The Cool School (2008)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Morgan Neville

Writers:

Kristine Mckenna (writer)
Morgan Neville (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

How LA Learned to Love Modern Art. A lesson in how a few renegade artists built an art scene from scratch. |

Plot Keywords:

Arthouse

Cast

Eve Babitz	...	Herself
John Baldessari	...	Himself
Larry Bell	...	Himself
Billy Al Bengston	...	Himself
Edmond Bereal	...	Himself
Irving Blum	...	Himself
Jeff Bridges	...	Himself - Narrator
Charles Brittin	...	Himself
William Claxton	...	Himself
Donald Factor	...	Himself
Sonia Gechtoff	...	Herself
Frank O. Gehry	...	Himself (as Frank Gehry)
Hal Glicksman	...	Himself
Peter Goulds	...	Himself
Elyse Grinstein	...	Herself
Stanley Grinstein	...	Himself
Henry Hopkins	...	Himself
Dennis Hopper	...	Himself
Walter Hopps	...	Himself
Robert Irwin	...	Himself
Ivan Karp	...	Himself
Craig Kauffman	...	Himself
David Lafaille	...	Himself
David Meltzer	...	Himself
Ed Moses	...	Himself
Shirley Neilsen Blum	...	Herself
Jim Newman	...	Himself
Peter Plagens	...	Himself
Ken Price	...	Himself
Vivian Rowan	...	Herself
Edward Ruscha	...	Himself (as Ed Ruscha)
Dean Stockwell	...	Himself
Andy Warhol	...	Himself (archive footage)

Also Known As:

The Cool School: How L.A. Learned to Love Modern Art (Australia)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG

Company:

Tremolo Productions

Fascinating Look at '50s-60s LA Art Scene

Viewed at Starz Denver Film Festival. This IS the film if you want a crash course on LA's hipster art scene of the mid '50s and late '60s. Thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. It was at Ferus Gallery that bookwormish Walter Hopps (who cared about the art) and Cary Grant-like Irving Blum (who cared about the money) brought together a unique and odd collection of off-beat artists to La Cienega - Ed Kienholz, Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, John Altoon, Billy Al Bengston, Ed Moses, Robert Irwin and Kenneth Price, among others. Bon vivants, artists, collectors and cigar afficionados Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell are interspersed throughout. The gallery housed Warhol's first exhibit, brought in Lichtenstein, and got busted by the cops for an exhibit deemed obscene. After seeing the film, I suggest going to Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood - to look up the ghosts.