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ONLY IN THEATERS Nominated for a Film Threat Award and Now Available in Theaters on DVD.

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Only in Theaters, the documentary about the history and future of Laemmle Theatres and includes interviews with Allison Anders, Cameron Crowe, Ava DuVernay, Nicole Holofcener, James Ivory, Kenneth Turan, Leonard Maltin and more, is now a Film Threat’s Award This! nominee in the Film About Movies or Filmmaking category. The ceremony is December 10th at The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana. “Hollywood often shows us that they can re-make anything, but indie filmmakers continue to show us that there are no limits in cinema,” said Film Threat publisher and Award This! producer Chris Gore. “Award This! and Film Threat are here to champion voices that color outside the lines. Independent cinema rises like a phoenix away from the studio cutting room floor. Join us as we cheer on the rebel artists on December 10th. And it’s always fun to party with a group of amazing and eclectic filmmakers.”

Also notable, the Only in Theaters DVD is now available for sale at all seven of our theaters. In his recent Film Factual review of the release, Brent Simon described the film as “a rich and fortifying watch, and it thankfully isn’t fanciful enough to peddle easy solutions, or clear skies on the horizon. It’s funny and sad and at times emotionally piercing, but most of all it’s honest — a quality we should all want more of in movies, big and small.”

Reviews of the film’s theatrical release include:

“The narrative about the theaters’ present-day fight for survival is undeniably compelling.” ~ Glenn Kenny, New York Times

“A fascinating and poignant look at the Laemmle family.” Claudia Puig, FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)

“Like a knotty, poignant family business saga you might see on one of their screens, the story here is beautiful and complicated, one in which the twin weights of legacy and calling bear down on the need to survive in changing times.” Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

“It’s not a film about how important theatrical exhibition is for filmmakers (though that is nice too). Rather, it’s an intimate portrait of a man burdened by legacy, navigating uncharted waters, not even sure that he wants to.” ~ Katie Walsh, TheWrap
“It’s essential viewing for any film fan and should — yes — be seen on the big screen.” ~ Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

“A genius tragicomedy on the elusive nature of freedom,” THE DELINQUENTS opens October 27.

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The free-flowing, delightful heist film/existential comedy from Argentina The Delinquents, which we open October 27 at the Royal, November 3 at the Claremont and Town Center and November 10 in Glendale, has been compared to a Pedro Almodóvar and Eric Rohmer collaboration. It’s “a consistently playful, gradually beguiling existential dramedy on the multitudinous subject of work and freedom.” (Isaac Feldberg, RogerEbert.com)
  
“Rodrigo Moreno methodically unfurls a genius tragicomedy on the elusive nature of freedom.” ~ Carlos Aguilar, The Playlist
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“A meandering and hilarious delight from end to end.” ~ David Jenkins, Little White Lies

“Rodrigo Moreno’s dreamy and discursive The Delinquents might kick off with one of the most low-key bank robberies anyone has ever attempted, but it’s hard to overstate how thrilling it feels once the thief finally tells us about what he stole.” ~ David Ehrlich, indieWire

Moreno wrote the following about The Delinquents: One issue comes forth naturally when considering this film is the matter of freedom in the face of the mechanical routine imposed by work.

Morán imagines a risky plan to conquer that liberation even when it implies committing a crime and paying his dues. Román is his accessory.

These two men embody a collective fantasy: to break free from the rigors and obligations of the working life in order to attain a higher life filled with freedom.

To choose a better life means leaving the city, your job, even a family, and moving to the countryside, the ocean, the mountains, to give in to leisure, and to stop depending on something or someone. There are both existential and practical matters that make this dream a difficult one: How to make a living? How can I live without all the things I already have? When should I pursue it?

The protagonist solves these questions by virtue of a crime: to rob from a bank (the same bank he´s employed by) the equivalent of his salary times 25 years. It’s not about being millionaires; it’s about living without working all the way to the end.

As is the case in heist movies, the morality of the robbery is not the object, even more so when the target is a bank. I’m invoking the old maxim, always ascribed to Brecht, that it is a worse crime to establish a bank than it is to rob one.

This film, in that sense, takes a more anarchistic viewpoint and does not dwell on these bourgeois matters, but rather contemplates the notion that modern life, as it is intended, obliterates the possibility of a truly free man. It is this tension that Morán’s dream is built upon, that he finally acquires by means of the sacrifice of imprisonment. It is said in a passage of the film that the incarceration of jail for three years and a half is preferable to the incarceration of working for the rest of your life.

CAT PERSON Opens Friday; Director Susanna Fogel in Person for Conversations with Monica Lewinsky & Alex Winter October 12 & 13.

