Nathaniel BellSaturday, July 14
Saturday night is Tiki Night at the Egyptian Theatre. At 4 p.m., the American Cinematheque will open its famous courtyard to all manner of tiki-related art, memorabilia, clothes and accessories. At 5 p.m., King Kukulele & The Friki Tikis, accompanied by the Polynesian Paradise Dancers, will perform ukulele novelty songs for the enjoyment of all. Two recent documentary shorts will be screened starting at 7:30 in the theater. Bosko is a 30-minute portrait of artist Bosko Hrnjak, who helped revive the ancient art of tiki-carving. A Whimsical Engineer relates, in 29 minutes, the saga of Rolly Crump, the Disney Imagineer responsible for inventing Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room. Both Hrnjak and Crump will tune in (the latter via Skype) for a post-screening Q&A moderated by Denny Moynahan (alias King Kukulele). For those wondering, the courtyard's no-host bar will be open during the festivities. Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; Sat., July 14, 7:30 p.m.; $15. (323) 466-3456, americancinemathequecalendar.com.
Dream Reconstructions; Credit: Béla Balázs Studio
Sunday, July 15
Los Angeles Filmforum presents Dream Reconstructions, an avant-garde feature created by Hungarian architect, artist and filmmaker Miklós Erdély. Finished in 1977, this experimental project revolves around several staged dream sequences, which form a discourse on modes of representation. The evening is a collaboration with the Wende Museum and the Getty Research Institute, in conjunction with the exhibition “Promote, Tolerate, Ban: Art and Culture in Cold War Hungary” at the Wende. Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; Sun., July 15, 7:30 p.m.; $10. (323) 466-3456, lafilmforum.org.
The Land Before Time; Credit: Universal Pictures
Tuesday, July 17
LACMA's Tuesday Matinees series continues its monthlong hat-tip to Don Bluth, the independent animator who rose to prominence in the 1980s after breaking with Disney. This week's screening is The Land Before Time, the 1988 dinosaur adventure executive produced by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. There is a patina of melancholy hanging over this cute kids feature, considering that all the species present will become extinct in a few million years. Children get in for only $2. LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire; Tue., July 17, 1 p.m.; $4. (323) 857-6000, lacma.org.
Don Cheadle, left, and Denzel Washington in Devil in a Blue Dress; Credit: Columbia TriStar
Thursday, July 19
The Aero Theatre launches a generous tribute to Humphrey Bogart, the iconic, cigarette-chewing tough guy of Hollywood's golden age. It begins not with the omnipresent Casablanca but with the gloriously downbeat In a Lonely Place, in which Bogart plays Dixon Steele, a burned-out studio screenwriter embroiled in a murder investigation. Directed by Nicholas Ray, the film essentially replays the director's doomed relationship with Gloria Grahame, who, in a perverse meta-moment, plays opposite Bogart. This powerful and despairing film will be presented in a new-to-L.A. crisp DCP. The second feature of the evening is Deadline U.S.A., in which Bogie plays a newspaper editor determined to go after the ringleader of a successful organized crime unit. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica; Sat., July 19, 7:30 p.m.; $12. (323) 466-3456, americancinemathequecalendar.com.
Laemmle's Throwback Thursdays series offers a screening of Devil in a Blue Dress, the stylish 1995 neo-noir based on Walter Mosley's novel. Denzel Washington plays Easy Rawlins, an ex-G.I. turned private eye navigating the seamy underbelly of postwar South L.A. Director Carl Franklin's talent for character-driven storytelling is in high gear, and he gets a standout performance from Don Cheadle as Easy's trigger-happy associate. Eat/See/Hear will have a food truck in the neighborhood for easy snacking. Laemmle NoHo, 5420 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, Thu., July 19, 7:30 p.m.; $12. (310) 478-3836, laemmle.com.
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