The Official Blog of Laemmle Theatres.

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The official blog of Laemmle Theatres

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley

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Did you know that if the San Fernando Valley were its own city, it would be the fifth largest in the United States? That alone would merit the a serious museum devoted to its history, art and culture, but especially a place as rich and strange, as somehow simultaneously bland and colorful, as the Valley. As of last November, the Museum of the San Fernando Valley is a reality and, as reported recently in the L.A. Times, it’s in Northridge. As longtime and proud Valley movie theater owner-operators, Laemmle Theatres strongly encourages a visit!

David Orenstein of Woodland Hills examines images of Valley architecture at the new Northridge site. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

 

The 2015 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts Open January 30

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Here at Laemmle Theatres we take a lot of pride and pleasure in showing many feature documentaries, but it’s extra sweet every February when we can feature the focussed, concise brilliance of the Oscar-nominated short documentaries. We open the program of five films on Friday, January 30 at the Music Hall and February 7 and the Playhouse 7 and Claremont 5. The nominees are:

JOANNA (Aneta Kopacz) – 40 minutes/Poland/Polish. With great visual poetry, JOANNA portrays the simple and meaningful moments in the life of her family. Diagnosed with an untreatable illness, Joanna promises her son that she will do her best to live for as long as possible. It is a story of close relationships, tenderness, love and thoughtfulness.

CRISIS HOTLINE: VETERANS PRESS 1 (Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry) – 39 minutes/USA/English. The timely documentary CRISIS HOTLINE: VETERANS PRESS 1 spotlights the traumas endured by America’s veterans, as seen through the work of the hotline’s trained responders, who provide immediate intervention and support in hopes of saving the lives of service members.

OUR CURSE (Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki) – 27 minutes/Poland/Polish. OUR CURSE is a personal statement of the director and his wife, who have to deal with a very rare and incurable disease of their newborn child – the Ondine’s Curse (also known as CCHS, congenital central hypoventilation syndrome). People affected with this disease stop breathing during sleep and require lifetime mechanical ventilation on a ventilator.

WHITE EARTH (J. Christian Jensen) – 20 minutes/USA/English and Spanish. Thousands of souls flock to America’s Northern Plains seeking work in the oil fields. WHITE EARTH is the tale of an oil boom seen through unexpected eyes. Three children and an immigrant mother brave a cruel winter and explore themes of innocence, home and the American Dream.

THE REAPER (La Parka) (Gabriel Serra Arguello) – 29 minutes/Mexico/Spanish. THE REAPER: Efrain, known as the Reaper, has worked at a slaughterhouse for 25 years. We will discover his deep relationship with death and his struggle to live.

Still from JOANNA

See the World’s Great Exhibitions with Laemmle’s Culture Vulture Series: HERMITAGE REVEALED, POMPEII and VIKINGS: LIFE & LEGEND

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With our Culture Vulture series we want to include more than just live theater, opera and ballet. Hence these three upcoming titles that feature exhibitions: HERMITAGE REVEALED on January 26 and 27; POMPEII on February 16 and 17; and VIKINGS: LIFE & LEGEND on March 9 and 10. Like the other films in this series, each provides vivid access to the pinnacles of world culture, minus the air and hotel fare.

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, holding over three million treasures and boasting more curators than any other art institution. To mark the momentous occasion of its 250th anniversary, the museum opened its doors for the filming of HERMITAGE REVEALED – a cinematic event that is a must-see for all fans of art, architecture and the culture and history of Russia.

POMPEII FROM THE BRITISH MUSEUM is the very first cinema event from the museum and will offer an exclusive private view of the British Museum’s blockbuster exhibition Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum. The exhibition focuses on the homes and lives of the inhabitants of the thriving industrial hub of Pompeii and the small seaside town of Herculaneum nearly 2,000 years ago when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Introduced by British Museum Director Neil MacGregor, this fascinating show will take you around the exhibition with insights from renowned experts who will bring these extraordinary objects to life with accompanying music, poetry and eyewitness accounts.

This special British Museum cinema event VIKINGS: LIFE & LEGEND offers an exclusive private view of the BP exhibition Vikings: life and legend – the first exhibition about the Vikings at the museum for 30 years. Introduced by British Museum Director Neil MacGregor and presented by the celebrated broadcasting historians Michael Wood and Bettany Hughes, the exhibition is brought to life by curator Gareth Williams, alongside experts on Viking ships and swords, burial and beliefs, language and legacy. With demonstrations, stunning close-up photography of the Viking objects in the exhibition and a torch-lit burial staged in the grounds of the museum, Vikings from the British Museum is a reminder of how the Vikings have shaped modern lives across four continents including North America.

http://vimeo.com/98912705

AMERICAN BEAR Filmmaker-Adventurers at Both Laemmle Screenings for Q&A’s

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As seen in the documentary AMERICAN BEAR, Sarah and Greg set out to critically explore American culture, compassion, and fear by relying on the kindness of strangers for a home each night. Traveling through 30 states in 60 days, they spend every day in a new town, learning why people may or may not be willing to open their homes. Sarah and Greg spend time getting to know their hosts – each uniquely, culturally American – while the film raises questions about how we define American identities.

