, or dinners, you can’t hear them. That might be the biggest selling point for me: outdoor experience, indoor audio.
Speaking again of food, the provider is Haché LAout of Silver Lake, known for their delicious burgers. We loved the Veggie Burger, crafted from barley and leeks – no soy. A slightly spicy edge from their Karma Sauce added extra flavor to a crisp, tasty veg entree. Carnivores will be delighted with their gourmet steak burgers, too. All burgers come on a fresh baked and light signature bun, and include tomato, cheese, onion and lettuce. We also loved the tangy fresh guac and chips; the cookie butter frozen custard is wonderfully light and sweet. We combined our meal with Modern Times IPAs from the rooftop bar. While food service closes come screen time, the bar is open for additional libations. We tried the Beetlejuice-centric red pomegranate and champagne cocktail. All first rate, quickly provided, and just a short stroll down the aisle from our seats.
Picture quality is excellent, screen-time is prompt, and what’s better than watching a movie under the stars, with pristine audio, great snacks, and – that skyline.
It’s kind of a thrill to look around you at Hollywood’s glitter – which does not, thankfully, impact screen image due to thoughtful screen positioning – and be watching something that Hollywood itself has crafted.
This is the last official weekend for Rooftop Film Club, with screenings tonight through Sunday of true Hollywood classics:
Friday, November 6, 2015: Casablanca, Saturday, November 7, 2015: Some Like It Hot, Sunday, November 8, 2015: Sunset Boulevard
But if you can’t make it this season, there’s next spring, summer, and early fall to look forward to. Just be sure to put Rooftop Film Club at the top of your unconventional cinema list.
Sunday night at the new UCB Sunset theater in Los Angeles, the comedy wasn’t on stage, as it usually is – it was on screen. And in the red carpet line and at the after-party. The occasion: the premiere of “A Better You,” directed by UCB co-founder Matt Walsh, co-written by Walsh and star Brian Huskey. A full review is also up on this blog: bottom line, yes, it was hilarious. How could it not be, with a cast that included Andy Daly (Review), Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine Nine), Erin Hayes (Children’s Hospital), Morgan Walsh (Hotwives of Orlando) — plus the improv-sketch-comedy scripting UCB has long championed. Co-producer Anthony D’Alessandro kept the press line and interviews moving, aptly describing the film as “A comedy about alternative therapy, Matt Walsh’s second directorial effort. He’s like Altman, he puts a cast together fast, no waiting around, says everyone let’s show up, and shoots it in a week.” The film may well have viewers laughing longer than it took to film the project.
The stars weigh in on the film, film-making and life in LA.
Director, co-writer, and co-star – and UCB co-founder, Matt Walsh
Matt Walsh
“I hope people laugh and enjoy it,” Walsh said simply of the film, which opens Friday on VOD and in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Music Hall.
Inspiration? “I live in Los Angeles, but I grew up in Chicago, where if there’s something troubling you, you see the psychiatrist or the doctor. Here you might see your trainer or your acupuncturist. There’s a whole list of choices,” he notes. “I was a psych major in college which was also a factor. Brian and I created the character of Dr. Ron – a hypnotherapist with a self-published book and a mom and pop business. We spent a lot of time researching alternative therapy in Los Angeles.”
Casting? “Pretty much everyone from Brian to Horatio Sanz, we’ve all been friends for years. Seth Morris, Mo Gaffney – she’s the godmother to two of my children. I was kind of like The Godfather. I told people to do this movie or else, and they complied. So that’s how we got our cast together. Brian and I wrote the project with him in most of the scenes, so he could make a lot of the improv choices, and really keep the film together. Once we got on set, we’d rehearse the instructions and improvised story, and then we’d film.”
Sum up the story? “It’s a simple story of a man whose life has collapsed, trying to save himself.”
A new project in the works? “Maybe my third movie will be about that guy in Colorado whose cattle were grazing on federal land.” Walsh is also working on Veep, and the new Ghostbusters film, but is planning to get to work on another script next year.
Andy Daly – Dr. Ron’s nemesis neighbor
Andy Daly
Daly plays the role of hilariously obnoxious neighbor Joel in the film, and is the star and creator of Comedy Central’s Review.
How was making A Better You? “Matt Walsh honestly creates an incredible environment to improvise. I think the movie reflects that comfort level and spirit.”
What’s new for Review? “All of Season Two has aired on Comedy Central now, and we’re waiting to hear if we get to make a third season. I couldn’t be more proud of it, whatever happens.”
