11 years after his last theatrical feature (and far longer since the last one anyone saw), the passing of British director Peter Yates likely won’t leave much of a dent on contemporary audiences. Not knowingly, anyway — though his innovative visual and editing schemes in the iconic 1968 Steve McQueen thriller “Bullitt” helped change the shape of the prototypical Hollywood action sequence. It was, of course, his quieter work on “The Dresser” and “Breaking Away” that landed him four career Oscar nominations. But since those, along with that car chase from “Bullitt,” are all being amply covered in the obits, I thought I’d spotlight a more neglected pleasure: his frisky 1972 caper “The Hot Rock.”
Tag: Breaking Away
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Jason Reitman guest-programs the New Beverly
Granted, this is pretty LA-centric, but beginning tonight, “Up in the Air” director Jason Reitman will be guest-programming three days of screenings at the Quentin Tarantino-owned New Beverly theater. Tonight’s double feature is “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” at 7:30 (also showing tomorrow at 3:20 and 7:30) and “Election” at 9:30 (also showing tomorrow at 5:25 and 9:30).Sunday, February 21 brings “Shampoo” at 6:30 (also Monday at 7:30) and “Boogie Nights” at 8:45 (also Monday at 9:45). I’ll probably check out the former, as, believe it or not, I’ve never seen it.
The festivities conclude Tuesday, February 23 with “Breaking Away” at 7:30 and “Bottle Rocket” at 9:45, the only screenings of each. Again, I may go check out the former, because I’ve never seen it.
For more info, check out the New Beverly’s official website. Meanwhile, for further reading, Anthony Breznican recently sat down with Reitman and father Ivan at USA Today.