Kenneth Turan Makes a Pitch for LACMA’s Finale
LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan pays tribute to Ian Birnie’s final film series at the Leo S. Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Turan writes:
“Seeing these magnificent 17 on the big screen of LACMA’s Bing Theater … will be a cinematic education in and of itself for people lucky enough to experience them all. But the joy the series will create has to be tempered by sadness and worry about the circumstances that made it possible. The program is the swan song of Ian Birnie, who for the last 14 years has been director of LACMA’s Film Department but is now out of a job. For his farewell program, he’s picked an eclectic but irresistible collection of movies, all previously screened at LACMA, most more than once, some up to five times, and he has written distinctly personal program notes.”