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Laemmle Oscar Contest Results!

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1st Place: Paola Lainez with 21 correct answers + the tie breaker question about the show’s running time.
2nd Place: Tami Lefko with 21 correct answers.
3rd Place: Kelly Kilmer with 20 correct answers.
Winners, we will soon be in touch with your movie pass prizes. Check out our snazzy pie charts for the full breakdown of how everyone voted.
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We had two people correctly guess 21 out of 23 categories! The top spot was ultimately decided by the customer that came closest to guessing the telecast run-time of 203 minutes! Best Actress Winner Emma Stone for Poor Things (still in theaters for at least one more week) was only chosen to win by 30% of our Laemmle patrons, who may have thought Lily Gladstone’s SAG win made her the favorite; nearly 60% of the vote tallied for Ms. Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon. Best Adapted Screenplay was also another changeling category, with votes close between Barbie, Oppenheimer, and eventual winner American Fiction.
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Thanks for playing! No time like the present to start thinking about 2025 Oscar favorites.
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Moviegoers, start your guesses! The Umpteenth Annual Laemmle Oscar Contest has begun.

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The Oscar nominations are out and it was a terrific, historic year for movies. From Variety:

“Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native American nominated for best actress, for her towering role as Mollie Burkhart in the crime thriller “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Colman Domingo became the first Afro Latino nominated in best actor for his powerhouse performance in the civil rights drama “Rustin.” He’s joined by fellow Black nominee Jeffrey Wright for “American Fiction.” This is only the second time in Oscar history where more than one Black actor, who wasn’t either Will Smith or Denzel Washington, was nominated for the leading prize. The first was the 2004 lineup with Don Cheadle (“Hotel Rwanda”) and eventual winner Jamie Foxx (“Ray”).

“Wright’s co-star Sterling K. Brown was nominated for best supporting actor for his turn as Clifford “Cliff” Ellison, a recently divorced gay man. This marks the first time a Black lead actor was nominated alongside a supporting actor from the same film (it’s happened previously for actor and supporting actress, or actress and supporting actress).

“Domingo and best supporting actress nominee Jodie Foster (“Nyad”) also made Oscar history: It’s the first time two openly LGBTQ actors have been nominated for playing LGBTQ characters.

“Two Black women were nominated for supporting actress: Danielle Brooks for “The Color Purple” (as that film’s sole nominee) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph for “The Holdovers.” They were joined by America Ferrera for “Barbie,” the ninth Latina actress ever nominated in the category, and the first since 2021 winner Ariana DeBose.

“First-time director and screenwriter Celine Song made history as the first Asian woman nominated for best original screenplay for “Past Lives.”

“Women also had strong showings across multiple categories. In original screenplay, a woman hasn’t been nominated since Emerald Fennell won for 2020’s “Promising Young Woman.” This year features three female scribes recognized with “Anatomy of a Fall” (Justine Triet), “May December” (Samy Burch) and “Past Lives” (Celine Song). Adapted screenplay has a sole nominated woman with Greta Gerwig from “Barbie” (along with Noah Baumbach).”

“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” the forever-linked hits that appealed to both mass and class audiences, are well represented with a combined 21 nominations, although Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were snubbed for Best Director and Actress, respectively. Still, both could still take home trophies for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture (Robbie was one of the “Barbie” producers). “Oppenheimer” is the favorite to take home Best Picture, but maybe it won’t, and that’s where you come in because it’s time for our Umpteenth Annual Laemmle Oscar Contest! If you, dear moviegoer, can accurately predict how the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will vote in all 23 categories, (or close to it), you will win movie passes good at all Laemmle venues! These contests are always close so we have a tie-breaker question: try to guess the running time! The 96th Academy Awards ceremony takes place on Sunday, March 10 and we’ll announce the winners soon afterwards. Good luck!

Laemmle Moviegoers’ Top Ten Films of 2023 Revealed!

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And the Top Ten Customer-Chosen films of 2023, ranked in order from 1 to 10 are (drum roll, please…):

  1. Oppenheimer
  2. Past Lives
  3. Killers of the Flower Moon
  4. Anatomy of a Fall
  5. The Holdovers
  6. Barbie
  7. May December
  8. Poor Things
  9. The Zone of Interest
  10. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
What a terrific list! Especially gratifying to see an excellent popular entertainment like Spider-Verse instead of pretentious Oscar bait whose titles shall go unmentioned. Half of these are still in theaters, in case you missed them or want to see them one more time as they were intended. The Zone of Interest, in particular, must be seen cinematically for its Oscar-nominated sound design alone. We’ll send gift cards to our randomly chosen winners Ted Bronson, Eve Fowler and Josh Messite. Thanks to everyone for playing!

