{"id":136642,"date":"2026-01-16T20:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T20:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/136642\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T20:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T20:20:10","slug":"david-lynch-lives-on-plus-the-best-movies-in-l-a-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/136642\/","title":{"rendered":"David Lynch lives on, plus the best movies in L.A. this week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello! I\u2019m Mark Olsen<\/a>. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.<\/p>\n

This week The Times published its rankings of the 101 best Los Angeles movies<\/a>. Assembled from ballots by 17 film writers, the list would make for quite a viewing guide, running from 1924\u2019s \u201cSherlock Jr.\u201d to 2025\u2019s \u201cOne of Them Days\u201d and proving that there are many different versions and visions of the city. Directors including Amy Heckerling, David Lynch, Charles Burnett, Kathryn Bigelow, Michael Mann, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Altman and Billy Wilder all are represented on the list at least twice.<\/p>\n

\"Three <\/p>\n

John Singleton\u2019s 1991 drama \u201cBoyz n the Hood,\u201d starring Morris Chestnut, left, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ice Cube, made our list of the 101 best Los Angeles movies.<\/p>\n

(Columbia Pictures)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes a perfect L.A. movie?\u201d Times film editor Joshua Rothkopf asked in his introduction to the list. \u201cSome kind of alchemy of curdled glamour, palm trees, ocean spray, conspiracies big and small \u2014 and more than a pinch of vanity. From hard-bitten \u201940s noirs and vertiginous Hollywood rises (and falls) to the real-life poetry of neighborhood dreamers and nighttime drivers, Los Angeles is always ready for its close-up. The city has long occupied a cinematic place, straddling its gauzy past and a dark, rainy future. Go west, they said, and we came here, a site of fantasy, industry, possibility and obsession.\u201d<\/p>\n

Times critic Amy Nicholson took a crack at what makes for a definitive Los Angeles film<\/a>, tying it together with her own experiences moving here as a movie-mad transplant.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of what defines a Los Angeles movie is our city\u2019s willingness to turn the camera on itself, to prioritize a riveting tale over our own reputation. We\u2019re eager to share our saga with the world. Our glamorous and gruesome history is all there in a close-up of \u2018Chinatown\u2019s\u2019 Jack Nicholson: a movie star with a mutilated nose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let us know your own favorites \u2014 and any titles you think we may have overlooked \u2014 by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

David Lynch, one year gone \"A <\/p>\n

Laura Dern in director David Lynch\u2019s 2006 movie \u201cInland Empire.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Studio Canal)<\/p>\n

Today marks the first anniversary of the death of filmmaker David Lynch<\/a>, and Tuesday would have been his 80th birthday. To commemorate the occasion, venues all over town are celebrating Lynch and his work. The Academy Museum<\/a> will have five nights of screenings, beginning with \u201cBlue Velvet\u201d<\/a> in 4K with star Kyle MacLachlan as a special guest. \u201cLost Highway\u201d and \u201cMulholland Drive\u201d will also both screen in 4K. Star Laura Dern will attend for \u201cInland Empire\u201d<\/a> in 4K and \u201dWild at Heart\u201d in 35mm.<\/p>\n

In her original review of \u201cBlue Velvet,\u201d<\/a> Sheila Benson captured much of what has made Lynch\u2019s work so enduring, writing, \u201cSecrets are at the heart of David Lynch\u2019s \u2018Blue Velvet,\u2019 the most brilliantly disturbing film ever to have its roots in small-town American life. Shocking, visionary, rapturously controlled, its images of innocence and a dark, bruising sexuality drop straight into our unconscious where they rest like depth charges. \u2026 \u2018Blue Velvet\u2019 takes us behind the working-class American facade, beneath the Technicolor grass, literally underground to the churning turmoil of black, shiny beetles below. It\u2019s there. It\u2019s always there, Lynch says, if you only look and listen.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Dennis Hopper and Isabella Rossellini in David Lynch\u2019s \u201cBlue Velvet.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Dino De Laurentiis Communications)<\/p>\n

The American Cinematheque<\/a> has launched a revisit of the entirety of the groundbreaking television series \u201cTwin Peaks.\u201d This week will feature Season 1, Episode 1, directed by Lynch himself.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Philosophical Research Society<\/a> will present Episode 8 of the third season of \u201cTwin Peaks,\u201d widely hailed as the high pointof the reinvigorated return of the show. An introduction by cast members and a post-screening symposium involving experts from a wide range of fields should make for quite a night.<\/p>\n

