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Eat, Bray, Love? Best Actress Award-winning French romantic comedy MY DONKEY, MY LOVER, & I opens July 22.

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Perfect light fare for the season, the French romantic comedy My Donkey, My Lover, & I follows delightfully zany schoolteacher Antoinette (Laure Calamy of Call My Agent, who won the Best Actress César Award for this charming, funny performance). Antoinette’s vacation plans with her married lover, Vladimir (Benjamin Lavernhe), are ruined when his wife (Olivia Côte) books a surprise hiking trip. On an impulse, Antonette heads to the same mountainous region of the Cévennes National Park where Vladimir and his family are headed, with a hiking itinerary inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic 1878 memoir Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. Completely unversed in the ways of the wilderness, Antoinette forges quick bonds with her rental donkey, Patrick, and several offbeat fellow travelers, as she poignantly and uproariously stumbles towards self-revelation and independence. Take a vicarious summer vacation to the south of French at the Royal and Town Center starting July 22 and the Claremont and Newhall starting July 29.

“In a Paris primary school, a class of eight-year-olds sit behind their desks, eyes squeezed shut, counting to 20. At the back of the room their teacher, Antoinette (Laure Calamy), is getting undressed, slipping into silk frock for the school concert. “It’s not too much?” she asks the pupils. She’s having an affair with one of the dads – he’s married. Thus, with unparalleled Frenchness, begins this easygoing, warm comedy following Antoinette as she accidentally-on-purpose goes on the same donkey-trekking holiday as her lover’s family. As Antoinette bonds with her donkey, the movie evolves from gentle farce to journey of emotional growth. You might call it Eat Bray, Love – except it’s European, so there’s less pseudo-spiritual self-discovery and more drunken snogging…Calamy really grounds the movie with her funny, generous performance.” ~ Leslie Felperin, Guardian

“Calamy’s performance has rightly been awarded for its superb shading, but let’s not forget the donkey, brilliant as her straight man. Who says nobody likes a smart ass?” ~ Paul Byrnes, Sydney Morning Herald

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PJppz7vDAs

“Heartfelt charmer” COSTA BRAVA, LEBANON opens July 22 in Santa Monica.

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Costa Brava, Lebanon is the directorial debut of Lebanese actress and filmmaker Mounia Akl, starring Nadine Labaki (Capernaum) and Saleh Bakri (The Band’s Visit). A keen and darkly comic commentary on Lebanon’s waste crisis and unsettled political landscape, Costa Brava, Lebanon won the prestigious NETPAC Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Audience Award at the BFI London Film Festival. We open the film July 22 at the Monica Film Center.

The film captures the joys and frustrations of a close-knit family with an intimacy that feels startlingly natural, and sets them against a sharply drawn backdrop of environmental crisis. In the not-so-distant future, the free-spirited Badri family have escaped the toxic pollution and social unrest of Beirut by seeking refuge in an idyllic mountain home. Without warning, the government starts to build a garbage landfill right outside their fence, intruding on their domestic utopia and bringing the trash and corruption of a whole country to their doorstep. As the landfill rises, so does tension in the household, revealing a long-simmering division between those family members who wish to defend or abandon the mountain oasis they have built.

“A heartfelt charmer. The gentle wisdom it contains is attuned to country, family and lifestyle choices as abstract concepts, as all the things we mean by the word “home,” which is where Akl’s heart is.” – Jessica Kiang, Variety

“A stellar near-future family drama. Mounia Akl’s feature debut comfortably occupies a space between Beasts of the Southern Wild and Honeyland. Her film is partly magical, partly real, but total fiction, because fiction is the best way to capture the tragicomic clown show that unfolds throughout.” – Andrew Crump, The Playlist

“Something uniquely special and a perfect, alluring example of all that is wrong with the world we’re living in.” – Hanna B., Film Threat

“A terrific feature debut… works both as a compelling domestic drama and an elegant political allegory.” – Wendy Ide, Screen Daily

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXEWqGJne2o

Claire Denis, Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon’s BOTH SIDES OF THE BLADE opens July 8.

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The new erotic thriller by Claire Denis Both Sides of the Blade follows Sara (Juliette Binoche), who finds herself caught between two men: her longtime partner and an old flame (Vincent Lindon and Grégoire Colin). Before long, everything is in danger of spiraling out of control as the three find their lives intertwined years after meeting. We open the film at the Royal on July 8, the Glendale and Town Center July 15, and Newhall, Claremont and NoHo on July 22. (We also have Denis’ Stars at Noon to look forward to later this year.)
Praise for the Both Sides of the Blade:
“The silences that overwhelm the movie’s confrontational rages and the suppression of backstory details, underplaying motives and emphasizing action, thrust [the film] out of the realm of psychological drama and into shocking emotional immediacy.” ~ Richard Brody, New Yorker
“The studied ambiguity of what’s going on in Both Sides of the Blade doesn’t keep it from often achieving the suspense of an accomplished erotic thriller.” ~ Pat Brown, Slant Magazine

“As is often the case with Denis’ films, Fire grows more illuminating as it gets hotter; what starts like a constrained and unusually jagged French drama is eventually forged into an incendiary portrait of three people.” ~ David Ehrlich, indieWire

“Binoche, typically, is on commanding form, working once more with a film-maker who seems intuitively aware of how to harness her every glance or grimace. ~ Kevin Maher, Times [UK)]
“Denis is a masterful director who always knows exactly what she’s doing.” ~ David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“In this simultaneously small and cavernous love story, even a whisper echoes for days.” ~ Guy Lodge, Variety

“A rambunctious mixture of the bawdy and the sublime,” TAMPOPO 35th Anniversary Screenings Wednesday, July 6, at Laemmle Glendale, Newhall & Royal.