Greg Laemmle’s Top Ten Movies of 2023.

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What were your favorite films of 2023, an excellent movie year? Click here to tell us and we’ll enter you in a raffle to win Laemmle gift cards! Here’s Greg Laemmle on the year just past and his top ten films:
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While we are still in the process of getting all the numbers together, early projections are that we finally got back into the black in 2023. I know that this post isn’t supposed to be about the economic state of things, but let’s at least take a moment to express thanks that the financial picture for the exhibition business is looking better after three years of less-than-stellar ticket sales.
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Leaving aside the numbers, the following are the films that I found to be the most memorable of 2023. A few are still playing in theatres, so I encourage you to check them out while you can.
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#1 – AFIRE – This summer release from director Christian Petzold may have suffered commercially because it was so hard to define. Was it a drama? Or a comedy? And a comedy from Germany? Whoever heard of such a thing. But while it may be hard to pigeonhole this picture, it should be easy to enjoy and appreciate the complete command the filmmaker has working with a superb cast of actors.
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#2 – ANATOMY OF A FALL – This October release is still playing in theatres. And if there is any justice, it will be recognized on Tuesday with Oscar nominations for writer director Justine Triet, lead performer Sandra Huller, and that rarest of things, a nomination for a foreign language film as Best Picture.
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#3 – SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE – While I appreciated the daring animation style of the preceding film SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, I was truly wowed by what this film delivered both in terms of further stylistic daring, and a real emotional pull in the storytelling. I believe the film is being brought back this week so if you can, go see it.
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#4 – THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE – Another terrific film from Germany. And this one is the German entry for the Best International Feature category at the Oscars. Look for it to receive a nomination on Tuesday, and make sure to see it when it goes into wider release following the nominations.
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#5 – PAST LIVES – A word-of-mouth hit that played all summer, this wistful romance is a terrific debut for filmmaker Celine Song, and a superb showcase for actress Greta Lee.
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#6 – THE HOLDOVERS – Writer-director Alexander Payne and actor Paul Giamatti re-team nearly 20 years after their success with SIDEWAYS, and the result is a film of deep maturity and thoughtfulness. With a story and visual style (and soundtrack) that beautifully evokes some of now-classic films and filmmakers of the early ’70s, this is one to see.
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#7 – THE TASTE OF THINGS – The pacing in Tran Anh Hung’s film is deliberate. But also perfectly matched to a time period where the world was not in such a rush. So relax and enjoy the exquisite scenes of food preparation, not to mention the pleasure of seeing the luminous Juliette Binoche.
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#8 – THE ZONE OF INTEREST – A monster movie. But a monster movie where the monsters have spouses, children, pressure at work, and all the other things that we can relate to in our everyday lives. Director Jonathan Glazer takes Hannah Arendt’s idea of “the banality of evil” and it is both terrifying and serene.
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#9 – BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT – I didn’t see as many of this year’s documentaries as I would like. But of the one’s I did see, this is the best.
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#10 – AIR – I love it when Hollywood makes a thoughtful movie for adults. And I especially love it when it makes such a movie without overly stressing the “importance” of the movie. While the Oscar nominations may end up going to other pictures, for my money, this is the best put-together studio film of the year. Kudos to director Ben Affleck, screenwriter Alex Convery, star Matt Damon, and the always fabulous Viola Davis for their work here. Please, Hollywood, send us lots more like this one in the years to come.
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The business is still in the process of recovering from the pandemic closure. But it is recovering. So another request Please keep coming out to see stuff in theatres, and be a part of rebuilding a vibrant moviegoing scene that has something for everyone.

Contest! Submit your Top Ten Films of 2023 for a chance to win gift cards.

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Have you caught up on all the 2023 movies you wanted to see? Regardless, it’s time to submit your Top Ten lists! Tell us which films you liked best here and you’ll be entered into a raffle for one of three $25 Laemmle gift cards. If you need inspiration, here’s my highly subjective alphabetical list. (Greg Laemmle will announce his list when we announce the winners of this contest, at which point he should have caught up to May December, Anatomy of a Fall and a couple others.)

