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“You will not want to be anywhere else.” Iranian comic drama ‘Hit the Road’ delights, opens Friday at the Royal & Town Center, May 13 at the Claremont.

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Panah Panahi, son and collaborator of embattled Iranian master Jafar Panahi, makes a striking feature debut with this charming, sharp-witted, and deeply moving comic drama. Hit the Road takes the tradition of the Iranian road-trip movie and adds unexpected twists and turns. It follows a family of four – two middle-aged parents and their sons, one a taciturn adult, the other an ebullient six-year-old – as they drive across the Iranian countryside. Over the course of the trip, they bond over memories of the past, grapple with fears of the unknown, and fuss over their sick dog. Unspoken tensions arise and the film builds emotional momentum as it slowly reveals the furtive purpose for their journey. The result is a humanist drama that offers an authentic, raw, and deeply sincere observation of an Iranian family preparing to part with one of their own.

Winner of Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival and an Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival (Directors’ Fortnight), New York Film Festival, and AFI Fest, Hit the Road began earning accolades the minute it premiered last year:

“Critic’s Pick! From the first jokey moments of Hit the Road until its heartbreaking end you will not want to be anywhere else.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times

"You will not want to be anywhere else." Iranian comic drama 'Hit the Road' delights, opens Friday at the Royal & Town Center, May 13 at the Claremont.

“A love story, a tragicomedy, and a triumph. Panahi films the drama with aesthetic audacity to match his psychological subtlety… unites intimate conflicts and vast landscapes in framings as wry as they are rhapsodic.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker

"You will not want to be anywhere else." Iranian comic drama 'Hit the Road' delights, opens Friday at the Royal & Town Center, May 13 at the Claremont.

“Sharp and endearing. A warm and realistic comedy, with flashes of the fantastic. Introduces an exciting filmmaker whose journey is just beginning.” — Jacob Oller, Paste

"You will not want to be anywhere else." Iranian comic drama 'Hit the Road' delights, opens Friday at the Royal & Town Center, May 13 at the Claremont.

 “A stunningly assured road movie.“ – Leigh Singer, Sight & Sound

"You will not want to be anywhere else." Iranian comic drama 'Hit the Road' delights, opens Friday at the Royal & Town Center, May 13 at the Claremont.

“A worthy descendant—both stylistic and biological—of Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi, Hit the Road maps its own journey: playful, bittersweet and wholly surprising.“ – Dylan Kai Dempsey, Ioncinema

"You will not want to be anywhere else." Iranian comic drama 'Hit the Road' delights, opens Friday at the Royal & Town Center, May 13 at the Claremont.

“An intimate, frequently funny, poignant and deeply moving piece of work… damned near to being a masterpiece – if it isn’t simply one already.” – John Bleasdale, Cinevue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdgWGUX4b5M

Bring a Friend Back to the Movies ~ THE DUKE, starring Jim Broadbent & Helen Mirren.

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Laemmle Theatres and Sony Pictures Classics invite you to Bring a Friend Back To The Movies. Starting this Friday at the Playhouse and Town Center, and May 6 at the Claremont, Monica Film Center and Newhall, buy one ticket to the acclaimed dramatic comedy THE DUKE and one friend — or spouse, sibling, parent, child, etc. — may see the movie with you for free. This offer is only good at the theater box offices, not online, and runs through Thursday, May 12 only.

Bring a Friend Back to the Movies ~ THE DUKE, starring Jim Broadbent & Helen Mirren.

We want to bring audiences back to theaters and remind them that nothing beats seeing a film on a big screen with a friend and the crowd pleaser THE DUKE, which premiered at the Venice and Telluride Film Festivals in 2021 and is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 95%, is the perfect movie for the purpose. “THE DUKE is a wonderfully warm and funny film,” said Greg Laemmle, “and seeing it in a theatre is the best way to enjoy it. Together with the filmmakers and the distributor, Laemmle Theatres is supporting the Bring a Friend Back program as a great way to remind audiences of the unique pleasure of seeing a movie in a public setting.”

Bring a Friend Back to the Movies ~ THE DUKE, starring Jim Broadbent & Helen Mirren.

In acclaimed director Roger Michell’s (Notting Hill, My Cousin Rachel, Blackbird) final feature film before his passing in 2021, THE DUKE is the first film to tell the extraordinary true story of 60-year-old taxi driver Kempton Bunton (Broadbent), who was accused of stealing Francisco Goya’s portrait of The Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London; it is the only painting ever stolen from the National Gallery in its 196-year history. The L.A. Times recently published a fascinating piece on the backstory, featuring interviews with the Bunton’s grandson as well as Mirren and Broadbent.

