June 2026

Recommendations

Top Picks by Theater Top Picks by Date

Monthly Recs Video

Top picks by Theater

2220 Arts + Archives

•

The 21st Century Odyssey

(

Smith/Johnson, 2007

)

•

@lafilmforum @eztv_museum @hollyw00dentertainment

Sunday

•

The 21st Century Odyssey

(

Smith/Johnson, 2007

)

@lafilmforum @eztv_museum @hollyw00dentertainment

The good folk of Hollywood Entertainment and LA Film Forum have a truly unique movie screening at 2220 this month of, apparently, a woman’s home video sort of travelogues from the 90s including a trip to the infamous Biosphere outside Tucson, Arizona.

•

Three Bewildered People in the Night

(

Araki, 1987

)

•

@_dirtylooks_

Sunday

•

Three Bewildered People in the Night

(

Araki, 1987

)

@_dirtylooks_

A Greg Araki movie I had never heard of is, THREE BEWILDERED PEOPLE IN THE NIGHT, plays late in the month at 2220 presented by Dirty Looks. Sometimes this type of first film have stayed unknown for a reason but I’m willing to give it a go for the Araki of it all.

American Cinemateque

•

The Man Who Wasn't There

(

Coens, 2001

)

Monday

•

The Man Who Wasn't There

(

Coens, 2001

)

BLEAK WEEK FESTIVAL OF DESPAIR

THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE starring Billy Bob Thornton as the titular chain smoking barber floating through 50s life in a small central California town. It’s not one of the more popularly screened Coen Brothers titles and it drew my attention for that reason. It’s kind of a “Oh, yeah, that movie” sense I get when being reminded of its existence.

It falls in the ‘lesser screened’ category for a variety of reasons, it’s in black and white for one. The other being that it’s not as delightful a comedy/noir combo as FARGO - it’s dark, depressing and understated. Thus, it’s a perfect way to start Bleak Week. Billy Bob is great in it but I remember Tony Shaloub and Scarlett Johansson’s small turns equally. I’m really interested to revisit it in a theater. I saw it on its initial run at a small one screen art theater in San Francisco and am curious to see if it has got legs that might see its status elevate in the coming years.

The Bleak Week phenomenon continues unabated in its 5th year, having morphed from a simple one week affair at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles to a Global Film Fest. If you’ve got a reputable art house in your town they’re almost certainly getting in on the action.

The origin story of Bleak Week has been told enough times now that I won’t go deep into but basically the American Cinematheque was opening back up its theaters in 2021 during Covid and planning an escapist entertainment sort of thing when they said screw it and leaned into the Covid of it all and decided to only play the most brutal Bela Tarr type films of despair they could think of. The audience loved it and tickets are tough to come by these days.

•

Elle

(

Verhoeven, 2016

)

Wednesday

•

Elle

(

Verhoeven, 2016

)

BLEAK WEEK FESTIVAL OF DESPAIR

Isabelle Huppert is getting a well deserved Bleak Week tribute as she seems pulled toward the dark ambiguous kind of movies that one finds in this fest. Verhoeven’s ELLE (2016) is one of the more recent titles being played and I was excited to see its inclusion. The film seems to have been forgotten a bit in the confusion of what cinema would be in the 2010s. I mostly remember Huppert as being the head of a video game company and simply liked that as a dramatic jum[ing off point. The weird psycho sexual thriller it becomes is just a nice add after that.

•

Mother Joan of The Angels

(

Kawalerowicz, 1961

)

35mm Nitrate

Saturday

•

Mother Joan of The Angels

(

Kawalerowicz, 1961

)

35mm Nitrate

BLEAK WEEK FESTIVAL OF DESPAIR

MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS (1961) directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz is a polish film about demonic possession amongst nuns in the 1600s. Great. And it’s on 35mm nitrate, beaucoup.

•

Letter from a Dead Man

(

Lopushansky, 1986

)

Sunday

•

Letter from a Dead Man

(

Lopushansky, 1986

)

BLEAK WEEK FESTIVAL OF DESPAIR

LETTERS FROM A DEAD MAN is a Russian film from 1986 directed by Konstantin Lopushansky about a group of people living in an underground bunker post-apocalypse. A man writes letters to his son he’s been cut off from (and is presumably dead). At only 88 minutes it’s a bit on the shorter side of a typical Bleak Week entry and for those subjecting themselves to the days of film despair it might be a needed quick hitter.

Art Theatre of Long Beach

•

Mel Brooks' 100th Birthday Double Feature

16mm

Sunday

•

Mel Brooks' 100th Birthday Double Feature

16mm

Long Beach is honoring the Brooks century mark with a secret double feature on 16mm. THE PRODUCERS? BLAZING SADDLES? HIGH ANXIETY?

The Eastwood

•

TESTING

(

Thomas, 2024

)

testing2

(

professor 1732

)

testing3testing

(

probaman, 1941

)

•

additional something

•

TESETTESTR in person

•

@tester tetster @LKFDJoi

Silent + Live Score

Tuesday

•

TESTING

(

Thomas, 2024

)

testing2

(

professor 1732

)

testing3testing

(

probaman, 1941

)

additional something

TESETTESTR in person

@tester tetster @LKFDJoi

Silent + Live Score

BLEAK WEEK FESTIVAL OF DESPAIR

Gardena Cinema

•

The Room

(

Wiseau, 2003

)

Big Shark

(

Wiseau, 2023

)

•

Greg Sestero in person

Saturday

•

The Room

(

Wiseau, 2003

)

Big Shark

(

Wiseau, 2023

)

Greg Sestero in person

THE ROOM (2003) plays a lot in Los Angeles (maybe even more than any other movie?) so it’s the double bill element of Tommy Wiseau’s other feature film effort, BIG SHARK (2023) and THE ROOM star Greg Sestero in person that put this on the calendar for me. From what I’ve heard of BIG SHARK it suffers from the perpetual problem of the cult/bad taste filmmaker, can you create “bad” if you know you’re doing it? Let’s find out.

