“If You See Only One Beaver Movie This Year …” HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS are coming!
This week and next we’re delighted to show the sui generis farce Hundreds of Beavers. The March 14 Hundreds of Beavers screening at the Royal, March 15 & 16 late shows in Glendale, March 18 at the NoHo, and March 19 in Claremont will feature Q&As with the filmmakers plus a beaver or two.
The screenings have become something of a phenomenon, so much so that the New York Times posted a story about them last week. It begins:
“Last week, a bonkers low-budget movie that was shot in black and white and has no Hollywood stars, packed a 200-seat theater on a one-night engagement at the IFC Center in Manhattan. Additional screenings were added.
“Mike Cheslik, the film’s director, and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, its leading man, don’t have Hollywood connections or sacks of cash. What the two 33-year-old friends do have that helped their film make a splash with its New York debut is a secret weapon that would make a shrewd old-school movie pitchman like William Castle tingle with envy.
“We’re talking beavers. Big ones.
“Two life-size beavers, actually — plus a horse, all played by humans — who took selfies with passers-by on the sidewalk and high-fived audience members in their seats before a screening of Cheslik’s frolicsome farce Hundreds of Beavers.
“At a time when Hollywood and scrappy filmmakers alike are stressing over how to get butts into seats, Cheslik and Tews are counting on a live make-believe beaver fight — a marketing gimmick dressed like a vaudeville act — to sell their movie.” Read the rest of the article here.
The filmmakers and distributor have a genius for marketing, as evidenced by some of the parody posters they’ve assembled:
However, this is not just hype; Hundreds of Beavers is good. As of this writing, it’s at 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
“A soulful silliness pervades the rootin’, tootin’ live-action cartoon Hundreds of Beavers from Milwaukee filmmakers Mike Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, merry pranksters who deploy a gleefully inventive lo-fi madness to their gag-stuffed wilderness comedy. Pitting a lovestruck fur trapper against a bucktoothed horde, this underground festival hit is a feverish fit of creative buffoonery — you haven’t experienced anything remotely like it.” ~ Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
“On paper, it would hardly be expected to remain funny for eight minutes, let alone 108. But this ingeniously homemade lark never runs out of steam.” ~ Dennis Harvey, Variety
“Hundreds of Beavers starts strange, gets stranger, and yet remains resolutely adorable.” ~ Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, AWFJ.org
REMEMBERING GENE WILDER opens March 22 at the Royal and Town Center with the filmmakers in person.
We are proud to screen Remembering Gene Wilder, a heartfelt and entertaining portrait of the life and career of the beloved actor, featuring an extensive array of highlights from Wilder’s most memorable films as well as interviews with his closest friends, family, and fellow comedians. We open the documentary on Friday, March 22 at the Laemmle Royal and Town Center. Writer Glenn Kirschbaum will participate in Q&As and producers David Knight and Julie Nimoy will introduce a screening or two. Exact Q&A dates and times TBA.
“I love this film! It’s a warm and wonderful tribute to my dear friend, Gene. Don’t miss it!” – Mel Brooks
“A hugely enjoyable walk through Gene Wilder’s entire life” – The Broad Street Review
“Tender and eye-opening tribute.” – Jewish Film Institute
Remembering Gene Wilder is a loving tribute to Gene Wilder that celebrates his life and legacy as the comic genius behind an extraordinary string of film roles: from his collaborations with Mel Brooks in The Producers, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles, to his inspired on-screen partnership with Richard Pryor in movies like Silver Streak, to originating the strange and magical title role of the mysterious chocolatier in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Alongside his brilliant career, Remembering Gene Wilder also captures intimate moments from Wilder’s private life, including his Jewish upbringing in Milwaukee, marriage to Gilda Radner, and his final chapter living with Alzheimer’s. Illustrated by a variety of touching and hilarious clips and outtakes from Willy Wonka, Blazing Saddles, and more; never-before-seen home movies; narration by Wilder himself from the audiobook of his memoir; and interviews with some of his most brilliant friends and collaborators, including Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, Carol Kane, and his widow Karen Boyer Wilder, Remembering Gene Wilder reminds us what an essential performer, writer, and director Gene Wilder was, an all-around mensch beloved by all those whose lives he touched.
Spend the week talking with filmmakers!
Friday, 2/23-28: Multiple Drugstore June screenings will feature cast & crew Q&As. Click here to learn more.
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Saturday, 2/24: Ingress producer Sienna Beckman, writer-director-actor Rachel Noll James and actor Johnny Ferro will participate in a Q&A following the 4 PM screenings at the Laemmle Glendale on Saturday & Sunday, February 24 & 25.
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Wednesday, 2/28: All February 28 screenings of Origin will feature a pre-recorded introduction by and post-screening Q&A with filmmaker Ava Duvernay. Also: The February 28 screening Mambar Pierrette will feature an introduction by Jordan Cronk, film critic, programmer and founder of Acropolis Cinema.
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APOCALYPSE NOW: THE FINAL CUT 45th Anniversary Screening Sunday, March 3.
Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s epic Vietnam War movie, ‘Apocalypse Now,’ in the director’s approved version restored in 2019: ‘Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut.’ When it was originally released in 1979, it scored at the box office and earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. It won two Oscars, for the striking cinematography by Vittorio Storaro and for Best Sound.
The screening is at the Royal on Sunday, March 3, and will start promptly at 6:00 PM with an introduction by actress Colleen Camp, who played Miss May in the film. Afterward we’ll have a special Q&A with Ms. Camp and author Sam Wasson, who just published The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story. He will also be selling and signing copies of his book.
Loosely inspired by Joseph Conrad’s enthralling novel ‘Heart of Darkness,’ the ‘Apocalypse Now‘ screenplay was by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr (a journalist who wrote the acclaimed book about the war, ‘Dispatches’). The main character, Captain Willard (played by Martin Sheen), is ordered to travel through Vietnam and track down Colonel Kurtz (played by Marlon Brando), who has gone rogue and established his own savage regime in Cambodia. Willard’s orders are to assassinate Kurtz to save the military from disgrace.
The supporting cast includes Robert Duvall (who earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the surf-loving Colonel Kilgore), Laurence Fishburne, Frederic Forrest, Scott Glenn, Sam Bottoms, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, and Colleen Camp. Although the troubled production went way over budget on location in the Philippines, it won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1979 and earned strong reviews from many critics. Kathleen Carroll of the New York Daily News wrote, “Certainly no movie in history has ever presented stronger proof that war is living hell.” Amy Taubin of the Village Voice added, “’Apocalypse‘ has the expressive extravagance of a Wagner opera—and not merely because the swooping helicopter scene is set to the ‘Ride of the Valkyries.’” Roger Ebert considered it one of the greatest films ever made.
Author Sam Wasson did extensive research, with special access to Coppola’s private papers, to write his new book, ‘The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story.’ The New York Times praised it as “a marvel of unshowy reportage,” and Publishers Weekly declared, “Movie buffs won’t want to miss this.” Wasson has also written the acclaimed books, ‘The Big Goodbye’ (about the making of ‘Chinatown’), ‘Fifth Avenue 5 AM’ (about ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’) and ‘Fosse.’ He will be selling and signing his book at the screening.
Colleen Camp has an extensive list of credits over the last 50 years, including ‘Valley Girl,’ ‘Clue,’ ‘Wayne’s World,’ ‘Die Hard With a Vengeance,’ Peter Bogdanovich’s ‘They All Laughed,’ Alexander Payne’s ‘Election,’ David O. Russell’s ‘American Hustle’ and ‘Joy,’ and many TV series as well.
DRUGSTORE JUNE Q&A schedule.
Drugstore June Q&A at the Laemmle Noho: 3/2 – 7:10PM Moderator, Nick Rutherford, Nicholaus Goossen, Jenn McClaren and Jordan Ellner; 3/5 – 7:10PM Moderator, Jonnie “Dumbfounded” Park, Nick Rutherford, Brandon Wardell, Britany Furlan, Nicholaus Goossen, and Jordan Ellner; 3/7 – 7:10PM Moderator, Jon Gabrus, Nicholaus Goossen, and Jordan Ellner
In-Person Wim Wenders Q&A for ANSELM 3D Saturday in Glendale; 2D runs this week at other venues; MUST END SOON!
If you haven’t yet seen Wim Wenders’ 3D documentary Anselm in Glendale, there’s still time! We’ll have this fascinating portrait of painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer in 3D for at least one more week in the Jewell City and we’ll open 2D engagements this Friday in Santa Monica, Encino, Claremont and Newhall. What’s more the director will participate in an in-person Q&A following the Saturday, January 13 1 pm screening in Glendale. Matt Carey will moderate.
“Anselm offers both a thrilling portrait of the artist at work and, with the aid of terrific archival footage, lets us see what infuses his work with such intensity.” ~ John Powers, NPR
“The director [Wim Wenders] has fashioned a mesmerizing engagement with Kiefer’s art, including just enough face time with the subject to elevate the work’s immersive, bleak majesty, rather than give it an aggrandizing spin.” ~ Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
“This is a superbly controlled and expressed film and its high seriousness about the nature and purpose of art really is invigorating.” Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
REVOLUTION ON CANVAS Q&As at the Royal
Revolution on Canvas Q&A schedule:
THURSDAY DEC 7 • 7:00 PM
Directors Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder and protagonist Nicky Nodjoumi
in-person for Q&A hosted by Houman Sarshar & Farhang Foundation
FRI DEC 8 • 7:20 PM
Directors Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder and protagonist Nicky Nodjoumi
in-person for Q&A
SAT DEC 9 • 4:20 & 7:20 PM
Directors Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder and protagonist Nicky Nodjoumi
in-person for Q&A moderated by Marjan Safinia
Reception & Art Opening of Nicky Nodjoumi’s work to follow at ADVOCARTSY West Hollywood
434 N La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048
MON Dec 10 • 7:20 PM
Directors Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder and protagonist Nicky Nodjoumi
in-person for Q&A moderated by Freida Lee Mock
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