Dear Laemmle Fans,
I’m sure that many of you spent this last week reviewing the results of our 2020 Favorite Films survey, and catching up on the array of virtual movies that we’ve brought back from the last few months. But I’m also sure that just as many of you were unable to peel your attention away from the national headlines and news footage that now marks the beginning of this new year.
As I mentioned during the protests following George Floyd’s killing, Laemmle Theatres is an entertainment venue, not a political institution. But as a member of the community, I believe it is also our civic responsibility to not stand idly by when we perceive a threat to our shared democracy. As such, I think it best not to dignify the ugliness of Wednesday’s incident with any sort of nuanced discussion, but rather to call it out explicitly for what it was – an act of indefensible violence.
Moving now to an area that I do feel more comfortable discussing in such a nuanced manner… high quality arthouse cinema. We begin this week’s new offerings with Savage State, a gunslinging French drama set in the American west. It’s rootin’ and tootin’, without being highfalutin. Next up is Beautiful Something Left Behind, an intimate documentary on childhood mourning which we profiled in our last update earlier this week. Another new documentary is The Reason I Jump, which delicately illuminates the lived experiences of those living with autism.
There’s also the Latvian historical war drama Blizzard of Souls, the thought-provoking and minimalist Absent Now The Dead from filmmaker and sound designer Hamilton Sterling, as well as the indie thriller #LIKE and the meta-narrative satire film I Blame Society. Head to our website for more information about upcoming titles in 2021 (including next week’s returning virtual engagement of John Lewis: Good Trouble, the winner of our aforementioned survey).
All the best,
Greg Laemmle
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