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Culture Vulture Mondays, Laemmle Theatres’ Panoply of High Art in Cinema: Venue Changes + Fourth Quarter Lineup

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We’re celebrating the first anniversary of CULTURE VULTURE with a slew of stellar offerings that will take us into the new year.

For the uninitiated, CULTURE VULTURE is our weekly series of opera, stage and ballet/dance performances plus art exhibitions and documentaries.

These are often live performances that have been recorded – and they are typically breathtaking! If you are a lover of the high arts and have yet to experience Culture Vulture, you owe it to yourself to attend one of our upcoming programs.

Screenings take place Monday nights with repeat performances Tuesday afternoons.

Please note that we’ve shuffled the deck a bit with regard to venues. Culture Vulture will be continuing at the Playhouse, Claremont, and Town Center. In addition, it will be offered at the newly re-opened FINE ARTS in Beverly Hills. It will no longer run at the Royal, Music Hall, or NoHo.

There’s more! We’ve developed a new scheduling model that will make it easier for you to plan in advance. Each month will be calendared as follows:

1st Monday – Opera
2nd Monday – Ballet/Dance
3rd Monday – Stage
4th Monday – Art Exhibits/Documentaries
The 5th Monday (when it occurs) will be a surprise!

September 21 and 22: PAUL TAYLOR: CREATIVE DOMAIN (dance documentary)

September 28 and 29: THE IMPRESSIONISTS (exhibition)

October 5 and 6: AIDA (opera from Teatro alla Scalla)

October 12 and 13: L’HISTOIRE DE MANON (ballet from the Opera Nacional de Paris)

October 19 and 20: THEODORE BIKEL: IN THE SHOES OF SHOLOM ALEICHEM (stage production via the National Center for Jewish Film)

October 26 and 27: VINCENT VAN GOGH: A NEW WAY OF SEEING (exhibition)

November 2 and 3: RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY (opera from the Royal Opera House)

November 9 and 10: MOVIMENTOS: LA DANZA DE LA PUNTA AL TACON (dance from the Teatro Real, Madrid)

November 16 and 15: MAN AND SUPERMAN (stage production from the National Theatre, London)

November 23 and 24: PALIO

November 30 and December 1: THE THREE TENORS CHRISTMAS CONCERT (Wiener Konzerthaus)

December 7 and 8: THE MAGIC FLUTE (opera from Bregenzer Festspiele)

December 14 and 15: THE NUTCRACKER (ballet from the Bolshoi)

December 21 and 22: HAMLET (stage from the National Theatre)

Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet.

Maurice Pialat Retrospective Coming Soon to the Royal

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“The director who has the strongest and most consistent influence on young French filmmakers is not Jean-Luc Godard, but Maurice Pialat.” — Arnaud Desplechin, filmmaker.

“To say that Pialat marched to the beat of a different drummer is to put it mildly. In fact, he didn’t really march at all. He ambled, and fuck anybody who got it into their head that they’d like to amble along with him. Or behind him. Or ahead of him.” — Kent Jones, film critic.

From September 25th to October 1st the Royal Theater will host a collection of masterworks by French filmmaker Maurice Pialat (1925-2003). We’ll be screening five of his ten feature films: 1987’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner, “Under the Sun of Satan,” with Gérard Depardieu and Sandrine Bonnaire; “Loulou,” a tale of tortured love with Isabelle Huppert and Depardieu; “Van Gogh,” a chronicle of the last days of the artist; family drama “The Mouth Agape,” with Nathalie Baye; and the slice-of-life film about teenagers in suburban France “Graduate First.”

Maurice Pialat’s influence in the years after his death in 2003 was everywhere, but while he was alive he wasn’t part of any movement. A late bloomer who was 40 before he finished his first fiction feature (1968’s “Naked Childhood”), he missed the New Wave—a fact he seemed to resent, though his irascible personality likely meant he wouldn’t have belonged to any club which would have had him as a member.

Pialat made rule-breaking, violently disorienting movies full of temporal leaps and jagged improvisations, impolite movies about insoluble dilemmas and impossible personalities—women and men who can’t or won’t allow themselves to be tamed, and the tug-of-war between desire and responsibility. While intensely grounded in the cinema, citing the Lumière Brothers as his masters, Pialat rejected cinephile culture and lunged headlong into the material stuff of life, love, sex, and death. (He’s often compared to John Cassavetes, but this overlooks the particularities of both men.) Pialat’s films aren’t exercises but exorcisms, wounded howls at the injustice of existence whose anguished power is intensified by an acute awareness of the beauty of being alive. In a national cinema often associated with dainty sophistication, Maurice Pialat is the epitome of raw power.

