ART IN THE ARTHOUSE presents: PAUL GRONNER: LOST IN THE HOODOS in Pasadena

February 7, 2018 by Lamb Laemmle Leave a Comment

ART IN THE ARTHOUSE invites you to view our newest exhibit in Pasadena, photographer PAUL GRONNER: LOST IN THE HOODOS. All works are for sale and on display till April, 2018.

About the exhibit
Where could a more perfect place be to lose oneself than amongst the Hoodos, the stunning spire-shaped rocks that blanket Southern Utah? In this photographic exhibition by PAUL GRONNER, the arresting Hoodos of Bryce Canyon National Park is just one of the locales showcased by the artist.His majestic suite of landscapes have been arranged in a keen, painterly fashion. Each work is well-sighted and ever-present.

With an uncanny ability to sally forth into regions at once wild and otherworldly, Gronner gets lost in the raw intaglios of the earth, finding serenity in the unknown. His work summonsrare beauty, shrinks us down and raises us up, while standing in sheer awe of nature’s impeccable design. A native of Minnesota, Gronner is an avowed national parks lover who makes frequent pilgrimages to places like the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and Arches National Park for reflection and shooting.

Southeast Asia has also served as inspiration, particularly Angkor Wat, the temples and ruins of Cambodia, and the jungles of Thailand and the Phillipines. Gronner began shooting quite early in life, at first with a Kodak Disc Camera,then a Pentax K1000 35mm. He studied at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. Gronner’s sister, journalist C.J. GRONNER is a frequent collaborator. Their work has resulted in classic images of global music icons such as Björk, Tom Morello, Nine Inch Nails, Incubus, and Damian Marley in both still and video formats.
– Joshua Elias, CURATOR

Laemmle’s Umpteenth Annual Oscar Contest, 2018 Edition!

February 5, 2018 by Lamb Laemmle 2 Comments

It’s time for our annual Predict the Oscars Contest! The person who most accurately predicts the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s choices in all 24 categories, from the shorts to Best Motion Picture, will win fabulous prizes (free movies and concessions at Laemmle)!

First place wins a Laemmle Premiere Card worth $150. Second place wins a Laemmle Premiere Card worth $100. Third place wins a Laemmle Premiere Card worth $50. Entries are due by 10AM the morning of the awards ceremony on March 4th

Not sure what a Laemmle Premiere Card is? Think of it like a prepaid gift card for yourself! Use it to pay for movie tickets and concessions. Plus, Premiere Card holders receive $3 off movie tickets and 20% off concessions. To find out more, visit www.laemmle.com/premiere-cards.

We’ve got some smart cookies for customers so we have a tie-breaker question: you also have to guess the show’s running time. Take the tie-breaker seriously! In 2016, the running time question broke a tie between five entrants who correctly predicted 19 out of 24 categories!

We’ll announce the winners right here on our blog by March 5th. Good luck!

Click Here to Enter

TCM Big Screen Classics Series Starts January 14th in Encino, Claremont, Pasadena, and Beverly Hills

January 10, 2018 by Lamb Laemmle 1 Comment

Six decades of Hollywood hits come to select Laemmle Theatres in Encino, Claremont, Pasadena, and Beverly Hills as Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies present stars like Humphrey Bogart, Bing Crosby, James Dean, Tom Hanks, Katharine Hepburn, Kim Novak, James Stewart, Gloria Swanson, John Travolta, Gene Wilder, Bruce Willis, Natalie Wood – and dozens more – in the yearlong “TCM Big Screen Classics” series.

“TCM Big Screen Classics” series will present 13 unforgettable films spanning the 1930s to the 1990s, each accompanied by insightful, specially produced commentary from favorite TCM hosts. It starts Sunday, January 14 at 7pm with THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE with an encore screening Tuesday, January 16th at 2pm.

The 2018 “TCM Big Screen Classics” series includes:

1/14 + 1/16: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Many critics consider The Treasure of the Sierra Madre to be director John Huston’s finest cinematic offering, a gritty depiction of the cancerous effects of gold lust upon a man’s soul. From the direction of Huston, to the performances of Humphrey Bogart and Huston’s father, Walter, to the stellar camera work of Ted McCord, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre achieves an uncompromising look into the dark side of human nature. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre celebrates its 70th anniversary by leading the 2018 “TCM Big Screen Classics” series. This 70th Anniversary event includes exclusive insight from TCM host Ben Mankiewicz. Tickets.

