REEL TALK
- Andy Garcia and Stephen Farber
SPRING REEL TALK will take place at the Royal Theatre from March 30 through May 18. Tickets are on sale now at www.laemmle.com/reeltalk.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD WINTER 2026
I was pleased to see that all 7 movies in our Winter series, even the most controversial, received votes from some members of the audience. Not surprisingly, the final movie screened–a real crowd-pleaser–came out on top. But the very first movie in the series scored second. These were the top 3:
- VIVA VERDI!
- SHEEPDOG
- BURT
WINTER REEL TALK begins on January 12 and runs for 7 weeks, through March 9 (skipping the MLK holiday and Presidents Day). Tickets are on sale now for all 7 movies, either online at www.laemmle.com/reeltalk or at the Royal Theatres box office, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd., any day after 2 PM. All 7 screenings cost $22 if purchased on or before January 12. The price goes up to $27 per film on January 13.
January 12: SHEEPDOG is a powerful, timely drama about PTSD and its effect on veterans of the Iraq war. The top cast includes Steven Grayhm (who also directed), Vondie Curtis-Hall, Matt Dallas, and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen. Guest speakers: actor/producer Matt Dallas, actress Virginia Madsen.
NO SCREENING JANUARY 19
January 26: DEEPFAKING SAM ALTMAN is a fascinating, sometimes humorous documentary about the filmmaker’s attempt to track down the elusive Sam Altman, creator of Open AI and Chat GPT. When he hits a number of roadblocks in trying to interview the tech billionaire, the filmmaker tries another pathway. This is a timely exploration of the future that may await us all. Guest speaker: director and on-screen protagonist Adam Bhala Lough.
February 2: JIMPA tells a very contemporary story of gender identity, with a great cast. Oscar winner Olivia Colman plays a woman with a non-binary child who decides they want to move in with their gay grandfather, played by Oscar nominee and Tony winner John Lithgow. Old family wounds are uncovered and move toward healing. Guest speaker: executive producer Martin Metz.
February 9: MIDWINTER BREAK. Award-winning actors Lesley Manville and Ciaran Hinds play a long-married Irish couple who take a vacation to Amsterdam, where they confront cracks in their relationship and try to come to terms with regrets from their past. Outstanding performances grace both of these early February movies!
NO SCREENING FEBRUARY 16
February 23: THE GARDENER tells a timely story of a high-powered corporate executive (Radha Mitchell) who reassesses her values after she purchases an idyllic cottage in the countryside. Guest speakers: director Dabney Day and lead actress Radha Mitchell, who starred in such films as High Art, Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda, and the Olympus Has Fallen action series.
March 2: BURT, a low-budget comedy-drama that seduced audiences at several recent film festivals. A scammer tries to take advantage of a man suffering from Parkinsons Disease, but plans are upended as the two men get to know each other better. Oliver Cooper and Burt Berger star. Guest speakers: director Joe Burke, star and co-writer Oliver Cooper.
March 9: VIVA VERDI! This documentary about a retirement home for opera singers, launched by Guiseppe Verdi over a century ago, is an Oscar nominee at this year’s awards show! Guest speakers: producer Christine La Monte and composer Nicholas Pike, who earned a nomination for best original song.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD FALL 2025
Of the 10 movies screened during our Fall series, only one–LAST DAYS–received no votes from audience members. It also received no negative comments, so it may be that it simply didn’t make a very strong impression. Several people commented that they thought this was a great series, and we certainly had a vibrant range of films. These were the top choices:
1. SONG SUNG BLUE
2. NUREMBERG
3. DEAD MAN’S WIRE and ROOFMAN (tie)
This is a reminder of our entire series:
October 6: AMONG NEIGHBORS is a stirring documentary about a village in Poland where Jews and Poles lived together until the Nazi invasion of 1939. Then everything changed, even when Jewish residents returned home after the war. Survivors tell their story, and beautiful animation helps to fill in some of the details. Guest speaker: director Yoav Potash.
October 13: LAST DAYS, a hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, centers on a misguided missionary who tries to convert a tribe in a remote setting. Guest speaker: director Justin Lin, who has made acclaimed independent films as well as blockbusters STAR TREK BEYOND and several films in the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise.