FULL SCHEDULE:

"Under the Sun of Satan"
“Under the Sun of Satan”

Friday, 9/25
12:00PM – GRADUATE FIRST
02:00PM – VAN GOGH
05:15PM – UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN
07:35PM – LOULOU
10:15PM – THE MOUTH AGAPE

Saturday, 9/26
12:00PM – THE MOUTH AGAPE
02:00PM – GRADUATE FIRST
04:05PM – VAN GOGH
07:25PM – UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN
09:45PM – LOULOU

"Loulou"
“Loulou”

Sunday, 9/27
12:00PM – LOULOU
02:40PM – THE MOUTH AGAPE
04:40PM – GRADUATE FIRST
06:45PM – VAN GOGH
10:00PM – UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN

Monday, 9/28
12:00PM – UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN
02:15PM – LOULOU
04:55PM – THE MOUTH AGAPE
07:00PM – GRADUATE FIRST
09:00PM – VAN GOGH

"Graduate First"
“Graduate First”

Tuesday, 9/29
12:00PM – VAN GOGH
03:15PM – UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN
05:30PM – LOULOU
08:10PM – THE MOUTH AGAPE
10:10PM – GRADUATE FIRST

Wednesday, 9/30
12:00PM – GRADUATE FIRST
02:10PM – VAN GOGH
05:30PM – THE MOUTH AGAPE
07:30PM – UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN
09:45PM – LOULOU

"Van Gogh"
“Van Gogh”

Thursday, 10/01
12:00PM – THE MOUTH AGAPE
02:00PM – GRADUATE FIRST
04:10PM – VAN GOGH
07:25PM – LOULOU
10:00PM – UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0Kue5bskEY

Announcing the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre by Laemmle, Opening September 18th!

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fineartsinterior
Laemmle Theatres is proud to announce we have taken over the management and operation of the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills. The theatre has been closed for five years. At the time of its closure it was used exclusively as a private screening venue. Laemmle will book the theatre with first run films screening daily for the general public. Laemmle will also use the Ahrya Fine Arts to host regular series like our Culture Vulture program, festivals and special event screenings.

fineartsAccording to CinemaTreasures.org, the Fine Arts first opened in April 1937 as the Wilshire Regina, with seating for 800. It has been well maintained over the years and is – and under Laemmle’s stewardship will remain – a single-screen theater, though now with slightly more than 400 seats. (Movie patrons’ expectations of things like leg room have understandably risen over the decades.) We last operated the venue from 1985 to 1993, mostly screening foreign films.

fineartsdraculaThe Ahrya Fine Arts Theater is owned by Shawn Far. He runs Vertigo USA, a successful clothing company based in Downtown Los Angeles, and is a Beverly Hills resident. The Fine Arts will share its name with Mr. Far’s eldest son, Ahrya. Appropriately, our first film beginning September 18th will be JEREMY SCOTT: THE PEOPLE’S DESIGNER, a documentary about a rising star of the fashion industry.

We have promoted Guy Valdez, long-time manager at our Playhouse 7 venue in Pasadena, to lead the Fine Arts as its general manager.

Special screenings of ATTACK ON TITAN PART ONE and TWO in Claremont, NoHo, and Pasadena!

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We’re pleased to announce that ATTACK ON TITAN THE MOVIE PART ONE and TWO will screen at our theaters in Claremont, NoHo, and Pasadena!

The ATTACK ON TITAN (“Shingeki no Kyojin” in Japanese) live-action movies, which take their name from the original manga series, were developed in close collaboration with series’ creator Hajime Isayama and tell the story of a world where the last of humanity fights to survive against almost unstoppable, man-eating giants. Over the years it has gained almost a cult following with collectables from sites like Solaris Japan becoming very popular amongst the people who watch it. With more than 50 million copies in print today, the “Attack on Titan” manga series has inspired four spin-offs as well as a terrific 25-episode anime series, while also inspiring certain amateur artists to create animated adult content featuring characters, and it doesn’t just stop at Attack on Titan, click for More Info.