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“Margot met Robert on a Wednesday night toward the end of her fall semester. She was working behind the concession stand at the artsy movie theatre downtown when he came in and bought a large popcorn and a box of Red Vines.”

So begins Kristen Roupenian’s short story Cat Person. When The New Yorker published it in 2017, it struck a nerve with readers and was the first work of short fiction to ever go viral, spurring conversations around the world about the modern dating scene, seduction, and consent. After the film adaptation’s buzzy premiere at Sundance in January, Cat Person is finally where it belongs, at “artsy movie theatre[s],” opening this weekend at the Royal, Town Center and Glendale and October 13 at the Monica Film Center and NoHo. We’re also pleased to host two special screenings at the NoHo with the filmmaker Susanna Fogel in person for conversations with social activist and writer Monica Lewinsky on October 12 and  with actor-writer-director Alex Winter on October 13.

Director Susanna Fogel stated “Like the short story that stirred so much controversy, Cat Person will call upon you to reflect on romantic encounters you’ve had in the past, and to question the role (or multiple roles) you may have played. We’ve all been the victim in some narratives and the villain in others, and I hope you’ll walk out of this film with a strong opinion, ready to debate.”

Susanna Fogel. Credit: Roger Kisby/Getty Images for Disney
Monica Lewinsky. Credit: Greg Gorman
Alex Winter

“A film that’s funny in places, horrifying in others and all but destined to be a reference point in future discussions about courtship.” ~ Peter Debruge, Variety

“The relief…is in the filmmakers’ approach to these tense scenes: Fogel and Ashford loosen their grip, at last trusting us to sit in our discomfort, draw our own conclusions and sharpen our tools for the discourse.” — The Hollywood Reporter

The beautifully acted late-life romance MY SAILOR, MY LOVE opens Friday.

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This Friday we’re pleased to open a touching and charming Irish indie film My Sailor, My Love. It follows Howard (James Cosmo), a widowed sailor living alone on the coast of Ireland and struggling to care for himself. His daughter, Grace (Catherine Walker), hires Annie (Bríd Brennan) to help out around the house. Though Howard initially rejects this imposition, Annie’s charm and gentle care win him over, and the two fall in love. Annie’s large and loving family welcomes Howard into their lives, but these new relationships only serve to illuminate the depth of pain and hurt between Howard and Grace, who is facing challenges of her own. Grace’s resentment tears at Howard and Annie’s otherwise idyllic seaside love story. This windswept drama deftly balances a universal family saga with a tender and timeless romance. We open My Sailor, My Love this Friday at the Town Center, Monica Film Center and Claremont with Saturday and Sunday morning screenings at our Newhall theater.

Critics around the world have been writing about the acting. The film’s director, acclaimed Finnish filmmaker Klaus Härö, said this about his experiences working with the actors:

“The cast has been an immense joy, from the moment the roles were confirmed and when we first went on set. I would often sit very close by to the actors and get to witness what goes into their work, which left me very impressed. Sometimes when I looked around, I could see the emotions brought to surface after a take. Someone might have tears in their eyes, or the crew might burst into applause after a scene. This isn’t very common on a movie set, and it might even seem unprofessional in a way. The atmosphere at the set has been exceptional, and the actors left a very strong imprint on the whole crew.”

“Sharp writing, subtle acting, and a winning Irish setting. My Sailor, My Love will play to any nation where humans struggle to make themselves understood.” – Donald Clarke, The Irish Times

“A quiet yet profoundly powerful feature, aching in emotional sophistication and depth. Cosmo and Brennan are divine.” – Andrew Murray, The Upcoming

“A lovely indie. Klaus Härö’s gentle and special family drama has much more at play than rote tear-jerking. Magnificently shot and acted. Sailor is filled with sage wisdom and vulnerable people struggling to do the best that they can even when they are at their worst.” – Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

“Prepare to be moved.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Hammer to Nail

“There is so much more to who we are! Our music, our food, our passion, our ‘over-the-top’ generosity, our love for life.” Filmmaker Michael Goorjian on his Armenian-American comedy-drama AMERIKATSI, opening Friday at the Royal and Town Center.

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The new comedy-drama Amerikatsi is set in 1948, when an Armenian-American repatriates to Armenia only to end up in a Soviet prison. He discovers he can see into a nearby apartment from the confinement of his cell window, and through that man’s lively home life he discovers the rich culture of his native Armenia hidden behind the Iron Curtain. Veteran film critic Thelma Adams described the film as “a stirring labor of love that witnesses the darkness of the past, and seeks out the light.”

From Armenia-American Filmmaker Michael Goorjian: Films about Armenia have mostly focused on the Genocide, which is crucial. But as a people, there is so much more to who we are! Our music, our food, our passion, our “over-the-top” generosity, our love for life. Amerikatsi celebrates and shares this side of Armenia with the world, a side which since my boyhood, I have longed to know and reconnect with.  