October 20: ROOFMAN stars Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst in the astonishing true story of a good-hearted thief who survived on his wits until love entered the picture. One of the most crowd-pleasing movies we have ever shown in Reel Talk. Guest speakers: producers Lynette Howell Taylor, Alex Orlovsky, and Jamie Patricof. Don’t even think about missing this one!
October 27: LOST & FOUND IN CLEVELAND. The lives of several seniors and their friends are upended when the popular Antiques Roadshow comes to Cleveland for one 24-hour marathon. An exceptional cast headed by June Squibb, Martin Sheen, Stacy Keach, Dennis Haysbert, Jon Lovitz, Loretta Devine, and Rory O’Malley guide the tour! Guest speakers: director Keith Gerchak, composer Sven Faulconer, and actor Rory O’Malley.
November 3: NUREMBERG, based on true events, focuses on the efforts to prosecute Hermann Goring, the highest-ranking Nazi official still alive at the end of World War II. In preparation for the Nuremberg trials, the army brings in a psychiatrist to interview and analyze the crafty Goring. Oscar winner Rami Malek portrays the psychiatrist, and Oscar winner Russell Crowe embodies Goring. The supporting cast includes Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, John Slattery, and rising young actor Leo Woodall. Guest speakers: film editor Tom Eagles and sound designer Michael Babcock.
November 10: IF YOU SEE SOMETHING tells a timely, suspenseful story about an Iraqi immigrant living in the United States and seeking asylum when he learns of a family crisis back in Iraq. Guest speakers: director Oday Rasheed, lead actress and co-writer Jess Jacobs, supporting actor Tarek Bishara, and composer Bryan Keller.
November 17: H IS FOR HAWK is adapted from the highly acclaimed, best-selling book by Helen Macdonald about her struggle with grief and the unexpected relief she discovered as she tried to train a stubborn hawk. Claire Foy, the original Queen Elizabeth II in the long-running series The Crown, stars with Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin, In Bruges, the Harry Potter series). Guest speaker: producer Jeremy Kleiner, who has produced such Oscar-winning or nominated films as Moonlight, 12 Years a Slave, Selma, Nickel Boys, Vice, and The Big Short.
NO SCREENING NOVEMBER 24
December 1: LITTLE TROUBLE GIRLS is Slovenia’s submission for Best International Feature at this year’s Oscars. It tells the story of a teenage girl whose life changes when she joins an all-girl choir on a retreat in the countryside. The picture has been a hit on the festival circuit and currently boasts 100 per cent positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes. Guest speaker: director Urska Djukic.
December 8: SONG SUNG BLUE. Oscar nominees Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson star as a couple who form a Neil Diamond tribute band as a way to conquer some of the stresses they confront. Craig Brewer, who made the critical and commercial hit Hustle & Flow, directs. This film mixes character drama and social commentary with rousing music.
December 15: DEAD MAN’S WIRE is a taut thriller about a man who has been mistreated by the banking system and seeks redress for his grievances. It is set in the 1970s and recalls a classic film from that era, Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon, another true story about a hostage situation that quickly becomes a media circus. This is the first feature film in several years directed by Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy, Good Will Hunting, Milk) and shows him again working in top form. Bill Skarsgard, Dacre Montgomery, and Cary Elwes star. Guest speaker: screenwriter Austin Kolodney.
Tickets for Winter Reel Talk, January 12 – March 9, are on sale NOW at www.laemmle.com/reeltalk.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD SUMMER 2025
All 9 movies in our Summer series received votes from some members of the audience. In fact, the votes were more evenly divided than in any series that I can remember. Usually there will be 1 or 2 movies that only get a couple of votes. This time every single film had at least 8 or 9 votes, so there was no overwhelming favorite. A very gratifying result. But these were the top 3:
1. SHOSHANA
2. DON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT
3. BEFORE WE FORGET
This is a reminder of all 9 films:
June 23: FAMILIAR TOUCH boasts 100 per cent positive reviews! Acclaimed stage and screen actress Kathleen Chalfant stars as an accomplished woman who is forced to begin a new stage of life. The movie was filmed at a senior living facility, Villa Gardens in Pasadena. Three of the people who aided the filmmakers will join our fascinating Q&A panel: Shaun Rushforth, executive director of Villa Gardens; Jane Dietrich, Villa Gardens resident and film participant; Lisa Tanahashi, Villa Gardens resident and film participant. One of the most unusual and illuminating panels we have ever presented!
