Laemmle Email Newsletter for week of October 25 - October 31
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Frankie
PG-13 •
98 mins •
english
Opening at: Royal Coming Soon: Playhouse 7, Town Center 5
Three generations of a European family come together in the fabled town of Sintra, Portugal, for one last vacation before the family matriarch faces the next, and last, chapter of her life. Over the course of one crisp October day, the fairy tale setting brings about everyone's most romantic impulses, revealing both cracks between them, as well as unexpected depth of feeling.
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It's like an elegant bracelet that's modest enough to go unnoticed, but nevertheless reveals a quietly exquisite beauty.
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David Ehrlich, Indiewire |
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Fantastic Fungi
Not Rated •
81 mins •
English
Opening at: Monica Film Center
When so many are struggling for connection, inspiration and hope, Fantastic Fungi brings us together as interconnected creators of our world. Directed by Louie Schwartzberg, it's a consciousness-shifting film that takes us on an immersive journey through time and scale into the magical earth beneath our feet, an underground network that can heal and save our planet.
Q&A's after select shows.
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A charming blend of science and conjecture, 'Fantastic Fungi' wants to free your mind.
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Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
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Greener Grass
Not Rated •
95 mins •
English
Opening at: Monica Film Center, Playhouse 7
In a Day-Glo-colored, bizarro version of suburbia where adults wear braces on their already-straight teeth, everyone drives golf carts, and children magically turn into golden retrievers, soccer moms and best friends Jill (Jocelyn DeBoer) and Lisa (Dawn Luebbe) are locked in a passive aggressive battle-of-the-wills that takes a turn into the sinister when Lisa begins systematically taking over every aspect of Jill’s life—starting with her newborn daughter.
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'Greener Grass' is a movie that's not only immediately destined for cult status - it's the rare movie that truly earns it.
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Geoff Berkshire, Los Angeles Times
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Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace
Not Rated •
84 mins •
English
Opening at: Ahrya Fine Arts, Music Hall Coming Soon: Playhouse 7, Royal, Claremont 5, Town Center 5
Going Attractions celebrates the grandeur of the great cinemas of the U.S. Built in the 1910s-30s, when movies were the acme of entertainment, so were the venues designed to show them: Thousands of seats, giant screens, exotic and ornate interiors with balconies and lounges, in-house organs and orchestras, amazing marquees, and air conditioning back when homes had none. The film also tracks the theaters’ eventual decline, through to current-day preservation efforts.
Q&A's after select shows.
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Awesome and wonderful!
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T.C. Kirkham, eCinemaOne
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The
Lighthouse
R •
109 mins •
English
Opening at: NoHo 7, Claremont 5
From Robert Eggers, the visionary filmmaker behind modern horror masterpiece The Witch, comes this hypnotic and hallucinatory tale of two lighthouse keepers on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
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It's funny, high-spirited, and giddily loopy, a descent into madness told with the energy of a sea shanty.
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David Sims, Atlantic
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The
Current War - The Director's Cut
PG-13 •
106 mins •
English
Opening at: Claremont 5, Monica Film Center, Playhouse 7, NoHo 7
Edison. Westinghouse. Tesla. Three brilliant visionaries set off on a charged battle for the future in The Current War, the epic story of the cutthroat competition that literally lit up the modern world.
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Making Waves
Not Rated •
94 mins •
English
Opening at: Monica Film Center, Ahrya Fine Arts
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound reveals the hidden power of sound in cinema through film clips and insight from visionary directors and their wildly creative sound designers.
Q&A's after select shows.
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'Making Waves' will likely inspire viewers to seek out their favorite films and experience them with fresh ears.
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John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter
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Jojo Rabbit
PG-13 •
108 mins •
English
Opening at: Playhouse 7 Coming Soon: Glendale, NoHo 7, Claremont 5
Writer-director Taika Waititi (THOR: RAGNAROK, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE), brings his signature style of humor and pathos to his latest film, JOJO RABBIT, a World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy (Roman Griffin Davis as JoJo) whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi), Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.
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As much as it makes you laugh, Waititi's must-watch effort is a warm hug of a movie that just so happens to have a lot of important things to say.
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Brian Truitt, USA Today
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Parasite
R •
132 mins •
Korean
Opening at: NoHo 7 Coming Soon: Claremont 5, Glendale
Meet the Park Family, the picture of aspirational wealth, and the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children install themselves as tutor and art therapist to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. When a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out.