New Beverly Cinema

–

•

Blonde Ransom

(

Beaudine, 1945

)

The Crime of the Century

(

Beaudine, 1933

)

35mm

Thursday

–

Friday

•

–

Blonde Ransom

(

Beaudine, 1945

)

The Crime of the Century

(

Beaudine, 1933

)

35mm

The New Beverly is revisiting their William Beaudine retrospective from April, reshowing two of the best discoveries from the series, BLONDE RANSOM and THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY. I was lucky enough to see BLONDE RANSOM and it was one of the most unique genre hybrids I’ve ever seen, part Noir, part screwball, part Paramount musical numbers in the oddest moments. It’s a must if you didn’t catch it earlier this year.

Now Instant Image Hall

•

Tras-os-Montes

(

Cordeiro/Reis, 1976

)

Tuesday

•

Tras-os-Montes

(

Cordeiro/Reis, 1976

)

The Portuguese married filmmaking team of António Reis & Margarida Cordeiro are getting a three film series at Now Instant. I’ve never heard of them even though they are acclaimed figures within Portugal. Worth checking one out for sure.

Top picks by Date

•

Monday

The Man Who Wasn't There

(

Coens, 2001

)

The Man Who Wasn't There

(

Coens, 2001

)

Showing at:

American Cinemateque

BLEAK WEEK FESTIVAL OF DESPAIR

•

Wednesday

Elle

(

Verhoeven, 2016

)

Elle

(

Verhoeven, 2016

)

Showing at:

American Cinemateque

BLEAK WEEK FESTIVAL OF DESPAIR

•

Thursday

Blonde Ransom

(

Beaudine, 1945

)

The Crime of the Century

(

Beaudine, 1933

)

35mm

Blonde Ransom

(

Beaudine, 1945

)

The Crime of the Century

(

Beaudine, 1933

)

35mm

Showing at:

New Beverly Cinema

•

Friday

Blonde Ransom

(

Beaudine, 1945

)

The Crime of the Century

(

Beaudine, 1933

)

35mm

Blonde Ransom

(

Beaudine, 1945

)

The Crime of the Century

(

Beaudine, 1933

)

35mm

Showing at:

New Beverly Cinema

•

Tuesday

Tras-os-Montes

(

Cordeiro/Reis, 1976

)

Tras-os-Montes

(

Cordeiro/Reis, 1976

)

Showing at:

Now Instant Image Hall

TESTING

(

Thomas, 2024

)

testing2

(

professor 1732

)

testing3testing

(

probaman, 1941

)

•

additional something

•

TESETTESTR in person

•

@tester tetster @LKFDJoi

Silent + Live Score

TESTING

(

Thomas, 2024

)

testing2

(

professor 1732

)

testing3testing

(

probaman, 1941

)

additional something

TESETTESTR in person

@tester tetster @LKFDJoi

Silent + Live Score

Showing at:

The Eastwood

BLEAK WEEK FESTIVAL OF DESPAIR

•

Sunday

The 21st Century Odyssey

(

Smith/Johnson, 2007

)

•

@lafilmforum @eztv_museum @hollyw00dentertainment

The 21st Century Odyssey

(

Smith/Johnson, 2007

)

@lafilmforum @eztv_museum @hollyw00dentertainment

Showing at:

2220 Arts + Archives

•

Saturday

The Room

(

Wiseau, 2003

)

Big Shark

(

Wiseau, 2023

)

•

Greg Sestero in person

The Room

(

Wiseau, 2003

)

Big Shark

(

Wiseau, 2023

)

Greg Sestero in person

Showing at:

Gardena Cinema

•

Sunday

Stolen Kisses

(

Truffaut, 1968

)

35mm

Stolen Kisses

(

Truffaut, 1968

)

35mm

Showing at:

Brain Dead Studios

I’ve never seen any of the subsequent films in Truffaut’s Antoine Doinel series that started with his seminal French New Wave classic, THE 400 BLOWS. STOLEN KISSES in the second feature in the series and is showing on 35mm. I hope to finally catch up with the character after all these years.

Legacy

(

Arthur, 1974

)

35mm

Legacy

(

Arthur, 1974

)

35mm

Showing at:

UCLA Film & TV Archive

LEGACY is one of those movies that was highly regarded for a brief time upon its release and then absolutely disappeared until getting a recent restoration. It’s got a Larry McMurtry family melodrama sound to it of a Texas matriarch blazing a path of cruel destruction through the lives of the people around her.

‍

Mel Brooks' 100th Birthday Double Feature

16mm

Mel Brooks' 100th Birthday Double Feature

16mm

Showing at:

Art Theatre of Long Beach

Long Beach is honoring the Brooks century mark with a secret double feature on 16mm. THE PRODUCERS? BLAZING SADDLES? HIGH ANXIETY?

Three Bewildered People in the Night

(

Araki, 1987

)

•

@_dirtylooks_

Three Bewildered People in the Night

(

Araki, 1987

)

@_dirtylooks_

Showing at:

2220 Arts + Archives

June 2026

Recommendations

Top picks by Theater

2220 Arts + Archives

American Cinemateque

Art Theatre of Long Beach

The Eastwood

Gardena Cinema

New Beverly Cinema

Now Instant Image Hall

Top picks by Date

Monthly Rec Archive

Monthly

Rec Archive