Nathaniel BellL.A. Weekly's Movie Picks are your look at the hottest films in Los Angeles theaters this week — from indie art-house gems and classics to popcorn-perfect blockbusters and new movies garnering buzz. Check here every week before you make your big-screen plans.
My Lips Betray; Credit: UCLA Film & Television Archive
The UCLA Festival of Preservation, an annual fixture in the City of Angels, has been condensed into a single weekend for the first time. Indicative of the heroic efforts of the UCLA Film & Television Archive to locate and restore as many films as possible for posterity, classic Hollywood favorites stand alongside obscure independent efforts, nonfiction works, television programs, newsreels and cartoons. Kicking off the event is the 1933 music farce My Lips Betray, starring Lilian Harvey, an actress who fled Germany after the rise of the Third Reich.
Perfect Day; Credit: UCLA Film & Television Archive
Sunday afternoon's Laurel & Hardy program will certainly be a highlight of the fest. The duo's comic short Perfect Day, whose restoration was funded by a crowdfunding campaign that successfully raised more than $50,000 last April, plays directly after Battle of the Century, with its once-lost epic pie fight. Delmer Daves' superbly atmospheric noir The Red House also will screen in a new restoration.
Wherever your interests lie, the festival has something to please and delight. Tickets are sold individually, but the best way to experience the event is to purchase the all-access festival pass. UCLA's Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; Fri.-Sun., Feb. 15-17; $10 ($50 festival pass). (310) 206-8013, cinema.ucla.edu.
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