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Virtual Cinema 2: Electric Boogaloo

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[JUMP TO FILMS]

Dear Laemmle Fans,

I know I just contacted you a couple days ago about the launch of the Laemmle Virtual Cinema program, but we’ve got a number of excited distributors who wanted to share some additional films. And since many of you are looking for stuff to do while sheltering in place, I figured another message wouldn’t hurt.

We’ve also created a page to answer any questions you may have about Laemmle Virtual Cinema. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out via our company email, or to submit a comment via our website. I can’t promise we will be able to answer all your questions directly, but your feedback helps make sure our FAQ is useful.

Click here to learn more about Laemmle Virtual Cinema.

Lastly, thank you again for your support, and know that every purchase you make on Laemmle Virtual Cinema helps us get through this mandatory closure, so that we can continue to serve you again when we reopen. And please, continue to stay safe and follow best practices.

All the best,
Greg Laemmle

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Laemmle’s Virtual Cinema
New Releases for MARCH 27 • Click posters for “Watch Now” instructions.

            

Introducing “Laemmle’s Virtual Cinema”

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Dear Laemmle Fans,

As an exhibitor, I’m supposed to hate VOD (video on demand), seeing it as an enemy out to destroy my family’s 80+ year old business. However, I believe that people will always love going to the movie theatre, and that they recognize movie-going as the best way to appreciate what the filmmaker has created.

But right now, going to the movie theatre isn’t an option. We all know why this is the case, and we’re just going to have to accept it until we can get through this crisis.

These unprecedented times call for new alliances. So in partnership with a number of our indie distributors, we are launching the “Laemmle Virtual Cinema” program.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS LAEMMLE VIRTUAL CINEMA

While the theatres are closed, we’ll be emailing to let you know about new films which you can watch on VOD. The distributors will be sharing revenue directly with us, so that we have the resources to get through this mandatory closure, and can reopen our actual doors as soon as the coast is clear.

So please go ahead and pay to watch a movie online. You’re not cheating on us. You’ll actually be helping us. And together, we can keep the fires of arthouse cinema burning until this storm has passed.

All the best,

Greg Laemmle

Dear Laemmle Fans

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A letter from Greg Laemmle about the closing of the theaters sent on March 20.

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Dear Laemmle Fans,

My family has been in this business in Los Angeles since 1938. I’ve been doing my job for over 30 years. During that time, we’ve had fires, earthquakes, a couple very serious instances of civic unrest, a major terrorist attack on our country, and countless other threats and instances of adversity. But even when curfews curtailed our hours of operation, we managed to be open and showing movies. Even if most people didn’t want to get out, there were always those who found solace and escape in getting out to the movies. And we wanted to be there for them.

The word “unprecedented” gets thrown around a lot. But what we are all living through today definitely fits the bill. And adjusting to this new reality, and accepting that it is going to be with us for at least a month if not more, is a challenge.

As much as movies and the business of showing movies is important to me and all the employees at Laemmle Theatres, we recognize that there is a more important societal issue at stake here. We understand that we need to shut down so that we can do our part to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus. We hope that you will do your part as well by staying safe at home, washing your hands, maintaining recommended social isolation distancing, and generally following best practices. Together, we can flatten the curve so that the contagion spreads as slowly as possible, and we don’t overburden our medical infrastructure. That’s #1.

Second, even though we won’t be opening new movies for a while, we hope that you’ll still stay engaged with us via email, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. We don’t have much to tell you today, but we should have some announcements in coming weeks that we think you’ll find interesting, including how to bring some of the best of Laemmle into your home.

And finally, if you have the means, it does help if you buy a Gift Card or a Premiere Card. These funds will help us get by in the immediate period. There’s a lot of discussion about doing something for impacted businesses, but nothing (as yet) actually happening. So until then, every bit helps. And is MUCH appreciated!

It’s hard to stay positive right now. But if we all look ahead to the day when we can return to our favorite theatre and enjoy a great arthouse film coupled with popcorn (would you like butter on that?) and a beverage, it will make this period a little easier to endure.

Stay safe, and hope to see you all soon.

