The Official Blog of Laemmle Theatres.

blog.laemmle.com

The official blog of Laemmle Theatres

Home » Theater Buzz » Santa Monica » Page 18

Moviegoing safely.

by

     The Washington Post published a good article by their chief film critic Ann Hornaday last week headlined “Is it safe? In the movie theater business, the question is how much to promise older audiences.” One of the public health experts quoted is Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who thinks that “for people who are fully vaccinated, watching a movie in a theater while keeping a tightfitting N95 mask on the entire time (i.e. no sipping soda or nibbling popcorn) is among the safest group indoor activities they can have.”
     According to the L.A. County Health Department, test positivity rate has been plummeting. While it is too soon to say that the pandemic is over, it does appear that the Omicron surge has basically passed in L.A. Our seven-day average test positivity rate is at 2.56%, which is as low as its been since November of last year. L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said last week that “we do anticipate that if we have these continued steep declines in cases, which indicate lower transmission, we will be able to safely lift indoor masking mandates in mid-to-late March.” In the meantime, this week the Health Department announced a partial roll-back of the mask mandate. Fully vaccinated people who show proof may go without masks while visiting indoor businesses. Additionally, we will continue to allow our patrons extra space and breathing room by not selling adjacent seats to different parties and we keep our HVAC systems in excellent condition, regularly changing the filters. People can still choose to stay masked indoors as a way to help increase their personal safety — experts say one-way masking works. If you’re vaccinated, boosted, and wearing an N95, you’re protected, no matter what others are doing. What’s more, because of the availability of rapid home testing, instances of asymptomatic spread are increasingly rare.
     All of which is to say that it is relatively safe to go to the movies and it is now urgent for L.A. cinephiles to show up. Distributors of arthouse films need to see results or we risk losing something precious, the chance to experience truly brilliant, challenging, foreign and/or independent cinema as it was intended to be seen. Are you a movie lover who appreciates how integral public moviegoing is to cinema and everything cinema is? From the Post piece:
     “For Leana Wen, a physician and public health professor at George Washington University, the decision of whether to go back to theaters comes down to three factors: individual medical circumstances, risk tolerance and how highly one values going out to see a movie. “For some people, going to the movies was not something they particularly enjoyed, and therefore it’s something they don’t miss,” she says. “On the other hand, there are some individuals for whom it may be close to an essential activity, it’s such an important part of life.”

Moviegoers, start your guesses: The Umpteenth Annual Laemmle Oscar Contest has begun.

by

The Oscar nominations are out, and in spite of the fact that Bradley Cooper was robbed of one and possibly even two nominations, it’s time for our Umpteenth Annual Laemmle Oscar Contest! Correctly guess how the Academy will vote and win movie passes good at all Laemmle venues and Laemmle Virtual Cinema.

Oscar Update: Contests, KStew, Sleepers from India and Bhutan, Plus Doc, Animated and Live Action Shorts!

by

It’s Oscar nomination week which means it’s time for our Umpteenth Annual Laemmle Oscar Contest! Correctly guess how the Academy will vote and win movie passes good at all Laemmle venues and Laemmle Virtual Cinema.
Plus, there’s still time to win Laemmle passes by telling us your favorite ten films of 2021. That contest ends February 21.
Oscar nominations mean we’re almost ready to start screening the perennially popular Oscar-nominated shorts. We’ll open the documentaries February 25 at the Royal with other venues TBD. We’re planning to open the animated and live action shorts at the Claremont, Newhall, Playhouse, Town Center, NoHo and Monica Film Center, exact dates TBA.

Please note: this year neither the animated nor live action short programs are appropriate for children.

We have many other brilliant Oscar nominees on screen now, including Best International Film nominee Lunana and multiple nominees Drive My Car and Flee (Best International, Animated and Documentary Feature nominee!), and this Friday we’re bringing back Spencer to make sure everyone sees Kristen Stewart’s performance on the big screen. Beginning March 4 we’ll have Best Feature Documentary nominee Writing with Fire on our virtual platform.

 

 

Reminder: Submit your 2021 Top Ten Movie List for a chance to win fabulous prizes (gift cards)!

by

Tell us your favorite ten films of 2021 for a chance to win a Gift Card valid at all eight Laemmle locations and at home on watch.laemmle.com! The deadline for submission is February 21, 2022.