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'Parasite' isn't really a monster movie. Yet on at least one of its nearly infinite levels it is - and the monsters are us.
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Ty Burr, Boston Globe
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Don Giovanni
(Not Rated) •
229 mins •
English
Coming Soon: Glendale, Royal
Sexual intrigue, jealousy, wit, anger… and retribution! The new Royal Opera Season begins with Mozart’s engaging masterpiece, which follows Don Giovanni, the women he serially seduces, and the vengeance that finally catches up with him. The opera is renowned for its ever-shifting portrayals of complex characters, fast-moving action and mix of the comic and the heartfelt. A cast of international singers – both familiar and making Royal Opera debuts – under conductor Hartmut Haenchen perform the glorious arias and ensembles of this opera favorite.
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CLICK FOR DETAILS
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LUZIA - Cirque du Soleil in Cinema
One night only!
Not Rated •
95 mins •
English
Coming Soon: Ahrya Fine Arts, Playhouse 7
For one night only, Cirque du Soleil in Cinema transports its internationally acclaimed show LUZIA to the big screen. Through a series of grand visual surprises and breathtaking acrobatic performances, it invites audiences to escape on a surrealistic journey through a sumptuous and vibrant world suspended somewhere between dreams and reality. LUZIA cleverly brings to the stage multiple places, faces and sounds of Mexico taken from both tradition and modernity.
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Count Orlov Musical
Not Rated •
123 mins •
Russian
Opening at: Town Center 5 Coming Soon: Royal, Town Center 5
Count Alexey Orlov, who had once contributed to Catherine the Great’s rise to power, falls out of favor and is sent away in disgrace to Italy. While there, he meets a beautiful young woman, Elizabeth, supposedly the granddaughter of Peter the Great, who has aspirations for the Russian crown. In an attempt to win back Catherine's affection, Orlov reveals Elizabeth's plans, setting in motion a series of events that lead to an unimaginable end.
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Paradise Hills
Not Rated •
96 mins •
English
Opening at: Monica Film Center
On an isolated island, Uma (Emma Roberts) wakes up to find herself at Paradise Hills, a facility where high-class families send their daughters to become perfect versions of themselves. The facility is run by the mysterious Duchess (Milla Jovovich) where calibrated treatments including etiquette classes, vocal lessons, beauty treatments, gymnastics and restricted diets, revolve all physical and emotional shortcomings within two months. The outspoken Uma finds solace and friendship in other Paradise Hills residents -- Chloe (Danielle McDonald), Yu (Awkwafina) and Mexican popstar Amarna (Eiza Gonzalez). Uma soon realizes that lurking behind all this beauty is a sinister secret. It's a race against the clock as Uma and her friends try to escape Paradise Hills before it consumes them all.
Q&A's after select shows.
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For a feature film directorial debut, Alice Waddington comes out swinging, demolishing the chains of patriarchy along the way.
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Douglas Davidson, Elements of Madness
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The
Kill Team
R •
87 mins •
English
Opening at: Music Hall
When Andrew Briggman (Nat Wolff), a young soldier in the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, witnesses other recruits killing innocent civilians under the direction of a sadistic leader, Sergeant Deeks (Alexander Skarsgård), he considers reporting them to higher-ups -- but the heavily-armed, increasingly violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them, and Andrew begins to fear that he'll be the next target.
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Both a tense moral thriller and a disheartening account of our country's actions abroad.
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Monica Castillo, The Wrap
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The
Cat and the Moon
Not Rated •
114 mins •
English
Opening at: NoHo 7
The Cat and the Moon follows teenager Nick (Alex Wolff), who comes to New York City to temporarily live with a jazz musician friend of his late father’s named Cal (Mike Epps) while his mom is in rehab. During his time in the city, he befriends a group of kids who show him what New York has to offer.
Q&A's after select shows.
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Watson
Not Rated •
100 mins •
English
Opening at: Monica Film Center
Like a crime-fighting superhero of the high seas, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson has spent his life sailing the globe to keep our oceans and their inhabitants safe. Blending revealing contemporary interviews with Watson, archival clips of Sea Shepherd’s dramatic encounters, and spectacular underwater nature footage, award-winning documentarian Lesley Chilcott (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for “Superman”) paints a fascinating portrait of a man willing to put his own life and liberty at risk in a relentless quest to protect the oceans and their marine life.
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Watson is a vital showcase of the power a person can have to affect change and how far reaching that change can be to others.
