In 1948, a group of World War II pilots volunteered to fight for Israel in the War of Independence. As members of 'Machal' -- volunteers from abroad -- this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war, preventing the possible annihilation of Israel at the very moment of its birth; they also laid the groundwork for the Israeli Air Force. ABOVE AND BEYOND is their story. The first major feature-length documentary about the foreign airmen in the War of Independence, ABOVE AND BEYOND brings together new interviews with pilots from the '48 War, as well as leading scholars and statesmen, including Shimon Peres, to present an extraor [...]

Since its 1982 release THE LAST UNICORN has enchanted audiences everywhere with its moving story about a unicorn trying to find and rescue her lost people, and the price she pays for bringing magic back into the world. Considered one of the great fantasies of the last century, the original novel has sold over six million copies in 25 languages, while the film adaptation has sold more than four million home video copies in America in just the last nine years. THE LAST UNICORN novelist/screenwriter Peter Beagle will introduce all Laemmle screenings.

Internationally acclaimed Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan has won prizes at major film festivals all over the world, but it wasn't until last May, after being nominated four times, that he finally took home what is probably the topmost prize of all, the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or. It was for WINTER SLEEP, a "richly engrossing and ravishingly beautiful magnum opus" about Aydin, a former actor who runs a small hotel in central Anatolia with his young wife Nihal and his sister Necla, who is recovering from her recent divorce. "A Chekhovian meditation on a marriage that returns to the mood of the director's early films like Climates an [...]

As you may have heard, actor, artist, comedian Taylor Negron passed away last week.  Taylor was very dear to all of us at Lammle.  Recently, we had the great opportunity to work closely with him as we exhibited his series of “Snow Paintings” at the Royal as part of our Art in the Arthouse program.  Below are some remembrances of Taylor from the program’s curator, Joshua Elias. Taylor Negron was a special artist in all senses. He was really funny, interesting, irreverent, philosophical, deeply spiritual, and a man of refined taste. I met Taylor through Sharon Barr in 1983. Our house burned down and Taylor opened his house up to us as [...]

This year Germany submitted BELOVED SISTERS as their potential nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, and one can see why. Scott Foundas of Variety, a smart, tough critic, called the movie “an enthralling, gorgeously mounted depiction of the complicated relationship between the post-Enlightenment writer and philosopher Friedrich Schiller and the sisters Charlotte von Lengefeld and Caroline von Beulwitz. Graf has created an unusually intelligent costume drama of bold personalities torn between the stirrings of the heart and the logic of the mind.” We are very pleased to open the film tomorrow at the Royal, Playhouse and Town Center. [...]