Brian Huskey, star and co-writer
Brian Huskey
The co-writer/star of A Better You carries the film, it’s tough to take your eyes off of him as he pushes the limits of comedy to the edge of tragedy and back, giving us loneliness, heartbreak, and inept, self-involved wannabe-guru all at once.
How did the project get started? “Well, Matt had an idea about a guru, who thinks he can heal others but can’t heal himself. The film grew out of that idea, with my character, Dr. Ron completely in denial.”
Shoot length? “12 days. Which was long enough in the wig.” Huskey’s character wears an obvious toupee through most of the film. “Wearing the wig was hot and it was sweaty. It more or less gave me a different dimension for the character though; costuming is really about changing yourself.”
Personal epiphany? “I was going through a divorce myself when we shot the film, so it was a pretty meta experience. As I was doing it, seeing this guy not dealing with himself, it was intense. But it was good for me to have that personal access to the character, even if it wasn’t entirely easy. During the time we were shooting, my daughter would stay with my ex while I was working. I really got into a frame of mind where it was all about the work. You focus on that. ”
Working with Matt Walsh? “Matt did an amazing job, editor Jay Daniels did, too. He did a great job of restructuring and balancing the film, giving it the right rhythm.”
What do you think happened to Dr. Ron after the movie ended? “After the film ended, he went out with his (former patient) Lindsey for awhile, then she got more confident, and the relationship changed, and Dr. Ron had to change himself again. His changing on screen – that’s not the last time he has to go through that kind of alteration.”
Morgan Walsh, Dr. Ron’s wife, Margo
Morgan Walsh
Walsh plays Dr. Ron’s restless and ready-to-move-on wife, Margo. She’s essentially the straight-man here, leading Dr. Ron, their marriage counselor, and their children, onto more serious and stable territory.
How was it working with your husband as director? “We’re all friends, we’re all team players. It was a small budget film, with a big, fun, creative environment. I’ve been acting a long time, and I don’t always feel super comfortable in a role. Matt has such a gift, he’s a great director and great at improv. I knew Matt and the cast would take care of me in the more difficult scenes.”
What happened to Margo after the film ended? “I think she was very happy moving on with her life and her career. I think she was very happy as a single mom, sharing co-parenting with Dr. Ron but living her own life. Maybe she writes her own self-help book and goes on a book tour.”
Also at the premiere:
Kirk Roos, Producer (High Road, The Brass Teapot)
Tony Hale (Veep)
Gary Cole (Veep) “I had to come see this venture. I haven’t been to a crazy therapist. I can only imagine.”
David Wain (Wanderlust)
Mo Gaffney – the verbose patient, and Walsh family friend
Mo Gaffney (Dr. Ron’s unstoppable-talker patient, Veep) goofing around with Morgan Walsh
Kevin Weisman (Scorpion)
Nate Corddry (Ghostbusters)
Owen Burke (Handyman Hugo’s friend)
Riki Lindhome (Obnoxious neighbor Joel’s wife, Another Period)
Therapist to the therapist
Joe Lo Truglio (Dr. Ron and wife’s marriage counselor/psych, Brooklyn Nine Nine)
Seth Morris (Children’s Hospital, Kroll Show)
Nick Kroll (Stuttering patient, Kroll Show, The League)
Paul Scheer (The League)
Jason Mantzoukas (The League)
After Party – Photos: Jack Burke
You won’t get to try the delicious macaroni and cheese on hand at the after-party, but you should see the film anyway. And laugh.
Brian Huskey, star and co-writer of A Better You – Photo – Jack Burke
Releasing Friday, October 9th, this hilarious, low-budget indie relies on the talents of many Upright Citizen Brigade comedy theater alums and their friends. With a stellar cast that includes star and co-writer Huskey, co-writer and director Walsh, and Walsh’s wife, Morgan Walsh, the film is a fresh look at the often-crazy reliance on self-help gurus that is part of the Los Angeles scene. Supporting cast includes Review‘s Andy Daly and Brooklyn Nine Nine’s Joe Lo Truglio, and SNL‘s Horatio Sands, but it’s Huskey’s movie and he runs with it.
Matt Walsh – director/co-writer of A Better You and wife/co-star Morgan Walsh – Photo – Jack Burke
Dr. Ron Knight (Huskey, Veep, Neighbors, Another Period) portrays a Los Angeles hypnotherapist with an self-published self-help book, a bevy of suggestible clients, and even more ads on bus stop benches. Maybe he’s onto something with his fast-track hypnosis and his call to patients that they should “wake up, wake up, wake up,” but maybe he’s not. He’s definitely clueless when it comes to his own marriage and relationships.