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Stephanie Archer, Film Inquiry
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The
Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash
Not Rated •
94 mins •
English
Opening at: Music Hall
Johnny Cash stands among the giants of 20th century American life. But his story remains tangled in mystery and myth. This documentary, created with the full cooperation of the Cash estate and rich in recently discovered archival materials, brings Cash the man out from behind the legend.
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The biography starts simple and builds upon itself, much like a Cash song, so that by the end it's become overwhelming in its humanity.
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Valerie Ettenhofer, Nonfics
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Portals
Not Rated •
88 mins •
English
Opening at: Music Hall
A sci-fi anthology from four iconic horror directors, tied together by a single event—the appearance of cosmic portals around the world. While many flee from them, the real terror sets in when others are drawn into these mysterious voids...
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Ximei
Not Rated •
101 mins •
Mandarin
Opening at: Music Hall
Ximei is the story of Liu Ximei, a young woman in rural China who contracted AIDS during the years of the government sponsored “Black Blood Economy” – when in the late 1990’s impoverished peasants of Henan Province donated their blood to augment their bare living existence.
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The
Last Color
Not Rated •
90 mins •
Hindi
Opening at: Town Center 5
The Last Color is a story of empowerment and friendship. Nine-year-old flower seller and tightrope walker Chhoti (Aqsa Siddiqui) befriends Noor (Neena Gupta), a 70-year-old widow living a colorless life of abstinence. Both outcasts yet vastly different people, Chhoti and Noor touch each other’s lives in profound ways. Chhoti promises hope to Noor as this poignant story of love, friendship, commitment and victory of the human spirit unfolds on the banks of River Ganges.
Q&A's after select shows.
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Laemmle’s Anniversary Classics presents THE TINGLER and THEM, a Halloween Eve Double Feature on October 30 in North Hollywood.
Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present our annual scary October program of classic fright films with a double bill of 1950s black-and-white hits: the 65th anniversary of THEM! (1954), paired with the 60th anniversary of THE TINGLER (1959). The vintage horror entries will show in a retro double feature (two movies for the price of one) on Halloween Eve, Wednesday, October 30 at the Laemmle NoHo.
THEM!, considered one of the very best of the 1950s monster movies, tapped into the era’s nuclear paranoia with its tale of giant mutated ants terrorizing the American Southwest. Unlike many of the low-budget films that capitalized on atomic era fears, THEM! was a major production for Warner Bros., hoping to repeat the commercial success of their 1952 release, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. They assigned studio contract director Gordon Douglas to helm a script written by Ted Sherdeman, Russell Hughes, and George Worthing Yates with a strong cast headed by James Whitmore, Oscar winner Edmund Gwenn (Miracle on 34th Street), James Arness, Joan Weldon and newcomer Fess Parker.

Accomplished cinematographer Sidney Hickox (The Big Sleep, White Heat) and venerable composer Bronislau Kaper (San Francisco, Lili, Mutiny on the Bounty) contributed first-rate work, along with special effects that garnered an Academy Award nomination that year. Variety capsulized the favorable reviews: “top-notch science fiction shocker. It has a well-plotted story, expertly directed and acted in matter-of-fact style to rate a chiller payoff and thoroughly satisfy fans of hackle-raising melodrama.”
THE TINGLER is a classic of another sort – cultish camp – with its outlandish story of a doctor who discovers a fear-bred organism in the base of the spine. If released, the centipede creature’s grip can kill, only alleviated by a scream.
Producer-director William Castle, one of the period’s rival “king of the Bs,” enlisted writer Robb White to concoct the story, cited by Time Out as “ingeniously ludicrous.” Castle and White had collaborated twice before and hit box office pay dirt with the low-budget hit House on Haunted Hill in 1958. But shlockmeister Castle’s real talents were as a huckstering showman, and he provided a marketing gimmick doozy in “Percepto,” with vibrating buzzers wired to theater seats to jolt the audience when the creature is unleashed.

The good doctor, played by Vincent Price, would then instruct the theater audience to “scream for your lives” to keep the marauding tingler at bay. Price had been the star of House on Haunted Hill and then went on to become the “the master of menace” for a dueling “king of the Bs,” Roger Corman, with his adaptations of the works of Edgar Allan Poe in the early 1960s. At the time of its release, the New York Times’ Howard Thompson dismissed THE TINGLER as a prime example of Castle “serving some of the worst, dullest little horror entries ever to snake into movie houses.” Today audiences are mightily amused by the brand of scary mayhem Castle specialized in, endorsing Leonard Maltin’s assessment of THE TINGLER as a ”preposterous but original shocker.”
