MUTUAL APPRECIATION (35mm)/COMPUTER CHESS/THERE THERE + Andrew Bujalski Q&A

SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents

Part of our FILMMAKER Q&A series! Saturday, June 1, 2024

(Writer/Director Andrew Bujalski will be joining us for Q&As after each movie)

LOCATION: The Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90021

*Please note entrance/parking is actually in the back of the building. Make a right on Wilson Street, then a right behind the building. We’re the first set of black steps after the big gate.

3pm MUTUAL APPRECIATION (2005, wri/dir by Andrew Bujalski, USA, Arbelos, 110mns, 35mm) Q&A with Mr. Bujalski after screening.

DINNER BREAK 530p-630p

6:30pm COMPUTER CHESS (2013, wri/dir Andrew Bujalski, USA, Kino Lorber, 93mns, Digital) Q&A with Mr. Bujalski after screening.

9pm THERE THERE (2022, wri/dir Andrew Bujalski, USA, Magnolia, 93mns, Digital) Q&A with Mr. Bujalski after screening.

SPECIAL NOTE: Filmmaker Andrew Bujalski like Chad Hartigan and Jim Cummings before him, is joining us for a one day screening of three of his key movies. We couldn’t be more honored. This is your chance to ask a moviemaker how they got their movies made and to hear their story of how they’re carving out a career in the current tough environment. There will be approximately 30 minute Q&A’s after each movie. And we’ll go quickly to the audience for questions!

Writer/director Andrew Bujalski has quietly been amassing a body of work that is unified in its deep humanism yet wildly diverse in its restless experimentation and willingness to be completely different from the movie that preceded it.

His work has blown everyone away including former President Barack Obama who cited Bujalski's 2019 SUPPORT THE GIRLS as one of the best movies of that year.

We're excited and honored to have Mr. Bujalski in person for Q&A's after each of the movies we screen today. Here's your chance moviemakers and movielovers to ask a working moviemaker how they're doing it in today's tough environment.

First up is Mr. Bujalski's breakthrough movie Mutual Appreciation (on 35mm!). Often cited as one of the movies that helped define the early 2000's Mumblecore genre, Mutual Appreciation follows a few awkward days as musician Alan and friend Ellie, who is married to affable Lawrence (played by Andrew Bujalski!), deal with romantic tension and doubts about who they're supposed to be with and what they're doing with their lives. The movie is one of those zeitgeist films that perfectly captured the state of twenty somethings in the early 21st century. Bujalski's attuned eye to the moment put him in the same tier as Lynne Shelton, Greta Gerwig, Joe Swanberg, and the Duplass Brothers.

But rather than crank out more of the same, Mr. Bujalski took a SHARP left turn with his stunning 2013 masterpiece Computer Chess. A period movie that takes place in the early 1980's (and is shot on early 1980's video equipment), Computer Chess follows the nerdy ups and downs of various characters who come to a hotel for a Computer Chess tournament to determine who has the best computer chess program. But a Swingers/New Age-y middle aged group of adults at the same hotel introduce an uncomfortable element of unpredictable sexuality to the preceedings. And that's not even getting into the amazing sci-fi twist. . .

Computer Chess along with Boyhood, Fury Road, Into the Spiderverse, is one of THE great movies of the 2010's. Proof that a great idea can produce a truly great movie, even on a microbudget, Computer Chess is an inspiration.

We conclude the evening with Mr. Bujalski's most recent movie, the again wildly experimental There There made at the height of the Covid pandemic. Rather than try to use the zoom multiple window type feature film that was prevalent at the time, Mr. Bujalski got an amazing ensemble of actors including Lili Taylor and Jason Schwarzmann to engage in a kind of relay race of two person scenes punctuated by musical performances. Each story has a pair of characters interacting with each other. Then one character goes to a new scene with a new character. But Mr. Bujalski embraced the Covid limitations and filmed the actors remotely and separately so that no one ever appears in the same frame with anyone else. Though editing makes it appear as if they are in the same scene. The movie thus becomes a fascinating comment on both the pandemic and how we may not be connecting/communicating with those around us.

Mr. Bujalski took There There and recently converted it into an exciting gallery art installation which is currently showing here in Los Angeles at Rusha & Co (https://www.rusha.co/). We highly recommend you check out the gallery installation as well to compare the experiences.

So please, come join us June 1, 2024 for a 3 movie retrospective of the quietly innovative and restless Andrew Bujalski. And we have Mr. Bujalski in person to answer your questions.

Best always,

Craig Hammill

Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer

*Please note that though we strive to always show titles on 35mm film if advertised, we may have to screen digitally if the print we receive is in such bad shape or if we don't receive the print in time because of a shipping delay. We will do our best to alert the audience. When this does occur, we will offer each ticket holder who chooses not to attend a complimentary ticket to a future event in exchange. (Disclaimer: Good for 90 days – Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)

*Speaker attendance based on availability and schedule. If a Speaker is unable to make an event because of a last minute change in schedule, we will do our best to alert the audience. When this does happen we will always offer each ticket holder who chooses not to attend a complimentary ticket to a future event in exchange. (Disclaimer: Good for 90 days – Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

REFUNDS:

We can offer refunds up to 24 hours before showtime. Please request a refund through Eventbrite and we will process ASAP. After that, no refunds. Sorry.

However if something last minute comes up and you can’t make the screening, for whatever reason, just write to us before showtime: community@secretmovieclub.com and we’ll offer you complimentary tickets to a future screening, good for 90 days. (Disclaimer: Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)

HELPFUL SECRET MOVIE CLUB (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) THEATER PARKING TIPS:

We recommend that you park just outside our theater. Remember our theater is actually in a beautiful street art alleyway in the back of the 1917 Bay Street building. You get to our entrance by taking a right on Wilson, then a right behind the building. We are the first set of black steps on the right after the big gate.

There is also a parking lot at the corner of Mateo and Violet Street, just 2 blocks from our theater, which costs $7 per car.

HOW CAN WE STAY ON TOP OF NEWLY ANNOUNCED 35MM SCREENINGS, EVENTS, ETC?

You can follow us on Instagram/Twitter: @secretmovieclub or Facebook: @secretmovieclub35mm

You can also subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at secretmovieclub.com or by writing to us at community@secretmovieclub.com and using the header “SUBSCRIBE ME TO NEWSLETTER”.

HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:

You can always email us at community@secretmovieclub.com with any other questions, concerns, thoughts, recommendations.