2/18 + 2/21: The Philadelphia Story
In one of her most famous roles, Katharine Hepburn plays Tracy Lord, the daughter of a well-to-do Pennsylvania family in The Philadelphia Story. The young socialite is about to embark on a second marriage and the lucky groom is George Kittredge (John Howard), a comparatively staid but extremely wealthy gentleman. Her first husband was C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), who is certainly more colorful than Kittredge, if slightly less responsible. When Dexter makes an unexpected appearance at the Lords’ home on the eve of Tracy’s wedding, it is not so much to wish her well as to shield her from the prying eyes of an overly ambitious reporter (James Stewart) assigned to cover the nuptials. Includes exclusive insight from TCM host Ben Mankiewicz. Tickets.

3/18 + 3/21: Vertigo
Dreamy, suspenseful and hypnotic – not to mention enormously influential – Alfred Hitchcock’s San Francisco-set thriller is a unique blend of ghost story, mystery and romance. James Stewart stars as John “Scottie” Ferguson, a detective with a crippling fear of heights who is hired to trail, but falls in love with, the mysterious Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak). When he witnesses Madeleine fall to her death, Scottie is despondent … until his paths cross with Judy Barton, a woman who seems eerily familiar. With a haunting score by Bernard Herrmann, Vertigo is a cinematic milestone that has lost none of its ability to captivate audiences, even as it celebrates its 60th anniversary. Tickets.

4/8 + 4/11: Grease
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John star in the beloved classic featuring an explosion of song and dance that made an indelible impact on popular culture. Boasting a world-famous soundtrack including “Greased Lightnin’,” “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee,” “Summer Nights,” “Hopelessly Devoted To You,” and “Beauty School Drop Out,” the film remains an iconic, feel-good celebration that’s perfect to watch with friends or for an unforgettable date night. Tickets.

5/13 + 5/16: Sunset Boulevard
Director Billy Wilder’s cinematic masterpiece Sunset Boulevard captures the often disturbing reality behind Hollywood’s illusions with stellar performances by Gloria Swanson and William Holden. The film was nominated for 11 Oscars, including Best Picture, and won three for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Original Music Score and Best Story and Screenplay. Tickets.

6/3 + 6/6: The Producers
“Bialystock and Bloom! Bialystock and Bloom!” Writer-director Mel Brooks delivered one of the most uproarious comedies ever made with The Producers – one that almost didn’t see the light of day as the original distributor felt it was “in bad taste.” Fifty years later, The Producers not only proved to be an Oscar® winner (Best Original Screenplay) but cemented the status of Gene Wilder (Oscar® nominated for his role) as a comedy legend and inspired one of the most popular musicals in Broadway history. Newly restored by Studiocanal for its 50th Anniversary, the film stars Zero Mostel, Kenneth Mars and Dick Shawn. Tickets.

7/15 + 7/18: Big
It’s been 30 years since Josh Baskin (played by Tom Hanks and David Moscow) first met the mechanized carnival genie Zoltar and uttered: “I wish I were big” – and his ensuing adventure turned the already-popular Hanks into a mega-star. Directed by Penny Marshall, Big became a box-office sensation as audiences fell in love with the exploits of 12-year-old Josh becoming a 30-year-old man overnight. Voted by the American Film Institute as one of the 10 best fantasies in American movie history, Big is a delight for all movie lovers – big and small. Tickets.

8/5 + 8/8: The Big Lebowski
Part absurdist comedy, part noir crime drama, and utterly Coen, The Big Lebowski has continued to grow in both popularity and reputation since its first release in 1998. Loosely inspired by the writings of Raymond Chandler, The Big Lebowski is almost impossible to define — except as a modern classic. So much so, that in 2014 the Library of Congress named The Big Lebowski to the esteemed National Film Registry, citing its “tale of kidnapping, mistaken identity and bowling.” With Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi and David Huddleston, it’s a singular achievement from the singular filmmaking team of Joel and Ethan Coen. Tickets.

8/26 + 8/29: South Pacific
It’s some enchanted evening for movie fans as director Joshua Logan’s widescreen, color-soaked adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic musical makes a rare cinematic return in honor of its 60th anniversary. Filled with impossibly lush scenery – shot both in Kauai and on the island of Ibiza – and memorable performances by Mitzi Gaynor, Rossano Brazzi, Ray Walston and Juanita Hall, the Oscar®-winning South Pacific was a box-office smash upon release. Its soundtrack, which also set records, includes such unforgettable songs as “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair,” “Some Enchanted Evening” and “Bali Ha’i.” Tickets.

