Film Reviews & Previews
Sybil Darrow and Dean Pollack, respectively the writer-lead actor and writer-director of the new comedy AUDREY, will be joined by key cast members for Q&A’s at the Music Hall after the 7:20 PM screening on Friday, July 11th as well as after the 2:40 screening on Sunday, July 13th.
CHAPMAN writer-director Justin Owensby will participate in a Q&A’s after the first evening screenings at the Music Hall on Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10. Lead actor Jesse Johnson will join him for the Saturday Q&A.
It’s nearly time for Last Remaining Seats, the always-compelling series of film classics presented by the L.A. CONSERVANCY in our city’s grand, vintage movie palaces. The program opens this year on June 11, 2014, 8pm with the iconic comedy THE LADY EVE (1941, Preston Sturges) at the downtown LOS ANGELES THEATRE. What’s more, the evening will be hosted by our own GREG LAEMMLE who will be in conversation with PRESTON STURGES JR. and TOM STURGES, sons of the legendary director. It promises to be a captivating evening and we invite you to join in our support of the L.A. Conservancy by attending. If you haven’t been to the lavish LOS ANGELES THEATRE on Broadway, you are sure to be astonished.
Tickets for this event and other screenings are available through the L.A. CONSERVANCY who produces the series as a way to highlight the treasure trove of beautiful and historically significant theaters that remain in our city. In addition to the Los Angeles Theatre, this year’s line up includes the PALACE THEATRE (The Great Madcap), ORPHEUM THEATRE (Citizen Kane, Footlight Parade), the THEATRE AT ACE HOTEL (Back to the Future), and the DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION (West Side Story).
Tickets are pre-sold to Conservancy members, but are now also available to the general public. Seating is limited, however, so you must act quickly. We’ve already learned that one of the screenings has been sold out. GO HERE for more program and ticketing info.
———————————–
Program notes from the Conservancy:
The Los Angeles Conservancy has assembled an esteemed slate of special guests for its twenty-eighth season of Last Remaining Seats. This annual series presents classic films as they were meant to be seen: on the big screen, in a beautiful historic theatre, surrounded by fellow fans. Each event in the series is full of extras, including live entertainment, special guests, cartoons, and more. What began in 1987 as a way to draw attention to Los Angeles’ historic theatres is now a summer tradition, drawing thousands of people from the region, the nation, and outside the U.S.
While subject to change, the special guests and live entertainment for 2014 are outlined below.
The season kicks off June 11 with a screening of The Lady Eve at the Los Angeles Theatre. Evening host for opening night is Greg Laemmle, president of Laemmle Theatres. Laemmle will interview Preston Sturges, Jr. and Tom Sturges, sons of Preston Sturges, who wrote and directed the acclaimed 1941 comedy.
On June 14, West Side Story at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion will feature one of the film’s stars, George Chakiris, in conversation with dance critic Debra Levine. Chakiris won an Academy Award® for his performance as Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, in this classic 1961 musical.
Guests at 1933’s Footlight Parade at the Orpheum Theatre on June 18 will enjoy two live performances. Robert Salisbury will perform on the theatre’s 1928 Mighty Wurlitzer organ, followed by Maxwell DeMille Presents “The Lullaby of Broadway:” A Tribute to the 1930s Movie Music of Harry Warren and Al Dubin, with Dean Mora and his Orchestra.
Renowned film critic and historian Leonard Maltin will host the sold-old evening screening of Back to the Future at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on June 21. Maltin will interview cast members Lea Thompson, Claudia Wells, and Don Fullilove. A DeLorean Time Machine will make a special appearance at both the matinee and evening screenings.
Co-presented with the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles, the screening of Luis Buñuel’s El gran calavera (The Great Madcap) on June 25 will be hosted by Oscar Arce, director of the Luis Buñuel Film Institute. Arce will appear on stage before the film with special guest Pablo Ferro, award-winning film title designer.
The season ends June 28 with two screenings of Citizen Kane at the Orpheum Theatre. Both screenings will be preceded by a live performance by Tony Wilson on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ. The matinee will be hosted by author and film historian Alan K. Rode, with the evening screening hosted by Ben Mankiewicz, weekend daytime host of Turner Classic Movies and the grandson of the film’s co-writer with Orson Welles, Herman J. Mankiewicz.
Details and tickets are available at laconservancy.org.
Tickets cost $16 for L.A. Conservancy members and $20 for the general public.
UNCLAIMED director-producer Michael Jorgensen will participate in Q&A’s after the 7:20 PM screenings at the Music Hall on Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3.
http://www.vimeo.com/90875597
We are thrilled to be opening PETER BROOK: THE TIGHTROPE this Friday at the Music Hall. It’s a documentary about an acting class helmed by Mr. Brook and filmed with hidden cameras by his son, Simon (who will be doing Q&A’s after each 7:20 PM screening at the Music Hall, Friday, April 11 through Tuesday, April 15 as well as the 2:40 and 5 PM screenings on Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13). If you are an actor or just someone who has marveled at what great actors can accomplish, seek out this film and watch a master in action.
As it happens the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA opens a Peter Brook play, THE SUIT, this week at the Freud Playhouse. “Devastation by enchantment,” sang Ben Brantley in the New York Times. There are only nine performances. A plethora of information about the production and its origins is here. And if you bring your ticket stub from the play to the Music Hall for any screening of PETER BROOK, you may buy tickets at a good discount: $6 each. Also, check out this piece the L.A. Times published today about Brook and the UCLA production.
AWAKENED writer-director Joycelyn Engle will participate in Q&A’s after each 4:10 and 7 PM screenings at the Music Hall from Friday, March 28 through Sunday, March 30. On Sunday the 30th she will be joined by cast members Steven Bauer, Julianne Michelle, John Savage, Sally Kirkland, Stelio Savante and Bryan Dechart.
Looking for an easy way to support sustainability, active transportation, and environmental causes? Buy one of our new tasty treats the next time you’re at Laemmle and we will donate a portion of sales to Climate Ride! One dollar of every Kind Bar, $2 of any O.N.E. Coconut Water, and $3 of all Climate Ride Combo purchases will go to help the environment. The combo includes a Small popcorn, one Kind Bar, and a Coconut Water.
This short video featuring company president Greg Laemmle will run before each film we screen to help raise awareness. Watch it here first and enjoy an exclusive outtake not in theaters:
Climate Ride Wine Country 2014 is a fully-supported, four-day group ride covering 250 miles of stellar Northern California scenery starting in San Francisco and winding through the famous wine growing regions of Napa Valley and the Russian River Valley. It culminates at the iconic state capitol building in Sacramento. Interested in doing more for Climate Ride? You can support the winners of our Climate Ride contest or register to participate in the ride yourself! Special thanks to our partners at Kind, O.N.E. Coconut Water, Climate Ride, and the Laemmle Charitable Foundation.