\u2018Goodfellas\u2019 at 35 \"Two <\/p>\n

Lorraine Bracco and Ray Liotta in \u201cGoodfellas.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Warner Bros. \/ Kobal \/ Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

The American Cinematheque<\/a> at the Egyptian Theatre will present a 35th anniversary screening of Martin Scorsese\u2019s \u201cGoodfellas\u201d<\/a> with producer Irwin Winkler and co-screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi for a Q&A moderated by Scott Foundas.<\/p>\n

With its innovative style and indelible performances by Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro, \u201cGoodfellas\u201d would go on to redefine the gangster story \u2014 although it\u2019s difficult from our vantage point to remember that the movie was once new.<\/p>\n

In her original 1990 review<\/a>, Sheila Benson wrote, \u201cTo see an artist working at the peak of his power, everything extraneous stripped away, every element there for a purpose, is an extraordinary exhilaration. Martin Scorsese gave us that pure, hot, unquestioned power last in \u2018Raging Bull\u2019 and, in virtuosity alone, \u2018Goodfellas\u2019 is \u2018Raging Bull\u2019 squared. .\u201d<\/p>\n

Points of interest<\/p>\n

\u2018The Puffy Chair\u2019 at 20<\/p>\n

\"Two <\/p>\n

Katie Aselton and Mark Duplass in \u201cThe Puffy Chair.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Ink Films)<\/p>\n

Some anniversaries we\u2019re not ready for \u2014 has it really been that long? Such it is with Monday\u2019s 20th anniversary screening at Vidiots <\/a>of \u201cThe Puffy Chair,\u201d<\/a> which introduced the talents of Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass and Katie Aselton. In the years since, they have had remarkable careers together and apart, as Mark currently appears as an actor on \u201cThe Morning Show,\u201d Jay\u2019s latest film as director \u201cSee You When I See You\u201d is about to premiere at Sundance and Katie\u2019s own directing effort, \u201cTheir Town,\u201d written by (husband) Mark and starring their daughter Ora, will premiere at SXSW. Aselton and both Duplass brothers are all scheduled to appear at the Vidiots screening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Puffy Chair\u201d was made for a reported $15,000 and was a key entry in the micro-budget movement that came to be known as mumblecore. The film tells the story of a young man and his girlfriend who go on a road trip to pick up a lounge chair that resembles one his father used to own.<\/p>\n

In a 2006 review<\/a>, Kevin Crust wrote, \u201cThe Duplass\u2019 ability to accurately depict the rough edges that define relationships \u2014 both romantic and familial \u2014 is what elevates \u2018Chair\u2019 above the prototypical indie drama absorbed in aimlessness and twentysomething angst. What feels like meandering in the moment builds to a genuine emotional attachment to the characters. \u2026 Much of the film\u2019s dialogue feels improvised, and there\u2019s a casualness to the pacing that recalls early Richard Linklater. \u2018Chair\u2019 is one of those rare feature debuts that come out of Sundance (class of 2005) full of buzz and doesn\u2019t disappoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The Killing of a Chinese Bookie\u2019 at 50<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Ben Gazzara in \u201cThe Killing of a Chinese Bookie.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Criterion Collection)<\/p>\n

On Sunday the American Cinematheque<\/a> at the Egyptian Theatre will host a 50th anniversary screening of the original extended 1976 cut of John Cassavetes\u2019 \u201cThe Killing of a Chinese Bookie.\u201d<\/a> In the film, Ben Gazzara plays an L.A. strip club owner with gambling debts who is begrudgingly enlisted by a mobster to kill a rival. With its mix of genres and tones, the movie made for a challenging follow-up to Cassavetes\u2019 1974 \u201cA Woman Under the Influence,\u201d with Gazzara\u2019s magnetic performance colliding with the conventions of a genre thriller.<\/p>\n

Charles Champlin\u2019s original review of the film captures the confusion people felt on it\u2019s initial release. As Champlin wrote, \u201cIn the earlier films, the weaving, poking, exploratory, hand-held cameras, the gargled sound, the mingling of very professional and very amateurish acting, the interminable scenes and the improvisatory sense usually combined to give a feeling of raw and painful honesty to the material. \u2026 Watching this stumbling story of a strip-joint owner forced into murder to square a gambling debt, you get the impression the filmmaker could not decide whether to make a \u2018popular\u2019 picture in something close to the gangster tradition or another of his studies of contemporary society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill Forsyth\u2019s \u2018Comfort and Joy\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Two <\/p>\n

