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Which are the ten best movies of 2022?

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We all like a good Top Ten list. They’re fun to make, entertaining to read, and amusing to argue over. In 2003 I included Love, Actually on my Top Ten list and an erudite film critic friend practically did a spit take he was so shocked I would put such an admittedly middlebrow entertainment among my other choices, which were more esoteric and in line with his tastes. But, hey! Enjoy the art you enjoy and don’t be ashamed of it.

This is a roundabout way of saying we’ll be collecting your Top Ten lists the first week of 2023. We’ll include the entry form in that week’s newsletter and, assuming he catches up on the buzzy films he hasn’t seen yet, Greg Laemmle’s Top Ten list. By submitting your list you’ll be entered into a raffle for free Laemmle gift cards!

For inspiration, here are some Top Ten lists the nation’s leading film critics have submitted and — good news! — many of the titles — No Bears, One Fine Morning, EO, and Return to Seoul — are either now playing or coming soon so you can see them as they were meant to be seen, theatrically. They are hyperlinked below.

Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
1. No Bears
2. Aftersun
3. The Eternal Daughter
4. Tár
5. Benediction
6. Decision to Leave
7. Kimi
8. Crimes of the Future
9. One Fine Morning
10. EO
11. Nope

Manohla Dargis, New York Times

1. EO
2. Petite Maman
3. Nope
4. No Bears
5. Kimi
6. The Eternal Daughter
7. Happening
8. Decision to Leave
9. Expedition Content
10. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

From NO BEARS. Courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety

  1. Tár
  2. The Fabelmans
  3. The Batman
  4. Bros
  5. Navalny
  6. Holy Spider
  7. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
  8. Vengeance
  9. Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
  10. 13: The Musical

Peter Debruge, Variety

  1. Tár
  2. Saint Omer
  3. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
  4. Playground
  5. The Batman
  6. Corsage
  7. Happening
  8. After Yang
  9. The Whale
  10. You Won’t Be Alone

Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

1. Tár
2. Aftersun
3. No Bears
4. Return to Seoul
5. Riotsville, USA
6. We Met in Virtual Reality
7. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
8. Emily the Criminal
9. The Cathedral
10. Top Gun: Maverick

The critics of RogerEbert.com

1. The Banshees of Inisherin
2. The Fabelmans
3. Decision to Leave
4. Tár
5. Aftersun
6. Nope
7. No Bears
8. Everything Everywhere All at Once
9. RRR
10. Babylon

Join our tradition: SING-ALONG FIDDLER ON THE ROOF tickets are going fast!

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So few movies stand the test of time and can delight wildly different audiences even decades after their release. Fifty-one years later, Fiddler on the Roof is one of those few. All of which is to say that tickets for our Christmas Eve Sing-Along Fiddler on the Roof screenings at six of our seven theaters are going fast. There is still room for those who want to come out and celebrate, but act soon. Bring your Hanukkah menorah (and candles) to the theatre and help celebrate the miracles in our lives, not least of which is the “Wonder of Wonders” that Laemmle Theatres is still open after a year of closure and two years of halting recovery.  Are brighter days ahead? Who knows. But I’m betting on yes. So buy a ticket, and I’ll feel as “If I Were a Rich Man” because there are still people who value the “Tradition” of seeing a movie in a movie theatre! ~ Greg Laemmle
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The 80th Golden Globes Award nominees at Laemmle.

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If you’re not yet caught up with some of the standout art films of 2022, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its nominations for the 80th Golden Globe awards, they’re a handy to do list. The Banshees of Inisherin (now playing at the NoHo with a return engagement starting Friday at the Monica Film Center and Town Center) received the most nods, with eight, including Best Film (Musical or Comedy), Best Director and Screenplay for Martin McDonagh, and acting nominations for Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan.

