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THE OUTRAGEOUS SOPHIE TUCKER Opens July 24th, Exclusively at Laemmle Theatres

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THE OUTRAGEOUS SOPHIE TUCKER is the rags to riches story of one of old time showbiz’s biggest personalities. From 1906 through the beginning of television, Sophie Tucker and her bawdy, brash, and risqué songs paved the way for performers such as Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Midler, Cher, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Beyoncé.

Diego 18- 1934- Amsterdam, w Ted at piano1After eight years spent reading hundreds of Tucker’s personal scrapbooks, visiting fourteen archives, and interviewing dozens of family, friends, and fellow icons of stage and screen, producers Susan and Lloyd Ecker completed their comprehensive documentary about the Last of the Red Hot Mamas.

“Sophie was like the Forrest Gump of the first half of the 1900s,” says co-producer Susan Ecker. “She was close friends with seven U.S. presidents, King George VI, young Queen Elizabeth, Charlie Chaplin, J. Edgar Hoover, Al Capone, Judy Garland, Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra and every other notable of her era.”

The documentary includes many delicious bits of show business dirt, arrests, romance, murder, gangsters, and more. You’ll learn all about it when THE OUTRAGEOUS SOPHIE TUCKER opens July 24th in Encino, Pasadena, and West LA, and on July 25th in Claremont.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyUlZm4O4yE

Ken Loach’s lovely, heartfelt JIMMY’S HALL opens July 3

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A week from Friday we are very pleased to open JIMMY’S HALL, the latest from prolific — 49 turns in the director’s chair and counting, beginning in 1964 — British filmmaker Ken Loach. A drama set in 1921 and based on a shameful episode in Irish history, follows Jimmy Gralton, whose sin was to build a dance hall on a rural crossroads in an Ireland on the brink of Civil War. The Pearse-Connolly Hall was a place where young people could come to learn, to argue, to dream…but above all to dance and have fun. As the hall grew in popularity, its socialist and free-spirited reputation brought it to the attention of the church and politicians who forced Jimmy to flee and the hall to close.

A decade later, at the height of the Depression, Jimmy returns to County Leitrim from the U.S. to look after his mother. He vows to live the quiet life. The hall stands abandoned and empty, and despite the pleas of the local youth, remains shut. But as Jimmy reintegrates into the community and sees the poverty, and growing cultural oppression, the leader and activist within him is stirred. He makes the decision to reopen the hall in the face of what they may bring…

In his Variety review from Cannes, Scott Foundas wrote, “Ken Loach has taken a despicable episode of modern Irish history — the 1933 deportation without trial of one of its own citizens, James Gralton — and made a surprisingly lovely, heartfelt film from it with JIMMY’S HALL.”

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

 

“This is California. Maybe this is what dinner parties are like.” Stop by for THE OVERNIGHT starting this Friday.

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This Friday we’ll be opening the comedy that killed at Sundance earlier this year, THE OVERNIGHT, at our Pasadena, Claremont and Encino theaters (planning a July 3 opening in NoHo as well). In an attempt to acclimate to L.A., a young couple (Taylor Schilling and Adam Scott) spends an increasingly bizarre evening with the parents (Judith Godrèche and Jason Schwartzman) of their son’s new friend. In Rolling Stone Peter Travers called it “an indecently hot and hilarious sex comedy with quartet of playfully scrappy actors who couldn’t be better suited to their roles or more eager to rouse our prurient interest.” Below is a featurette in which, amusingly, the actors, one a native Angeleno, another a Frenchwoman, talk about how their real-life experiences of polite society in our city always remain exceedingly polite (read: dinner at 5:30; good-night at 8). But that would have made for a boring movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHxMGkxZ49U
Taylor Schilling gets an eyeful.
Taylor Schilling gets an eyeful.

The Royal Opera’s Production of LA BOHEME Screening July 6 and 7

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Swoon-inducing opera, coming your way: LA BOHEME. The Royal Opera recently posted some fantastic interviews and making-of videos to YouTube. We’ll be screening the production in all six Laemmle venues on Monday, July 6 and 7:30 PM and Tuesday, July 7 at 1 PM.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFEuShFvJzBy-1RQBQYz_VFVYAs1NzqCk

CHAGALL-MALEVICH Opens at the Music Hall and Town Center June 19; Lead Actress in Person.