PART ONE of the live-action film screens at 7:30pm on Wednesday, 9/30 and at 9:55pm on Thursday, 10/1 at the Claremont 5, NoHo 7, and Playhouse 7. Tickets are available here!

PART TWO screens at 7:30pm on Tuesday, October 20 and at 9:55pm on Thursday, October 22 at the Claremont 5, NoHo 7, and Playhouse 7. Tickets are available here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpP4GDGovp0

Vox: “The quietly radical DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL turns the page on coming-of-age films.”

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This Friday, at five of our six venues, we’ll be opening a film we enjoyed immensely, THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL. The girl of the title is Minnie Goetze (fantastic newcomer Bel Powley), who is longing for love, acceptance and a sense of purpose in the world. She begins a complex love affair with her mother’s (Kristen Wiig) boyfriend, “the handsomest man in the world,” Monroe Rutherford (Alexander Skarsgård). What follows is a sharp, funny and provocative account of one girl’s sexual and artistic awakening, without judgment.

Based on a 2002 graphic novel, film critics have embraced the film (it has a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing). Writing in New York Magazine, Bilge Ebiri exclaimed, “the first thing to know about THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL is that young British actress Powley is staggeringly good in it.” In the L.A. Times, Rebecca Keegan wrote, “big summer action movies can be thrilling, but if you really want to feel your heart pounding out of your chest, try being a 15-year-old girl for 101 minutes.” In the New Republic, Elaine Teng called the film “a startlingly tough, authentic depiction of budding womanhood.” And in the New York Times, Manohla Dargis declared the film “exhilarating…the novel is life-specific, but what makes Minnie – on the page and now on the screen – greater than any one girl is how she tells her own story in her own soaringly alive voice.”

The extended Vox review included this observation by the film’s director, Marielle Heller: “I think as a society, we’re just a little bit afraid of teenage girls, and we’re definitely afraid of their sexuality. There’s a desire to shelter girls and also to ignore what they might be feeling or experiencing. The result of that is if you’re a teenage girl who’s having thoughts about sex, you think something’s wrong with you.” This is the same approach to the topic as what you can find other people writing about, and what the reasons are it for, for instance on this Lovegasm blog article about sexual forward-thinking within the media.

THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL wonderfully rejects that path.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2M9kqb5wVw

TOP SPIN: Ping Pong Exhibition and Table Giveaway!

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ts-posterAn inside look at the offbeat sport of ping pong, the new documentary TOP SPIN turns one of America’s favorite pastimes on its head and reveals a coming-of-age story where success and failure come down to mere millimeters.

Laemmle Theatres and First Run Features are planning special events for our TOP SPIN screenings, including:
– Raffle to Win an Olympic Quality Ping Pong Table!
– Live Ping Pong Exhibitions by Elite Players
– Lots of Q&A’s

Click here to buy tickets to see TOP SPIN!
 

RAFFLE

Everyone who attends ANY screening of TOP SPIN at Laemmle will be given a FREE RAFFLE TICKET to win a top-of-the-line JOOLA Ping Pong Table! This is a  tournament-tested refurbished Olympic-quality table that has been used by the pros.  JOOLA lists this item at approx. $1400.  We will have a sample table at the Playhouse from August 19 to 23.

Grand prize:
JOOLA 3000SC Table Tennis Table, the Official Table of USATT. The JOOLA 3000SC is an ITTF approved high quality centerfold table. It has four heavy-duty durable wheels serving the undercarriage, which is made of powder-coated metal and contains a 50 mm metal frame under its Olympic-quality 22 mm fast playing surface. The 3000SC also boasts adjustable, solid rubber levelers underneath each corner leg and includes a professional quality WM net.

JOOLA will ship the table directly to the winner anywhere in the continental United States.

Joola_3000SC_new_v2

Runner up prizes:

Joola Hit Set Table Tennis Set: Four JOOLA Hit rackets with eight balls.

Joola Falcon Set: High end recreational racket with a protective racket case.

For official Raffle Rules, click here.
 