Triangle of Sadness (now playing at the Monicas with a return engagement in Glendale slated for December 23) earned Best Film (Musical or Comedy) and Best Supporting Actress for Dolly De Leon. Todd Field and Cate Blanchett were honored for TÁR with Best Film (Drama), Screenplay and Actress (Drama) nominations. We’re currently playing TÁR in Santa Monica. Now in its eighth week at the Laemmle Glendale, Decision to Leave (South Korea) got a Best non-English language film nomination. Now in its fourth week, we have The Menu (Best Actor and Actress – Musical or Comedy nods for Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy) Claremont, Glendale and Santa Monica. We open Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light this Friday at the NoHo, Newhall, Claremont, Town Center, Glendale and Monica Film Center. Olivia Colman got a Best Actress (Drama) nomination for her role.

Finally, we have films by three of the five nominees for Best Actor (Drama) coming soon: Brendan Fraser in The Whale (starts December 21 at the NoHo and January 20 at the Claremont, Newhall and Town Center; Hugh Jackman in The Son (starts January 20 at the Claremont, Newhall, NoHo, Glendale, Town Center and Royal; and Bill Nighy in Living (December 23 at the Royal and January 13 at the Newhall, Claremont, Glendale, and Town Center.

 

FIDDLER is back! Sing along with Tevye and his family this Christmas Eve at our Sing-Along screenings of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

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LAEMMLE THEATRES ANNOUNCES ITS 14TH ANNIVERSARY “FIDDLER ON THE ROOF” SING-ALONG SCREENINGS

When: Saturday, December 24, 2022, 7 pm (Christmas Eve)

What: Screening of classic musical film “Fiddler on the Roof.” It’s our program’s 14th anniversary.

Where: 

– Glendale, 207 Maryland Ave., Glendale, CA 91206

– Town Center, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA 91316

– Claremont, 450 W Second St., Claremont, CA 91711

– NoHo 7, 5240 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601

– Newhall, 22500 Lyons Ave., Santa Clarita, CA 91321

– Royal, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025

Tickets: Purchase at Laemmle.com/Fiddler. Prices this year start at $18 for General Admission, $15 for seniors and children, and $15 for Premiere Card Holders, $12 for Premiere Card seniors.

A tradition we began in 2008, Christmas Eve sing-along FIDDLER ON THE ROOF screenings have been a hit that has inspired similar screenings in other parts of the country. We’re showing Norman Jewison’s beloved 1971 Oscar-winning musical at four of our theaters, so you don’t even have to venture too far from your shtetl. Song lyrics on screen, in case you don’t know ’em by heart.

Song highlights include the iconic “TRADITION”, “IF I WERE A RICH MAN”,  “TO LIFE”, “MATCHMAKER”, “SUNRISE SUNSET”, “DO YOU LOVE ME?” and “ANATEVKA”, among many others.

Jewison’s 1971 screen adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical is a treasured movie classic. It stars Israeli actor TOPOL in the unforgettable role of TEVYE the milkman, a character besieged not just by a bevy of five daughters but by modernity itself. Co-stars include NORMA CRANE as GOLDE, Yiddish theater legend MOLLY PICON as YENTE, and LEONARD FRAY as MOTEL. The film won three OSCARS in 1972 for Best Sound, Best Music, and Best Cinematography, and was nominated for five more, including Best Director and Best Picture.

Greg Laemmle on ONLY IN THEATERS: The filmmaker “ended up with a front row seat for two of the more tumultuous years in the history of our three-generation family business.”