For inspiration, here’s Greg Laemmle’s Top 10 list:

#10 – SHIVA BABY – This true indie gem came out just as theatres were reopening in April, and got a little lost in the shuffle.  I understand that director Emma Seligman and star Rachel Sennott are teaming up on another project, and can’t wait to see the results.
#9 – THE CARD COUNTER – Writer-director Paul Schrader is again at the top of his game with this meditation on the collective guilt arising from our country’s adventures in nation building and the ensuing crimes against humanity.  Oscar Isaac is terrific as Schrader’s scapegoat, and Tiffany Haddish and Tye Sheridan provide excellent support.
#8 – THE VELVET QUEEN – We wonder if patience will be rewarded as the subjects of the documentary wait for a glimpse of an elusive Himalayan snow leopard.  But either way, the audience’s patience is rewarded in this quiet and contemplative documentary.
#7 – JOCKEY – Clifton Collins Jr. has always been a welcome presence on screen.  But also such a chameleon that even the most astute moviegoer may miss his presence.  But he’s hard to miss as the aging jockey at the center of this quietly powerful story.  If there is any justice in Hollywood, he will be remembered when nominations for Best Actor are announced.
#6 – C’MON C’MON – Writer-director Mike Mills may only have four films to his credit (previously THUMBSUCKER, BEGINNERS, 20TH CENTURY WOMEN), but he has yet to deliver a bad film.  Anchored by strong performances from Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann and young newcomer,Woody Norman, this is worth searching out.
#5 – tick, tick…BOOM! – I’m not a fan of RENT.  And although I was familiar with the songs from this earlier Jonathan Larson musical, I wasn’t particularly a fan of the music.  But I loved what director LIn-Manuel Miranda did to blend Larson’s musical within a documentary framework to create something that goes above and beyond the source material.  And in a year when he also delivered amazing performances in MAINSTREAM and THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE, Andrew Garfield is beyond fabulous in the lead.
#4 – DRIVE MY CAR – Adapted from a short story by Murakami Haruki, this breakthrough film from director Ryusuke Hamaguchi is the foreign language sleeper of the year.
#3 – DUNE – It should come as no surprise that Denis Villeneuve delivers a visual feast in this epic telling of the first part of Frank Herbert’s beloved sci-fi novel.  But the emotional and philosophical aspects of the tale are given equal attention, and the result is that rare Hollywood blockbuster that satisfies on all fronts.  How often does one get to say that they eagerly look forward to the sequel to a Hollywood blockbuster.
#2 – BELFAST – Too sentimental? Who cares.  It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.  And like Dickens, writer-director Kenneth Branagh shows us both the beauty and terror of his youth in Belfast in this elegiac tale.  The cast is uniformly excellent, from old pros like Judy Dench and Ciaran Hinds to newcomer Jude Hill.
#1 – THE POWER OF THE DOG – I beg you.  Please find a way to see this on the big screen.  Or if you must stream it, put your phone in another room and commit yourself to giving this film the same level of care and attention that director Jane Campion and her cast and crew clearly delivered in bringing this into existence.  This may be Ms. Campion’s finest work yet and coming from the director of AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE, THE PIANO and BRIGHT STAR, that is saying a lot.  I sincerely hope that she does not take off for another 12 years (the span between BRIGHT STAR and THE POWER OF THE DOG) from making feature films, but if that kind of break is needed to produce a movie as perfect and complete as THE POWER OF THE DOG, I will patiently wait.  This film is that good.

Greg Laemmle: “Now is the time to show that arthouse audiences still want to support the theatrical experience.”

by

Michael Ordona’s piece in today’s L.A. Times Calendar section — headlined “Movie theater safety during COVID, the sequel: This time it’s personal” —
and the latest newsletter from the National Association of Theatre Owners got Laemmle Theatres President Greg Laemmle thinking about the state of American arthouse exhibition:

“In addition to #CinemaSafe measures, Laemmle Theatres is providing a one-seat lateral buffer even though this is not required. You never have to share an armrest with someone who isn’t part of your party. And in addition to the distancing benefit, the reduced capacity also likely enhances the ability of the ventilation system to clear the air.