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present 35th anniversary screenings of writer-director Juzo Itami’s delectable comedy, Tampopo, which has developed a strong cult following in the years since it first captivated audiences. The basic story is simple enough. A truck driver and his friends come to the aid of a noodle shop owner’s widow and help her to refine and perfect her ramen dishes. But several quirky subplots and other tasty asides interrupt and enrich the central narrative.

As in other classic movies about food, the noodle dishes themselves are lovingly photographed to whet the audience’s appetites. Beyond that, puckish humor and eroticism add flavor to this savory melange. As Hal Hinson declared in the Washington Post, Tampopo is “a rambunctious mixture of the bawdy and the sublime…perhaps the funniest movie about the connection between food and sex ever made.”

Indiewire’s David Ehrlich added, “Itami’s fiercely beloved film unfolds like a prix fixe tasting menu of strange comic delights.” Writing in Film Comment, Michael Sragow said, “Tampopo creates a culinary empire of the senses while entertaining an audience like crazy.” And the Los Angeles Times’ Justin Chang wrote, “Tampopo is above all about the romance of food, and the joyous, agonizing devotion and hard work required to tease out its manifold mysteries.”

Tsutomo Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Koji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe star. The movie will screen on July 6 at the Royal in West L.A., Glendale, and Newhall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RtXSon0yMw

“A satisfyingly gritty addition to Iran’s tradition of humanist cinema,” A MAN OF INTEGRITY opens Friday at the Monica Film Center in Santa Monica and Town Center in Encino.

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Iran’s Mohammad Rasoulof, whose latest feature There is No Evil won the Golden Bear at last year’s Berlinale, has been making scathing social commentary of the Iranian regime for over a decade, but he remains relatively unknown and under-appreciated in the U.S.—despite winning numerous prizes at such top world film festivals as Cannes and Berlin. A Man of Integrity reveals the corruption and state cronyism at the heart of one of the most powerful and influential regimes in the Middle East.
 
The film section of the L.A. Times probably will not publish a review A Man of Integrity — click here to read our plea to the film editor to bring back the paper’s once comprehensive film coverage. Fortunately, other outlets are trying to pick up the slack and the nation’s leading film critics have nothing but praise for the movie:

 

“Rasoulof’s storytelling acumen is firmly in the realm of propulsive, detail-driven ethical thriller built on its character’s actions, rather than mere punching-bag melodrama.” ~ Robert Abele, TheWrap

 

“A political film seething with white-hot anger.” ~ Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com

 

“Every narrative twist… hammers home the same point: that it’s hard to be a good man in a bad system. Given the system Rasoulof works within (and against), however, it’s a message well worth repeating.” ~ Devika Girish, New York Times

 

“Rasoulof creates a form—nearly an anti-style—of stark confrontation that gives an aesthetic identity to his righteous and dangerous candor.” ~ Richard Brody, New Yorker

 

“A saturnine morality tale that unfolds in shades of rainy gray beneath leaden, overcast skies, gritting up the nation’s cinematic tradition of humanist drama to an almost unrecognizable degree.” ~ Jessica Kiang, The Playlist

 

Mohammad Rasoulof
“An uncompromising drama from one of Iran’s most outspoken directors.” ~ Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter

 

“Although the film will be banned in its home nation, fests and niche arthouse distributors in most territories will welcome this brave, underground production for the way it manages to resonate on both specific and universal levels.” ~ Alissa Simon, Variety

 

“A satisfyingly gritty addition to Iran’s tradition of humanist cinema.” ~ Wendy Ide, Screen International

 

‘1982,’ a love story set during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, opens June 24 at the Royal.

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1982 is a life-affirming coming-of-age tale set at an idyllic school in Lebanon’s mountains on the eve of a looming invasion. It unfolds over a single day and follows an 11-year-old boy’s relentless quest to profess his love to a girl in his class. As the invasion encroaches on Beirut, it upends the day, threatening the entire country and its cohesion. Within the microcosm of the school, the film draws a harrowing portrait of a society torn between its desire for love and peace and the ideological schisms unraveling its seams.

In his debut feature, director Oualid Mouaness delivers an ode to innocence in which he revisits one of the most cataclysmic moments in Lebanon’s history through the lens of a child and his vibrant imagination. The film demonstrates the complexities of love and war, and the resilience of the human spirit.

