Double Feature screening of Stanley Kubrick's KILLER'S KISS & THE KILLING

Part of our KUBRICK KALEIDOSCOPE SERIES. Saturday, February 29, 2020 @ 10a, The Vista: KILLER’S KISS (1955, United Artists, directed by STANLEY KUBRICK, 67mns) & THE KILLING (1956, United Artists, directed by STANLEY KUBRICK, 85mns) We’re going to screen every single short and FEATURE FILM THAT STANLEY KUBRICK EVER MADE IN 2020. We kick the series off on Saturday, February 1, 2020 @ 2pm at the grand opening of “The Club” our new 99 seat theater in the Arts District with a SCREENING OF KUBRICK’s three short films and his first FEATURE FEAR AND DESIRE. Then we move to the Vista for this second offering, a DOUBLE FEATURE OF THE TWO NOIR MOVIES KUBRICK MADE IN BACK TO BACK YEARS THAT BASICALLY CATAPULTED HIM TO THE TOP OF EXCITING YOUNG DIRECTORS IN THE 1950’s. KUBRICK REFUSED THE ENTIRETY OF HIS LIFE TO ACKNOWLEDGE FEAR AND DESIRE, his first FEATURE MOVIE. He never licensed it and he didn’t want it to be shown. Apparently because he thought it was such an abysmal amateurish first effort. If you’ve seen Fear and Desire, you realize, as far as first films go, while it definitely has a heavy dose of pretentiousness, and the plot is kind of impenetrable, it is still an amazingly shot, KUBRICKIAN, (Full Metal Jacket rough draft in many ways) examination of the horrors of war. But for KUBRICK, his FEATURE FILMOGRAPHY REALLY BEGAN WITH HIS SOPHOMORE EFFORT, the atmospheric, concise as a lightning quick left hook to the jaw, noir KILLER’s Kiss. Here, we really see the KUBRICK MAGIC START TO ESTABLISH ITSELF. The movie is both grippingly entertaining and totally singular (a neat trick KUBRICK WOULD PULL OFF WITH EVERY MOVIE FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE) punctuated by incredible nighttime imagery and a climax in a warehouse of mannequins that clearly signals KUBRICK’s understanding of what makes a sequence interesting. We then jump to The KILLING, KUBRICK’s first collaboration with producer James B. Harris who would facilitate larger budgets through Dr. Strangelove. This partnership would allow KUBRICK TO TAKE ON AND DIRECT CHALLENGING, controversial material (including Paths of Glory and Lolita) that would provide the crucial middle period bridge to KUBRICK’s risk taking golden period (beginning with Dr. Strangelove and basically lasting the rest of his career). The KILLING IS ESSENTIALLY A RACE TRACK HEIST MOVIE WITH TREMENDOUS PERVERSE INSIGHT INTO THE DYSFUNCTIONAL PSYCHOLOGY OF ALL THE THIEVES INVOLVED IN THE ROBBERY. We get great oddball performances from Timothy Carey and Elisha Cook Jr. But the real revelation here are our first two genuine awesome lead performances with Sterling Hayden as central thief Johnny Clay and Marie Windsor as Sherry Peatty who delivers one hell of a “cheating wife scorned” performance. KUBRICK WOULD LATER OFTEN GO ON TO SAY “Natural is good but interesting is better.” We see that philosophy start to come to full boil in this, his first true out and out great movie. Best always, Craig Hammill 35mm Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer SECRET MOVIE CLUB FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: SCREENING LOCATIONS: We currently screen our movies at The Vista Theatre, 4473 Sunset Drive, LOS ANGELES, CA 90027; the Secret Movie Club, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LOS ANGELES, CA 90021 and The Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway, LA, CA 90014. We also do occasional pop-up SCREENINGS AT FUN HISTORIC SPACES AROUND LOS ANGELES. So please DOUBLE CHECK THE ADDRESS TO MAKE SURE YOU’re heading to the right location! TICKETS: Tickets for all our events are available online at: https://secretmovieclub.eventbrite.com [https://secretmovieclub.eventbrite.com] or through each individual event on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/secretmovieclub35mm/ [https://www.facebook.com/secretmovieclub35mm/]. We also make tickets available at the Vista Box Office. Important Warning: Never buy tickets from anyone you do not know personally. We have noticed a rise in fraudulent scalpers on our social media and elsewhere. It’s always better to just write us directly at: [email protected] to inquire about tickets. OUR 35MM POLICY: We strive to project all movies on film that were originally shot on film. This means that we work to screen the majority of our movies on 35mm prints (with the occasional 16mm print if no 35mm print is available). We will screen a movie digitally if its original medium was digital. This usually means that we screen what’s called a DCP or Digital Cinema Print. Almost all movies shot in recent years are digital and screen on DCPs. In some rare instances, a film print will arrive to us in such poor condition that we deem it will be more distracting than entertaining. For this and other reasons, we reserve the right to screen a DCP in an emergency. However, we will make all best efforts to alert the audience immediately if we have to screen a DCP alternate when a 35mm print was advertised. Situations where we have had to substitute a DCP for an advertised 35mm print have thankfully only occurred a handful of times in our