Sincerely,
Greg Laemmle

All Laemmle Venues Temporarily Closed.

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Dear Laemmle Family,

In accord with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s executive order and in efforts to “flatten the curve,” we have temporarily closed all of our venues including those in municipalities not covered by the Mayor’s order.

We will contact ticket holders via email with refund instructions for tickets purchased in advance.

We appreciate your patience as we navigate this unprecedented situation.

Visit laemmle.com for updates.

Please take care of yourselves and those most at risk. Hope to see you soon.

– Team Laemmle

Ravishing Chinese Noir THE WILD GOOSE LAKE, Palme d’Or Nominee, Opens Friday.

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This Friday Laemmle’s Glendale, Santa Monica, North Hollywood and Pasadena venues will open THE WILD GOOSE LAKE, acclaimed director Diao Yinan’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to his 2014 Berlinale winning neo-noir BLACK COAL, THIN ICE. Toppling box office records in Diao’s native China, the film “cements his status as a master filmmaker with another ingenious crime epic” (Little White Lies).

When smalltime mob leader Zhou Zenong (Chinese superstar Hu Ge) accidentally kills a cop, a dead-or-alive bounty is placed on his head, forcing him on the lam from both the police as well as dangerous gangsters out for the reward. Hiding out in China’s densely populated (and deeply divided) Wuhan province, Zhou becomes entangled with a beautiful, enigmatic woman, who has mysterious intentions of her own. Featuring gorgeous, neon-drenched cinematography and bursts of shocking, expertly choreographed action, THE WILD GOOSE LAKE is “spellbinding” (Rolling Stone), “brilliant” (Indiewire) and “downright Hitchcockian” (AV Club).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E5De82Yo9c&feature=emb_logo

 

Some of the copious praise for the THE WILD GOOSE LAKE:

“Diao Yinan cements his status as a master filmmaker with another ingenious crime epic. THE WILD GOOSE LAKE is another assured, exhilarating tale of criminality and the havoc it wreaks on interpersonal connection, with everything impressive about its predecessor – attentive procedural detail, curious experiments with colour and shadow, action set pieces that’d make Michael Mann envious – raised to the Nth degree. There’s not a single false step in its two hours; every edit, every shot setup, every movement of the camera maximises the raw cinematic effect. There’s power in Diao’s more subdued passages, but when he really lets loose and the fists (or bullets, or strategically concealed booby-traps) start flying, this film’s greatness transforms from the kind that sneaks up on you to the kind that blows you away.” ~ Charles Bramesco, Little White Lies

“Like a beautifully constructed puzzle box, THE WILD GOOSE LAKE‘s various layers unfold in satisfying ways. With elegant violence, emotional richness and a complex yet coherent storyline, this is a rare bit of crime thriller treat that truly pays off. Above all, it’s a highly entertaining film that doesn’t for a moment eschew aesthetics, crafting a world of shadow and subterfuge that’s terrific. THE WILD GOOSE LAKE is a hoot, a Chinese crime thriller that proves Diao Yinan is a new master of dark, thrilling noir.” ~ Jason Gorber, Slash Film

“Diao Yinan’s twisting and turning nocturnal noir is full of moody attitude and glorious cinematography.” ~ Dave Calhoun, Time Out

“Diao Yinan’s THE WILD GOOSE LAKE starts with a rainy night, a guy on the lam, a dame who sidles up to him and murmurs, “Got a light?” In other words, this Chinese gangland thriller kicks off in classic noir style, and gets progressively noirer and more nocturnal as it goes on. The fourth feature from writer-director Diao, who made a major impression with 2014’s investigative drama BLACK COAL, THIN ICE, this hyper-stylish manhunt drama laces slow-burn atmospherics with abrupt outbursts of staccato action, and boils down characterisation to the leanest of bare bones, making for minimalist existentialism in the style of Jean-Pierre Melville.” ~ Jonathan Romney, Screen Daily

“Diao Yinan delivers a definitive Chinese crime noir, in which the ravishing style and inventive staging form the substance.” ~ Jessica Kiang, Variety

