Monica Film Center

1332 2nd Street | MAP
Santa Monica, CA 90401

310-478-3836

 

Union Q&A schedule:Royal 10/23: co-director Brett Story, producer Samantha Curley, and subject Chris Smalls;Monica Film Center 10/25, 7:20 PM show: co-directors Steve Maing and Brett Story, producer Samantha Curley, and subject Chris Smalls with Adam Conover moderating;Monica Film Center 10/26, 4:20 PM show: co-director Steve Maing, producer Samantha Curley, subject Chris Smalls, and UTLA president Cecily Myart-Cruz;Glendale 10/26, 7:20 PM show: co-director Steve Maing, producer Samantha Curley, and subject Chris Smalls;Glendale 10/27 noon show: co-director Steve Maing, producer Samantha Curley, and subject Chris Smalls.

The newest episode of Inside the Arthouse features the fantastic documentary Union. Having received a Special Jury award at Sundance, and played thirty of the most prestigious documentary film festivals around the world, it opens October 25 at Laemmle Monica Film Center and Glendale. (We'll have multiple in-person Q&A's with the filmmakers and the main subject, Chris Smalls; details here.)Through intimate cinema vérité, Union chronicles the extraordinary efforts of a group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots campaign to unionize an Amazon fulfillment center on Staten Island.The filmmakers document the struggle from day one against one

In Exhibiting Forgiveness, which we open on October 18 at the Laemmle Claremont, Monica Film Center, NoHo and Town Center, Tarrell (Andre Holland) plays an admired American painter who lives with his wife, singer Aisha (Andra Day), and their young son, Jermaine. Tarrell’s artwork excavates beauty from the anguish of his youth, keeping past wounds at bay. His path to success is derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father, La’Ron (John Earl Jelks), a conscience-stricken man desperate to reconcile.Tarrell’s mother, Joyce (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) a pious woman with a profound and joyful spirituality, hopes that Tarrell can open his heart

Ruth Reichl—trailblazing New York Times food critic, groundbreaking Gourmet Magazine editor, best-selling memoirist, and, for decades, one of the most influential figures shaping American food culture—grows concerned about the fate of small farmers, ranchers, and chefs as they wrestle with both immediate and systemic challenges as the pandemic takes hold.In Food and Country, Reichl reaches across political and social divides to discover innovators who are risking it all to survive on the front lines. As one person leads her to the next, she follows the unfolding stories of ranchers in Kansas and Georgia; farmers in Nebraska, Ohio, and the Bronx; a

The new comedy Between the Temples, starring Jason Schwartzman as a troubled cantor who finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher (a never-better Carol Kane) re-enters his life as his adult Bat Mitzvah student, is living up to the hype and bringing audiences into theaters. Peruse this sampling of the catalyst for the film's success, critics' reviews:"A spiky, hilarious, and thoroughly unorthodox screwball comedy about a grief-stricken cantor who loses his voice, only to find that he’s surrounded by a chorus of well-intentioned people who are happy to speak for him." ~ David Ehrlich, indieWire"We get the sense that

Introducing the new video podcast Inside the Arthouse. Hosted by Greg Laemmle, President of Laemmle Theatres, and actor and Emmy award-winning director Raphael Sbarge, Inside the Arthouse is an insider’s perspective on filmmakers and the people responsible for the movies showing on arthouse screens across the U.S.Episode 101: Merchant Ivory: A Conversation with Stephen Soucy is now live everywhere you get your podcasts.Laemmle Theatres opens Merchant Ivory this Friday at the Royal/West L.A. and Town Center/Encino. In his Hollywood Reporter review, David Rooney wrote of the film, "anyone with a fondness for...what might be described as a gentlemen

Greg Laemmle, President of Laemmle Theaters, along with actor and Emmy Award-winning director Raphael Sbarge, are launching a new Video Podcast called INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE. The show is dedicated to highlighting new releases, repertory classics, filmmakers, distributors, and the key personalities who bring movies to the big screen. INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE will be filmed and recorded at the Laemmle Royal Theatre, the 100-year-old theater that has been operated by three generations of Laemmles for the past half century. Laemmle says, “My family has been dedicated to providing a home for independent, foreign and documentary film for almost a century, and