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From Greg Laemmle:
     February, 2019.  We had recently hosted a screening of L.A. Foodways at the Fine Arts.  This documentary, about the history of agriculture in Los Angeles, and the current situation with food deserts in certain neighborhoods – where people were unable to easily access fresh fruits and vegetables – delved into a social issue that had interested me for many years.  And I was especially happy to see a favorite local charity, Food Forward, as one of the charity beneficiaries of the screening.
Filmmaker Raphael Sbarge
     I was not surprised that the filmmaker, Raphael Sbarge, had found this a worthy subject for a documentary.  His previous film, A Concrete River: Reviving the Waters of Los Angeles has also turned a lens on something of local interest, and it also was able to see the natural land underneath the asphalt and buildings, and express a desire to see the city embrace this topography and hydrology so that L.A. could become a more sustainable and equitable place for its residents.  It didn’t hurt that my wife and I appeared as interviewees in A Concrete River. But beyond that, I truly felt that Raphael and I shared a similar hope for the City of Angels.
     So when Raphael called me in February, 2019, I was happy to make time to meet with him.
Greg Laemmle
     At that meeting, he basically said that he wanted to make Laemmle Theatres the subject of his next documentary.  And given his previous films, I thought it was a natural fit. We may not be an environmental organization, but over 80+ years, we have become part of the fabric of the city, and I always hoped that we could grow and adapt, finding ways as a business where we could address some of the challenges confronting our home.
     Now over the years, many filmmakers have said that someone “should” make a movie about Laemmle Theatres. But Raphael was the first of them to say that he was going to do it. And within weeks, on March 21 and 22 of 2019, we were sitting in the auditorium at the Fine Arts having the first on-camera interviews. Little did we know how things would change over the course of the next two years.
Robert Laemmle
     Without revealing too much, let’s just say that Raphael ended up with a front row seat for two of the more tumultuous years in the history of our three-generation family business. Do we sell? Do we not sell? And then beyond that, how do we survive being closed for 13 months during the coronavirus outbreak?
     The film ends on April 9, 2021. The day of the reopening of our theatres. It was a day of hopefulness, but also a day of reckoning. Clearly, and for a variety of reasons, it was going to take some time to reconnect with the audience, and get our business back on track.
Nancy Laemmle
     As I write this now, with the finished film, Only in Theaters, about to open a theatrical run, how am I feeling? About the film, I feel very honored.  I won’t say proud, since beyond sitting for the interviews, I had nothing to do with the production or editing of the film. I trusted Raphael to make the film as he saw fit, and to be honest with his storytelling. But yes, honored.
     The reaction to the film at festival screenings across the country has been terrific, and while I know that festival enthusiasm does not always translate to the competitive realities of theatrical exhibition, I am confident that people who do see the film will emerge with a greater appreciation for the moviegoing experience, and by extension, the people who make that experience possible.
     The film is not what I thought it would be when I agreed to let Raphael make the movie. But it is honest and true, and that’s what’s important. And as hard as it is for me to watch some portions of the film, I will be forever grateful that it exists.
    Only in Theaters opens this Friday, with a full engagement at the Royal, and limited engagements at Claremont, Glendale, Newhall, NoHo and the Town Center. The filmmaker and I will be appearing at all the venues at some point over the first five days of the run for Q&A. Check here for details on which shows will have a Q&A. Whether you can make one of those screenings or not, I hope you’ll take the time to see the film. According to Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” we are destined to only find appreciation for things after they are gone. But really, it doesn’t need to be that way. We can appreciate the things that are unique, and that bring beauty and wonder into our lives. And we can support and nurture those things so that they will always be there for us and those that come after us. And you can start doing that this weekend.

ONLY IN THEATERS, documentary about Laemmle Theatres, tickets on sale + Q&A schedule.

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We have launched advance ticket sales for Only in Theaters, the new documentary about our 84-year-old art house cinema chain. What’s more, Laemmle Theatres third-generation president Greg Laemmle will participate in multiple Q&As all over L.A. County:
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Friday, 11/18 @ 7:30 PM @ Royal
Saturday, 11/19 @ 1:30 PM @ Claremont, moderated by Claremont Courier Editor Mick Rhodes.
Saturday, 11/19 @ 4:30 PM @ Newhall
Saturday, 11/19 @ 7:30 PM @ Royal
Sunday, 11/20 @ 1:20 PM @ Town Center
Sunday, 11/20 @ 4:30 PM @ Royal
Sunday, 11/20 @ 7:30 PM @ NoHo
Monday, 11/21 @ 7:30 PM @ Royal
Tuesday, 11/22 @ 7:30 PM @ Glendale
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Greg’s wife Tish Laemmle will join him for the Q&As at the Royal on the 18th and 19th, and possibly more. Filmmaker Raphael Sbarge will join him for all but the November 18 screening. The film’s editor, Rick Pratt, will join for the Q&A at the Newhall on Saturday at 4:30 PM. We hope you can join them too!
Watch the trailer!