“In a movie where just about every scene contains some inventive technique or choice, I was most taken with the way Diao boldly abstracts some of his action: a close-quarters fight that unfolds entirely through associative close-ups; a stabbing conveyed through the scattering of bills; a cop discovering one of his colleagues is dead when a dollop of blood lands on his face. Some of these moments are downright Hitchcockian, giving us the implication of violence without always actually showing it.” ~ A.A. Dowd, AV Club

“While Chinese director Diao Yinan’s THE WILD GOOSE LAKE hardly reconfigures the crime thriller afresh, it does pare it down to the essentials to exhilarating effect, progressively jettisoning the whys and wherefores of plot to focus on little more than two bodies moving through any number of ravishing, noirish spaces.” ~ James Lattimer, Sight & Sound

“This enjoyable and elegantly styled noir thriller is … awash with wonderful set-pieces and exquisite visual moments which skillfully echo China’s gilded past and leave us in no doubt of its contemporary criminality and territory wars.” ~ Meredith Taylor, Filmuforia

“Like the waters lapping up against the shores of its murky titular setting, Diao Yinan’s fugitive thriller THE WILD GOOSE LAKE (Nan Fang Che Zhan De Ju Hui) is a film that doesn’t hit you like a tidal wave as much as it gradually washes over you, leaving in its wake a series of memorable set-pieces and a dense, dark web of violence and fatality.” ~ Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

“It’s a spellbinding pulp noir with a stylish edge and a sui generis fatalism. (12 Best Movies at the Toronto Film Festival)” ~ David Fear, Rolling Stone

“A dizzying, frenetic plunge into the winding and over-populated working-class districts of the city, THE WILD GOOSE LAKE is an exceptional auteur film and noir. Each and every shot is well worth the detour in this sea of coup de force visuals (a very special mention goes to Director of Photography Jingsong Dong), on which the plot never lingers; instead, it takes them in as it twists and turns torrentially (as written by the filmmaker himself), blasting its way through a three-day period, broken up by some nice atmospheric moments where all the actions slows. It makes for a dazzling, labyrinthine journey through a criminal underworld. Here, violence plays an eternally cathartic role and sometimes bursts with black humour, making great use of the laconic and darkly romantic charisma of the two main actors and confirming the immense, fascinating and highly entertaining talent of Diao Yinan.” ~ Fabien Lemercier, Cineuropa

“More even than on its strengths as an expertly directed piece of entertainment, Diao’s latest impresses for its scathing, and unexpected, indictment of societal ills—for how the filmmaker recognizes the extent to which the contours of a sordid genre film appropriately express realities of Chinese life.” ~ Sam Mac, Slant Magazine

“…this film is fascinating because of how those genre thrills are complicated by these off-kilter, idiosyncratic formal choices that trigger not just a lurid dreamscape and uncomfortable humor… but also a vulnerability in the face of alienation and suffering. Watching THE WILD GOOSE LAKE feels like watching a society crumble in real-time, the architecture itself decaying and being painted over while people’s baggage and experiences become more and more exposed….” ~ The Film Stage

“…I thought Diao Yinan’s THE WILD GOOSE LAKE had something of Eisenstein about it, the percussive directionality and suggestiveness of each edit, the way violence happened by implication because a cut is made from a violent instrument to a blood stain. It’s a film of sensual tension wrung from its cinematic touchstones….” ~ Scout Tafoya, RogerEbert.com

“[THE WILD GOOSE LAKE] offers some of the most thrillingly original fight scenes you’ll see onscreen this year.” ~ Nate Jones, Vulture.com

EAST/WEST 20th Anniversary Screenings March 18 in Glendale, Pasadena, and West L.A.

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present this month’s film in our popular Anniversary Classics Abroad program: Regis Wargnier’s compelling and increasingly timely thriller, East/West. Wargnier had won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for his earlier historical epic, Indochine. The Oscar-nominated star of that movie, Catherine Deneuve, collaborated with him again in another fascinating historical drama with an exotic backdrop.