In India Donaldson’s fantastic debut film Good One, 17-year-old Sam (Lily Collias) embarks on a three-day backpacking trip in the Catskills with her dad, Chris (James Le Gros) and his oldest friend, Matt (Danny McCarthy). As the two men quickly settle into a gently quarrelsome, brotherly dynamic, airing long-held grievances, Sam, wise beyond her years, tries to mediate. But when lines are crossed and Sam’s trust is betrayed, tensions reach a fever pitch, as Sam struggles with her dad’s emotional limitations and experiences the universal moment when the parental bond is tested. Selected for both Sundance and Cannes' Directors' Fortnight, Good One

Laemmle Theatres President Greg Laemmle and his wife Tish Laemmle are being honored by the good folks at Glendale Arts "in recognition of their unparalleled legacy of dedication to independent filmmakers and the art of storytelling on the screen." Glendale Arts is an award-winning 501(c)3 non-profit organization that generates opportunities throughout greater Los Angeles to showcase, promote, encourage, and engage with the arts. From their announcement:Glendale Arts proudly announces the organization’s highly-anticipated Summer Soiree “Under A Thousand Stars” to be held on Saturday, July 27, 2024 from 7:00-10:00 P.M. at ace/121 Gallery. Tickets

I don't often step up and offer personal thoughts on new openings. After all, we are opening several films every week, and we love all our children equally. Also, those of you who have spotted me at the theatre (after ONLY IN THEATERS, I've sacrificed any anonymity I might have enjoyed) know that sometimes I'm catching up on films together with you at regular screenings. Not surprisingly, I prefer to see things in a theatre and don't like to watch things via screening links, even if offered in advance.But with THELMA, we have a film that I did get to see at an early festival showing, and I LOVED it so much that I can't help but share my enthusiasm

Actress Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby, Bottoms) returns to Laemmle screens this Friday at the Monica Film Center, NoHo 7 and Town Center 5 with I Used to Be Funny. She plays an aspiring stand-up comedian and au pair struggling with PTSD as she decides whether or not to join the search for Brooke (Olga Petsa), a missing teenage girl she used to nanny.*Click here to watch the trailer.*"Rachel Sennott has the greatest face. It cannot lie, no matter what her characters are saying. That honesty makes her ideal for films with tricky tones... And it’s essential to I Used to Be Funny." - Johanna Schneller, Globe and Mail*"In her film debut, [writer-director

Over the weekend, writer-director Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project, Red Rocket) was awarded the Palme d'Or, the top prize, at this year's Cannes Film Festival for Anora, his comedy about a sex worker. New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis called the film "a giddily ribald picaresque." In his acceptance speech, Baker spoke eloquently about seeing movies in theaters. You can watch the whole thing online, but here's the key excerpt:*"This literally has been my singular goal as a filmmaker for the past 30 years. So I’m not really sure what I’m gonna do with the rest of my life, but I do know that I will continue to fight for cinema

Directed and co-written by four-time Academy Award® nominee Ethan Hawke, Wildcat invites the audience to weave in and out of celebrated Southern Gothic writer Flannery O’Connor's mind as she ponders the great questions of her writing: Can scandalous art still serve God? Does suffering precede all greatness? Can illness be a blessing? In 1950, Flannery (Maya Hawke) visits her mother Regina (Laura Linney) in Georgia when she is diagnosed with lupus at twenty-four years old. Struggling with the same disease that took her father’s life when she was a child and desperate to make her mark as a great writer, this crisis pitches her imagination into a