9/23 + 9/26: Rebel Without a Cause
One of James Dean’s three major starring roles, Rebel Without a Cause turned an actor into a Hollywood legend when it was released less than a month after Dean’s untimely death. On its own, though, the film set off cultural shock waves as teenagers flocked to see one of the first realistic portrayals of youth Hollywood had attempted. Director Nicholas Ray catches lightning in a bottle not just with Dean’s performance, but with perfectly cast Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo as equally troubled youths and a revelatory performance by Jim Backus as Dean’s ineffectual father. Rebel Without a Cause remains as riveting as the day it was released. Tickets.

10/14 + 10/17: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Appointed on a whim to serve a vacant seat on the U.S. Senate, Boy Rangers leader Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) moves to Washington filled with enthusiasm – which quickly turns to disbelief bordering on cynicism when he sees how the nation’s political system actually works. This classic, directed by Frank Capra, with story by Lewis R. Roster and screenplay by Sidney Buchman, was a milestone of Hollywood’s “golden year” of 1939. It quickly became a lightning rod of controversy among real politicians, and a perennial favorite among moviegoers. Whether they’ve seen it a dozen times or it’s brand-new to them, audiences rally behind Jeff Smith, proving that the power of an individual to change the way of the world is an optimistic American ideal. Tickets.

11/11 + 11/14: Die Hard
Yippee-ki-yay … John McClane is back in the iconic action-thriller. In his first major movie role, Bruce Willis is a sly, sardonic combination of action-hero and wisecracker who has to single-handedly protect L.A.’s fictional Nakatomi Plaza from a team of terrorists led by the suave Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman, also making his big-screen debut). Inside the 35-story high-rise, McClane can use little more than his wits to save the day. Under the assured direction of John McTiernan (The Hunt for Red October, Predator), Die Hard became a game-changing action film that remains the gold standard three decades later. Tickets.

12/9 + 12/12: White Christmas
One of the best-loved, most quintessentially American of all holiday classics, White Christmas will charm longtime fans and young audiences alike with its blend of timeless music and big-hearted emotion. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen star in the delightful musical directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), which features unforgettable songs by the legendary Irving Berlin. The 2018 “TCM Big Screen Classics” series wraps up by celebrating the season with a rare cinematic presentation of this holiday favorite that moviegoers of all ages can enjoy together. Tickets.

ART IN THE ARTHOUSE presents: BENNY FERDMAN: COOK-UP A SOUP AND OTHER TALES in Encino January 28

January 8, 2018 by Lamb Laemmle 1 Comment

ART IN THE ARTHOUSE proudly presents COOK UP A SOUP AND OTHER TALES, featuring the works of visual artist and educator BENNY FERDMAN. Laemmle Theatres invites the community to join Ferdman for an artist talk, slide show on the big screen and refreshments on January 28, 11 am at Laemmle’s Town Center 5. Most artwork is for sale at this free exhibit, which runs through May 2018.

About the Exhibit:
As a collector of materials and stories from human, natural and cultural landscapes, BENNY FERDMAN’s artwork juxtaposes and reinterprets these images and tales to reclaim wonder in everyday life. Cook-Up a Soup And Other Tales is a collection of Ferdman’s adventurous reclamation and reworking of Jewish iconography, folk motifs and works drawn from diverse narratives and East European Jewish culture, that once expressed itself in Yiddish. Raised in Los Angeles by Polish-Jewish immigrants, Yiddish was Ferdman’s first language. He has lived, studied and worked in Boston, New York, New Mexico, France, California and Israel.

As a visual artist and educator, Ferdman’s art has brought him art residencies, commissions of large scale sculptures, museum exhibitions and installations, redesigns of synagogues, design and fabrication of stage sets, and the distribution of arts-based curricula throughout North America and Israel. “Opkochen a Zup!” is about the big soup or as Ferdman says, “the soup of life into which we’ve all been tossed-and-rolled around on boiling waves, sometimes grabbing hold of a bleeding beet, riding on the back of a big bean, caressing a carrot, or poked in the eye by a prankster parsnip. In this very crowded pot, we meet and gather and then scatter, as the pot gets stirred and spilled into a bowl and consumed with a satisfying slurp!”

– Fern Wallach, Curator

ART IN THE ARTHOUSE delivers a unique, alternative art-viewing experience. At Laemmle venues around town, we give our patrons opportunities to bond with notable and emerging visual artists. We focus on local talent and the robust L.A. arts scene, and apply high curatorial standards to exhibits lasting three to four months. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Laemmle Foundation which supports a variety of environmental and humanitarian non-profits doing inspired, essential work in our community.

Artist Reception:
Encino Town Center
Sunday, January 28 11-1pm
RSVP here
This is a Free Event

Refreshments will be provided

55th Anniversary Screening of Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ on January 17th in Pasadena, Encino, and West LA

January 3, 2018 by Lamb Laemmle 1 Comment

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series launch our Anniversary Classics Abroad program for 2018 with one of the most influential and highly acclaimed of all foreign films: Federico Fellini’s autobiographical masterpiece, 8 ½.