Anatomy of a Fall: Sandra Hüller, formidable in court and dominating one of the gnarliest, most riveting marital arguments in cinema history.

Asteroid City: Wes Anderson gives us another melancholy, gorgeous, sui generis movie. “The notion of a perfect movie is absurd, but some movies attain an ideal synthesis of the director’s body of work. Wes Anderson’s latest, Asteroid City, is one such film.” ~ Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Fallen Leaves: Like Asteroid City, it’s a melancholy but funny and silver-lined one-of-a-kind work from a one-of-a-kind filmmaker.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: A wise man (U.C. Berkeley English Professor Stephen Booth) told his students: never be ashamed of what you like. This movie made me laugh out loud, it was so entertaining. Pass the popcorn!

Oppenheimer: Chilling, masterfully done, and awesome, in the original sense of the word.

Past Lives: Celine Song and Greta Lee! Deeply romantic and moving.

Showing Up: Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams! “A serene, pulse-lowering charmer.” ~ Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

You Hurt My Feelings: Nicole Holofcener and Julia Louis-Dreyfus! “Warm-hearted and rueful and hilarious in all the best ways.” ~ Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

The Zone of Interest: The terrifying banality of evil. Sandra Hüller again, this time paired with an equally scary Christian Friedel as Rudolf Höss, as the Macbeth and Lady Macbeth of Auschwitz.

One caveat: I still haven’t seen Barbie, All of Us Strangers, Poor Things or Afire and based one what others have said about them, my list might look different had I seen them. I did see Killers of the Flower Moon with two people who adored it and maybe I caught it on a bad night because, you know what? — I kept checking my watch.

The 2023 Laemmle Oscar Contest results are in.

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It’s the day after Pi Day, but check out these cool pie charts to see who won our Umpteenth Annual Oscar Contest (the winner got 21 correct; the final question about the running time proved to be a tiebreaker between the second and third place winners, who both got 19 correct) and confirm that Laemmle moviegoers are crazy savvy about predicting how the Academy will vote. Of the 23 categories, the Laemmle hive mind accurately guessed all but four categories:

Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis/Everyone Everywhere All at Once bested Angela Bassett/Black Panther: Wakanda Forever);

Best Makeup & Hairstyling (The Whale swallowed Elvis);

Best Score (All Quiet on the Western Front defeated Babylon);

Best Production Design (All Quiet topped Babylon again)
Thanks for playing and get excited for the the next Oscar race by reading this round-up of early favorites to be nominated, which includes new films by Scorsese, Michael Mann, Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott and more!

Moviegoers, enter the Umpteenth Annual Laemmle Oscar Contest before time runs out.

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The Oscar race is in the final stretch. Almost all of the major guilds have spoken (the WGA awards are this Sunday) and Everything Everywhere All at Once is looking unbeatable. However…every year there are two or three surprises and doubtless 2023 won’t be an exception. The question is, do you think you can divine the surprises? Cate Blanchett instead of Michelle Yeoh for Best Actress? Spielberg instead of the Daniels for Best Director? Bill Nighy or Austin Butler instead of Brendan Fraser for Best Actor? There are so many possible ways this can go, you should weigh in! I mean, the stakes could not possibly be lower!

If you, dear moviegoer, can accurately predict how the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will vote in all 23 categories, (or close to it), you will win movie passes good at all Laemmle venues! The 95th Academy Awards take place on Sunday, March 12 and we’ll announce the winners soon afterwards. Good luck!

Moviegoers, start your guesses: The Umpteenth Annual Laemmle Oscar Contest has begun.

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The Oscar nominations are out, and in spite of the fact that Hallelujah, Nope, RRR and Decision to Leave, Dolly De Leon, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, and Danielle Deadwyler were inexplicably excluded, at least Brian Tyree Henry and Judd Hirsch were honored. Anyway, it’s time for our Umpteenth Annual Laemmle Oscar Contest! If you, dear moviegoer, can accurately predict how the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will vote in all 23 categories, (or close to it), you will win movie passes good at all Laemmle venues! The 95th Academy Awards take place on Sunday, March 12 and we’ll announce the winners soon afterwards. Good luck!