Friday, Oct. 31

If you're averse to traditional horror films but still want to spend Halloween at the movies, try Old Town Music Hall's 8:15 p.m. screening of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The legendary comedy duo encounter a trifecta of classic Universal monsters (Frankenstein, the Wolfman and Dracula) to produce a balance between laughs and screams that's a lot more family-friendly than the rest of your viewing options on this most spooky of holidays. More information is available at oldtownmusichall.org/films.html.

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Saturday, Nov. 1

Hollywood is where wide-eyed dreamers go to become stars. In Mulholland Drive, it’s also where their dreams are slowly turned into something more sinister. Though mesmerizingly beautiful, the results are still akin to nightmares. Entire websites have been devoted to figuring out just what happens in David Lynch’s epochal rumination on the darker shades of Los Angeles and the film industry it houses, none of which can fully convey just what an emotional experience this is. There's no time like the present if you’ve never gone for this particular night ride, as Cinefamily’s midnight showing is relevant to your interests as both a moviegoer and an Angeleno. For full details, visit cinefamily.org/films/heavy-hitter-midnites/#heavy-midnites-mulholland-dr.

Sunday, Nov. 2

Michelangelo Antonioni’s first English-language film, Blow-Up, is arguably his most well-known and enduring as well. This story of an in-demand fashion photographer who becomes convinced he's unknowingly documented a murder was so controversial that it was partially responsible for phasing out the longstanding Production Code (which refused to approve it) in favor of the MPAA rating system we all know and loathe today. Former Weekly film critic Karina Longworth will be on hand at the Aero to introduce the film and sign her new book Hollywood Frame by Frame: The Unseen Silver Screen in Contact Sheets, 1951-1997 at 6:30 p.m., so get there early. More info at americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/blow-up-0.

law logo2x bTuesday, Nov. 4

Speaking of controversial, Alfred E. Green's Pre-Code landmark Baby Face screens at LACMA at 1 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon. Barbara Stanwyck stars as a beautiful woman whose impoverished father sold her body to his customers from the age of 14 on, an unfortunate skill she takes with her to the corporate world once the old man dies. This salacious material was so scandalous that it actually helped bring about the Production Code that Blow-Up was partially responsible for ending. In addition to its heavily implied sex scenes, Baby Face earned the ire of censors for its allusions to Nietzsche and the friendly relationship Stanwyck's character has with a black woman. The philosophical passages were altered, as was the ending, and the original version remained lost until just ten years ago. Avail yourself of it now. To learn more, check out lacma.org/event/baby-face.

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