PING PONG EXHIBITONS

Elite ping-pong players will be at the Playhouse 7 for Q&A’s and LIVE PING PONG EXHIBITIONS at select Top Spin screenings:

Fri. 8/21: 6:30pm – 7:00pm and 9:15pm to 9:30PM* (at the Paseo next to the box office)
Sat. 8/22: 6:30pm – 7:00pm and 9:15pm to 9:30PM* (at the Paseo next to the box office)
Sun. 8/23 – 6:30pm – 7:00pm and 9:15pm to 9:30PM* (location TBD)

* Before and after the 7:30pm screening of Top Spin

Players include 2012 Teenage Olympian ERICA WU and U.S. National Team member, GRANT LI, as well as professionals KIM GILBERT and ADAM BOBROW.

 

Clockwise, from top-left: Erica Wu, 2012 U.S. Olympian; Grant Li, 2015 U.S. National Team Member; Adam Bobrow, Professional Ping Pong Player and Actor; Kim Gilbert, Professional Ping Pong Player
Clockwise, from top-left: Erica Wu, 2012 U.S. Olympian; Grant Li, 2015 U.S. National Team Member; Adam Bobrow, Professional Ping Pong Player and Actor; Kim Gilbert, Professional Ping Pong Player

 

Q&A’S

Playhouse 7 Q&A’s: 

Wed 8/19: Filmmakers Mina T. Son & Sara Newens + Teenage Olympian Erica Wu in Person

Fri 8/21: Filmmakers Mina T. Son & Sara Newens + Teenage Olympian Erica Wu in Person

Sat 8/22: Filmmaker Mina T. Son & Teenage Olympian Erica Wu in Person

Sun 8/23: Filmmaker Mina T. Son & Teenage Olympian Erica Wu in Person

Weekday Q&A’s: 

Mon 8/24 (NOHO 7) : Filmmaker Mina T. Son in Person

Tues 8/25 (ROYAL): Filmmaker Mina T. Son in Person

Wed 8/26 (CLAREMONT 5): Filmmaker Mina T. Son in Person

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=539TOEBuPqM

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: TOM BRADLEY AND THE POLITICS OF RACE Screenings Next Week with Q&A’s

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tombradleyBRIDGING THE DIVIDE: TOM BRADLEY AND THE POLITICS OF RACE tells the story of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, the first African American mayor elected in a major American city with an overwhelmingly white majority. His extraordinary multi-racial coalition redefined Los Angeles, transformed the national dialogue on race and set the foundation for elections of minority candidates nationwide, including President Barack Obama.

We will be hosting two screenings of this documentary about this key figure in our city’s history, two of which featuring Q&A’s:

Q&A participants in Pasadena, August 11 at 7:30pm:

  • Lyn Goldfarb, Producer, Director, Writer
  • Alison Sotomayor, Producer, Research Director, Writer
  • Robert Farrell, City Councilmember, 8th district from 1974-1991; Deputy to Councilmember Billy Mills (who represented South L.A.) during the Watts Riot.
  • Lorraine Bradley, Tom Bradley’s eldest daughter
  • Christopher Jimenez y West, Film Advisor, Assistant Professor, History, Pasadena City College

Q&A participants at the Town Center 5 in Encino, August 13 at 7:30pm:

  • Lyn Goldfarb, Producer, Director, Writer
  • Alison Sotomayor, Producer, Research Director, Writer
  • Robert Farrell, City Councilmember, 8th district from 1974-1991; Deputy to Councilmember Billy Mills, who represented South L.A., during the Watts Riot.
  • Lorraine Bradley, Tom Bradley’s eldest daughter

 
Click here to purchase tickets

Special NICKY’S FAMILY Screenings in Honor of the Recently Passed Sir Nicholas Winton

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Sir Nicholas Winton
Sir Nicholas Winton

This month we were saddened to learn that Sir Nicholas Winton, a hero who for half a century said nothing of the fact that he rescued hundreds of mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia right before World War II, had died at the age of 106. We were proud to screen NICKY’S FAMILY, the documentary about his life, in 2013 and gladly do so again.

Please join Laemmle, Menemsha Films, and Tugg.com Sunday, August 2nd at the Playhouse, Town Center, Music Hall or Claremont 5 for what promises to be a very moving and special morning.

Use these links to reserve your FREE tickets* now:
10:30am on Sunday, August 2nd at the Playhouse
10:30am on Sunday, August 2nd at the Town Center
10:00am on Sunday, August 2nd at the Music Hall
10:30am on Sunday, August 2nd at the Claremont 5
* While supplies last

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGEXoXkDgqk&feature=youtu.be