Bring a Friend Back to the Movies ~ THE DUKE, starring Jim Broadbent & Helen Mirren.

THE DUKE stars Academy Award® winners Broadbent (Iris, Another Year) and Mirren (The Queen, The Last Station), with a screenplay by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman. We open the film this Friday at the Playhouse and Town Center and May 6 at the Claremont, Newhall and Monica Film Center. The Bring a Friend Back program is good through Thursday, May 12, only for THE DUKE, and only for in-person ticket purchases.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrmwbkq780E

Virtual Q&A with the CHARLOTTE filmmakers this Sunday, April 24.

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CHARLOTTE co-directors Tahir Rana and Éric Warin, screenwriter David Bezmozgis and producer Julia Rosenberg will participate in a virtual Q&A on Sunday, April 24. Johanna Schneller of the Globe & Mail will moderate. Click here or scan the QR code below to register.

Virtual Q&A with the CHARLOTTE filmmakers this Sunday, April 24.

‘Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen,’ the engrossing behind-the-scenes story of one of our finest movie musicals, opens May 6.

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The fall of 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof, the film Pauline Kael called “the most powerful movie musical ever made.” Narrated by Jeff Goldblum, Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen captures the humor and drama of director Norman Jewison’s quest to recreate the lost world of Jewish life in Tsarist Russia and re-envision the beloved stage hit as a wide-screen epic. We have an advance screening of Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen May 5 at the Royal followed by week-long engagements at the Royal, Playhouse and Town Center beginning May 6.

For a taste of the film, here’s a clip in which composer John Williams and Jewison discuss enlisting the brilliant violinist Isaac Stern to provide the title character’s music.

We are planning a series of Q&As at the Royal: Thursday, May 5th – evening show for LAJFF – Q&A with Daniel Raim (director), moderated by Hilary Helstein (LAJFF); Fri. May 6 – 7:30pm – Q&A with Daniel Raim (director), Sasha Berman (producer), and Michael Sragow (co-writer, co-producer); Sat. May 7th – 7:30pm – Moderated by film critic Kenneth Turan, Q&A with Daniel Raim (director), Sasha Berman (producer), and Michael Sragow (co-writer, co-producer); Wed. May 11 at 7:30pm – Q&A with Michael Sragow (co-writer, co-producer).

'Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen,' the engrossing behind-the-scenes story of one of our finest movie musicals, opens May 6.
Director Norman Jewison (pointing) and star Tevye (holding hat) on the set of The Fiddler on the Roof. As seen in Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen. A film by Daniel Raim. A Zeitgeist Films release in association with Kino Lorber.

Finally, here’s an excerpt from a rave review Raquel Stecher recently posted on her site Out of the Past:

“Director Daniel Raim continues his quest to champion the art of filmmaking with his latest documentary Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen (2022). Narrated by Jeff Goldblum, this documentary takes a deep dive into the making of Fiddler on the Roof (1971), director Norman Jewison’s personal and professional journey and all of the key players who came to together to make one of the greatest musical films of all time.

'Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen,' the engrossing behind-the-scenes story of one of our finest movie musicals, opens May 6.
Director Norman Jewison (right) and star Tevye on the set of The Fiddler on the Roof. As seen in Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen. A film by Daniel Raim. A Zeitgeist Films release in association with Kino Lorber.

“Fiddler on the Roof was the brainchild of composer Jerry Bock, lyricist Sheldon Harnick and writer Joseph Stein. The inspiration came from a selection of short stories by Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem called Teyve and his Daughters as well as artist Marc Chagall’s 1912 painting The Fiddler. The play opened on Broadway in 1964 and there was some concern that the story would only appeal to a small Jewish audience. However, Fiddler’s tale of a Jewish dairy farmer who attempts to marry off his five daughters in pre-revolutionary Russia, is a story of family, tradition and the inevitability of change. This gave the story a universal appeal and along with the excellent story and top-notch musical numbers, Fiddler was an international success. And naturally it was destined to become a film.

'Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen,' the engrossing behind-the-scenes story of one of our finest movie musicals, opens May 6.
Filming The Fiddler on the Roof. As seen in Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen. A film by Daniel Raim. A Zeitgeist Films release in association with Kino Lorber.

“Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen explores the history behind the Broadway show, how Norman Jewison came to be involved, the casting, musical direction, art direction, location scouting, choreography, cinematography and many other elements that came to make the film as well as Fiddler‘s legacy. There is so much here to take in but it never feels overwhelming.

“The documentary includes interviews with director Norman Jewison, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, musical director John Williams, actresses Rosalind Harris (Tzeitel), Michele Marsh (Hodel) and Neva Small (Chava) and film critic Kenneth Turan. There are also archival interviews of Jewison back in 2000 as well as actor Topol and art director Robert F. Boyle. The interviews add so much to this documentary. There is nothing quite like firsthand accounts of an important moment in film history. And much like Daniel Raim’s other documentaries, there are illustrations from artist Patrick Mate as well as plenty of archival footage and behind-the-scenes photographs. The documentary is also is chock full of interesting facts even beyond just the making of Fiddler on the Roof. Watching it felt like I was getting two documentaries for the price of one: the making of a film and the biography of its director.”

Read the rest of Ms. Stecher’s review here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D19flnSG79Q

“If you want movie studios to make movies that are good, interesting and original, you need to go see them.” Washington Post on ‘Everything Everywhere,’ ‘Massive Talent’ and ‘The Northman.’

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Washington Post columnist Sonny Bunch recently published a compelling piece headlined “If you want original movies to survive, get to a theater this April” about returning to movie theatres.  Laemmle Theatres has been open for just over a year at this point. If you aren’t going to the movies as frequently as you did before the pandemic, you are contributing to trends in distribution that may be irreversible. Bunch’s piece speaks to this better than we can, which is why we’re sharing it. We understand that we have all been through a very traumatic time. It has been tragic and frightening. But we aren’t where we were when the pandemic started. We have effective vaccines and booster shots and plentiful masks that provide an amazing level (granted, not 100%) of protection. Test & Treat is rolling out so that you can get access for treatments that will minimize illness. And theatres are set up with better ventilation systems to more effectively circulate and filter air inside auditoriums.  You can safely return to moviegoing.  So, nu?

From the Post: “Are you sick of comic book movies and other franchises? This month, you actually have a chance to do something about it. A trio of big, original new releases comes to theaters this month. Go see one — or all of them. If these movies fail, our theatrical future will be nothing but the disappointing Morbius and its ilk. And movie lovers who have defaulted to home entertainment even after coronavirus vaccines, rapid tests and high-quality masks have become widely available will have only themselves to blame.

“Going wide this Friday is Everything Everywhere All at Once, the heart-rending and mind-bending new picture from the directorial duo Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels. The writer-director duo, aided by stars Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis, have concocted a masterpiece that manages the tricky balance of feeling sui generis and yet familiar. Here we have a movie about a mother (Yeoh) trying to connect emotionally with her daughter (Hsu) and stave off divorce from her husband (Quan) while saving her business from the taxwoman (Curtis) — this is the familiar — all while careening through the multiverse in an effort to ward off a villain filled with nihilistic, creation-destroying malaise who leads a cult that worships an evil everything bagel.

"If you want movie studios to make movies that are good, interesting and original, you need to go see them." Washington Post on 'Everything Everywhere,' 'Massive Talent' and 'The Northman.'

“Everything Everywhere is an earnest — some cynics will suggest saccharine — movie about families, about the difficulty of watching your kids grow up and change into something you’re not, about the love needed to keep generations together. That earnestness is leavened by what can only be described as a supreme, gut-busting silliness, including, among other wild visuals, people who have hot dogs for fingers and a raccoon puppeteering a Benihana-type chef in the style of Ratatouille.

Laemmle Oscar Contest, plus Kevin Costner’s Best Director Oscar Presentation.

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Welp, that’s a wrap for the 2022 Oscars and our contest. Laemmle moviegoers were able to foresee the Academy’s choices very accurately with two exceptions: they went for the more conventional Best Picture nominee with CODA over The Power of the Dog and the artier choice with Best Animated Short nominee Windshield Wiper over the family-friendly Robin Robin. The Power of the Dog was in a tight race for Best Adapted Screenplay with eventual winner CODA. Best Original Screenplay split somewhat evenly between Paul Thomas Anderson for Licorice Pizza and eventual winner Kenneth Branagh for Belfast.

See the full results in cool pie charts at laemmle.com/oscars. We’ll announce our winners on this page on Thursday, March 31.