“For those who are vaxxed and boosted, there’s arguably a greater risk to one’s health in driving to the theatre than the likelihood of getting sick from an infection acquired while in the theatre (or other “regular” activity). And that’s not me saying that. See journalist David Leonhardt’s quote in the New York Times daily email for January 25, 2022:

“It’s a remarkable disconnect between perception and reality. A majority of the boosted say they are worried about getting sick from Covid. In truth, riding in a car presents more danger to most of them than the virus does.”

“If people want to wait another week or two to let numbers continue to drop, I can’t argue with that. But with Oscar nominations coming on February 8, and absent a new variant, now is the time to show that arthouse audiences still want to support the theatrical experience. With that show of support, distributors will feel confident that movie theatres are back for all audiences and all types of films. Without that show of support, you can expect a future where going to a movie theatre is just for blockbusters like SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.”

Learn more about Laemmle Theatres’ health and safety measures to combat the pandemic here.

Author and film critic Stephen Farber on Peter Bogdanovich: “Although he was a lover of old Hollywood, he saw the blemishes as well as the triumphs; he was a most clear-eyed observer.”

by

“All film lovers were saddened by the passing of director Peter Bogdanovich last week, but I may have felt it a bit more keenly. Peter joined us for an Anniversary Classics screening of The Last Picture Show in December of 2016 at the Fine Arts Theatre, and he shared incisive memories about the making of the movie and about many of his other encounters with Hollywood legends over the decades. We were all impressed with how well his film held up after 45 years. As many people commented, it didn’t seem dated at all. The evocation of a dying Texas town in the early 1950s remained incisive and poignant.

Peter Bogdanovich & Stephen Farber in 2016. Photo courtesy of Gary Paul Andre.

“That was not my first encounter with Bogdanovich. I first met him when I was a graduate student at UCLA film school in the late 1960s and he taught a class on Howard Hawks, one of his friends and idols. I remember we got into a bit of an argument when I suggested that Hawks’ To Have and Have Not was not quite as original as he claimed but might have owed something to Casablanca, which came out a couple of years earlier and was directed by non-auteur Michael Curtiz. Anyway, Peter cheerfully dismissed my criticisms. Around the same time, I saw his first film, Targets, which impressed me greatly. Its portrayal of a mass shooter was way ahead of its time, and this story was welded skillfully to an inside-Hollywood tale starring the legendary Boris Karloff in one of his last screen performances. After that came The Last Picture Show and two other huge hits, What’s Up, Doc? and Paper Moon. We are hoping to pay tribute to Peter with a 50th Anniversary screening of Doc this year.

“Not all of his later movies were as successful, but he continued working productively, and he also scored successes as an actor and as a film historian. His books of interviews with directors and actors were enormously valuable to all film students and film lovers.

“In the 50 years between that UCLA class and the screening of The Last Picture Show, I encountered Peter on several occasions, and he was always warm and engaging. When I was writing a story about Cher in the 1990s, he shared some incisive memories of directing her in Mask, even though he spoke quite candidly about the tensions between them. Although he was a lover of old Hollywood, he saw the blemishes as well as the triumphs; he was a most clear-eyed observer. Hollywood did not always treat him any better than it treated some of his idols, like his good friend Orson Welles, but he survived to tell the tales, and he never surrendered to bitterness. I feel fortunate to have known him and to have shared a stage with him at that memorable anniversary screening five years ago.”

~ Stephen Farber was president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association from 2012-2016. He is currently a critic for The Hollywood Reporter, a curator of Laemmle’s Anniversary Classics series and co-author of Cinema ’62: The Greatest Year at the Movies.

Oscar shortlists for International and Documentary Feature Films, including “Flee,” “Compartment No. 6,” “A Hero,” “Ascension” and “Faya Dayi.”

by

This week the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced shortlists in 10 categories for next year’s Oscars (the ceremony is March 27), including Documentary Feature and International Feature Film. We have a number of these films in or soon to be in theaters, including the double nominee, animated documentary/drama “Flee;” “Compartment No. 6,” the Finnish romantic drama set on a train travelling above the Arctic Circle; Asghar Farhadi’s latest, “A Hero;” the melancholy Japanese masterpiece “Drive My Car;” and the Norwegian romantic comedy “The Worst Person in the World.” We also have a couple of the shortlisted films available on Laemmle Virtual Cinema, the stunning portrait of Chinese society “Ascension” and Ethiopian-Mexican filmmaker Jessica Beshir’s mesmerising “Faya Dayi.” From the Academy:

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Fifteen films will advance to the next round of voting in the International Feature Film category for the 94th Academy Awards.  Films from 92 countries were eligible in the category.Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:Austria, “Great Freedom”
Belgium, “Playground”
Bhutan, “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom”
Denmark, “Flee”
Finland, “Compartment No. 6”
Germany, “I’m Your Man”
Iceland, “Lamb”
Iran, “A Hero”
Italy, “The Hand of God”
Japan, “Drive My Car”
Kosovo, “Hive”
Mexico, “Prayers for the Stolen”
Norway, “The Worst Person in the World”
Panama, “Plaza Catedral”
Spain, “The Good Boss”

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary Feature category for the 94th Academy Awards.  One hundred thirty-eight films were eligible in the category.  Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

PRESIDENT, Camilla Nielsson‘s Sundance 2021 Award-Winning and Critically-Acclaimed Documentary on the Fight for Democracy in Zimbabwe, Opens Dec. 17 at the Monica Film Center.

by

When dictator Robert Mugabe was removed from power in a military coup, the generals promised they would not seize control for themselves but would ensure democracy in a national election. Against a backdrop of economic crisis, food shortages, and political violence, the stakes could not be higher.

Working to defeat the ruling party, which has controlled Zimbabwe since independence, is the young and charismatic Nelson Chamisa, who draws comparisons to a young Nelson Mandela in expressing the country’s utmost desire to be “governed” and not “ruled.” After decades of a corrupt elite clinging to power using any tool available—legal or not—can a free, fair, and credible election be truly possible?

As the follow-up to her widely acclaimed 2014 documentary DEMOCRATS, Camilla Nielsson brings viewers into the heart of the struggle for power with stunningly close access and unhesitating courage, in a nation closely monitored by the entire world. PRESIDENT is a riveting and epic reminder that, while individuals and their specific ideals may differ, the fight for democracy is never-ending and of profound significance everywhere.

“The way this film confronts the fragility of democracy and the ever-looming possibility of violence hit home for this American viewer in a way that was both harrowing and humbling.” ~ A.O. Scott, New York Times

“Riveting. Nielsson’s galvanizing, epic-scale docu-thriller…rather like Frederick Wiseman, Nielsson has a knack for excavating savage drama from administrative process and politesse…filmed with astonishing in-the-moment access.” ~ Guy Lodge, Variety

“A thrilling, enraging film, and its intimate access…is extraordinary.” ~ Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

DIRECTOR’S NOTES: It was not in the cards for me to make the film PRESIDENT. My previous film DEMOCRATS (2014) had been banned by Zimbabwe’s Censorship Board with the curt assessment ‘Banned and prohibited in Zimbabwe. Not suitable for showing to the public.’ Ironically, the ban was in direct contravention with the country’s new democratic constitution, which DEMOCRATS had followed the making of for more than three years.

Filmmaker Camilla Nielsson

In the process of filming DEMOCRATS, I had met some of Zimbabwe’s finest lawyers. They suggested that the ban should be challenged on the basis that it violated the constitutionally protected freedom of expression, and the public’s right to information. Together we began the legal challenge to have the ban lifted, and without knowing, this process became the starting point for this new film PRESIDENT.

In February 2018, following a three-year legal battle in the Zimbabwean courts, a High Court judge finally ruled that the ban be lifted, and people were free to watch the film in the country where it matters most. It was during a dinner in Harare in celebration of the court ruling that one of the protagonists from the first film suggested to me to make the sequel. President Mugabe had fallen in a military coup just months before, and the democratic space seemed to have opened, and there was a new sense of freedom in the country. With the fall of dictator Robert Mugabe, a new constitutional democracy was on the horizon, and it seemed that now was the time for the people of Zimbabwe to make a push for democracy that would overcome the tragic and unhappy events that were portrayed in the first film.

I won’t spoil the plot here, but I hope that PRESIDENT will make the audiences think about the universal importance of having independent democratic institutions, and proper checks and balances on presidential powers. It is a film about the dire consequences that happens if these democratic principles are not observed and not in place. – Camilla Nielsson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPO9FAlYSaE