June 30: DON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT, acclaimed at several festivals, is set during the last days of British rule in Rhodesia during the civil war of 1980. The story is focused on the lives of one family during this historic transitional moment. Guest speaker: director/writer/co-star Embeth Davidtz, who has starred in many high-profile movies, including Schindler’s List, Mansfield Park, Matilda, Bridget Jones’ Diary, and The Amazing Spider-Man. DON’T MISS THIS ONE. GREAT FILM AND SPEAKER!
July 7: BEFORE WE FORGET tells a universal story of trying to recapture a lost love. A filmmaker in Buenos Aires is stalled trying to complete a movie based on his youthful experiences in Italy. As the movie travels back in time, we learn more about the adventures that inspired him. Beautifully photographed in Italy and Sweden as well as Argentina, the movie conjures a rich, sensual atmosphere. Guest speaker: co-director and lead actor Juan Pablo Di Pace. Winner of audience awards at almost every LGBTQ film festival!
July 14: THE ADDICTION OF HOPE tells a poignant family story with universal appeal. A struggling, somewhat older actress in Los Angeles re-examines her priorities when her sister becomes ill. Stars Anne-Marie Johnson, Harley Jane Kozak, Alan Rosenberg, Clancy Brown. We have a very special panel for this one: writer-director-actor Martin Grey Gottlieb, actress-producer Anne-Marie Johnson, actor Alan Rosenberg, cinematographer-producer David Marrouquin.
July 21: SHOSHANA retrieves a fascinating part of Israeli history. Set mainly in Tel Aviv from the late 1930s through the 1940s, it focuses on Jewish settlers rebelling against British rulers, sometimes using violent tactics to achieve their goals. The film is directed by British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, who has made such diverse films as The Trip with Steve Coogan, A Mighty Heart, about the murder of Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl, and Jude (based on Thomas Hardy’s novel, Jude the Obscure,) starring Kate Winslet. Guest speaker will be film editor, director, and USC faculty member Jim Ruxin.
July 28: 2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA won the best documentary directing award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film’s director Mstyslav Chernov, an Oscar won for his earlier documentary about the Ukraine war, 20 Days in Mariupol. In this case Chernov follows a platoon fighting their way through a Russian-occupied war zone to liberate a village from Russia. Guest speaker: Mstyslav Chernov. He received a standing ovation at our screening!!
August 4: MY MOTHER’S WEDDING focuses on three daughters gathering for the third wedding of their twice-widowed mother. Kristin Scott Thomas (who also directs for the first time) plays the mother, and the daughters are portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, and Emily Beecham. After two disturbing movies, this wonderfully acted movie should make a great change of pace!
August 11: EAST OF WALL was inspired by the true story of a group of young women raising and tending horses in the Badlands of South Dakota. It was an audience award winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Guest speakers: writer-director Kate Beecroft and co-star Scoot McNairy, who has appeared in such diverse films as In Search of a Midnight Kiss, Argo, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, A Complete Unknown, and TV series True Detective and Halt and Catch Fire.
August 18: ANY DAY NOW is loosely based on the true story of a major art heist at the Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. Guest speakers: writer-director Eric Aronson and actor Paul Guilfoyle, the star of the award-winning TV series CSI over several seasons and a co-star of acclaimed films L.A. Confidential, Primary Colors, and Spotlight.
The movies shown in our Spring Series got some of the best reactions for any Reel Talk series I have offered recently. Even the most controversial movie, V13, did get one or two positive responses. All the rest were enthusiastically received by the audience. And some of you had very thoughtful suggestions on building awareness of the series for potential new members. These were the audience favorite choices:
1. LILLY
2. A NICE INDIAN BOY and JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE (tie)
3. A NORMAL FAMILY
Here is a reminder of our Spring Series.
