{"id":57618,"date":"2025-07-11T19:19:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T19:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/57618\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T19:19:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T19:19:15","slug":"the-neon-streaked-l-a-of-drive-plus-the-weeks-best-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/57618\/","title":{"rendered":"The neon-streaked L.A. of ‘Drive,’ plus the week’s best movies"},"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

The new \u201cSuperman\u201d<\/a> is in theaters this weekend, written and directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet in the title role, with Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as villain Lex Luthor. This film is seen as the first salvo of a relaunch of the DC Universe of characters for Warner Bros. and so there is more riding on it than just the outcome of this one film. There are several new characters introduced in the film, perhaps intended to topline future titles of their own.<\/p>\n

Samantha Masunaga got into the history of the Superman character onscreen and took a look at what this might mean for DC\u2019s future<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDC has been playing catch-up with Marvel,\u201d said Arlen Schumer, a comic book and pop culture historian. \u201cThey\u2019ve given James Gunn the keys to the DC kingdom and said, \u2018You\u2019ve got to restore Superman. He\u2019s our greatest icon, but nobody knows what to do with him. We think you know what to do with him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Superman <\/p>\n

David Corenswet as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane in DC Studios\u2019 and Warner Bros. Pictures\u2019 \u201cSuperman.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Warner Bros Entertainment)<\/p>\n

The film has an impulsive sincerity that can be endearing. As Amy Nicholson wrote in her review<\/a>, \u201cFine, I\u2019ll say it. I need Superman. I\u2019m craving a hero who stands for truth and justice whether he\u2019s rescuing cats or reporting the news. Cheering for such idealism used to feel corny; all the cool, caped crusaders had ethical kinks. Even his recent movies<\/a> have seemed a little embarrassed by the guy, scuffing him up with cynicism. I\u2019m with the latest incarnation of Superman (David Corenswet<\/a>) when he tells Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan<\/a>) that having a big heart is \u2018the real punk rock.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Amy added, \u201cThis isn\u2019t quite the heart-soaring \u2018Superman\u2019 I wanted. But these adventures wise him up enough that I\u2019m curious to explore where the saga takes him next. Still, I left chewing over how comic book movies can be so popular and prescient, and yet people who\u2019ve grown up rooting against characters like Lex Luthor cheer them on in the real world. Maybe Gunn can answer that in a sequel. Or maybe our stubborn myopia is what this Superman means when he says, \u2018I screw up all the time but that is being human.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Drive\u2019 in 35mm \"A <\/p>\n

Ryan Gosling in \u201cDrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Academy Museum)<\/p>\n

On Saturday the Academy Museum will show Nicolas Winding Refn\u2019s 2011 romantic thriller \u201cDrive\u201d<\/a> in 35mm. Composer Cliff Martinez will be there in person. The film is showing as part of the series \u201cBathed in Light: Saturated Colors in Cinema,\u201d which will also see screenings of Michael Mann\u2019s \u201cThief,\u201d Walter Hill\u2019s \u201cStreets of Fire\u201d in 70mm (with the director in person), Harmony Korine\u2019s \u201cSpring Breakers,\u201d Barry Jenkins\u2019 \u201cMoonlight,\u201d Pablo Larra\u00edn\u2019s \u201cEma,\u201d Gaspar No\u00e9\u2019s \u201cEnter the Void,\u201d Hype Williams\u2019 \u201cBelly\u201d and more.<\/p>\n

A Los Angeles getaway driver, known only as Driver (played with taciturn cool by Ryan Gosling), falls for his neighbor (Carey Mulligan) and soon becomes involved in a caper trying to help out her ex-con husband (Oscar Isaac) that sets him afoul of a local crime boss (Albert Brooks).<\/p>\n

\u201cDrive\u201d won the directing prize when it premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and became something of a cultural sensation at the time of its release, thanks in part to the hypnotic use of dreamy synthesizer music. (And remember Gosling\u2019s scorpion jacket?)<\/p>\n

In his original review of the film Kenneth Turan wrote<\/a>, \u201c\u2018Drive\u2019 is a Los Angeles neo-noir, a neon-lit crime story made with lots of visual style. It\u2019s a film in love with both traditional noir mythology and ultra-modern violence, a combination that is not ideal. \u2026 Impeccably shot by Newton Thomas Sigel, \u2018Drive\u2019 always looks dressed to kill. Making fine use of Los Angeles locations, particularly the lonely downtown streets around the L.A. River, \u2018Drive\u2019 has a slick, highly romanticized pastel look calculated to win friends and influence people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ryan <\/p>\n

