Picturehouse 441

On Monday, January 8 join us for a Q&A with director Justin K. Thompson, as he discusses 2023 American animated superhero film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is another audacious, immersive feat of filmmaking that matches the already-astonishing original and ups the ante with its ambition and visual innovation. Grounding its high-flying story with humanity and some genuine pain, this film goes weirder, darker, trippier than its predecessor, deepening the story it set up in surprising ways. Edited by Mike Andrews, ACE, it’s obvious that this Spider-Verse came from a place of love and passion which helped make it one of 2023's essentials. This event will be a Zoom webinar on Monday, January 8 at 8PM ET/5PM PT. Please RSVP by Monday, January 8, 3PM ET/12PM PT.

For questions, please contact Picturehouse 441 Programmer, Joshua Handler (joshua@picturehouse441.com).

On Tuesday, January 16 join us for a Q&A with screenwriter Brian Helgeland, as he discusses his work on the 1997 crime film L.A. Confidential. A modern-day noir that pays loving homage to ‘40s detective films while giving it a distinctly modern sensibility, L.A. Confidential takes James Ellroy’s bestseller and adapts its labyrinthine plot into something more digestible yet no less complex and compelling. For their adaptation, Brian Helgeland and his co-writer Curtis Hanson (who also directed), won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and for her performance, Kim Basinger won Best Supporting Actress. Editor Peter Honess, ACE, was nominated for Best Film Editing. Hard-hitting and ruthlessly intelligent, L.A. Confidential is neo-noir at its finest and the kind of mid-budget, adult-oriented film rarely seen anymore. This event will be a Zoom webinar on Tuesday, January 16 at 8PM ET/5PM PT.

Tune in on Thursday, January 18, to watch a Q&A with editor Nick. Houy, ACE, as he discusses the editing of the 2023 hit Barbie. After the one-two punch of Lady Bird and Little Women, filmmaker Greta Gerwig took on her biggest project yet: Barbie. A triumph of imagination, Barbie cleverly uses the eponymous character and Ken to explore the roles of women in society and the challenges they face. Cut by longtime Gerwig editor Nick Houy, ACE, the film moves at a breakneck pace, perfectly in sync with Gerwig’s unique rhythms. Both the highest grossing and one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2023, Barbie is destined to influence the next many years of cinema, but it will be hard to replicate the infectious energy of the inimitable original. This event will be a Zoom Webinar on Thursday, January 18 at 8PM ET/5PM PT.

Picturehouse 441 and ACE are proud to be partnering on a series of live virtual Q&As as part of our mutual efforts to promote film literacy.
Join us for a Q&A with screenwriter Hampton Fancher, as he discusses his work on science fiction film Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Upon its release in 1982, Blade Runner opened to mixed reviews and middling box office in a cut that reeked of studio intervention. A decade later, Ridley Scott released a director’s cut that more closely aligned with his vision, and it was immediately hailed as a landmark work of cinema (this was followed by the 2007 final cut, Scott’s preferred version). A potent mix of film noir, science fiction, and dystopian drama, Blade Runner is an uncommonly intelligent work, written by Hampton Fancher and David Webb Peoples and edited by Terry Rawlings, ACE, and Marsha Nakashima, that asks major philosophical questions about what makes human beings human. The event will be a Zoom Webinar on Tuesday, January 23 at 8PM ET/5PM PT.

Join us for a Q&A with screenwriter William Wisher, as he discusses his work on 1991 science fiction action film Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The Terminator was a landmark of sci-fi cinema, but like with his previous film, Aliens, filmmaker James Cameron wanted to outdo the original with his sequel. A bigger badder better Terminator film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day ups the ante in every way, taking risk after risk and paying every one off in spades. With Arnold Schwarzenegger as a heroic terminator, Linda Hamilton in full badass mode and editing by Conrad Buff, ACE, Mark Goldblatt, ACE, Richard A. Harris and Dody Dorn, ACE (Special Edition), T2 delivers brains and brawn in equal measure while single-handedly revolutionizing cinematic VFX. Chock-full of brilliant one-liners and given a big heart by Cameron and co-writer William Wisher, T2 stands as one of the great American action epics that has lost none of its power. The event will be a Zoom Webinar on Monday, January 29 at 8PM ET/5PM PT.

*ACE Members and Newsletter subscribers, please check your email for the registration link.*

Join us for a Q&A with editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis, ACE, as he discusses his Oscar-nominated work on 2023's Poor Things. A wonderfully odd concoction courtesy of Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things is a provocative, delightful tale of a reanimated adult woman, Bella Baxter, with the brain of a baby who begins to explore the world and find herself in a steampunk version of 19th Century England. Working with largely the same team as his previous film, The Favourite, including genius longtime editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis, ACE, Lanthimos has created a tale of female empowerment that crackles with wit from Tony McNamara’s screenplay and a career-best performance from the chameleonic Emma Stone. And enough cannot be said about the work of Mavropsaridis whose sharp, unpredictable style brings out the best in everyone’s work, culminating in one of 2023’s very best films. The event will be a Zoom Webinar on Thursday, February 15 at 4PM ET/1PM PT.

Picturehouse 441 and ACE are proud to be partnering on a series of live virtual Q&As as part of our mutual efforts to promote film literacy.

