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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!

Best International Features – Oscar nominees CLOSE & THE QUIET GIRL are finally opening in more theaters.

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Happy to report we are opening Close, the Dutch/Flemish film about the intense friendship of two 13-year-old boys, this Friday in Santa Monica and March 3 in Santa Clarita, Claremont, and Encino. Acclaimed at the most prestigious festivals around the world and now up for an Academy Award, Close is a “sharply observed, heartbreaking masterpiece” (G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle). Other critics have gushed:

“To the pantheon of films about the pains of leaving childhood behind — The 400 Blows, The Spirit of the Beehive, Rocks, The Go-Between, Boyhood et al — we should find a spot for this beautiful elegy of lost innocence from Belgian director Lukas Dhont.” ~ Philip De Semlyen, Time Out

“It features world-wise performances from its cast, a haunting score from composer Valentin Hadjadj and breathtaking cinematography from Malte Rosenfeld. It’s a treasure you’ll never forget.” ~ Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

“A picture which is intimate in scope but which packs a considerable emotional wallop.” ~ Wendy Ide, Screen International

We are also thrilled to open The Quiet Girl, the Irish film about a young girl in foster care, March 3 in Santa Monica and March 10 in Claremont, Encino, Santa Clarita and Glendale.

“Few films explore both the shelter and the solitude of silence with the eloquence of Colm Bairéad’s gently captivating Irish-language drama The Quiet Girl.” ~ David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“There may not be a movie more expressive of the season’s benevolent ethos than this hushed work about kith and kindness.” ~ Lisa Kennedy, New York Times

“One of the most exquisitely realised films of the year.” ~ Wendy Ide, Guardian

 

Oscar Doc Features – A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS, NAVALNY & ALL THAT BREATHES

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The already formidable 15 films shortlisted for the Best Feature Documentary Oscar have been whittled down to five, and it’s no exaggeration to say they’re all masterpieces that hit about 100 times harder when seen in a theater. People just had a chance to see Fire of Love on Valentine’s Day, and we’ve been playing All the Beauty and the Bloodshed for weeks (but Thursday is the last day!). We are bringing the remaining three to a big screen near you, so now is your chance.
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We’ll have Navalny at the Monica Film Center for 02/24 – 03/02.
A House Made of Splinters plays weekend shows in Glendale (02/25 – 02/26) and at the Royal (03/04 – 03/05).
And we’ll have All that Breathes on March 1 in Glendale and March 2 at the Royal.

“Breathtaking, slow burn, poetic journey” GODLAND opens February 10 at the Laemmle Glendale and Monica Film Center.

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The struggle between the strictures of religion and our own brute animal nature plays out amid the beautifully forbidding landscapes of remote Iceland in Godland, a stunning psychological epic from director Hlynur Pálmason. In the late nineteenth century, Danish priest Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove) makes the perilous trek to Iceland’s southeastern coast with the intention of establishing a church. There, the arrogant man of God finds his resolve tested as he confronts the harsh terrain, temptations of the flesh, and the reality of being an intruder in an unforgiving land. What unfolds is a transfixing journey into the heart of colonial darkness attuned to both the majesty and terrifying power of the natural world.

We open Godland February 10 at the Laemmle Glendale and Monica Film Center.

“This transfixing drama is certainly austere. But there’s also a marvelously odd vein of sneaky humor running through it, along with an unpredictability that keeps you glued.” ~ David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“Godland tells a story of natural wonder, elemental beauty and human folly.” ~ Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

“An engrossing account of a voyage to the dark side of permanent daylight.” ~ Wendy Ide, Screen International
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“It’s a breathtaking, slow burn, poetic journey through an utterly gorgeous hell for this Danish missionary-colonialist-photographer.” ~ Alex Billington, FirstShowing.net

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!

REMEMBER THIS Q&A schedule at the Monica Film Center Feb. 5 & 6.

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On February 5th following the 1:30pm screening, Howard Gordon of 24 Homeland will join Eva Anisko, producer of REMEMBER THIS for a Q&A.

On February 5th, following the 4:30pm screening, Jon Kean, President of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District will moderate a post screening discussion with Rabbi, Writer & Professor Michael Berenbaum and Jessica Handler, Educator from Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles and 3rd generation survivor.

On February 6th, following the 7:20 screening, Lisa Ling, journalist, author, executive producer, television host of CNN/s original documentary series THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING ’s will join Jeff Hutchens, co-Director of REMEMBER THIS for a post screening discussion.

The Top Ten Films of 2022 contest results are in!

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And the Top Ten Customer-Chosen films of 2022, in order from 1 to 10, are [drum roll]:

  1. Everything Everywhere All at Once
  2. The Banshees of Inisherin
  3. TÁR
  4. The Fabelmans
  5. RRR
  6. Top Gun: Maverick
  7. Nope
  8. Aftersun
  9. Triangle of Sadness
  10. Decision to Leave

It’s a terrific list, arguably better than the one AMPAS announced this week, which excluded RRR, Nope, Aftersun and Decision to Leave. Films 2-4 and 9, hyperlinked for your convenience, are still in theaters!

Randomly chosen winners for free Laemmle movie passes are:
1) Jodi Siegner
2) Drew McAnany
3) Jacob Berman
Thanks to everyone who played!

Top Ten Films of 2022 contest ends Sunday: Tell us your favorites for a chance to win free movie passes!

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Keep those Top Ten contest entries coming. You have until this Sunday, January 22 to give it some thought and enter here. So far, unsurprisingly, it looks like many Laemmle moviegoers are kvelling about Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick, and RRR. We’ll have final results next week. You can read Greg Laemmle’s list and leading American film critics’ lists if you need inspiration. Personally, my favorite is Jordan Peele’s spectacular Nope. No doubt my reaction was influenced by the fact that I saw it in a packed, sold-out theater on opening night, because movies are better in theaters!