What the eye sees, what the camera sees, what the eye of the beholder of what the camera sees: that’s PhotoLA.
The art renaissance that is taking place in Los Angeles is coming to a momentous peak this January, with PhotoLA the first in a string of large scale events including the LA Art Show, Fabrik Expo, and Art Los Angeles Contemporary, which are all opening this week.
PhotoLA was held last weekend at The Reef, the cavernous 2nd floor space at LA Mart in DTLA. The opening night gala, benefiting Best Buddies, was crowded for the event’s tribute to Los Angeles artist James Welling.
The city’s longest-running art fair, PhotoLA ran the gamut of cutting edge pieces, historical photos, stunning landscapes, political art, abstract photos, and pop art. Eclectic panels populated the weekend, too, including provocative subjects such as “The Instagram Effect: How Instagram is Changing the Way We See Photography”; “Robert Mapplethorpe: Beyond Good and Evil”; and “Artists Take Issue: Perspectives and Practices in Activist Photography.”
What was our take? A wide range of exceptional pieces, with a number of standout independent photographers and curated group exhibitions.
The honoree of the opening gala, James Welling. This post-modern photographic artist has a storied career experimenting with a variety of photographic mediums from digital prints to Polaroids.
Some visual highlights: below, the haunting and riveting work of Kathy Curtis Cahill, whose art is dedicated to revealing “how fragile young children are, and how everything matters in the home environment.”
Fascinating historical photos – and the music of David Bowie.
Photo Pop Art – the striking and amusing work of Marianne Hess.
National Geographic landscape stunners – sometimes a straight forward shot of natural beauty evokes feelings beyond what is seen.
Below: a delightfully different approach to scene: the fine work of Osceola Refetoff, also a panel speaker on activist photography moderated by Shana Nys Dambrot. Refetoff’s work, among other cutting edge pieces, was curated by VICA, the non-profit Venice Institute of Contemporary Art.
Below: the opening night crowd viewing PhotoLA – reflected in a San Francisco skyline.
Artist Jeffry Sklan’s enormous – and enormously beautiful flowers, below. Impressive detail and color.
Artist Sklan below – photo by Nina Bonyak
To sum up: Photo LA presented an international eye on the world, vibrating through the lens of many Los Angeles area curators and artists. What you see is literally what you “get” out of interpreting an artist’s own unique vision of the world.
Moving, strange, mythic, and beautiful, Lamb takes the novel of the same name by Bonnie Nadzam and crafts superior cinema that will have viewers talking for a long time.
Enjoying what you’re reading? Support this blog by clicking on an ad – your email will not be saved, there’s nothing to buy – just click!
Viewed at a screening held at the Cinefamily in LA – with a robust q and a led by Mark and Jay Duplass, close friends with star and director Ross Partridge – Lamb evoked a hushed, palpable tension in the audience. Would the unthinkable happen? Would the balance tip?
Partridge plays 47-year-old David Lamb, dealing with the recent loss of his father, about to be divorced, holding his office-romance lover at bay. That’s the back story, but the tale being told is that of his unlikely relationship with 11-year-old Tommie (the brilliant Oona Lawrence.) Their friendship is based on mutual loneliness, on Tommie’s desire to be noticed – her mother and mom’s boyfriend are dismissive – and on David’s desire to…be a father figure? Brother? Reconnect with his own painfully lost childhood? Something darker?
Soon David invites her to join him on a trip out west to his family’s cabin, just for a few days. Tommie agrees, and a nerve-wracking but surfacely beautiful – and chaste – idyll occurs, interrupted when David’s girlfriend arrives for a surprise visit.
Both Lawrence and Partridge are riveting, and pity, loathe, fear, or be charmed by David, the film takes you on a ride right along with the characters, in a relationship which walks a very fine line indeed between platonic, profound love and emotional abuse.
The beautifully shot and acted film was filmed in just 18 days. Partridge discussed the making of the film and the role of Lamb. “When you put an 11-year-old and a 47-year-old man together on screen, you have to find deep psychological contexts. You play it as honest as possible with this crazy conflicted person that David is, but you don’t instantly judge the character. I was compelled to do the story,” he explains.
With a shoot that fast paced, Partridge had to just “trust the process. There was no time for playback.”
So was David’s relationship to Tommie ultimately good for the girl? “When rehearsing with Oona, I had to believe it was as an actor. The story is truly about two people who didn’t get the love they needed as children. For David, this is his last attempt to do something that in his mind, in his broken world, was seen as salvation.”
Lamb is available on VOD – watch it, and get ready to think about it, discuss it, and recommend it.
Enjoying what you’re reading? Support this blog by clicking on an ad – your email will not be saved, there’s nothing to buy – just click!
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.
