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Film Reviews & Previews

KNOW HOW Filmmaker and Cast in Person at the Music Hall Opening Weekend

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KNOW HOW is a film written and acted by foster care youth, ripped from the stories of their lives. Five youths’ worlds interweave as they confront loss, heartbreak, and growing up in this tale about transience and perseverance. Addie struggles to graduate from high school while her best friend Marie loses her grandmother. Megan copes with being taken from her abusive family and faces the harsh reality of living in a residential treatment center. All the while Eva works to be mother to her sister while their father falls deeper into a crack addiction. Austin is living on the street with his brother, barely able to feed himself. All of them must decide to survive or else fall victim to a broken system.

We open KNOW HOW May 15 at the Music Hall and the filmmaker and cast will be in attendance for several screenings that weekend:

Friday, May 15: Intro & Q&A 9:45 show w/ filmmaker Juan Carlos & Cast

Saturday, May 16: Intro & Q&A 9:45 show w/ filmmaker Juan Carlos & Cast

Sunday, May 17: Intro & Q&A 2:30 show w/ filmmaker Juan Carlos & Cast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OizNbCyDf2o

ANTARCTIC EDGE: 70° SOUTH Q&A Opening Weekend at the Music Hall

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The new documentary ANTARCTIC EDGE: 70° SOUTH is a thrilling journey to the bottom of the Earth alongside a team of dedicated scientists. In the wake of devastating climate events like Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Katrina, oceanographer Oscar Schofield teams up with a group of world-class researchers in a race to understand climate change in the fastest winter-warming place on earth: the West Antarctic Peninsula. For more than 20 years, these scientists have dedicated their lives to studying the Peninsula’s rapid change.

We open ANTARCTIC EDGE: 70° SOUTH May 15 at the Music Hall. Filmmaker Dena Seidel & co-producer Xenia Morin will introduce and participate in Q&A’s after the 7:20 PM screenings on Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16. The Q&A will be moderated by Los Angeles World Affairs Council president Terry McCarthy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwBOijodAo4

Albert Maysles 1926-2015: “I happily place my fate and faith in reality.” We open his penultimate film, IRIS, on May 1st.

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Prolific, pioneering documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles passed away last month. With his late brother David he made such acclaimed films as Grey Gardens and Gimme Shelter. He described himself this way: “As a documentarian I happily place my fate and faith in reality. It is my caretaker, the provider of subjects, themes, experiences – all endowed with the power of truth and the romance of discovery. And the closer I adhere to reality the more honest and authentic my tales. After all, the knowledge of the real world is exactly what we need to better understand and therefore possibly to love one another. It’s my way of making the world a better place.” Albert Maysles 1926-2015: "I happily place my fate and faith in reality." We open his penultimate film, IRIS, on May 1st.

We are proud to open Mr. Mayles penultimate film IRIS on May 1st at the Royal and Playhouse 7 and May 8th at the Town Center 5 and Claremont 5. The film is a portrait of Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an out-sized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even at Iris’ advanced age, a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. IRIS portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life’s sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment. Despite the abundance of glamour in her current life, she continues to embrace the values and work ethic established during a middle-class Queens upbringing during the Great Depression. “I feel lucky to be working. If you’re lucky enough to do something you love, everything else follows.”

The film is widely admired. “Albert Maysles has delivered a gem.” (Graham Fuller, Screen International) “An exuberant portrait” (Manohla Dargis, New York Times). “A joyous celebration of creativity and razor-sharp wit sustained into old age, as evinced by outspoken nonagenarian fashion icon Iris Apfel, IRIS also offers proof of Albert Maysles’ continued vitality as a documentarian.” (Ronnie Schieb, Variety) “A captivating salute.” (David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo8jwJ_2l0c

MATISSE at the Tate: Celebrate the giant of modern art on the big screen.

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This Monday and Tuesday, April 27 and 28, Laemmle’s Culture Vulture series returns to two of the world’s great museums for MATISSE. Hailed as the most successful exhibition in Tate Modern’s history, you can still catch this once-in-a-lifetime Henri Matisse exhibition on a big screen, featuring exclusive new footage from MoMA New York.

Audiences are invited to enjoy an intimate, behind-the-scenes documentary about this once-in-a-lifetime blockbuster exhibition with expert contributions from those that knew Matisse as well as curators, historians, Tate director Nicholas Serota and MoMA director Glenn Lowry. Plus there are breathtaking specially commissioned performances by Royal Ballet principal dancer Zenaida Yanowsky and jazz musician Courtney Pine. Acclaimed British actor Simon Russell Beale brings insight and emotion to the words of Henri Matisse himself, while actor Rupert Young (Merlin) narrates. MATISSE at the Tate: Celebrate the giant of modern art on the big screen.