1982 won the Cannes Film Festival’s youth sidebar CANNES CINÉPHILES prize PRIX CANNES ECRANS JUNIORS 2021, the Toronto International Film Festival’s NETPAC AWARD, a FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at El-Gouna International Film Festival, and the UNICEF 2021 prize among numerous others. It was also Lebanon’s official submission to the 92nd Academy Awards and holds the Murex D’Or, Lebanon’s Best Feature Film honor of the last two years.

NPR just interviewed Mouaness about 1982:

Mouaness will participate in Q&As after the 7:20 PM screenings at the Royal Friday-Sunday, June 24-26, Tuesday, June 28, and Thursday, June 30. Director Aya Tanimura will moderate on the 25th, journalist Seth Abramovitch on the 26th, director Natalie Jones on the 28th, and producer Sara Mohazzebi on the 30th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeBx1C7aPzI

Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas’ rebellion against stupidity, OFFICIAL COMPETITION, coming soon.

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In OFFICIAL COMPETITION, which we’ll open June 17 at the Royal before expanding it around the county in the subsequent weeks, Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas star as two egomaniacs commissioned by a millionaire to make a movie together in a sharply comedic skewering of wealth, art, and pride. Asked to describe his film, co-writer-director Gaston Duprat, replied with laughter, “I see it like one of those little ankle-biting dogs nipping at your heels. That’s it.” Banderas said, “The film has very bad blood. It rebels against stupidity.”

“Wondering just how far this film will go is half the fun, and directors Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat choose their moments to push the tone from sharp observational comedy into absurdity.” ~ Anna Smith, Deadline Hollywood Daily

“For viewers willing to go with the flow, the film serves up roughly two hours of sharp reflections deliciously wrapped in entertaining antics.” ~ Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

“Seeing Cruz and Banderas show off their comedic chops is definitely a pleasure, and the farcical final scenes will leave viewers on a high.” ~ Nicholas Barber, indieWire

“Banderas and Martínez play their catty thesps dead straight to generally hilarious effect.” ~ Philip De Semlyen, Time Out

“Bending genres and exploring mediums and style is a big part of what queerness means to me. And this is a very queer film.” ~ The filmmakers on TAHARA.

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In the acerbic teen comedy TAHARA, which we’re opening June 17 at our Glendale, Santa Monica and Encino theaters, a funeral becomes a battleground between best friends Carrie Lowstein (Madeline Grey DeFreece) and Hannah Rosen (Rachel Sennott, breakout star of Shiva Baby). When their former Hebrew school classmate commits suicide, the two girls attend her funeral as well as the “Teen Talk-back” session hosted by their synagogue, designed to be an opportunity for them to understand grief through Judaism. Hannah, more interested in impressing her crush Tristan (Daniel Taveras), convinces Carrie to practice kissing with her, unlocking feelings that turn Carrie’s world upside down. Emotions heightened, the scene develops into a biting depiction of unrequited crushes, toxic friendships, and wavering faith, which ComingSoon.net calls “one of the most original films in the coming-of-age subgenre in a long time.”

   

“TAHARA perfectly captures the mood of the place and the juxtaposition of its efforts to spread wisdom and awareness with the chaotic lives of its young attendees.” ~ Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

“Offers a blistering, authentic view of the teen experience in America, with a refreshingly different setting in the Jewish community.” ~ Louisa Moore, Screen Zealots

“Tahara has a personal vision behind it, commanding writing and terrifically layered performances from Madeline Grey DeFreece and Rachel Sennott” ~ Robert Kojder, Flickering Myth

Jess Zeidman, writer and executive producer: “I started this script when I was 19 and terrified of not being a teenager anymore. I had lived my entire life, it seemed, longing to be a teen and the idea that I could no longer claim that identity forced me to reconsider what my identity was. I knew I was Jewish. I knew I was queer. I knew I wanted to make movies. So I immortalized this feeling in a script and convinced person after person to believe in it.

“Once I had convinced a team of people, we did something I really didn’t think we could do: convince the staff at my childhood synagogue, Temple Beth El in Rochester, New York to let us make the movie there. And generously they agreed.

“We filmed around daily services and religious school classes. We put up sound blankets as the temple was under construction the entirety of our shoot and the walls were excavated to remove the decades worth of asbestos. We had $100,000, 15 days, and three lights: two real and one made out of a sheet pan. And despite this (or maybe because of it), we – and an incredible team of determined, young, and endlessly innovative filmmakers – made the movie we wanted to make. We made TAHARA.”

Director’s statement by Olivia Peace: “Working on this film has given me space to begin to unpack some of the bizarre and hilarious, and unique traumas that came with navigating high school. I was lucky enough to make it to the other side, but I see that as no small miracle, especially coming from a time and place that lacked knowledge of queer representation both in real life and in media. This is a film overwhelmingly inspired by the real teens I see on Instagram — those who are not influencers. Its development involved taking a hard look at the occasionally toxic ways that young women are taught to be in community with one another. Bending genres and exploring mediums and style is a big part of what queerness means to me. And this is a very queer film. TAHARA excites me for many reasons, but a big reason I love this film is because it aims to acknowledge the important ties between the communities we exist in and the insidious closets that they force people to operate out of. And then, over the course of one chaotic day, it shows us that it’s possible to speak your truth and break out.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjTlsAk5xCQ