I missed LACMA's showing last year of The Clock (bad timing, I suppose), but it won't happen again this year.  In case you haven't heard of Christian Marclay's brilliant project, I've included a clip from Youtube, below. In short, he has taken fragments from thousands of films and television shows and bridged them in such a way that at any given second, whatever time being shown in the film clip on screen is the actual time that you're viewing it: real-time viewing. It will be shown in the Bing Theatre from Noon this coming Saturday, September 22nd until Noon on Sunday, September 23rd; a 24-hour movie-clip marathon. The only drawback I can anticipate in seeing something like this, will be the illumination of cell phone screens as people check their devices - trying to ensure the film's accuracy. Other than that...

LACMA
Bing Theatre
5905 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA  90036

It’s back! Fashion’s Night Out returns this Thursday, September 6th, all across the globe. Unfortunately, I don’t live in New York City, where Anna Wintour of VOGUE fame, started this phenomenon back in 2008, but I’m glad to be a resident of sunny Southern California where we have Rodeo Drive, the Beverly Center and Melrose to rival the stores of Manhattan any day of the week. So if you like the idea of rubbing elbows with a celebrity or getting your elbows rubbed by one stop by one of the many locations that will surely make this year’s Fashion’s Night Out a fashionable success. Did you ride the huge Ferris Wheel last year on Rodeo Drive?

Who hasn’t seen and fallen in love with at least one image from the late photographer, Herb Ritts? (For me, any photo of Cindy Crawford works) His images are more than beautiful photographs. They are reminders of places and times in pop culture; visual soundtracks, if you will. There’s Janet Jackson in the desert, Cindy, Naomi, Linda, Christy, Stephanie and Tatjana insouciantly huddled together in a nude embrace and one of his first photographs: Richard Gere posing defiantly behind a broken down vehicle in San Bernardino, CA.

The Getty Center has brought together some of Ritts’s most recognizable portraits for this breathtaking and informative exhibit. These are pictures that we’ve seen and admired in publications such as GQ, Vogue and Vanity Fair; images that are forever woven into America’s tapestry. Since the retrospective has been extended until next Sunday, Sept 2nd, you’ve one more week to witness, up close, the genius of Ritts. Be certain to rent the free audio guide, which offers backstories on some of his work, as well as, interviews from a few of his famous subjects like Cindy Crawford, Richard Gere and fellow photographer, Matthew Rolston. 

One good thing about going to museums, as opposed to a movie, on a first or second date is that it gives you a chance to connect and discuss, in the moment, shared likes/dislikes: Monet vs Manet, Jacob Lawrence vs. Wm. Johnson, Picasso vs. Kadinsky, etc. You wouldn't want to find out too late that your "soulmate" is a Koons supporter, would you?

(Click here for schedules of other Southern California museums.)

And a couple of images for the ladies...

The following images by N.D. Harrington for The Sophistciated Gentleman...

THE GETTY CENTER
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles, California 90049
310.440.7300

HOURS:
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday: 10:00 - 5:00
Friday & Saturday: 10:00 - 9:00

While some say that August Wilson was the leading African-American playwright of our time, there’s also the school of thought that he was the best American playwright PERIOD! Jitney, is but one of 10 plays, which chronicles, decade-by-decade, the experiences of Blacks in America; 1900-1990. Jitney takes us inside a gypsy cab company in Pittsburgh, PA in the fall of 1977, and like any job there’s plenty of drama that unfolds over the course of a work day; various contretemps between co-workers and lovers ensue. This Pasadena Playhouse production of Jitney, directed by Ron OJ Parsons, ends on Sunday, July 15th, which also marks the end of the 2011-2012 season and believe me when I tell you that the quality of this production stands up to any of Wilson’s plays that I’ve seen at larger venues. 

PASADENA PLAYHOUSE
39 South El Molino Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101
626.356.7529

What better way to watch a movie this summer than alfresco; watching movie stars under the night’s stars. My friend, Kenar, invited me to go with her last night to see the 1972 film Chinatown (which starred Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson) at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Yep, a cemetery! I’d heard of movie nights here, but couldn't wrap my head around the idea of sitting amongst the dearly departed to see a movie. Well, it was definitely worth it. We popped some popcorn, dusted off her lawn chairs and off we went. Were I not afraid of possibly seeing a spirit, I would have been tempted to bring along some spirits. (pun NOT intended!) FYI... Hollywood Forever will show their last screening of the summer on September 22nd of... wait for it... The Exorcist!

Some other hot spots to see a movie outdoors is the American at Brand in Glendale and The W Hotel in Westwood, to name a few. My favorite outdoor film festival, though, is the one starting on July 5th, at One Colorado in Old Towne Pasadena. This year they'll have everything from High Noon and The Miracle Worker to Poltergeist and Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? with Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. If you've never experienced a movie like this, it definitely offers a new spin on the classic, but jaded, date-night at your local cinema; guaranteed to win you brownie points. Just remember to bring a jacket and something to sit on.