AMERICAN BEAR co-directors Gregory Grano and Sarah Sellman will participate in Q&A’s after both the January 28 screening at the NoHo 7 and the January 29 screening at the Claremont 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5yJtP4IFhU

ABOVE AND BEYOND Q&A’s at the Royal and Town Center 5 with Producer Nancy Spielberg

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In 1948, a group of World War II pilots volunteered to fight for Israel in the War of Independence. As members of ‘Machal’ — volunteers from abroad — this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war, preventing the possible annihilation of Israel at the very moment of its birth; they also laid the groundwork for the Israeli Air Force. ABOVE AND BEYOND is their story. The first major feature-length documentary about the foreign airmen in the War of Independence, ABOVE AND BEYOND brings together new interviews with pilots from the ’48 War, as well as leading scholars and statesmen, including Shimon Peres, to present an extraordinary, little-known tale with reverberations up to the present day.

ABOVE AND BEYOND producer Nancy Spielberg will participate in Q&A’s after the 11 AM screenings at the Royal on Saturday and Sunday, February 7 and 8 and after the 7:50 PM show at the Town Center on Sunday, February 8. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNMJGaptDds&feature=youtu.be

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE LAST UNICORN Novelist/Screenwriter Peter Beagle will Introduce All Laemmle Screenings

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Since its 1982 release THE LAST UNICORN has enchanted audiences everywhere with its moving story about a unicorn trying to find and rescue her lost people, and the price she pays for bringing magic back into the world. Considered one of the great fantasies of the last century, the original novel has sold over six million copies in 25 languages, while the film adaptation has sold more than four million home video copies in America in just the last nine years.

THE LAST UNICORN novelist/screenwriter Peter Beagle will introduce all Laemmle screenings.

2015 Oscar Nominees and Our Annual Oscar Contest

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The 2015 Oscar Nominees were announced early this morning with BIRDMAN and THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL leading the pack, each earning nine nominations. Also of note is Marion Cotallard’s nom for Best Actress for her French-language performance in TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT (now playing in West LA, starting Friday in Encino and Pasadena).

As for Best Foreign Film nominees: LEVIATHAN is now playing; TIMBUKTU opens 1/30; WILD TALES will likely open in March or April, IDA is available on DVD; and we don’t have a date yet for TANGERINES.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the whole affair is what these nominations mean for you: A chance to win free movie passes in our Umpteenth Annual Oscar Contest!

Laemmle Theatres will bestow fabulous prizes (movie passes) upon the people who most accurately predict the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s choices in all 24 categories, from the shorts to Best Motion Picture. 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! FABULOUS PRIZES (movie passes) to the those who can best predict the winners. First place wins ten pairs of passes, second place wins eight pairs and third place wins six pairs. Good luck!

Enter Here

Best Motion Picture Best Foreign Language Film
AMERICAN SNIPER
BIRDMAN
BOYHOOD
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
THE IMITATION GAME
SELMA
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
WHIPLASH		 IDA
LEVIATHAN
TANGERINES
TIMBUKTU
WILD TALES
Directing Documentary Feature
BIRDMAN
BOYHOOD
FOXCATCHER
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
THE IMITATION GAME		 CITIZENFOUR
FINDING VIVIAN MAIER
LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM
THE SALT OF THE EARTH
VIRUNGA
Actress in a Leading Role Actor in a Leading Role
Marion Cotillard, TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT
Felicity Jones, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Julianne Moore, STILL ALICE
Rosamund Pike, GONE GIRL
Reese Witherspoon, WILD		 Steve Carell, FOXCATCHER
Bradley Cooper, AMERICAN SNIPER
Benedict Cumberbatch, THE IMITATION GAME
Michael Keaton, BIRDMAN
Eddie Redmayne, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

Click here to see the rest of the nominees and enter to win!

LITTLE ACCIDENTS Q&A at the NoHo Opening Weekend

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When a teenage boy goes missing in a small town already devastated by a fatal mining accident, three strangers find themselves drawn together in a tangle of secrets, lies, and the collective grief of the community. Elizabeth Banks, Josh Lucas and Boyd Holbrook star in the new indie drama LITTLE ACCIDENTS.

LITTLE ACCIDENTS cinematographer Rachel Morrison will participate in a Q&A moderated by Hilari Scarl of the Alliance of Women Directors after the 7 PM screening at the NoHo 7 on Saturday, January 17.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PrTTsvs05U&feature=youtu.be