 

In many ways, the main character Charlie’s dream of returning to his homeland reflects the dream of not only the Armenian Diaspora, but hundreds of millions of people throughout the world who long to connect to their native land. For many, especially in America, we feel that far-away-land pulsing in our blood, calling for us to return. But, like Charlie, the reality of our ancestral homeland doesn’t always turn out to be what we imagined it would be. The connection we long for is always just out of reach, as if residing on the other side of a prison wall.

To learn more, here’s an interview with Mr. Goorjian that MovieWeb just published headlined “Exclusive: Amerikatsi Filmmaker Michael Goorjian on His Armenian Passion Project.”

Exclusive clip: THE STORMS OF JEREMY THOMAS opens September 29 at the Royal and Town Center.

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On Friday, September 29 at the Royal and Town Center, we’ll be thrilled to open The Storms of Jeremy Thomas, a documentary which is a dream pairing of sorts: the Irish director Mark Cousins, whose brilliance lies in making movies about films and filmmakers (The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011) and The Story of Film: New Generation (2021), joined legendary English producer Jeremy Thomas on his annual five-day road trip from England, through rural France to Cannes. Thomas’ filmography is breathtaking in its variety, scope and roster of superstar collaborators. (Hard to top Brando, Bowie and Bertolucci.) Highlights include The Last Emperor (1987), Naked Lunch (1991), David Cronenberg’s Crash (1996), and The Dreamers (2003).

In his Guardian review of Storms, critic Peter Bradshaw wrote “I find myself considering that in a world where everyone’s a cynic and an ironist, Cousins’ unaffected rapture is unique and refreshing…[this is] “hardcore, movie-mad immersion.”

At TheWrap, Jason Solomons wrote “The Storms of Jeremy Thomas provides a colorful and entertaining canvas for some beautiful and beautifully set-up movie clips — you want to rush out and watch all of them again.”

Mr. Thomas will participate in a Q&A at the Royal after the Thursday, September 28 sneak screening of The Storms of Jeremy Thomas. Writer-director Richard Shepard moderate.

You can get a taste for Storms in this exclusive clip, wherein Thomas discusses the importance of resisting monoculture and then gets into Walt Disney’s contradictions.

Laemmle Theatres joining the second National Cinema Day, bringing America’s day at the movies to L.A. this Sunday, August 27.

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Laemmle Theatres is excited to partner with the Cinema Foundation to celebrate the second annual National Cinema Day this Sunday, August 27th.

All seven Laemmle venues will be participating in the one-day event, which celebrates the power of movies to bring us all together, and discounted admissions for all movies in all formats (including Premium Large Format screens) will be no more than $4. What’s more, we’re discounting our fresh popcorn: $2 small, $4 medium and $6 large.

To celebrate the day, choose from any of our movies, including new films opening this weekend like Golda, The Owners, Love Life, Bella! This Woman’s Place is in the House, Mutt, or King Coal. Or catch a newly restored modern classic like Oldboy. Haven’t yet seen box office phenomena Barbie or Oppenheimer? Now you can see them as they were meant to be seen, on a big screen, and for cheap!

For more details, visit NationalCinemaDay.org. Join friends, families, and communities of moviegoers at a Laemmle theater near you.

The intimate, moving documentary love story THE ETERNAL MEMORY, a Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, opens August 18 at the Royal and Town Center.

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The new Chilean documentary The Eternal Memory [La memoria infinita] follows Augusto and Paulina, who have been together and in love for 25 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and his wife has since become his caretaker. As one of Chile’s most prominent cultural commentators and television presenters, Augusto is no stranger to building an archive of memory, having been responsible for that Herculean task following the Pinochet dictatorship and its systematic erasure of collective consciousness. Now he turns that work to his own life, trying to hold on to his identity with the help of his beloved. Day by day, the couple face this challenge head-on, adapting to the disruptions brought on by the taxing disease while relying on the tender affection and sense of humor shared between them that remains intact. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for international documentary at Sundance and the Panorama Audience Award for documentary film at the Berlin Film Festival, we open The Eternal Memory next Friday, August 18 at the Royal and Town Center.

“Get tissues ready to witness one of the most selfless and patient forms of love that graced our screens, shared and magnified through pockets of joy that Alberdi’s camera celebrates with a generous side of empathy and sense of humor.” ~ Tomris Laffly, Harper’s Bazaar

“A portrait that’s powerfully emotional and warmly romantic…Alberdi makes her directorial hand virtually invisible, observing her subjects from a discreet distance that allows them to be narrators of their own story while never speaking directly to the camera.” ~ David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter