Must-See! Michael Mann’s ‘The Insider’ is More Relevant Than Ever & Best LA Movies This Week!

Hi there! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome back to your regular guide to the universe of Only Good Movies.

At this time of the year, it feels like every night there’s a full-scale film festival taking place across Los Angeles. Films aiming for a boost into the awards season are being showcased at various venues across the city, often accompanied by their star-studded casts and renowned creative teams for Q&As.

Josh Rottenberg penned an insightful article about the network of screening rooms and venues around the city that play a crucial role in making this possible. Studios begin to book reservations for the next year’s awards race even before the Oscars for the current year have concluded.

“Many people tend to underestimate the complexity of the process, assuming it’s a simple task, but in reality, it involves many moving parts,” notes agency awards consultant Michael Aaron Lawson. “It requires a lot of effort and coordination. It can be quite stressful, I must admit.”

Michael Mann’s ‘The Insider’ and ‘Heat’

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association will initiate a new series in partnership with the Egyptian Theatre this Wednesday, featuring a double bill of Michael Mann’s 1999 film “The Insider” and 1995’s “Heat.” Mann will be present for a Q&A between the films with LAFCA member and former Times critic Justin Chang. (Full disclosure, I’m also a member of LAFCA.)

“The Insider” will be screened in 35mm, while “Heat” will be shown in the 4K restoration, in accordance with Mann’s personal preference.

While “Heat” has evolved into Mann’s landmark work, “The Insider” is frequently overlooked, which is part of what makes its feature at this event so thrilling. Based on the real-life story of tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand (played by Russell Crowe) and the efforts of “60 Minutes” producer Lowell Bergman (played by Al Pacino) to air his story, the film is a gripping thriller about ethics, media, the workplace, and the kind of world we aspire to live in.

In his original review of the film, Kenneth Turan wrote,

“’The Insider’ is essentially a representative slice of 20th-century America, offering a glimpse into our individual and societal motivations. It’s a scathing critique of the influence of serious money and the intimidating effect corporate power can have on the dissemination of truth. … It illustrates the challenges and agony of doing the right thing on a personal level and, most importantly, redefines what bravery truly means, and how our heroes seldom fit our often oversimplified preconceptions.”

John Waters’ ‘Female Trouble’

We’re constantly on the lookout for fresh holiday movies, which is why Vidiots’ screening of John Waters’ 1974 film “Female Trouble” on Monday is particularly thrilling. The film tells the story of the unruly delinquent Dawn Davenport (the unforgettable Divine) and is a prime example of Waters’ early style. It features a memorable scene in which Dawn destroys her family’s Christmas because she didn’t receive the cha-cha heels she had wished for.

In his original review of the film from 1975, Kevin Thomas cheerfully described the film as “another outrageous exercise in poor taste,” adding that the film is strictly for those with a very open mind, who are already familiar with the works of Andy Warhol and Robert Downey.

Points of interest

Robert Altman’s ‘Ready to Wear’

The Academy Museum will conclude its series celebrating Italian actor Sophia Loren on Saturday with a 35mm screening of Robert Altman’s 1994 film “Ready to Wear,” using a print from the Harvard Film Archive.

Set during Paris Fashion Week, the film, like Altman’s other works such as “MASH,” “Nashville,” “The Player,” and “The Company,” explores a specific institution or system. The star-studded cast includes Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Julia Roberts, Lauren Bacall, Teri Garr, Forest Whitaker, Richard E. Grant, Kim Basinger, Tracey Ullman, Lili Taylor, and many more, with cameos from fashion industry figures like Issey Miyake, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, and Sonia Rykiel.

‘The Spoilers’

On Monday and Tuesday, the New Beverly will screen Edwin Carewe’s 1930 film “The Spoilers” twice. The film, starring Gary Cooper, Kay Johnson, Betty Compson, and William ‘Stage’ Boyd, tells the story of a fight for control over an Alaska gold mine and features an epic fistfight scene between Cooper and Boyd.

In other news

Mohammad Rasoulof and ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’

Mohammad Rasoulof, a banned filmmaker from Iran who had already served time in prison, was facing another prison term when he escaped the country on foot. His new film, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” shot in secret before he left the country, is a compelling thriller that uses one family to examine the larger system of patriarchal oppression, as a father attempts to control his wife and two teenage daughters.

In a recent interview in Los Angeles with Carlos Aguilar, Rasoulof discussed what it was like to make films under such extreme conditions.

“Being able to circumvent censorship has its own merit,” Rasoulof said. “I had two choices: either not to make films, because I had no interest in making them under the dictates of censors, or make films this way.”