8 ½ screens Wednesday, January 17 at 7pm in Encino, Pasadena, and West LA. Click here for tickets.

Fellini had already won two Oscars in the 1950s, and in 1963, 8 ½ scored the most Oscar nominations of any foreign film up to that time, with a total of five, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (by Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Brunello Rondi). It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and Piero Gherardi won for his stunning black-and-white costume design.

Marcello Mastroianni, who had starred in Fellini’s international smash, La Dolce Vita, three years earlier, plays Guido Anselmi, a film director struggling to complete his newest film while also juggling a wife, a mistress, and several other women as he meditates on sexuality, religion, and mortality.

The film is set primarily at a lavish spa, where Guido’s personal and professional turmoil is continually interrupted by poignant childhood memories and wickedly witty fantasies. Esteemed Italian novelist Alberto Moravia compared the film to James Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness novel, Ulysses, and the film’s visual flourishes changed the entire language of cinema.

The New Republic’s Stanley Kauffmann wrote, “In terms of execution I cannot remember a more brilliant film… We see a wizard at the height of his wizardry.”

Writing in Esquire, Dwight Macdonald called 8 ½ “the most brilliant, varied, and entertaining movie since Citizen Kane.”

In addition to Mastroianni, the cast includes Anouk Aimee, Sandra Milo, Claudia Cardinale, Rossella Falk, and Barbara Steele. Other important collaborators include cinematographer Gianni di Venanzo and composer Nino Rota, whose jaunty circus melodies help to propel the movie.

8 ½ had a major influence on directors all over the world, including Mike Nichols, Paul Mazursky, Woody Allen, Francois Truffaut, and recent Oscar winner Paolo Sorrentino.

Presented digitally.

Happy New Year! Enjoy the Beginning of 2018 by Seeing All the Shortlisted Foreign Language Oscar Nominees on the Big Screen.

January 2, 2018 by Lamb Laemmle 3 Comments

This year intrepid moviegoers will have a chance to see every one of the shortlisted foreign films in theaters. The Academy received submissions from around the world, 92 nations in all, and has whittled them down to these lucky nine. (Anne Thompson of Indiewire has a good breakdown about the snubs and surprises here.)

We open the Hungarian drama ON BODY AND SOUL this Friday at the Music Hall. We’ve been playing the hit Swedish comedy THE SQUARE since November. We have Fatih Akin’s IN THE FADE (Germany), starring a fierce Diane Kruger, right now at the Royal and starting Friday at the Playhouse and Town Center. (We’ll also host Mr. Akin in person for a Q&A at the Royal this Friday.) The following weekend we’ll open THE INSULT (Lebanon), and bring back FELICITE (Senegal) and THE WOUND (South Africa). We’ll have Russia’s LOVELESS in February and Israel’s FOXTROT in early March. We don’t yet have FANTASTIC WOMAN (Chile) dated but most likely will soon. Travel the world via movie theater seat. Much more affordable than the airlines, and better leg room!

BIG SONIA Filmmaker Q&A’s Opening Weekend at the Town Center & Music Hall.

November 29, 2017 by Lamb Laemmle Leave a Comment

Big Sonia Q&A Schedule:

Music Hall, Beverly Hills
Friday 12/8 at 7:20pm: Directors Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday
Saturday 12/9 at 2:30pm: Directors Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday
Saturday 12/9 at 7:20pm: Director Todd Soliday

Town Center, Encino
Saturday 12/9 at 7:45pm: Director Leah Warshawski
Sunday 12/10 at 3:15pm: Directors Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday
Sunday 12/10 at 7:45pm: Directors Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday

Big Sonia praise:
“Poignant” —The New York Times
“It’s brilliant” —Film Journal International
“A stunning documentary” —Jeffrey Lyons, Lyons Den Radio, WCBS
“A film about history, how we carry it with us and why it matters” —Eye for Film
“An intimate and delicately measured documentary” —Slant Magazine

https://vimeo.com/118698054

BIG SONIA Theatrical Trailer (https://vimeo.com/118698054)

Jewish Journal L.A.: ‘1945’ Examines Postwar Angst in Hungary.

November 22, 2017 by Lamb Laemmle 1 Comment

‘1945’ Examines Postwar Angst in Hungary
BY TOM TUGEND | PUBLISHED NOV 17, 2017

An ancient train, belching black smoke, pulls into a station near an unnamed Hungarian village and out step two Orthodox Jews. Not losing a moment, the stationmaster sounds the alarm: “The Yids are coming!”