history. But we do need to reserve this right to insure the best possible presentation of a movie for our audience. ORIGINAL POSTERS: We do limited edition 100 original poster runs for almost all of our movies. We sell these posters at the events and do our best to let our audience see the design at least 1-2 weeks ahead of a SCREENING VIA OUR EMAIL AND SOCIAL MEDIA. We are currently working to launch our website and online movie store in the Fall of 2019 so you can peruse our entire backlog and get posters of your favorite movies and/or by your favorite designers. Stay tuned! REFUNDS & COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS: We honor all refund requests made through Eventbrite 24 hours or more before the listed start time of the SCREENING. After that, we are unable to process refund requests. BUT. . .we can offer complimentary tickets to future SCREENINGS (as long as they haven't already sold out & aren't special differently priced events). HOW DOES A SECRET MOVIE CLUB SEASON PASS WORK: If you buy a Secret Movie Club All-Access Season Pass (access to all movies we’re showing within one season), you get entrance into every single movie we show throughout that time (including any SCREENINGS OR SPECIAL EVENTS WE MAY ANNOUNCE AT A LATER TIME; so your value may increase!). This is our best deal at $6.50/per movie if you know you’re going to see the majority of movies in a season. These passes are available up to the start time of the first SCREENING OF A SEASON AT https://secretmovieclub.eventbrite.com [https://secretmovieclub.eventbrite.com] If you decide to buy the SEASON PASS and have already bought an individual ticket, just write us: [email protected] and we’ll issue you a refund for the individual ticket(s) you bought so you can get the all-access pass. With the All-Access Season Pass, we generate a special list with your name on it. All you have to do is come to our table ahead of each movie, give us your name, and get your ticket. You’re a VIP now and never have to worry about a movie selling out. We always save you a seat. HOW DOES A SERIES PASS WORK: If you want to see all the movies in a particular series but not necessarily all the movies in a season this is the way to go and is our next best deal (at $9/per movie) after the Season Pass. The price of each Series Pass depends on how many movies we show in that series. So for instance if we are showing 7 movies in the series, the pass would cost $63 (or $9 per movie). If we are showing 4 movies in that series, the pass would cost $36, and so on. You can buy a Series Pass through any individual Eventbrite link for a movie in that series. We generate a special list with your name on it for that series. All you have to do is come to our table ahead of each movie, give us your name, and get your ticket. CONCESSIONS: The Vista Concessions counter is open for all our events. So you will always have access to popcorn, soda, candy, coffee the works! We strive to have concessions of some kind at all our events regardless of venue. PARKING/PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: The Vista & Los Feliz 3 have no dedicated parking lots. Thankfully, there is parking in the residential areas around both theatres. Just plan to get to the theater 20 minutes early so you have enough time to park, walk to the theater, get your tickets, get a seat. Make sure you read the street signs! A few streets are permit-only parking. We don’t want any Secret Movie Clubbers getting parking tickets. There are many great public transportation options near the Vista & Los Feliz 3 including a Metro subway stop at the Vermont/Sunset station which is about 4 blocks from the Vista Theater. The Secret Movie Club (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) has no dedicated parking lot. However, most folks can find free parking on side streets as well as a paid parking lot just two blocks away at the intersection of Mateo & Violet. The Palace Theatre has no dedicated parking lot. However, most folks opt to park at the Pershing Square Parking Lot: http://www.palacedowntown.com/parking [http://www.palacedowntown.com/parking] Here is a link to all parking lots near the Palace Theatre & Broadway: https://www.los-angeles-theatre.com/theaters/downtown-palace-theatre/parking.php [https://www.los-angeles-theatre.com/theaters/downtown-palace-theatre/parking.php] SHOWTIMES: We screen most of our movies before noon or at 11:59pm. However, we are increasingly able to screen movies as afternoon matinees and prime time screenings. Always check the listed showtime before buying your ticket to make sure you can make that showtime. MAILING LIST: We started as a secret email list way back in April 2016. In respect to our origins (and because the programmer is superstitious), we will always announce our upcoming seasons, special events, and speakers via the email list first before posting to any other social media. If you’d like to get on the secret email list, email us at: [email protected] OTHER QUESTIONS: You can always email us at: [email protected] or send a message through our Facebook page: @secretmovieclub35mm We work to respond asap within receipt of your email or message.