An image from the movie \u201cComfort and Joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Mezzanine Film)<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Mezzanine<\/a> will present Scottish filmmaker Bill Forsyth\u2019s 1984 film \u201cComfort and Joy\u201d<\/a> introduced by actor Colin Burgess and filmmaker Alec Moeller. The follow-up to Forsyth\u2019s \u201cLocal Hero,\u201d the movie concerns a morning radio host in Glasgow (Bill Patterson) who learns that his girlfriend is leaving him on Christmas Eve. This sends him into an emotional spiral that somehow finds him caught between rival dairy vendors.<\/p>\n

In her original review, Sheila Benson wrote, \u201c\u2018Comfort and Joy\u2019 is personal, droll, even more an inward observation than his other films. \u2026 It works on a variety of levels \u2014 one may be despair, but the others are parody, whimsy and irony. \u2018Comfort and Joy\u2019 is not broad humor but gentle civilized comedy \u2014 deftly performed \u2014 whose aftereffect is likely to be a glow of rueful recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other news<\/p>\n

\u201828 Years Later: The Bone Temple\u2019<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Ralph Fiennes, left, and Jack O\u2019Connell in \u201c28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Sony Pictures)<\/p>\n

Probably the most exciting new release this week is \u201c28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,\u201d<\/a> directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Alex Garland. Arriving quickly after Danny Boyle\u2019s \u201c28 Years Later\u201d last year, the film continues to add to the ongoing mythology of a rage-inducing virus that takes over the United Kingdom. Further following young Spike (Alfie Williams), the story finds him falling in with a psychotic gang led by the self-described Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O\u2019Connell) and reencountering Ralph Fiennes\u2019 Dr. Ian Kelson.<\/p>\n

In her review<\/a>, Amy Nicholson wrote, \u201cDaCosta shares Boyle\u2019s tactic of attacking a theme from two flanks: a showy assault (we\u2019re doomed!) and a subversive sneak-around (perhaps we always were). Zombie stories are either about a civilization\u2019s collapse or its rebuilding and typically use our contemporary society as a measuring stick of success. \u2026 Having had decades to run free, the infected now resemble Neanderthals. Life has devolved to its primordial pool. This filthy and fascinating film is peering in, nose crinkled and stomach churning, to see what bubbles up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018A Private Life\u2019<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Jodie Foster and Daniel Auteuil in \u201cA Private Life.\u201d<\/p>\n

(J\u00e9r\u00f4me Pr\u00e9bois \/ Sony Pictures Classics)<\/p>\n

Rebecca Zlotowski\u2019s \u201cA Private Life\u201d<\/a> stars Jodie Foster as an American psychiatrist who lives in Paris, a role that gives the star a chance to utilize her fluency in French. When a troubled patient dies suddenly, Foster\u2019s Lilian begins to suspect there is more to the story than first appears, turning into an amateur sleuth. The cast also includes Virginie Efira, Mathieu Amalric, Ir\u00e8ne Jacob, Aurore Cl\u00e9ment, Frederick Wiseman and Daniel Auteuil as Lilian\u2019s ex-husband Gaby.<\/p>\n

As Robert Abele wrote in his review<\/a>, \u201cAs \u2018A Private Life\u2019 moves along, with Lilian negotiating a break-in, threats and lapses in judgment, it never exactly coheres. Yet it somehow entertains, which is a testament to Zlotowski\u2019s energy juggling her various theme-colored story balls. While the mystery plot strains to be interesting as a lesson for its protagonist about how one never can fully know another human being, Lilian\u2019s and Gaby\u2019s rekindled affection is a wonderfully mature strand of midlife complexity, with Auteuil and Foster giving all their scenes the kind of nuanced, lived-in humor that suggests a flinty couple who never fully believed they were done with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hello! I\u2019m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[9628,9629,9631,2790,2242,9630,9632,5686,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,9626,4287,425,9627,1791,8074],"class_list":["post-136642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-angelina-jolie","tag-barry-jenkins","tag-david","tag-dead","tag-drama","tag-evil","tag-good-work","tag-killing","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-lovers","tag-movie","tag-series","tag-short-film","tag-times","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}