The year — and the title of the movie — is “1945,” a time when the inhabitants of the village and the rest of their countrymen have arrived at a junction in history and are unsure which path to follow.

While Hungary’s Holocaust-themed movie “Son of Saul” won the Academy Award for foreign-language film two years ago, exhibiting the full horror of the Shoah and its concentration camps, the postwar “1945” probes the potential for greed and selfishness in every human being.

“We are the third postwar generation,” director Ferenc Torok said in a phone interview from Budapest. “And a lot of people are asking what their parents and grandparents did during the world war.”

The film takes place in the middle of summer as the villagers till their fields, smoke and drink endlessly, and prepare for the wedding of the son of a domineering town clerk to a pretty peasant girl. Nazi Germany had surrendered two months earlier, in May, and while some Soviet troops have arrived, the Communist puppet government has not yet assumed power.

The two arriving Jews — the older clad in a black coat and hat and his adult son wearing a workman’s cap and clothing — unload two large trunks and hire a horse-drawn cart and its driver to carry their load for the hour-long trip to the village, while father and son follow behind on foot.

As the odd procession wends its way through the countryside, the stationmaster’s warning stokes the villagers’ fears that the survivors among their former Jewish neighbors now will demand the return of the houses, businesses and furniture they left behind when they were deported to concentration camps. That means the town clerk would no longer own the drug store and his wife could no longer glory in the beautiful rugs, dishes and silver menorah of the previous owner.

In the ensuing panic, some try to hide their ill-gotten gains, while others put their hopes in papers, signed by the pro-Nazi wartime government, “officially” transferring the abandoned homes and goods to the gentile neighbors.

When horse, cart and the “Yids” arrive at the village, women peek through shutters, the pharmacist tries to hide his tubes and bottles. Rumors spread that the trunks contain perfumes and beauty aids to sell to the village women.

Finally, the cart and two men arrive at the gates of the abandoned Jewish cemetery. The younger Jew, with a concentration camp number tattooed on his forearm, takes a key out of his pocket and opens the rusty gate, as a posse of hostile villagers gathers nearby. Inside the cemetery, father and son open the trunks and bury the unexpected contents. In the final scene, the two strangers re-board the train, their mission accomplished.

The result is a masterfully directed, acted and photographed movie, which again disproves predictions that the time of the Holocaust-themed movie has expired, even as the last eyewitnesses are dying.

Torok, who is not Jewish, said that part of the continued interest in a place like Hungary, whose Jewish population was decimated during the war, has to do with the fact that for many years while the nation was a Communist satellite, the subject of the Holocaust — and particularly the participation of many Hungarians in it — was taboo. The same applied to the collaboration of many Hungarians with Hitler’s regime, as German and Hungarian troops fought together in the invasions of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.

The film started as a short story by Hungarian Jewish writer Gabor T. Szanto, titled “Homecoming,” which won the Yad Vashem Avner Shalev Prize for best artistic representation of a Holocaust-related topic. Torok, relying on Szanto’s intimate knowledge of Jewish life and rituals, asked him also to write the screenplay.

In a separate phone interview, Szanto, editor of the Hungarian-Jewish magazine “Szombat” (Sabbath), made a number of observations on Hungarian Jewry, past but mostly present.

“The Holocaust is still the cornerstone of our thinking, not only for Hungary’s 80,000 Jews (compared with 450,000 before World War II) but to every other Nazi-occupied nation,” he said. “This film is really Europe’s story.”

In general, Hungarian Jews, like their American counterparts, tend to be liberals and left-leaning and they are concerned by their country’s political shift to the right, Szanto said. Among the worrisome signs is the growing strength of the nationalistic Jobbik party.

Another sign is the recent public poster campaign by the Hungarian government, depicting George Soros, a Hungarian-American and Jewish billionaire and philanthropist, as the mastermind of a massive of influx of illegal immigrants from the Middle East into Hungary.

“As a writer, I am a bit of an outsider and try to look at Hungary and its Jewish community realistically,” Szanto said. “We have many problems, but I don’t think they can be solved by ideologies. We can believe in ideals, but our solutions must be realistic. You can’t change human nature.”

“1945” begins screening on Nov. 25 at Laemmle’s Royal Theatre in West Los Angeles, Playhouse 7 in Pasadena and Town Center in Encino, as well as Westpark 8 in Irvine. On Dec. 8, the film will open at the Laemmle’s Claremont 5 in Claremont.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCg3jVRX85A&feature=em-subs_digest

1945 – Official U.S. Trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCg3jVRX85A&feature=em-subs_digest)