The Official Blog of Laemmle Theatres.

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The official blog of Laemmle Theatres

Enter our Top Five Films of 2024 contest! Bonus: Read Greg Laemmle’s list.

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Can you name your five favorite films released last year? Enter our contest here, use our handy-dandy drop-down menus to quickly choose five, and you’ll automatically be entered into a raffle to win a gift card! Also, we’ll create an overall customer top ten list from all the entries.  In case you need your memory jogged, Greg Laemmle composed the following:
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“I’m actually kind of glad that we are only asking for everyone’s five favorite films this year.  Yes, we will compile all the submissions and ultimately turn it into a Laemmle Patron Top 10 list, so maybe that’s a cheat. But as I sit here looking at my top films from 2024, it’s actually kind of helpful to try to distinguish between the films that are merely really good, and the ones that are most memorable.
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“First, I need to confess that even though I am the person responsible for selecting which films we are going to exhibit, I admit that there are films we are playing (or have played) that I did not see myself. I try to see everything, but it’s not always possible. Also, I have this “thing” about seeing films in a movie theatre and not at home, which makes it doubly hard to see everything. So if you don’t see THE BRUTALIST, EMILIA PÉREZ or THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (among others) on my list, it’s not because I didn’t care for these critical and awards favorites. It’s because I still need to catch up with them at an actual screening.
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“If I could submit a Top 10 list, it would likely include ANORA, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, CONCLAVE, DIDI, DUNE: PART TWO, THELMA or VERMIGLIO. These, and others, are all really good. And on another day or in another situation, they might even crack the Top 5. But as I sit here typing at this moment in time, I believe the following are the five movies from 2024 that will most stick with me.
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“#5 – HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS – Without a doubt, the film that had me laughing the most in 2024. Yes, it is perhaps a bit overstuffed with gags. But hey, they didn’t exactly have a budget for test screenings. Whatever the filmmakers of this indie gem lacked in dollars, though, was more than made up by their ingenuity and verve. I’m worried about what could happen to filmmakers like Mike Cheslik and Ryland Tews if they are not supported in the studio system. But also really excited to see what kind of energy they could pump into a Marvel-type film. So go ahead, Hollywood. Give them the keys to the hot rod and see what happens. Whatever it is, it won’t be cookie-cutter boring.
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“#4 – PARADISE IS BURNING – This little gem deserved a lot more attention, and it is hard to understand why it was basically ignored when released at the tail end of summer. Director Mika Gustafson was awarded the Best Director prize at the Venice Film Festival when the film premiered in 2023, along with Best First Film prize at the subsequent London Film Festival. But when released stateside, it was ignored by both the New York Times and the local rag. That’s a real shame, because this tale of three sisters growing up in quasi-feral conditions in Sweden is the real deal, with a trio of young performers who will knock your socks off.
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“#3 – GAUCHO GAUCHO. Co-directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s previous film was the Oscar-nominated film THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS, which was one of the first films we showed on reopening the theaters in April 2021. And what a great film that was. But GAUCHO GAUCHO is even more beautiful to look at. It is incredibly frustrating that the film was barely available in theatres. Hopefully there will be more opportunities to see it on the big screen down the road. In the meantime, you should be able to find it on the new Jolt streaming service. It’s relatively short, so just hide your phone, lock away your remote after hitting play, and allow yourself to be immersed in this beautiful documentary. You won’t be sorry.
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“#2 – HARD TRUTHS. This isn’t necessarily an easy film. Director Mike Leigh drops us into this film about family dynamics mid story and maybe leaves us without a typical ending too. But he has clearly worked with his cast to create such an extensive backstory for each and every actor, that it just doesn’t matter. Or at least, it didn’t matter to me. If there is any justice in the world, Marianne Jean-Baptiste will be rewarded with an Oscar nomination for her work in this film.
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“#1 – I’M STILL HERE. Fernanda Torres may have been a surprise winner of the Best Actress in a Drama prize at the Golden Globes. But after seeing this film, you will understand why the Globe voters went with her over better-known nominees. She delivers the truest, most lived-in performance of any screen performer this year, and she is superbly aided in this by director Walter Salles, working from a screenplay by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega. At this point, it would be a shock if the film is not nominated for the Best International Feature prize.  But if it were up to me, it would be competing for Best Film.”

All movies free tonight and tomorrow at the Monicas and Royal!

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To honor our one-of-a-kind city and its amazing communities, we’re giving you the gift of FREE MOVIES! Thanks to our amazing friends at NEON, catch any film at the Monica Film Center and Royal tonight and tomorrow absolutely free. Come take a much-deserved break and experience the joy of an arthouse film. The offer only applies in-person at the theater box offices. Take the money you would have spent on tickets and donate it to fire relief.

DISFLUENCY Q&As

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DISFLUENCY Q&A TIMES at the Laemmle Glendale

– Friday 4:20pm & 10:10pm – Writer/Director Anna Baumgarten & Producer Danny Mooney

– Saturday 4:20pm & 10:10pm – Writer/Director Anna Baumgarten & Producer Danny Mooney

– Sunday 4:20pm – Sevag Chahinian (LA Unit Cinematographer), Nathan Alexander (Composer), Monica Gerraffo (Costume Designer)

– Monday 4:20pm – Cast: Will announce names closer to the date.

This week on Inside the Arthouse: Sally Aitken, the director of the inspiring L.A. nature documentary EVERY LITTLE THING.

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When is a documentary about hummingbirds more than just another educational nature documentary? In the case of Sally Aitken’s new movie Every Little Thing, we discover that small things are very big things— and you will be more than a little surprised. Hummingbirds’ wings beat fifty times per second, and with astounding high speed photography, they float like gossamer on the screen, captured like tiny, magical sprites. Terry Masear, the film’s subject, runs a hummingbird rescue and she, too, is magical and surprising. These remarkable birds, no bigger than your little finger, become bigger than life as we discover Terry’s care, attention, wisdom, and affection for them. It’s a film that will stay with you long after you leave the theater. Every Little Thing is big and wide and will leave you thinking about how small acts of tenderness and kindness, expressed to the tiniest of creatures, can have giant impacts.

Watch filmmaker Sally Aitken’s recent interview on Inside the Arthouse.

We screen Every Little Thing this Thursday, January 16 in Glendale and begin the regular engagement the next day in Santa Monica. The director, Sally Aitken, and producer, Bettina Dalton, will appear for Q&As after the Thursday, 7:30 PM screening in Glendale as well as after the Friday and Saturday, January 17 and 18, 7 PM shows with subject Terry Masear at the Laemmle Monica Film Center.

Robert Laemmle: 1935-2025

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Robert Laemmle, former president of Laemmle Theatres, passed away on Thursday, January 9 in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 89. He is survived by his wife Michelle Laemmle and ex-wife Raquel Shantal, their children Yvonne Ascher & Leonard Laub, Michael & Haidee Ascher, David & Tammy Ascher, Greg & Tish Laemmle, Jessica Laemmle, Carri and Charlie Bisbee, Mitch & Debbie Needelman, Maitland Finley, and Robert Finley, and his sister Mimi Reisbaum and nephews Mark & Jay Reisbaum.

Bob was a kind, generous, happy person who adored his large family. He was also an entrepreneur and film industry trailblazer who lived a classic American immigrant success story. He was born on September 5, 1935 in Paris, France, to Max and Bertha Laemmle. Fleeing the Nazis, they brought him to the United States in 1938, and he lived in the Los Angeles area for the rest of his life. He was a gifted basketball player as a young man, earning All City honors out of Marshall High School during his senior year. He played college basketball at USC, L.A. City College and Cal State L.A. He graduated from Cal State Los Angeles in 1958, later receiving an MBA from UCLA in 1961.

Founded in 1938 by Robert’s father Max and his uncle Kurt, Laemmle Theatres is a storied exhibitor of foreign and art films in Los Angeles. Bob began working for Laemmle Theatres in 1963 and was instrumental in the rapid expansion of the chain, which he ran until 2004, and ever since has been led by his son Greg. Bob helped redefine the image of an “art house,” programming and innovatively marketing films from around the world while creating brand-new venues for L.A. cinephiles, including the Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, the Monica Film Center in Santa Monica, the Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, the NoHo 7, and the Laemmle Glendale.