Ryan Gosling in \u201cDrive.\u201d <\/p>\n

(FilmDistrict and Bold Films and OddLot Entertainment)<\/p>\n

In an interview with Steven Zeitchik, Gosling and Refn discussed their collaboration<\/a> and the long drives they would take together around the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would just drive for hours, talking and listening to music,\u201d Gosling said. \u201cAnd I would say, \u2018This is what we want to capture in the movie, this feeling of being in a trance in a car with pop music playing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Refn added, \u201cI wanted to play with the classic notion of a fairy tale. Driver protects purity, and yet he can slay evil in the most vicious ways possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zeitchik and Julie Makinen also created a guide to some of the film\u2019s Los Angeles locations<\/a>, including MacArthur Park, the L.A. River and Point Magu.<\/p>\n

Heather McAdams\u2019 handmade films \"An <\/p>\n

An image from Heather McAdams\u2019 \u201cScratchman #2.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Heather McAdams)<\/p>\n

This week will see two programs of work by the Chicago-based artist Heather McAdams, who, though primarily known as a cartoonist, has also been creating idiosyncratic, handmade films for decades. On Thursday at the Academy Museum will be a program titled \u201cKind of a Drag: Experimental Films, Documentaries and Scratch Animation by Heather McAdams, 1980-1995,\u201d<\/a> which will explore the range of McAdams\u2019 filmmaking practice. An ongoing preservation project undertaken by the Chicago Film Society has spurred a revival of interest in her work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent a lot of time trying to make stuff happen,\u201d said McAdams during a call this week from her home in Chicago. \u201cI\u2019ve always just been really doing a lot of different things, just doing stuff here at home and then all of a sudden the Chicago Film Society discovers this person that\u2019s living up on the north side of Chicago. Those guys are really great and they\u2019re very organized and they\u2019ve got connections. I\u2019ve gone to the Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Art. You sit around all your life and you go, \u2018Why doesn\u2019t somebody call me up?\u2019 And then the next thing when they call you up, you go, \u2018Why are they calling me up?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the films to be shown will be 1980\u2019s \u201cThe Scratchman\u201d and 1982\u2019s \u201cScratchman #2,\u201d in which she scratched right onto the surface of found footage to create lively new images. \u201cYou\u201d from 1983 uses Brian Eno\u2019s song \u201cKing\u2019s Lead Hat\u201d as the background to a collage of footage. Among other titles showing are two documentary shorts, 1988\u2019s \u201cMeet \u2026 Bradley Harrison Picklesimer\u201d and 1995\u2019s \u201cThe Lester Film\u201d (co-directed by her husband Chris Ligon), both unconventional portrait films. McAdams will be present for the event, joined by Picklesimer for a Q&A.<\/p>\n

\"Heather <\/p>\n

Filmmaker and artist Heather McAdams with Bradley Harrison Picklesimer, the subject of her 1988 film \u201cMeet … Bradley Harrison Picklesimer\u201d in a photo circa 1982.<\/p>\n

(Heather McAdams)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe couple of things that seem to relate to just about everything I do is working with my limitations, the kind of homemade, work-with-what-you-got type thing,\u201d added McAdams. \u201cI don\u2019t see that necessarily as a complete negative, and that runs through my work. And the other thing is humor, I\u2019m always trying to make myself laugh or make other people laugh, even though everything I do isn\u2019t funny. Sometimes I just get weird and I go sideways and off the tracks or I make a comment about something that might be more spiritual or more important. Sometimes I make something that I go, \u2018Oh, God, I wish I didn\u2019t do that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday at 2220 Arts + Archives, Mezzanine and Los Angeles Filmforum will host McAdams and Ligon for what is being billed as \u201cChris & Heather\u2019s Big Screen Blowout,\u201d<\/a> a screening drawn from their extensive collection of 16mm ephemera. The program will include trailers for films such as \u201cSuperchick\u201d and \u201cTrip With the Teacher,\u201d TV performances by Ricky Nelson and Buffalo Springfield and commercials and more. The evening will also include five one-minute animated cartoons McAdams and Ligon made for MTV in the 1990s. The couple will be there for the event as well.<\/p>\n

Of the \u201cBlowout,\u201d McAdams said, \u201cIt\u2019s fun to just see how the audience reacts as it\u2019s being projected. It\u2019s hard to explain to people exactly what it is, unless they\u2019re super hip and cool.\u201d With a laugh she added, \u201cLike you guys are out in L.A.\u201d<\/p>\n

Points of interest<\/p>\n

\u2018Rosa la rose, fille publique\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Marianne <\/p>\n