The sad, shocking incident during the ceremony overshadowed everything but one thing worth taking a second look at is Kevin Costner‘s presentation of the Best Director Oscar. It was probably the best presentation of the evening. He has won the award himself, of course, 30 years ago for Dances with Wolves. He spoke movingly and deliberately about the experience of seeing movies in theaters and how seeing How the West was Won at the Cinerama Dome inspired him to become an actor and filmmaker. The in-person audience giggles at first, but by the end you could hear a pin drop. Here’s a transcription and video:

You know, about a half-mile from here, I saw my first full-length adult movie. I know what you’re thinking, but I was seven years old and I was away from my parents and wanted to have some fun. It was a cowboy movie called How the West Was Won. And what I witnessed that afternoon in the Cinerama Dome was perfect. The curtain, when we still had them, opened to a film almost four hours long. It had an intermission where the score continued, subtly signaling at one point that the second half was about to start. I don’t know where everyone went, but I wasn’t going to move an inch. I decided that I would not give up my magic seat. I was determined that I would not miss a minute. And as I sat in that dark that afternoon 60 years ago, all I really knew was that I was in careful hands. Little did I know that three directors would be responsible for that epic moment in my life. They fired my imagination, and they captured my heart. That’s what can happen when you direct a movie. You can change a mind. You can change the trajectory of a life, of a career. You can capture a heart. But you can’t do it alone. And directors, tonight’s directors all know the possibilities. They know what’s at stake. It’s why they give their precious time. It’s why they choose to fight through the long days, and the longer nights, and the endless questions, and the inevitable second guessing that comes from those who would do it differently if given half a chance. These five directors have all managed to stay the course. They have all held the line and masterfully given us the gift of a single vision, and for that we honor them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y52t3CVKeyc&t=167s

“So powerful…the movie detonates before our eyes.” Palme d’Or nominee AHED’S KNEE opens April 1.

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We are opening the Israeli film AHED’S KNEE April 1 at the Glendale, Royal and Town Center and it’s a scorcher. As critic Guy Lodge put it, “Nadav Lapid does not make polite films: they spit and snarl and get way up in your face, brashly and constantly switching tack to disrupt your viewing pleasure, even if that means interrupting their own train of thought.”
A film of radical style and splenetic anger, AHED’S KNEE accompanies a celebrated but increasingly dissociated director (Avshalom Pollak) to a small town in the desert region of Arava for a screening of his latest film. Already anguished by the news of his mother’s fatal illness, he grows frustrated with a speech-restricting form he is encouraged to sign by a local Ministry of Culture worker (Nur Fibak). The confrontation ultimately sends him into a spiral of rage aimed at what he perceives as the censorship, hypocrisy, and violence of the Israeli government.

"So powerful...the movie detonates before our eyes." Palme d'Or nominee AHED'S KNEE opens April 1.

“Cuts to the heart of Lapid’s visceral genius and…points a new path forward for one of the world’s most irrepressible filmmakers.” ~ David Ehrlich, Indiewire

"So powerful...the movie detonates before our eyes." Palme d'Or nominee AHED'S KNEE opens April 1.

“What makes AHED’S KNEE so powerful is the way the movie detonates before our eyes.” ~ Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture

"So powerful...the movie detonates before our eyes." Palme d'Or nominee AHED'S KNEE opens April 1.

“Political outrage fuses with personal anguish in the Israeli director Nadav Lapid’s raucous, hard-edged dramatic rant about a filmmaker in crisis.” ~ Richard Brody, New Yorker

 

"So powerful...the movie detonates before our eyes." Palme d'Or nominee AHED'S KNEE opens April 1.

“It’s a howl of rage.” ~ A.O. Scott, New York Times

"So powerful...the movie detonates before our eyes." Palme d'Or nominee AHED'S KNEE opens April 1.

“AHED’S KNEE is a radical film for an Israeli movie – or for any movie.” ~ Jason Solomons, TheWrap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6lnWirRxhQ

Exclusive clip from the upcoming French comedy THE ROSE MAKER.

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On April 1 we’ll open THE ROSE MAKER at the Claremont, Playhouse, Royal and Town Center. Catherine Frot stars as one of France’s greatest artisanal horticulturalists, whose rose business is on the brink of bankruptcy. When her secretary hires three inexperienced ex-convicts, they must team up to rescue the business in this verdant comedy. Enjoy this clip for a whiff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbAxOiZ-Irs