Bob was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, a distinction his father also earned. The highest arts-specific honor conferred by the French government, it is reserved for artists and people who have contributed to the influence of arts in France and throughout the world. It was a testament to the Laemmles’ commitment to and passion for showcasing the best films from around the globe.

In 2000, the family established the Laemmle Charitable Foundation to give back to the community that has sustained the family business over the decades. Since then, the foundation has awarded over $2.3 million to locally based nonprofits with a focus on social and environmental giving. Past award recipients include Tree People, SOVA, L.A. Family Housing and Food Forward, along with many others.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, January 13 at 10:00 AM at Mount Sinai Memorial Park, located at 5950 Forest Lawn Drive. The family will be receiving visitors at their home in Santa Monica following the burial and will also have open hours in the days to follow.

Donations can be made to the Laemmle Charitable Foundation at www.laemmlefoundation.org or by check mailed to 11523 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90025. Donations should also be made to local charities supporting fire relief efforts.

Recollections regarding Bob Laemmle and Laemmle Theatres are being collected and members of the public are invited to send comments below.

May his memory be for a blessing.

New on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE ~ a conversation with filmmaker Dan Mirvish about 30 Years of the Slamdance Film Festival.

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In the ’90s, most indie filmmakers would have just given up if their debut feature was rejected by Sundance. But not Dan Mirvish. Combining forces with a number of other “rejectees,” they went rogue and started the Slamdance Film Festival, garnering attention for their films even as they earned the ire of Robert Redford. Mirvish went on to successfully self-distribute that debut film, Omaha: The Movie, plus several more over the years, including 18 1/2, a film about the 18.5 minutes missing from the Nixon tapes, which he shot during the pandemic. A true renegade, Dan is the embodiment of a filmmaker who won’t give up on his film. Listen and learn from the rest of our conversation with Dan Mirvish, on Inside the Arthouse.

Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge, Inside the Arthouse is an “insider’s” perspective podcast on filmmakers and people responsible for films appearing on arthouse screens across the U.S.

New weekly series: Worldwide Wednesdays! Great new films from around the globe.

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Laemmle Theatres is pleased to announce our new weekly series of fresh international films, Worldwide Wednesdays. See below for the current schedule. Some are older films enjoying new restorations, but most are newer obscure films that we want to bring to a broader L.A. audience. Putting them in a weekly series format will hopefully help with create more awareness and help overcome the absence of what used to be a reliable marketing platform for smaller foreign films like these, critics’ reviews in the L.A. Times Calendar section. Also this format allows the films to play in multiple venues all over L.A. County rather than forcing interested audiences to schlep to a single location. The films, however, come from many thousands of miles away!
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January 22, 25 & 26, Eat the Night, France, 2024 ~ Pablo, a small-time drug dealer, and his teenage sister Apolline have forged an unbreakable bond through their shared obsession with the online video game Darknoon. When Pablo falls for the mysterious Night, he gets swept up in their liaison, abandoning his sister to deal with the impending shutdown of their digital haven alone. As Pablo’s reckless choices provoke the wrath of a dangerous rival gang, the end of their virtual life draws near, upending their reality. The newest vision from Caroline Poggi & Jonathan Vinel (Jessica Forever) is a bittersweet, apocalyptic love story with a modern MMORPG twist.

January 29, February 1 & 2, Oceans are the Real Continents, Cuba/Italy, 2023 ~ Three stories of migration, exile, and memory develop in the Cuban town of San Antonio De Los Baños, a place that time forgot. Alex and Edith, a young couple in their 30s, build their lives upon small gestures, reminisces, and a deep connection amidst the nation’s ruins. Milagros survives selling peanut cones on the street, spending her days listening to the radio and reading old letters. Nine-year-old best friends Frank and Alain go to school and dream of emigrating to the U.S. to become baseball players.

February 5, 8 & 9, Sujo, Mexico/France/USA, 2024 ~ After a sicario is murdered, four-year-old Sujo is left orphaned and at risk. With his aunt’s help, he survives in the isolated countryside, facing hardship and danger tied to his identity. As a teenager, he rebels and joins the local cartel. As a young man, Sujo seeks to escape his violent past, but when his father’s legacy resurfaces, he confronts the fate that seems destined for him.