Marianne Basler, left, in \u201cRosa la rose, fille publique.\u201d<\/p>\n

(AGFA)<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Mezzanine <\/a>will be putting on 2 shows of the local premiere of a new restoration of Paul Vecchiali\u2019s 1986 \u201cRosa la rose, fille publique\u201d<\/a> at Brain Dead Studios. <\/p>\n

The film is an intensely emotional melodrama about a Parisian prostitute, Rosa, just turning 20 years old and the most popular among the stable of women run by her pimp, as she grapples with what her future should be. Stylishly shot, the film is marked by a richness of character detail, with a deeply felt performance by Marianne Basler as Rosa, as the world around the Les Halles neighborhood feels particularly vibrant even with its undercurrents of intrigue and violence.<\/p>\n

Vecchiali, who died in 2023 and besides directing such films as \u201cThe Strangler\u201d and \u201cEncore\u201d also produced Chantal Akerman\u2019s \u201cJeanne Dielman,\u201d is among a number of French filmmakers currently undergoing a renewed interest in their work. Luc Moullet<\/a> will see a tribute series at Lincoln Center in August, while Jacques Rozier<\/a> currently has a program of his work available on the Criterion Channel. For as much attention as French cinema has gotten over the years, it is exciting to see that there are still new corners to be explored and fresh discoveries to be made.<\/p>\n

\u2018Television Event\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A scene from the TV movie \u201cThe Day After.\u201d<\/p>\n

(ABC \/ Disney via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

On Friday night the American Cinematheque<\/a> at the Los Feliz 3 will host a screening of Jeff Daniels\u2019 documentary \u201cTelevision Event,\u201d<\/a> which takes a look at the end of the Cold War through the lens of the 1983 TV movie \u201cThe Day After,\u201d which dramatized the aftermath of a nuclear weapons attack around Kansas City, Mo., and Lawrence, Kan., with a cast that included Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg and John Lithgow. <\/p>\n

Nicholas Meyer, who directed \u201cThe Day After,\u201d will be present for a Q&A on Friday moderated by his daughter, screenwriter Dylan Meyer<\/a>. \u201cTelevision Event\u201d will also show on Saturday and Monday.<\/p>\n

Seen by more than 100 million people when it first aired, the film was shocking for its depiction of the realities of a nuclear attack.<\/p>\n

In a 2023 interview<\/a> with Tim Grierson, Meyer said, \u201cI realized that I didn\u2019t want to make a \u2018good\u2019 movie. I didn\u2019t want to make a good movie, because I knew that if I made a good movie, nobody would talk about the subject \u2014 they would only talk about the movie. I didn\u2019t want a catchy theme song. I didn\u2019t want brilliant cinematography, I didn\u2019t want Emmy-nominated performances. All I wanted was to make a kind of public service announcement: If you have a nuclear war, this is what it might look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Les vampires\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

\"An <\/p>\n

An image from Louis Feuillade\u2019s \u2018Les Vampires\u2019<\/p>\n

(Academy Museum)<\/p>\n

On Sunday the Academy Museum<\/a> will have a rare showing of Louis Feuillade\u2019s 1915-16 complete 10-episode serial \u201cLes vampires.\u201d Set in the Parisian underworld, it follows a ruthless gang of criminals and the woman (played by the electrifying star Musidora) who infiltrates their ranks.<\/p>\n

Modern audiences may also know \u201cLes vampires\u201d as part of the basis for Olivier Assayas\u2019<\/a> 1996 film \u201cIrma Vep\u201d and his own 8-episode series adaptation<\/a> of the film in 2022.<\/p>\n

In other news<\/p>\n

Free Indie Focus screening<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Ana <\/p>\n

Ana Sophia Heger, left, and Taron Egerton in \u201cShe Rides Shotgun.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Lionsgate)<\/p>\n

This Tuesday we will have an Indie Focus Screening Series event with a free showing of \u201cShe Rides Shotgun\u201d<\/a> at the Culver Theater. Director Nick Rowland and stars Taron Egerton and Ana Sophia Heger will be there for a Q&A. You can RSVP here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Adapted from the novel by Jordan Harper by screenwriters Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, the crime thriller involves a man (Egerton), newly released from prison, attempting to protect his daughter (Heger) from the violent gang who is now after them both.<\/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":3,"featured_media":57619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[42125,42126,1582,276,7652,42127,2882,42128,42129,21183,2961,224,2444,5337,42124,3196,6166,2433,637,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-57618","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-angelina-jolie","9":"tag-barry-jenkins","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-david","13":"tag-dead","14":"tag-drama","15":"tag-evil","16":"tag-good-work","17":"tag-killing","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-times","21":"tag-losangeles","22":"tag-lovers","23":"tag-movie","24":"tag-series","25":"tag-short-film","26":"tag-times","27":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114836220424782708","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}