March 31: A NICE INDIAN BOY has earned 100 per cent positive reviews from early festival screenings. Wedding plans face challenges from a large Indian family. Jonathan Groff, the Tony-winning star of the recent revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, co-stars with Karan Soni. Guest speakers: lead actor Karan Soni, director Roshan Sethi, and composer Raashi Kulkarni.
April 7: WHEN FALL IS COMING also boasts 100 per cent positive reviews . Two elderly women living in a village in the French countryside turn out to have a more vibrant history than first impressions would suggest. Problems arise when one of the women’s daughters decides to dredge up the past and make trouble. Acclaimed director Francois Ozon guides an outstanding cast. Guest speaker: French producer Antoine de Cazotte, who won an Oscar for producing The Artist.
April 14: A NORMAL FAMILY, from acclaimed Korean director Hur Jin-ho (Happiness, One Fine Spring Day) is adapted from the international best-selling novel, The Dinner, by Herman Koch. It is a gripping tale of 2 families that face a moral reckoning. One brother is a wealthy lawyer who is not averse to representing morally compromised clients if they can pay a hefty fee. His brother is a caring doctor with higher ethical standards. Yet when their children get into trouble, their values shift and swerve. Conflicts erupt at a family dinner at a posh restaurant. Sure to generate healthy discussion!
April 21: THE TROUBLE WITH JESSICA is a biting, often hilarious black comedy about a dinner party that goes off the rails when one of the party guests has the effrontery to… well, you’ll have to see the movie to find out! An experienced Anglo-American cast is headed by Shirley Henderson, Alan Tudyk, Rufuss Sewell, and Olivia Williams. Guest speaker: screenwriter James Handel.
April 28: LILLY tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter, the Alabama factory worker who fought the battle for equal pay for women all the way to the Supreme Court. Oscar nominated actress Patricia Clarkson, a major talent of both stage and screen, stars. John Benjamin Hickey and Thomas Sadoski co-star. Guest speaker: director and co-writer Rachel Feldman.
May 5: V13 is set in Vienna in 1913 and deals with the threat of rising fascism as the film traces the fate of two young men with very different values. One is an aspiring artist who has dark visions of the future, while the other seeks to improve his life by undergoing psychoanalysis with the renowned Sigmund Freud, superbly played by Alan Cumming. Guest speaker: writer-director Richard Ledes.
May 12: BAD SHABBOS won the audience award at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival and also captivated crowds at this year’s Palm Springs Film Festival. This very dark, uproarious comedy about family turmoil stars Kyra Sedgwick, David Paymer, Milana Vayntrub, Ashley Zukerman, and Method Man. Guest speakers: actors David Paymer (an Oscar nominee for Mr. Saturday Night) and Milana Vayntrub (star of many acclaimed TV series and the most famous face of recent AT&T commercials.)
May 19: JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE. A young woman working at the famous Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris wins a residency at a Jane Austen writers’ workshop in England. There she finds herself in the middle of a romantic triangle that might have been inspired by one of Austen’s own novels! As one critic observed of the film, “Miss Austen would approve.”
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD WINTER 2025
All 7 movies shown in our Winter series received votes from some members of the audience. This includes the first movie, WAVES, which had a low attendance because of the wildfires. There was a tie for first place:
1. LIZA: A TRULY TERRIFIC ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY and GUARDIANS OF THE FORMULA
2. UNBROKEN
3. ROSE
Here is a reminder of our entire Winter Series.
January 8: Special added screening of WAVES, the Czech entry for best international feature, and one of 15 films on the shortlist of Oscar semi-finalists. The film is set in Prague in 1968, first during the Prague Spring of liberation and then during the Soviet invasion. Appearing at this special screening will be director Jiri Madl and producer Monika Kristl.
January 13: ROSE tells the story of a woman in her 70s who loses her husband but resolves to go on living vibrantly, sometimes to the consternation of her children. Legendary French actress Francoise Fabian (My Night at Maud’s, Happy New Year) portrays Rose. Aurelie Saada directs. Guest speaker: Anouchka van Riel, deputy director of the American French Film Festival.
NO SCREENING JANUARY 20
January 27: LIZA: A TRULY TERRIFIC ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY is a candid documentary about the up-and-down career of superstar Liza Minnelli, featuring tremendous archive footage and fresh interviews with Liza herself, along with Michael Feinstein, Lorna Luft, Mia Farrow, Joel Grey, and many more! Guest speaker: director Bruce David Klein.