February 12, 15 & 16, Ma Mère, France/Portugal/Austria/Spain, 2004 ~ Ma Mère takes place in the Canary Islands, where the film’s family shares a home. The mother Hélène (Isabelle Huppert), cool and in charge, and her teenaged son Pierre (Louis Garrel), a pious Catholic back from boarding school, discuss his father’s infidelity; the next they learn that he has died in a car crash. Hélène launches into a wild series of parties, gradually involving her son in her drugging, drinking and sex-fueled nights out.

February 19, 22 & 23, The Blond Boy from Casbah, France, 2023 ~ Filmmaker Antoine travels to his birthplace, Algiers, with his young son to present his new film: an account of his childhood in mid-20th century Algeria during the country’s civil war. As he wanders through the city, the filmmaker immerses us in the moments of happiness, laughter, and tears of his childhood – spent between school, friends, and his Jewish family. Growing up in the final moments of Algeria’s pre-independence period, the young Antoine discovers his profound fascination with cinema and starts to understand who he truly is.

February 26, 29 & 30, Amal, Belgium, 2023 ~ Amal is a powerful film by acclaimed Belgian-Moroccan director Jawad Rhalib, is a thought-provoking drama that explores the transformative power of education and self-expression. The title character is a teacher who courageously confronts fundamentalism through literature, offering a moving exploration of courage and compassion. Starring Lubna Azabal (The Blue Caftan, Incendies), Fabrizio Rongione (Two Days, One Night), and Catherine Salée (The Unknown Girl), Amal tackles urgent themes of identity, tolerance, and acceptance.

March 5, 8 & 9, My Motherland, France, 2023 ~ The celebrated actress Fanny Ardant plays the role of France, a wealthy Frenchwoman living alone in her Parisian apartment since the death of her husband. When she hears on the radio that the Singa association puts homeless migrants in contact with people who can take them in, she decides, against the advice of her friends and family, to take in Reza, a young Hazara Afghan refugee. Directed by Benoit Cohen, My Motherland is based on his own book Mohammad, My Mother, and Me, which is based on his mother’s experience welcoming a young Afghan refugee. This deeply personal film beautifully captures the complexities of navigating identity and belonging.

March 12, 15 & 16, Born for You, Italy, 2023 ~ Born for You tells the moving true story of Luca, a single gay Catholic man who in 2017 adopted Alba, a child with Down syndrome who was abandoned in the hospital shortly after being born. Thirty heterosexual families rejected her before the court decided to entrust her to him: with him, the legal foster care register for singles was inaugurated in Italy. Luca was, in fact, the first case in Italy of a single, gay person successfully adopting a daughter. But his was not a charitable gesture, nor to fight a system set against him and others like him: he simply wanted a family.

April 16, 19 & 20, Love Hotel, Japan, 1985 ~ Newly restored! A tale of two broken souls. A call-girl named Yumi, “night-blooming flower,” and Tetsuro, a married man with a debt to the yakuza, have a violent rendezvous in a cheap love hotel. Years later, haunted by the memory of that night, they reconnect and begin a strange love affair. Determined to finish what they started, they return to the scene of their first macabre passion. With a taste for wicked absurdity and coursing with undercurrents of operatic emotion, at times veering into near-musical territory, Love Hotel is moved by the irrational forces that attract two bodies together. It’s a film with a uniquely materialist sense of eros manifested in Shinji Somai’s long takes, each shot a tightrope-like predicament flushed with earthly tension and livewire physicality. Made in the same year as Typhoon Club, this elegiac erotica is one of Somai’s most bewitching and unnervingly romantic works, a high-water mark of Nikkatsu Studio’s legendary Roman Porno cycle of films.

VERMIGLIO filmmaker Maura Delpero on Inside the Arthouse.

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The Inside the Arthouse duo Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge recently interviewed Vermiglio filmmaker Maura Delpero. The conversation begins with her description of the movie’s inspiration — a dream and a nighttime visitation from her late father. A prize winner at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, the Hollywood Foreign Press has nominated Vermiglio for Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe, and the Academy shortlisted it for their Best International Feature prize. We are proud to open the film this Friday at the Royal.