Ingmar Bergman’s PERSONA 55th Anniversary screenings December 13 at Laemmle Glendale, Newhall & Royal

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Abroad Series present the 55th anniversary of Ingmar Bergman’s Persona (1967) on December 13 at three Laemmle locations. The intense, provocative psychological drama was one of the keystone films of the late-period golden age of the art-house in the 1960s and energized the “Film Generation” that came of age in that seminal decade.

The story concerns an actress (Bergman newcomer Liv Ullmann) who stops speaking in the middle of a performance and refuses to communicate. She is placed in the care of a nurse (Bergman regular Bibi Andersson) and they retreat to the isolation of a beach house for her recovery. As their relationship progresses, it takes fascinating twists and turns. Some have compared their relationship to that of a psychiatrist and patient, with Ullmann paradoxically playing the role of the psychoanalyst whose silence prods the nurse into revealing some of her innermost secrets and deep-seated anxieties. Andersson’s confessions include one vivid memory of an uninhibited sexual encounter that critic Pauline Kael described as “one of the rare truly erotic sequences in movie history.”

Swedish auteur and all-time film titan Bergman was one of the directors at the center of the international film explosion that captivated moviegoers during that era. College students and engaged moviegoers debated long into the night, trying to decipher all the mysteries of this utterly compelling but sometimes puzzling film, not unlike the reaction to Alain Resnais’ enigmatic Last Year at Marienbad earlier in the decade. Andrew Sarris, the influential film critic of The Village Voice, noted that the film “seems to bewitch audiences even when it bewilders them.” Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune cited it as “one of the screen’s supreme works and perhaps Ingmar Bergman’s finest film.” Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian called it “sensually brilliant, an endlessly questioning and mysterious disquisition on identity. Persona is a film to make you shiver with fascination, or incomprehension, or desire.”

Persona plays one night only, Tuesday, December 13 at 7:00 PM at three Laemmle locations: the Royal (West Los Angeles), Glendale, and Newhall (Santa Clarita).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu_Jvil6ToY

“A genre work of superior, silken craftsmanship, so sinister, serpentine and sexy as to be downright swoon-worthy,” DECISION TO LEAVE opens Friday.

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What happens when an object of suspicion becomes a case of obsession? Winner of the Best Director prize earlier this year at Cannes, Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) returns with Decision to Leave, a seductive romantic thriller that takes his renowned stylistic flair to dizzying new heights. As of this writing the film’s Rotten Tomatoes’ score is 93%, with the most sophisticated critics kvelling about the film’s artistry and suggesting repeat viewings. We open the film Friday at the NoHo and Glendale with additional engagements planned in the subsequent weeks around town.

“Even the most expositional passages of this elegant, tricky murder mystery brim with quietly stunning craft.” ~ A.A. Dowd, Chron
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“The film is a box of secret compartments; just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, one more panel springs open.” ~
Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine
“A genre work of superior, silken craftsmanship, so sinister, serpentine and sexy as to be downright swoon-worthy.” ~ Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
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“[Park Chan-wook’s] perspective is unmistakable in exploring the dark and twisted ways in which people relate to each other… So sumptuous, wrong, and fun.” ~ Christy Lemire, FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
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“The ambiguity of what is really going on is what makes the film so tantalizing…. Decision to Leave is a stunning achievement that ends by deliberately raising more questions than it answers.” ~ Gary M. Kramer, Salon.com
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“If the erotic thrillers of the past explored the dangers of lust, Park Chan-wook explores the risks of longing. His take on the genre isn’t just sexy; it’s playful and mordant and convoluted — and it begs to be rewatched.” ~ Shirley Li, The Atlantic