Inspired by true events, East/West tells a story of Russian émigrés living in Paris who were lured back to the Soviet Union after the end of World War II. Russian dictator Josef Stalin promised these refugees a complete pardon if they returned to their homeland. But when they actually returned, many of these refugees were executed or sent to labor camps or forced to live in squalor. The main characters in the story are a doctor (Oleg Menchikov) with a French wife (Sandrine Bonnaire). Deneuve has a vivid supporting role as a visiting French actress who ultimately plays a key role in helping the married couple.

At a time of increasing oppressiveness under the Putin regime in Russia, this reminder of harsh living conditions under the rule of an earlier dictator takes on renewed relevance. Wargnier wrote the screenplay for East/West with Louis Gardel and two Russian writers, Rustam Ibragimbekov and Sergei Bodrov. Bonnaire, the star of earlier French films Vagabond, La Ceremonie, and Monsieur Hire, confirmed her enormous appeal in this picture. Oscar-nominated composer Patrick Doyle (A Little Princess, Sense and Sensibility, Gosford Park), who had worked with Wargnier on Indochine, again contributed a vibrant score.

The Los Angeles Times’ Kevin Thomas declared, “East/West has the scale and rich period atmosphere of Indochine while gradually evolving into an acutely suspenseful thriller.” Writing in Movieline magazine, Stephen Farber paid tribute to the director: “Regis Wargnier has a gift for making sweeping popular entertainment,” and he added, “Sandrine Bonnaire gives a marvelously expressive performance.” The New York Times’ A.O. Scott called East/West a “sumptuous, moving new film,” and Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald hailed it as “a suspenseful and hugely engrossing drama.”

Our 20th anniversary presentation of EAST/WEST screens Wednesday, March 18, at 7pm in Glendale, Pasadena, and West L.A. Click here for tickets.

Format: DVD

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962) Special Screenings and Book Signings March 26 in Pasadena and April 1 in West L.A.

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series invite you to celebrate the publication of Stephen Farber and Michael McClellan’s new book, Cinema ’62: The Greatest Year at the Movies, with screenings of one of the most memorable movies from 1962, John Frankenheimer’s The Manchurian Candidate.

The film will be shown on March 26 at the Playhouse in Pasadena (co-sponsored by Vroman’s Bookstore) and on April 1 at the Royal in West L.A. The authors will introduce both screenings and will sell and sign their book before and after the screenings. Special guests may appear at these screenings.

The Manchurian Candidate was a hit in 1962 and remains one of the most highly acclaimed of all political thrillers. In 1994 it was selected for the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, an honor reserved for films of “historical, cultural, or aesthetic significance.”

This story of a diabolical plot to engineer a Russian takeover of the White House was provocative in 1962 and seems frighteningly prescient and startlingly relevant in the aftermath of the 2016 election. As Frankenheimer said in a prophetic interview a few years before his death, “I think our society is brainwashed by television commercials, by advertising, by politicians, by a censored press… More and more I think that our society is becoming manipulated and controlled.”

The film was adapted from Richard Condon’s novel by screenwriter George Axelrod, who also wrote such films as The Seven-Year Itch and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It tells the chilling story of a soldier in the Korean War, played by Laurence Harvey, who is captured and brainwashed by Russian and Chinese Communists into becoming an assassin in the employ of the Soviet government. Frank Sinatra plays a fellow soldier trying to halt the assassination plot. Angela Lansbury was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Harvey’s manipulative mother, who plays a crucial role in the conspiracy.

In addition to its achievements as a political thriller, the film was one of the first to satirize the anti-Communist hysteria that had gripped the country and divided the Hollywood community during the 1950s. James Gregory plays Lansbury’s husband, a U.S. Senator modeled on Joseph McCarthy. As Frankenheimer told one reporter, “This country was just recovering from the McCarthy era and nothing had ever been filmed about it. I wanted to do a picture that showed how ludicrous the whole McCarthy Far Right syndrome was and how dangerous the Far Left syndrome is. It really dealt with the whole idea of fanaticism, the Far Right and the Far Left being exactly the same thing.”

As a result of these controversial themes, the film was attacked by both right-wing and left-wing pundits at the time of its release. But the reviews were mainly positive. As Variety wrote, “Every once in a rare while a film comes along that works in all departments…Such is The Manchurian Candidate.” The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther had high praise for John Frankenheimer’s direction, which he called “so exciting in the style of Orson Welles when he was making Citizen Kane.”