In the throes of a divorce from wife Margo (Morgan Walsh, Hot Wives of Orlando), Huskey reaches out to his handyman (Sanz), his patients – including pretty young Lindsay (Erinn Hayes, Children’s Hospital), and even his hilariously anal, pompous, and generally obnoxious neighbor (Daly).
Along with Dr. Ron’s misguided, sometimes poignant misadventures, the film pokes genial fun at the uniquely Los Angeles alternative help craze – it’s not just the M.D. or the shrink you can turn to when you have gurus and personal trainers peddling their quick fixes as well.
A Better You is director/co-writer Walsh’s second feature, and along with Huskey, the pair created the frame work for the fully improvised script, following the precepts of sketch comedy that UCB has made famous in LA and NYC. Funded on Indiegogo, this low budget fun-fest among talented friends will keep you laughing in the theater or on VOD; theatrical release in Los Angeles will be at Laemmle’s Music Hall in Beverly Hills.
Dances with Films dances with pure delight. If you have to pick one film festival to attend, pick this one. Indie films you won’t see anywhere else, some as perfectly honed and crafted as anything you’d see in the multi-plex – except more interesting; others showing a more home-made vibe. But every one worthy of watching.
I’m a veteran of Sundance, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and AFI – and I had no idea what to expect out of Dances with Films. What I got was an eclectic, lovingly curated explosion of cinematic story-telling from shorts to features, screened over eleven days. Founded eighteen years ago by filmmakers Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent, the festival more than lives up to its goals of being a prime source of great talent.
Held late May through early June at the TCL Chinese Theaters in Hollywood, there were a lot of standouts in the 2015 selections.
Cast and Crew of Echo Lake
Echo Lake, written and directed by Jody McVeigh-Schultz, is a poignant, taut coming-of-age-late and getting in touch with your demons story about a 30-year-old functioning alcoholic, an inherited cabin, and a lost – and found – dog. It’s a vibrant, heart-filling film with a lot of laughs in with the darkness.
Strangers love in Fools
Benjamin Meyer’s Fools is a chance meeting love story set in Chicago about two strangers who randomly come together, live together, and fall in love. Witty, sharp, both romantic and decidedly unromantic, this is a relationship story that takes you along for the ride.
In Stereo is all about relationships – and relationships in New York
Mel Rodriguez III is the force behind In Stereo, the tale of David and Brenda, who may or may not be perfect for each other, even after they rekindle a past romance. This very New York tale dissects the human condition and gets under your skin the way the main characters get under each others.
Superior acting makes the film Superior a mighty coming-of-age treat
Edd Benda’s 1969-set Superior takes a 1,300 mile bike ride around Lake Superior, two best friends, and the looming shadow of the Vietnam War, and blends them seamlessly into a moving comedy drama about hard choices and true friendship.
Lots of laughs and screams in Bad Exorcist
Bad Exorcists, filmmaker Kyle Steinbach’s horror comedy about awkward teens making a horror movie and igniting their lead actress’ own possession, is fresh, funny, and scary, too.
Powerful film-making for Wildlike
If I had to pick one film as a favorite, it would be the astonishing Wildlike, an unlikely and breathtaking drama about a troubled teen’s escape from an abusive uncle, her survival in the Alaskan wilderness, and her moving friendship with a recent widower. Frank Hall Green has written and directed a simply stunning film – see it in theaters and VOD this October. Star Ella Purnell is poised to be a breakout.
Barn Wedding was a do-it-yourself affair
Also viewed: infidelity and a home-made, Pinterest-style wedding cross paths in the comedy-drama Barn Wedding; an estranged brother and sister must solve their deceased father’s annual treasure hunt to receive their inheritance in The Last Treasure Hunt; Lola’s Last Letter is a compelling micro-budgeted tale of an ex-con’s confessions on camera; Kathleen Behun’s 21 Days is the length of a nail-biting, scream-inducing paranormal challenge to stay closed in a haunted house.
Micro-budget meets multi-talents in Lola’s Last Letter
La Toya Jackson lends her support to writer/director Kathleen Behun’s chilling supernatural 21 DaysFestival Shorts captivated
The shorts program was equally compelling, with standouts including Madam Black, the surprisingly sweet and funny tale of a dead cat and true love; The Girl in the Green Dress, a Stepford-wives-esque tale of repressed feminism and sexual liberation; the buzzy Shevenge, directed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Amber Bensen, a short but hilarious comedy about women’s revenge on their men; and Selling Rosario, detailing the hard choices made by a family of migrant workers and their faith in a brighter future for their daughter.
Look for these films and these filmmakers; and get ready to dance with films yourself in 2016.
Genie Davis; all photos Jack Burke (copyright Jack Burke)