February 3: GUARDIANS OF THE FORMULA (Serbia) was one of the audience favorites–chosen as Best of the Fest–at last year’s Palm Springs International Film Festival. This exciting political thriller follows a group of scientists in Communist-era Yugoslavia who are accidentally subjected to atomic radiation and smuggled to France for treatment with an experimental bone marrow transplant. Guest speakers: Dr. Tanya Dorff, oncologist at City of Hope, and Vera Mijojlic, founder, South East European Film Festival.
February 10: UNBROKEN is a documentary based on director Beth Lane’s family history. Beth is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and in this film she explores how the members of her mother’s family survived and reunited after many years of separation. It is a surprising and inspiring document of a dark moment in history. Guest speaker: director Beth Lane.
NO SCREENING FEBRUARY 17.
February 24: EX-HUSBANDS is a wry and wise comedy-drama about three generations of a family facing problems in their relationships. In addition to the sharp script and the expert performances, the film boasts striking cinematography of Tulum, Mexico, where a father on the verge of divorce crashes his son’s bachelor party. Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, James Norton, and Richard Benjamin star. Guest speaker: writer-director Noah Pritzker.
March 3: EEPHUS boasts 100 per cent positive reviews based on its screenings at Cannes and the New York Film Festival. Members of 2 neighborhood baseball teams play their last game at a local baseball field that is scheduled for demolition. This low-budget Field of Dreams is a perfect movie for the start of baseball season. Guest speakers: co-writer Nate Fisher, co-star Tim Taylor.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD FALL 2024
Every single one of the 10 movies screened during our Fall series received votes from some members of the audience. That includes the most controversial movies, CHASING CHASING AMY and LITTLE GIRL BLUE, and it also includes the bonus screening of BOGART: LIFE COMES IN FLASHES, which had a smaller audience because it was a Bonus screening not on our regular Monday night. I am always pleased when many different movies have their champions. I have included the top 4 movies because they represent such admirable diversity. One of the people at our final screening thanked me for the diversification and added that if I screened only movies that had pleased patrons in past years, I would end up with an audience of about 20 people! We all have to move with changing times!
These were your favorites:
1. CONCLAVE
2. ALBANY ROAD
3. THE FIRE INSIDE
4. LOS FRIKIS
Here is a reminder of our entire Fall program.
October 14: CONCLAVE is one of the most highly praised films from this fall’s festival circuit. Edward Berger, the acclaimed director of the recent Oscar-winning German film All Quiet on the Western Front, shifts gears to an inside-the-Vatican thriller adapted from the best-selling novel by Robert Harris. Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini head the cast.
October 21: MEMOIR OF A SNAIL is a rare film with 100 per cent positive reviews. This charming and poignant animated film is sure to be in the Oscar race in several categories. It tells the story of a young woman struggling to survive after she is separated from her twin brother. She finds sustenance from her friendship with an elderly woman who has the zest for life that the heroine lacks. Sarah Snook, the Emmy-winning actress from Succession, provides the voice for the lead character, and Eric Bana and Jacki Weaver also have crucial roles. Guest speaker: Australian director Adam Elliot. PLEASE NOTE: THIS ONE SCREENING BEGINS AT 8 PM TO ALLOW Q&A WITH THE DIRECTOR.
October 28: CHASING CHASING AMY is a rich documentary about Sav Rodgers and the impact that Kevin Smith’s comic classic Chasing Amy had on him when he was growing up. After he delivered a TED talk praising the film, he attracted the attention of director Kevin Smith and the cast members from Chasing Amy. His own personal journey unfolded unexpectedly afterwards. Guest speaker: filmmaker and onscreen protagonist Sav Rodgers.
November 4: ALBANY ROAD is a moving drama about family and life-changing decisions. Renee Elise Goldsberry (a Tony winner for Hamilton) and Lynn Whitfield (an Emmy winner for her performance as Josephine Baker) star. Goldsberry portrays an ambitious career woman forced to confront the mother of her former boyfriend on a journey that will change both of them. Guest speakers: writer-director Christine Swanson and actress Lynn Whitfield.