One night only, enjoy an early Halloween treat (no tricks here) - two vintage horror movies back on the big screen in a classic double feature on Wednesday, October 30 at the Laemmle NoHo.
CLICK HERE FOR SHOWTIMES AND TICKETS
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THE NATURAL Anniversary Screening and Q&A with Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel & Screenwriter Roger Towne.
At the climax of baseball season, Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a screening of the film regarded as one of the greatest of all baseball movies, Barry Levinson’s THE NATURAL.
Adapted from the acclaimed 1952 novel by Bernard Malamud, the film earned four Academy Award nominations in 1984: Best Supporting Actress Glenn Close, Best Cinematography Caleb Deschanel, Best Musical Score Randy Newman and Best Art Direction.The beautiful, impeccably designed recreation of an earlier era in American sports history also scored at the box office. Robert Redford plays the title character, and the all-star cast also includes Robert Duvall, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hershey, Richard Farnsworth, and Joe Don Baker.

Malamud’s story, adapted for the screen by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry, tells the story of a young baseball prodigy named Roy Hobbs (Redford) who travels from his bucolic Midwestern home to try out for the Chicago Cubs. On his journey he is assaulted by a mysterious woman, and disappears for some 15 years. When he reappears and tries out for a New York team, the owners and manager are skeptical that a middle-aged man can ever succeed in the majors. But Roy’s skills as a slugger silence the skeptics and encourage the owners to give him a shot. His rise to the top is complicated by his romance with a rather shady woman (Basinger) and by the reappearance of his childhood sweetheart (Close), who has a surprise revelation that disorients Roy.

In addition to the rousing baseball scenes and the poignant personal story, the film captivates as a lush evocation of a more innocent American past. Cinematographer Deschanel, who had made his mark with his work on Carroll Ballard’s 'The Black Stallion' and Philip Kaufman’s 'The Right Stuff,' made a major contribution in bringing the era to life. Levinson also made an unconventional choice in selecting new composer Randy Newman to create the rousing symphonic score.
Although the filmmakers altered the dark ending of Malamud’s novel, they retained his piercing insights into some of the contradictions of the American character. The film earned mixed reviews at the time, but its reputation has grown. James Berardinelli of ReelViews called THE NATURAL “arguably the best baseball movie ever made,” and ESPN also called it one of the best sports movies of all time. On its original release Gene Siskel declared, “Redford scores in an uplifting celebration of the individual.”
Deschanel has earned six Oscar nominations over the course of his career. In addition to nominations for THE NATURAL and 'The Right Stuff,' he was cited for his work on Mel Gibson’s blockbuster, 'The Passion of the Christ,' and for 'The Patriot,' 'Fly Away Home,' and last year’s Oscar nominee for best foreign language film, 'Never Look Away.' This year Deschanel shot Disney’s smash-hit live-action version of 'The Lion King.'
Our 35th anniversary presentation of THE NATURAL (1984) and Q&A with cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and screenwriter Roger Towne screens Thursday, October 24, at 7PM at the Royal in West LA.
CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS
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Fantastic Fungi Opening Weekend Q&A’s with Filmmaker and Special Guests at the Monica Film Center.
THE PORTAL Q&A’s with Filmmakers and Special Guests Opening Weekend at the Monica Film Center.
GOING ATTRACTIONS, a Love Letter to Historic Movie Theaters, to Premiere October 24 at Our Historic Ahrya Fine Arts with Director & Expert Q&A’s.
On the Passing of Robert Forster.
Director of Photography Fan Chao in Person for a Tribute Screening of the Chinese Masterpiece AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL.
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Closing on Thursday!
The
Cotton Club Encore
Eldorado (The Midas Touch)
Emanuel
Lucy in the Sky
Fiddlin'
Gemini Man
Serendipity
Trick
Monos
On the President's Orders
Celebration (Yves Saint Laurent's Final Show)
The
Elephant Queen
LA Woman Rising
Immortal Hero
Wallflower
As the Earth Turns
Rezo
The
Rainbow
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Ahrya Fine Arts
in Beverly Hills
Claremont 5
in Claremont
Glendale
in Glendale
Monica Film Center
in Santa Monica
Music Hall
in Beverly Hills
NoHo 7
in North Hollywood
Playhouse 7
in Pasadena
Royal
in West L.A.
Town Center 5
in Encino
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