When the film was re-released in 1987, reviews were even more ecstatic, and it has continued to resonate. Roger Ebert called it “a work as alive and smart as when it was first released.” Pauline Kael said, “The picture plays some wonderful, crazy games about the Right and the Left; although it’s a thriller, it may be the most sophisticated political satire ever made in Hollywood.” Writing in TIME magazine in 2007, Richard Corliss said, “Lansbury and Harvey are both sensational in a movie that remains pointed and current. It still touches you like a clammy hand in the dark.” Lansbury’s portrayal of the malevolent Mrs. Iselin was ranked as one of the 25 greatest villains in film history by the American Film Institute. The supporting cast includes Janet Leigh, Henry Silva, Leslie Parrish, and Khigh Dhiegh. Ferris Webster earned an Oscar nomination for his superb editing of the movie’s suspense sequences.

Cinema ’62 provides fascinating anecdotes about this classic thriller and about many of the other masterpieces of this landmark year. Read all about them after you enjoy this innovative, frightening, wickedly funny, and ever-timely highlight from a year full of cinematic wonders.

Farber and McClellan are the co-producers of Laemmle’s Anniversary Classics series. Stephen Farber has written film criticism for many prominent newspapers and magazines and has published four previous books on film. Michael McClellan is the former Senior Vice President/Head Film Buyer for Landmark Theatres.

The Manchurian Candidate screens on March 26 at 7pm in Pasadena and on April 1 at 7pm at the Royal in West L.A. Cinema ’62: The Greatest Year at the Movies will be available for purchase at the screenings. It is also available at retailers like Vroman’s Bookstore and Amazon.com.

Format: DCP

Jean-Luc Godard’s ALPHAVILLE Screens February 19th in Glendale, Pasadena, and West L.A.

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present Jean-Luc Godard’s cult favorite from 1965, the sci-fi neo-noir satire, Alphaville.  This screening is part of our popular Anniversary Classics Abroad program; this is our first tribute to the controversial but always provocative French auteur, one of the founders of the French New Wave and still something of an enfant terrible at the age of 89.

Our screening is dedicated to the memory of the incandescent star of the film, Anna Karina, who was married to Godard during the 60s and starred in many of his most popular and influential movies, including A Woman Is A Woman, Band of Outsiders, and Pierrot le Fou.

American-born Eddie Constantine plays the character of Lemmy Caution, a hard-boiled detective who had been featured in a series of European B-movies.  Godard borrowed the actor and the character for his vaguely futuristic portrayal of a mechanized society in thrall to a giant computer.

Working with the great cinematographer Raoul Coutard (who photographed many films of Godard and Francois Truffaut), Godard evoked a future world utilizing modernist glass and concrete buildings that already existed in Paris in the 1960s.

The film was compared by many critics to George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel, 1984, with allusions to Orwell’s Big Brother and misinformation campaign, Newspeak.  The dictatorial computer, Alpha 60, prefigured the sinister HAL in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.  Other dark-tinged sci-fi movies like Blade Runner and The Terminator also demonstrated a debt to Alphaville.

In addition to Constantine and Karina, the cast included Howard Vernon and Akim Tamiroff, with cameo appearances by Christa Lang and Jean-Pierre Leaud, a key figure in the French New Wave.

The film won the top prize, the Golden Bear, at the Berlin Film Festival.  Reviews were mixed at the time, with some critics bewildered and others praising the film’s style and originality.  Over the years it has been recognized as a prophetic work in its protest of the growing dehumanization of modern life.  As the Boston Globe’s Ty Burr wrote, “Alphaville moves closer to relevance with every passing year.”  The New Yorker’s Richard Brody called it “one of the great cinematic works of romanticism.”  Time Out’s Keith Uhlich added, “Karina proves to be the beating heart of the movie.”

Our 55th anniversary presentation of ALPHAVILLE screens Wednesday, February 19 at 7pm in Glendale, Pasadena, and West L.A. Click here for tickets.

99 minutes * NR * DCP * 1965