November 11: LITTLE GIRL BLUE is an intriguing and novel docudrama in which director Mona Acache explores the complex history of her mother–actress, writer, and photographer Carole Acache, who had complicated relationships with some of the leading French intellectuals of her time. Along with newsreel footage, Acache re-enacts some events from her mother’s life, with the help of Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose, Inception, Nine, Midnight in Paris, The Immigrant, Macbeth). Guest speaker: actress Marion Cotillard.
BONUS SCREENING Thursday, November 14: BOGART: LIFE COMES IN FLASHES is a definitive documentary about screen legend Humphrey Bogart, including rare footage with Bogart himself, Lauren Bacall, friends, co-workers, and family members. Guest speakers: director Kathryn Ferguson and Stephen Bogart, the son of Bogart and Bacall. See this screening at the discounted price of just $13!
November 18: THE LAST SHOWGIRL perceptively examines the plight of a dancer in one of the Las Vegas nudie musical spectacles when the show closes after 30 years. Pamela Anderson gives a riveting performance as the title character, and the cast also includes Jamie Lee Curtis and Dave Bautista. Gia Coppola directs. Guest speaker: screenwriter Kate Gersten.
NO SCREENING NOVEMBER 25!
December 2: LOS FRIKIS is set in Cuba during the early 1990s, when Castro had banned rock ‘n roll. Two music-loving brothers decide to take a radical but dangerous approach when they arrange to move to a more secluded area where they hope to live more freely. Guest speakers: co-director/co-writer Tyler Nilson, who previously made The Peanut Butter Falcon, an audience favorite at our Reel Talk series in 2019. Plus added special guest: the movie’s star Eros de la Puente!!
December 9: NICKEL BOYS is one of the most acclaimed films of the year. It has already won awards from the New York Film Critics and the Gotham awards and is listed by the American Film Institute as one of the year’s 10 best. Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, it follows the lives of two Black boys unjustly imprisoned in a notorious reformatory in Florida during the Jim Crow era. RaMell Ross directs Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Guest speakers: director and co-writer RaMell Ross, co-writer and producer Joslyn Barnes, cinematographer Jomo Fray, film editor Nicholas Monsour, composer Alex Somers. One of our best panels ever!
December 16: THE FIRE INSIDE tells the true story of the young woman who made history when she won the boxing competition at two consecutive Olympic games. Award-winning cinematographer Rachel Morrison directs a script written by Barry Jenkins (an Oscar winner for Moonlight). Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry star. Variety described this as “a real rouser,” and indeed it is! 96 per cent positive reviews! At this screening, tickets will also be on sale for all 6 movies in our Winter series, which begins on January 13.
A reminder of our Summer Reel Talk films:
July 8: HOW TO COME ALIVE is an incisive documentary about controversial, immensely successful writer Norman Mailer. Mailer had 6 wives, 9 children, wrote best-sellers, Pulitzer Prize winners, and engaged in public confrontations with other writers and pundits. Director Jeff Zimbalist managed to snare revealing interviews with several of Mailer’s wives and children as well as many other contemporary writers. Guest speakers: director Jeff Zimbalist, producer Vicki Marquette.
July 15: WIDOW CLICQUOT tells the unheralded but captivating story of the woman who rejuvenated her husband’s champagne business after his death. Haley Bennett, Ben Miles, Tom Sturridge star in this lush, feminist-themed period drama. 100 per cent positive reviews for this one! Guest speaker: screenwriter Erin Dignam.
July 22: GREAT ABSENCE. This poignant Japanese film, about the relationship of an estranged father and son over a period of years, has won awards and rave reviews at several international film festivals. Leading actor Tatsuya Fuji was named best actor in San Sebastian last year.
July 29: DANDELIONS is a striking and emotional autobiographical film from director Basil Mironer. His journey began when he received a Facebook message from a man in Russia claiming to be his brother. As Basil investigated and eventually decided to travel to Moscow, the entire family history that he thought he knew exploded. Guest speaker: director and on-camera protagonist Basil Mironer.
