SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our HALLOWEEN-O-THON 2023 Series, Friday, October 6, 2023
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 1917 Bay St building. Our entrance is NOT on Bay Street. You access our entrance from Wilson Street by turning into the street art alleyway/corridor in the back of the building. Look for our signs which are always posted on Wilson and in the corridor to guide the audience.
7:30pm THE SKIN I LIVE IN (2011, adap & dir by Pedro Almodovar, Sony Pictures Classics, Spain, 120mns, 35mm)
Almodovar, like Alfred Hitchcock, is such a talented and prolific director that he has sub-genres unto himself! There are the humanist and/or historical and/or autobiographical movies that include VOLVER, PARALLEL MOTHERS, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, TALK TO HER, PAIN & GLORY. There are the absurdist comedy thrillers that include LAW OF DESIRE, BROKEN EMBRACES. Then there are the dark Almodovars that often have traces of the other sub-genres but often delve into noir, horror, twisted psychological drama. And these latter movies tend to be this programmer's favorites. They include MATADOR, LIVE FLESH, BAD EDUCATION, and... THE SKIN I LIVE IN.
Both a riff on the French horror Georges Franju classic EYES WITHOUT A FACE and an adaptation of the Thierry Jonquet novel TARANTULA, THE SKIN I LIVE IN is a labyrinth of unsettling reveals that keeps you guessing until its climax. And then, as a kind of miracle, delivers on everything that has been set up.
Antonio Banderas plays tortured and disturbed plastic surgeon Dr. Ledgard who has created a new "flesh/skin" that he clearly is testing on a live-in patient Vera who appears to be part prisoner/part forced lover to Ledgard in his laboratory/mansion.
Flashbacks reveal Ledgard's tragic history including the suicide of his wife and mental breakdown of his daughter and it also introduces us to the characters Ledgard considers responsible for his losses.
As the movie bounces between the present and the past, bits of story get filled in, until we arrive at an inevitable confrontation and climax.
Like BAD EDUCATION and PAIN AND GLORY (the two movies closest in some ways to the dark humanist tone of THE SKIN I LIVE IN), SKIN explores both the horror and the sublimity of living by committing fully to reinventing a dark genre.
A tremendous horror movie. A tremendous Almodovar movie. Come see it on gorgeous 35mm.
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)
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.