LA Weekly from Los Angeles, California • 34

CHAMPAGNE SALE GRAND OPENING SPECIALS This tale in cdebntkn of THE GRAND OPEMNC OF LE CHATEAU CAFE. Fresh croissants, quiches, pasta, salads, croissant sandwiches, espresso cappuccino Vidfest continued from page 32 Offer expires October 7 and is limited to one bottle of each brand per customer LE CHATEAU WINES SPIRITS Monday-Friday 8 am-10 pm Saturday 10 am-11 pm 6252 Wilshire Blvd. (at Crescent Heights) 933-7300 ixizixtsiDwyzixtsi Price includes FREE lifetime membership. r- A $50 value. lio Its hard to decide which ver is the best in your price range.

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Thats easy enough. novices heads as they wash up in ice water are unforgettable. Dont wait for the NBC sitcom, catch the original. Sept. 23, 1 p.m.

Russian Artistic Experiment (1982), by Boris Miljkovic and Branimir Dimitri-jevic, is a personal interpretation of the Russian avant-garde movement of the early 20th century. The program examines the influence of the Russian Revolution on such artists as Malevich, Tatlin, Mayakovsky and Diaghelev. The tape features young actors and rock musicians of the Belgrade Alternative Scene, with art-rock by Nico and David Bowie, contemporary jazz, and Russian revolutionary songs. The videomakers contemplate the enduring influence of the Russian avant-garde on contemporary artists. Sept.

22, 1 p.m.; with Chanoyu JAPANESE TELEVISION AND VIDEO Curated by Fujiko Nakaya How do you sell hard liquor on TV? How about showing a geisha waiting alone at home for a man who is apparently cheating on her, then taking off her wedding ring and slyly offering a shot of whiskey to the next guy who approaches her door? One of these commercials seems to say, Your puppy has run away from home and is lost in the rain. So have a drink! These ads for Suntory Whiskey start out normal and end up more and more abstract and decidely strange. The voice-overs are mainly in Japanese, so who knows what theyre saying; what they show are just the things to get drunk to. The study of Gaudis architecture is a particularly well made travelogue, but the ones showing a surreal bar with armadillo waiters or hippos climbing trees are as good as commercials can get. The TV commercials by Toru Kawaski are unique and often very funny.

His Xerox ads seem to bear no relation to what hes selling. He always manages to put the product in some strange context. What on earth does a blonde female boxer alone in a ring have to do with selling a watch? The fun in watching these is trying to figure out what the hell theyre trying to push. The program also includes a selection of video art an historical overview of the development of this art form in Japan. Sept.

23, 2 p.m. IMAGE AND SOUND: Collaborations Moderated by Robert Wisdom Conjuring: The Image of Music. The Der Riese( 1983) is a remarkable collection of tapes from surveillance cameras that lets us understand not what its like to be watched but what its like to actually be Big Brother. In a train station, at the beach, by a river, in a hospital, we see people who are totally unaware of us. While we wait for them to do something anything we begin to subtly question our own presence.

Why are we here? Why doesnt someone just rob a bank to justify our watching this? Theres no question of there being a human cameraman every pan and zoom is mechanical, and the viewer starts feeling more dehumanized than those being watched. A profoundly difficult and worthwhile experience. Sept. 21, 9 p.m. Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (1983), produced by WNET (New York) and RSL Films for the American Playhouse series, is a fantastic adaption of the short story by John Varley, one of the most original minds in science fiction today.

It stars Raul Julia as Aram Fingal, a computer programmer for a futuristic corporation that apparently runs the world. One day, he manages to break into a secret file of old movies, and watches Casablanca. Hes caught and sent to be doppled at Nirvana Village. What follows is an incredibly funny fight for control of the computer (and the world) within the context of Arams warped version of the classic Bogart film. Obviously low budget, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank thrives on the quality of its ideas rather than production value.

The love story is also extremely strong, due to the extraordinary emotional depth of Raul Julia and Linda Griffiths in the midst of cartoon madness. Sept. 22, 3 p.m. In Zen Temple (1979), a camera crew has for the first time been admitted behind the sacred walls of an ancient Zen Buddhist temple built by Master Dogen some 730 years ago. This is an extremely well made and objective documentary on these Zen zealots, who seek to rid the mind of all concepts by shaving their heads with a straight razor and breathing so as not to disturb an imaginary feather under their noses.

Apparently getting severely swatted on the back and eating remarkably boring food are an important part of the process too. This is a slow-moving and fascinating film, and some scenes the koan (question and answer) period with the master, or the shots of steam rising from the 3 MCTWE! Tell your ver, down boy. 2522 Hyperion in Silverlake, next to Bodybuilders Gym Look for the subtle grey awning (213)669-8544 Open 7 days 11 -9.