Thurs., Jan. 19

The American Cinematheque kicks off the first night of its Luis Buñuel mini-retrospective with L'Age d'Or, his wildly surrealist first feature of thwarted consummation. It's playing on a double bill at the Aero with The Young and the Damned, a work of social realism about the travails of poor children in Mexico City, which earned Buñuel the Best Director award at Cannes in 1951.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian will be showing Frank Perry's terribly rare Last Summer. Not on DVD, this gaze at volatile adolescence stars a young Barbara Hershey, who will be in attendance at the screening.

For Francophiles, the New Beverly has an Isabelle Huppert double feature. Come for Jean-Luc Godard's Every Man for Himself, which views every relationship as a constantly acerbic battle for power. Stay for The Piano Teacher, Michael Haneke's harrowing tale of degradation and desperation.

Fri., Jan. 20

Two classical Hollywood auteurs at the peaks of their careers: Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful and Joseph L. Mankiewicz's All About Eve play at the New Beverly. Employing a Citizen Kane–esque story structure, Minnelli casts a cool glance at the movie industry built around the rise and fall of the megaproducer played by scene-stealing Kirk Douglas, while director-screenwriter Mankiewicz turns his guillotine-sharp dialogue to disemboweling the theater world. Also Sat.

Sat., Jan. 21

The UCLA Film and Television Archive continues its 21-film foray into the crevices of Spencer Tracy's career with screenings of the Preston Sturges–scripted The Power and the Glory and Fritz Lang's first American film, Fury, co-starring Sylvia Sidney.

Sun., Jan 22

See what inspired Martin Scorsese to make Hugo: The Aero has curated a selection of 17 Georges Méliès shorts, screening this afternoon at 5 p.m. — with live musical accompaniment! Amongst a slew of other magical delights, the program includes Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, The Nightmare and The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head. —Veronika Ferdman

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.