THE HYPE GRAND 'MAMA' WOMAN'S STRUGGLE TO RAISE GRANDSON A HEARTBREAKING TALE.``Big Mama Big Mama might be:
Director/producer Tracy Seretean's film follows the efforts of Viola Dees, who is 90 by the end of the film, to convince Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. child- welfare officials that she can raise her grandson Walter, whose father is dead and whose drug-addicted mother has long ago disappeared. Painfully frail but still game, Viola takes to the basketball court with Walter, and tries to keep up with him, but the effort is clearly taxing; things don't get any better when Viola suffers a heart attack or when Walter, inadvertently or otherwise, sets Viola's house on fire. Seretean charts Viola's efforts to find a school for Walter, who apparently suffers from the legacy of his mother's chemical indulgences, including a six-hour marathon waiting for a call from a school. Bureaucracy in all its forms is clearly the villain here, but what's surprising is how willingly the bureaucrats play along. ``Big Mama'' is brief and modestly constructed, yet still a heartbreaker heart·break·er n. 1. One that causes sorrow, grief, or disappointment: "one young and chaste, the other a dissolute heartbreaker of 48; one prim, the other passionate" , though Seretean seems to ignore the very real possibility that Walter simply might be too much for Viola to handle. That that's a sacrifice she's not only willing but eager to make, however, gets you to root for the underdog here in a far more honest way than films and TV usually bother to pursue. - David Kronke ``BIG MAMA'' What: Oscar-winning documentary about an elderly woman's efforts to raise her orphaned grandson. Where: Cinemax When: 7:30 tonight; also June 30. Our rating: Three stars SCREENING MISSION TO LARS LARS Launch and Recovery System LARS Large Animal Research Station LARS Los Angeles Riot Squad LARS Los Angeles Radiological Society LARS Light Artillery Rocket System LARS Left Add, Right Subtract (artillery fire sighting) : American Cinematheque The American Cinematheque is an independent, non-profit cultural organization in Los Angeles dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving Image in all its forms. It is considered among the premier organizations of its kind in America. tonight presents ``The Pleasure of the Gifted Short Film,'' a collection of six little nuggets Nuggets can refer to several branches of interest:
- Valerie Kuklenski CINEMA REWIND Get ready for a little time travel, courtesy of the Los Angeles Conservancy The Los Angeles Conservancy is the preeminent historic preservation organization in Los Angeles, California. It works to document, rescue and revitalize historic buildings, places and neighborhoods in the city. . Tonight, the Last Remaining Seats film series opens its 15th run at the lush movie palaces of the Broadway theater district downtown, unspooling movies in the types of houses in which they premiered, along with vintage newsreels, cartoon shorts, live performances and on-stage interviews. The 1957 Technicolor musical ``Pal Joey,'' starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987), was an American actress who reached fame during the 1940s as the era's leading sex symbol. Although there was prejudice against Hispanic actors at the time, Hayworth is now widely regarded to be one of the first and Kim Novak, will play at 8 tonight at the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway, and film critic and historian Leonard Maltin will interview director George Sidney The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. George Sidney about the production. On upcoming Wednesdays through June, Last Remaining Seats will present Alfred Hitchcock's ``Saboteur''; ``The Third Man,'' starring Joseph Cotten Joseph Cheshire Cotten (May 15, 1905–February 6, 1994) was an American stage and screen actor. He is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Orson Welles, which included Citizen Kane, The Third Man, and Journey Into Fear and Orson Welles; the Errol Flynn swashbuckler ``The Adventures of Robin Hood''; and the country feud-themed Buster Keaton silent, ``Our Hospitality.'' Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door after 7 p.m., but the conservancy advises that most shows sell out early. Information and tickets: (213) 430-4219 or www.laconservancy.org. - Valerie Kuklenski QUOTABLE quot·a·ble adj. Suitable for or worthy of quoting: a quotable slogan; a quotable pundit. quot ``When you use those words, you call up all the anger, all the negative times the word has been used before, you bring it toward yourself. Why would you want that?'' - Prince who has become a Jehovah's Witness, in Gotham magazine about the importance of keeping one's language clean. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) no caption (``Big Mama'') (2) ``Shadows'' - a drama about the kapos inside the Auschwitz concentration camp - screens tonight as part of ``The Pleasure of the Gifted Short Film'' (3) Basil Rathbone, left, and Errol Flynn cross swords in ``The Adventures of Robin Hood,'' one of five classic movies playing in the Last Remaining Seats series. |
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