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The artistic and political revolution of early 20th century Russia is mythologized in CHAGALL-MALEVICH, a magical period drama about the uneasy relationship between two artistic geniuses that we’re opening the Music Hall and Town Center on Friday, June 19. Lead actress Kristina Schneidermann will participate in Q&A’s after the 7:15 PM screenings Friday, June 19 at the Town Center and Saturday, June 20 at the Music Hall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enaho11_x8Q&feature=youtu.be

Inspired by the memoirs of Marc Chagall and those of his contemporaries, the film blends fact and folklore to evoke the return of the iconic Jewish artist (portrayed by Leonid Bichevin, “Cargo 200”) to his childhood home of Vitebsk. Having left behind immense success in Paris, Chagall returns to the Russian empire in 1917 hoping to marry the love of his life, Bella Rosenfeld (Kristina Schneidermann); he produces copious paintings and establishes the Academy of Modern Art. A rivalry develops with abstract painter Kazimir Malevich (Anatoliy Belyy), invited to teach at the art school. As Bella rekindles a childhood friendship with military Red Commissar Naum (Semeon Shkalikov), Chagall competes for the affections of his muse and future wife. As the October Revolution sweeps across Russia, historical events intrude on personal struggles and upend the quiet provincial life in Vitebsk.

THE FAREWELL PARTY Filmmakers: “When the body fails and the mind remains lucid, self-irony and humor remain the best way to cope with the prospect of death.”

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THE FAREWELL PARTY is an acclaimed Israeli comedy about the residents of a retirement home who build a machine for self-euthanasia in order to help their terminally ill friend, though they are faced with a series of dilemmas when rumors of the machine begin to spread. (Yes, it’s a comedy.) Well into their ’70s, Yehezkel and his wife Levana are living a comfortable life inside a Jerusalem retirement home. When it comes to retirement, there are some people who find this adjustment an easy one. Even though before this, there is a lot to understand like understanding what Key Equity Release is, for example, and managing finances, but when the time does come to give up working life, hopefully, a lot of people will find it worthwhile, just like Yehezkel and his wife have done. It’s also useful looking into financial benefits that retirees may be eligible to. Things like social security benefits are definitely worthwhile with the ability to cover your spouse and close family members as well as yourself. If you want to learn more, you can look how Social Security spousal benefits are calculated here.

But their contented lives are soon dealt a deep shock when their dear friend Max falls prey to an irreversible illness. Looking for a way out, Max asks Yehezkel for help to end his suffering. Whilst many in real life in these situations end up ignored, and need help from a nursing home neglect lawyer to get the support needed, it is different here. Yehezkel, a longtime amateur inventor, rises to the challenge by constructing a machine that will allow Max to self-administer a dose of tranquilizers. Levana, however, believes that such a device is immoral, and expresses her passionate disapproval. But when Levana herself begins to face a serious health issue, Yehezkel finds that his feelings about his new contraption become increasingly complicated. In THE FAREWELL PARTY, co-directors Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit have tackled an extremely sensitive issue in a vibrant and unique way. You will cry while watching this movie, but whether from laughter or compassion will be difficult to separate.

Co-directors Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit had this to say about their acclaimed — THE FAREWELL PARTY won four Israeli Academy Awards, including in Best Actor for Israeli star Ze’ev Revach, and received a total of 14 nominations, including Best Film, Director, Screenplay, and Actress — film:

“‘For against your will you are formed, against your will you are born, against your will you live.’ ~ Ethics of the Fathers, Chapter 4). Can you at least determine when to die? THE FAREWELL PARTY deals with separation. Separation from someone you love, separation from yourself – when the mind begins to fail, and the separation from life and the right to choose how it all ends. The main characters are senior citizens, in a retirement community in Jerusalem, people who have retired from their life’s work – these type of people are not usually heroes of movies. But out of that very place of retirement and inactivity, they decide to gain control over their fate. As in any tragedy where the protagonist tries to change his destiny and of those surrounding him, there isan unbearable price to pay. THE FAREWELL PARTY is also a film about love and friendship. Our five main characters find comfort, strength and hope in each other in the difficult and funniest moments of life. The plot is not autobiographical, but is based on personal experiences accumulated while caring for a ‘Helga;’ someone close to us, towards the end of their life. In our process of saying goodbye to a loved one, we discovered that when the body fails and the mind remains lucid, self-irony and humor remain the best way to cope with the prospect of death. In our films we try to deal with contemporary social issues, which are often controversial. We try to break the emotional drama with absurd and comic elements. We do so also by casting comedians, and in the case of this film some of the icons of Israeli comedy, in dramatic roles. We feel this makes this difficult and important issue more accessible to our audience, and hopefully, as in life, they will laugh as they wipe away their tears.”

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

Climate Ride 2015 Is This Weekend! Support the Environment and Our Riders at the Concessions Stand!

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Greg Laemmle, Team LACBC and our contest winners embark on Climate Ride 2015 this Sunday, May 17th!

Follow Greg on Twitter (@greglaemmle) for the latest ride updates as he makes his way from California’s historic Redwood Empire near Eureka, along the scenic coast, and into the famed Russian River Valley before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco.

We’re halfway to our fundraising goal and your help could put us over the top. Just purchase one (or more) of our tasty Climate Ride Concession Specials the next time you see a movie at any of our locations.

When you purchase a –
• CLIF BAR, we give $1 to Climate Ride California
• O.N.E. Coconut Water, we give $2.
• Climate Ride Combo, we give $3.

Climate Ride California raises money for projects and organizations that work on climate change, clean energy, active transportation, sustainable infrastructure, and public health. It seeks to increase awareness and understanding of the inter-connectedness of environmental issues caused by the climate crisis among participants, donors, sponsors, and the general public. For more information, visit: http://www.climateride.org/

Anniversary Classics Goes Subtitled, Comes to the Valley: 50th Anniversary Screening of THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET June 9 at the Town Center 5

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Jozef Kroner and Ida Kaminska

We’ve been having a lot of fun hosting our Anniversary Classics screening along with Los Angeles Film Critics Association President Stephen Farber. Following EXODUS (Eva Marie Saint in person!), WHERE’S POPPA? (George Segal in person!) and LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS (Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna in person and tickets still available!), our fourth screening is our first subtitled film in the series and our first in the Valley: THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET (1965) was the first film from Eastern Europe ever to win an Academy Award.  Fifty years ago this powerful Czech drama won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film. Directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, it was one of the key films in the Czech New Wave that flourished in the 1960s, before the Soviet invasion of 1968 stamped out this vital movement. Josef Kroner and Yiddish theater legend Ida Kaminska (nominated for an Oscar for her performance) star in this poignant tale of an Aryan functionary who takes over the button shop of an elderly Jewish woman in a Slovakian town in 1942. They develop a tentative friendship that is threatened when the Nazis begin rounding up all the Jews in the area.

Ida Kaminska

Esteemed critic Kenneth Tynan said this was “the most moving film about anti-Semitism ever made.”  Oscar-nominated screenwriter Eleanor Perry (David and Lisa, Diary of a Mad Housewife) reviewed the film for Life magazine and called it “a masterpiece, a flawless examination of the toll of indecision and the penalty of passive decency.”  Perry went on to write, “The film’s lasting power is that it poses a couple of additional questions to every spectator:  ‘If it had been you, what would you have done?’ If it ever is you, what will you do?'”

Joining Stephen Farber for a post-screening discussion, special guests director Ivan Passer and Michal Sedlacek, Consul General of Czech Republic in Los Angeles. Mr. Passer was one of the directors of the Czech New Wave of the 1960s. His acclaimed film, Intimate Lighting, was also made in 1965. He was the co-writer of Milos Forman’s films Loves of a Blonde and The Firemen’s Ball. Like Forman, he emigrated to America after the Russian invasion. In this country he directed such films as Born to Win with George Segal, Law and Disorder with Carroll O’Connor, Cutter’s Way with Jeff Bridges, and the Emmy-winning HBO movie, Stalin, starring Robert Duvall.

Purchase tickets here.