We're thrilled to screen Shakespeare's leanest, meanest tragedy, Macbeth with Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma, May 2 and 5 only, following its highly acclaimed U.K. tour. It was filmed live at Dock X in London especially for cinemas. Tony and BAFTA Award-winner Fiennes (Antony & Cleopatra, Schindler's List, Coriolanus) and Olivier Award-winner Indira Varma (Present Laughter, Game of Thrones, Luther) star in this brand-new ‘full-voltage visceral’ (★★★★ Daily Telegraph) production of the Scottish play. Designed for a custom-built space, this gripping and breathtaking play about the couple utterly corrupted by their relentless lust for power is

We’re proud to soon screen two films by Canadian filmmaker Patricia Rozema: her just-restored 1995 romance When Night is Falling (May 7 at the Royal and May 8 at the NoHo) and her most recent film, Mouthpiece (May 13 & 14 at the Town Center, Monica Film Center, Glendale, and Claremont). Rozema will participate in Q&As after the Tuesday, May 7 and 8 screenings of When Night is Falling at the Royal and NoHo. Tracy E. Gilchrist, VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for equalpride, will moderate the Royal Q&A.Long considered to be a pivotal entry in the LGTBQ+ canon, When Night is Falling is a sexy, daring and visually resplendent story about the

We know that over the past four years, you may have become accustomed to hearing bad news from us. So we are pleased to share some good news. Qualified good news. But still, a sign of improvement.It appears that older audiences are returning in larger numbers. That's welcome news for all of us at Laemmle Theatres, and at art houses across the U.S. Before the pandemic, the hand wringing was about the “graying” of the arthouse audience. But since reopening, as arthouses have had success with younger-skewing films, the concern instead has been about how to reconnect with the older audiences that were once weekly guests at our theaters. Now, we love

BEYOND THE RAGING SEAFriday May 3 - 7:30 PM Q&A follows with director Maro Orsini, Omar Nour and Omar SamraSaturday May 4 - 4:30 PM Q&A follows with director Maro Orsini, Omar Nour and Omar Samra, moderated by Alya Alghamdi, Saudi Arabian athlete.Sunday May 5 - 12:45,* 3:00* and 5:10 with the Q&As following 12:45 and 3:00 Q&A follows* with director Maro Orsini, Omar Nour and Omar SamraI AM GITMOFriday May 3 – 1:00* and 4:10 *Q&A with director Philippe Diaz and Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin who was UN Special Rapporteur on Human rights and Counterterrorism moderated by journalist Jeremy Kuzmarov.Saturday May 4 –1:00 & 7:00* Q&A with director Philippe Diaz

We have the next several months of our Culture Vulture series set, and as always the films are eclectic and stimulating, featuring documentaries about artists and writers, gallery films, a National Theater Live stage production, and more.April 22 & 23 ~ On the Adamant ~ Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Fest, this affecting, enlightening documentary from nonfiction master Nicolas Philibert (To Be and to Have) invites viewers to come aboard the Adamant and witness the transformational power of art and community. The Adamant is a one-of-a-kind place: a floating refuge on the Seine in the heart of Paris that offers day programs for adults

The 28th feature directed by renowned British filmmaker Ken Loach follows a once-vibrant mining town’s response to the arrival of a group of Syrian refugees. TJ, the amiable proprietor of the titular pub – the last meeting point left in town – struggles to keep his more narrow-minded local clientele amid prejudice as he befriends these new residents, in particular a Syrian photographer, Yara. As he has over his six-decade career, Loach gives compassionate voice to the oppressed – both the Syrian migrants as well as the out-of-work locals -- in this, the concluding chapter of his Northeast England trilogy (following I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We

Several screenings of Pure O will feature Q&As. Here are the details: International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) Date: Friday, April 5th Description: Join us for an exclusive screening of the film as we collaborate with the International OCD Foundation. With a focus on serving a diverse global community affected by OCD and related disorders, the IOCDF is dedicated to providing support, resources, and fostering connections for individuals, families, mental health professionals, and researchers worldwide. Purely OCD: The Podcast Date: Sunday, April 7th Description: Don't miss this special screening of Pure O, featuring a collaboration with the creators of