Join us for a Q&A with editor Billy Weber, as he discusses his work on 1978 romantic period drama Days of Heaven. Terrence Malick's follow-up to Badlands, is one of the most visually-stunning films ever produced and widely touted as one of the greatest films ever made. Working with master cinematographer Néstor Almendros, Malick conjures painterly images so rich and fully-realized that they boggle the mind. Intensely moving and emotionally rich with a score by the great Ennio Morricone, this Texas-set mini epic demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Of particular note is the work of editor Billy Weber who works perfectly in sync with the poetic filmmaker’s rhythms, so much so that the film is considered one of the best-edited by the Motion Picture Editors Guild.

The event will be a Zoom Webinar on Monday, February 26 at 8PM ET/5PM PT.

Picturehouse 441 and ACE are proud to be partnering on a series of live virtual Q&As as part of our mutual efforts to promote film literacy.
Join us for a Q&A with director Martin Campbell and editor Stuart Baird, ACE, as they discuss the 2006 spy film Casino Royale. After decades of declining quality, the Bond franchise was rebooted by director Martin Campbell with Casino Royale, a gritty, brutal spy thriller that deservingly made Daniel Craig a world-famous star. Known for his successful and acclaimed action films, including the 1995 007 entry, GoldenEye, Campbell gave the franchise a much-needed grounding in realism, making Casino Royale hit hard both in its violence and emotionality. Filled with muscular set pieces and stellar supporting performances from Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green and edited by Stuart Baird, ACE, this film completely reshaped the beloved franchise and influenced countless subsequent films, including its direct sequels. This event will be a Zoom Webinar on Wednesday, March 6 at 4PM ET/1PM PT.

On Monday, March 11, join us for a Q&A with actor Elliott Gould, as he discusses his work on the 1973 satirical neo-noir film The Long Goodbye. After flipping the Western on its head with his 1971 masterwork, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, maverick director Robert Altman turned his lens towards Film Noir with 1973’s The Long Goodbye. Updating the classic Philip Marlowe novel to 1970s Los Angeles, Altman re-teamed with inimitable Elliott Gould as a pot-smoking version of the detective for this film. Gould’s take on Marlowe is as original as it is strikingly human, and his and Altman’s influence can be felt in such films as The Big Lebowski and Inherent Vice. Despite being met with a mixed critical and commercial reception upon release, this cynical classic has deservedly undergone a major re-evaluation and is now considered one of the defining works of 1970s Cinema. Editing by Lou Lombardo, editor of classic films such as The Wild Bunch and McCabe & Mrs. Miller. This event will be a Zoom Webinar on Monday, March 11 at 8PM ET/5PM PT.

Tune in on Wednesday, March 13, to watch a Q&A with cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, AMC, ASC, as he discusses his work on the 2006 film Pan's Labyrinth. Guillermo Del Toro’s dark fantasy, Pan's Labyrinth, is Alice in Wonderland by way of the Spanish Civil War, and even that is a reductive way of describing this simultaneously wondrous and brutal film. Following a young girl sent to the Spanish countryside to escape the horrors of war who encounters a mysterious fantasy world by night, this film wrenchingly explores the loss of innocence during wartime and the need for escape. Featuring jaw-droppingly rich work from cinematographer Guillermo Navarro who won one of the film’s three Oscars, Pan's Labyrinth is one of the essentials of modern-day cinema that finds its beloved filmmaker letting his imagination run gloriously wild. Pan's Labyrinth was edited by Bernat Vilaplana. This event will be a Zoom Webinar on Wednesday, March 13 at 8PM ET/5PM PT.

Picturehouse 441 & ACE are proud to be partnering on a series of live virtual Q&As as part of our mutual efforts to promote film literacy.

On Monday, April 1, join us for a Q&A with composer Alan Menken, as he discusses his work on the 1986 horror comedy musical film Little Shop of Horrors.

"On the twenty-third day of the month of September, in an early year of a decade not too long before our own, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence. And this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places..." and so begins Little Shop of Horrors, a wild, weird, completely demented, and utterly ingenious musical film adaptation of the Off-Broadway sensation by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, itself an adaptation of a zero-budget Roger Corman-directed film from 1960. What makes Little Shop shine is the obvious love put into its creation. Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin, Vincent Gardenia, and Levi Stubbs (as the voice of Audrey II) are note-perfect, the technical wizardry that Frank Oz and his team brought to give life to the plant through practical effects is nothing short of astonishing, and Ashman and Menken's literate and clever score ranks with the greats. With editing by John Jympson, ACE, a film with a bloodthirsty talking plant, a sadistic dentist, and big musical numbers may not sound like classic movie material, but Little Shop is so infectiously energetic and entertaining that it's impossible to resist. This event will be a Zoom Webinar on Monday, April 1 at 8PM ET/5PM PT.

*ACE members, please check your email for free ticket information.*

Picturehouse 441 & ACE are proud to be partnering on a series of live virtual Q&As as part of our mutual efforts to promote film literacy.

Tune in on April 4, tune in to watch a Q&A with actor Viggo Mortensen as he discusses his work on the 2005 action thriller film A History of Violence. Kicking off a multi-film collaboration between master filmmaker David Cronenberg and star Viggo Mortensen, A History of Violence is arguably the pair's strongest – a lean, mean thriller about a family man whose past life violently starts to catch up with him. Coming off of his star-making performances in Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen does career-best work that showcases his impressive versatility, sometimes within a single scene in this film. And, History finds Cronenberg in more grounded but no less provocative territory than usual, toning down his more surreal impulses for this film. Haunting and visceral in equal measure, A History of Violence is one of the essential films of the 2000s that makes for bruising, unforgettable viewing. A History of Violence is expertly edited by Ronald Sanders, ACE. This event will be a Zoom Webinar on Thursday, April 4 at 3PM ET/12PM PT.

*ACE members, please check your email for free ticket information.*