‘The way the film captured Matisse at work, bringing his artistry to life – including resonant readings from Simon Russell Beale – was genuinely inspiring’ – Apollo Magazine

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

MATISSE at the Tate: Celebrate the giant of modern art on the big screen.

FELIX AND MEIRA Q&A’s Opening Weekend at the Royal and Town Center 5

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FELIX AND MEIRA is a calling card for its young director, Maxime Giroux; a story of an unconventional romance between two people living vastly different realities mere blocks away from one another. Each lost in their everyday lives, Meira (Hadas Yaron), a Hasidic Jewish wife and mother and Félix (Martin Dubreuil), a secular loner mourning the recent death of his estranged father, unexpectedly meet in a local bakery in Montreal’s Mile End district. What starts as an innocent friendship becomes more serious as the two wayward strangers find comfort in one another. As Felix opens Meira’s eyes to the world outside of her tight-knit Orthodox community, her desire for change becomes harder for her to ignore, ultimately forcing her to choose: remain in the life that she knows or give it all up to be with Félix. Giroux’s film is a poignant and touching tale of self-discovery set against the backdrops of Montreal, Brooklyn, and Venice, Italy.

FELIX AND MEIRA co-star Luzer Twersky will participate in Q&A’s after the 7:10 PM screenings at the Royal on Friday and Saturday, April 24 and 25 and at the Town Center after the 4:30 PM shows on Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HFbAjkmeYQ

During the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, New Drama ‘1915’ Opens at the Music Hall, Playhouse and Town Center

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This year marks a solemn occasion, the centennial of the Armenian Genocide. There are, of course, many events around town dedicated to remembrance as well as action. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles is planning an ecumenical service at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on April 14. United Armenian Council of Los Angeles is planning a march on April 24 and a commemoration of the 25th. A complete list is here.

This Friday we will open the drama-thriller 1915 at the Music Hall, Playhouse and Town Center. The film follows a man on a mission to bring the ghost of this forgotten tragedy back to life. More than a cutting-edge mystery, 1915 is also an explosive call to action against the silence and denial that have fueled a century of genocide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyo-G3dhMRM

Finally, there is still time to join and/or donate to this Sunday’s Walk to End Genocide at Pan Pacific Park, an extremely good cause supported by the Laemmle Charitable Foundation. Greg and Tish Laemmle will be there.

During the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, New Drama '1915' Opens at the Music Hall, Playhouse and Town Center

 

THE ROAD WITHIN Q&A’s at the NoHo and Music Hall this Weekend

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After the passing of his mother, Vincent (Robert Sheehan), a young man with Tourette syndrome, begins treatment at a center for those dealing with similar psychological disorders. Soon he finds company in Marie (Zoë Kravitz), a young woman at the center for her anorexia, and Alex (Dev Patel), his OCD-stricken roommate. These unlikely companions, with clashing personalities, find themselves on an eventful three-day journey that cements their friendship. With Dr. Rose (Kyra Sedgwick), the head of the center, and Vincent’s father (Robert Patrick) in pursuit, Vincent, Marie and Alex learn they’re perfectly capable of living their lives according to their own rules, while breaking some others in the meantime, in this coming-of-age road comedy.

The ROAD WITHIN filmmakers will be participating in Q&A’s all weekend at the NoHo 7 and Music Hall on the following schedule:

Friday April 17th

  • 7:30 PM Q&A with actor Robert Sheehan & Producer Brent Emery at Music Hall

Saturday April 18th

  • 2:30 PM Q&A with filmmaker Gren Wells at Music Hall
  • 7:30 PM Q&A with filmmaker Gren Wells and producer Michael Helfant at Music Hall
  • 7 PM with actress Ali Hillis and producer Brent Emery at the NoHo

Sunday April 19th

  • 1:40pm Q&A with filmmaker Gren Wells at the NoHo
  • 4:20pm Q&A with filmmaker Gren Wells, actor Robert Sheehan and producer Michael Helfant at the Noho
    2:30pm Q&A with with actress Ali Hillis and producer Brent Emery at the Music Hall

Watch the 2015 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Dinner and Awards + the Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree, Gena Rowlands

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From film critic Chuck Wilson:

“The video of the 2015 L.A. Film Critics Association dinner has been posted. It was a grand night, and of course, a very special one for me, as I was able to help present the Career Achievement Award to Gena Rowlands. If you go to 32:30, you can see Tom Hardy’s charming Best Actor acceptance speech, and that leads into the Gena tribute…among the many gems of the night: a lovely presentation to Leonard Maltin (1:04), and amazing speeches by Ava DuVernay (1:32), Wes Anderson (1:45), and Patricia Arquette (1:50) and Richard Linklater (2:00).”

Watch director Matt Amato‘s video tribute to Ms. Rowlands first:

http://vimeo.com/116102999

And here is the rest of the ceremony in its entirety:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2thN7UrQv4