August 5: RUNNING ON EMPTY is a dark comedy about a young man who learns that the day of his death is less than a year away and then discovers new reasons to stay alive. An excellent ensemble cast that includes Keir Gilchrist, Lucy Hale, Francesca Eastwood, Monica Potter, Rhys Coiro, and Jim Gaffigan enlivens the story. Guest speakers: writer-director Daniel Andre, actors Monica Potter and Rhys Coiro.
August 12: CLOSE TO YOU stars Oscar nominee Elliot Page as a young trans man returning home after a long absence and trying to repair relations with his family and community. Page also co-authored the screenplay. Guest speaker: director and co-writer Dominic Savage.
August 19: MERCHANT IVORY is a definitive documentary about one of the great filmmaking teams in history. An amazing group of stars and other collaborators provide interviews, including James Ivory, Helena Bonham Carter, Hugh Grant, Vanessa Redgrave, Emma Thompson, and many more. Guest speaker: director Stephen Soucy.
August 26: REBEL RIDGE is a suspense thriller about a Black man who runs afoul of a corrupt police department in a small Southern town. An excellent cast headed by Aaron Pierre, AnnaSophia Robb, Don Johnson (who makes an infuriating villain), and James Cromwell brings the story to life. Guest speaker: director Jeremy Saulnier.
Films and speakers subject to change.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD SPRING 2024
Every single one of the 9 movies shown in our Spring series received votes from the audience. Even the most controversial of the movies, like THE BRINK OF and GOLDILOCKS AND THE TWO BEARS, were acknowledged. But these 3 were the favorites:
1. IRENA’S VOW
2. GHOSTLIGHT (only 1 vote behind!)
3. THELMA
Here is a recap of our Spring Series:
April 8: IRENA’S VOW, set during World War II, tells the true story of Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish woman who rescued and sheltered a dozen Jewish workers for a period of two years. Sophie Nelisse and Dougray Scott star in the drama directed by Louise Archambault. Guest Speaker: Jeannie Smith, the daughter of Irena Gut Opdyke.
April 15: THE BRINK OF is a romantic drama about two aspiring folk-rock singers trying to balance their personal and professional lives. Guest speakers: director Patrick Meaney and the two stars of the movie, actor/songwriters Nicolette Norgaard and Tim Hoffman.
NO SCREENING APRIL 22. HAPPY PASSOVER!
April 29: BEYOND THE RAGING SEA is a documentary that follows the journey of two Egyptian athletes, Omar Samra and Omar Nour, who set out to cross the Atlantic in a small boat in order to demonstrate the challenges facing refugees willing to take enormous risks in search of a better life. Guest speakers: the two sailors, Omar Samra and Omar Nour in person!
May 6: FORCE OF NATURE: THE DRY 2. This Australian thriller centers on a detective investigating the disappearance of a woman on a camping trip in the wilderness. Spectacular scenery and a complex mystery story enhance this picture. Guest speakers: writer-director Robert Connolly, star and producer Eric Bana (the star of many earlier films, including Troy, Munich, The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Other Boleyn Girl, Lone Survivor, and The Finest Hours).
May 13: I USED TO BE FUNNY. Rachel Sennott, standup comic and the star of the indie hit Shiva Baby, plays a gifted female comic whose career suffers when she takes a job as a nanny and becomes involved in the turmoil roiling the young girl’s family. Guest speaker: writer-director Ally Pankiw.
May 20: GHOSTLIGHT is a vibrant comedy-drama about a construction worker whose life changes when he wanders into a community theater rehearsal of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and finds some troubling parallels between his own life and the classic tale of star-crossed lovers . Real-life family members Keith Kupferer, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, and Tara Mallen star, along with Dolly De Leon, the award-winning actress from Triangle of Sadness. Currently has 100 per cent positive reviews. Guest speakers: filmmakers Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, plus the 3 stars of the movie Keith Kupferer, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, and Tara Mallen. This is one of our best movies and panels ever. Don’t miss it!
NO SCREENING MAY 27
June 3: MAESTRA is a captivating documentary about an international competition for aspiring female conductors, a field that is still sadly dominated by men. The back stories recounted here are illuminating, and the music is glorious. Guest speaker: director Maggie Contreras.
June 10: THELMA was an enormous hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and has earned rave reviews. It tells a story based on the real experiences of director Josh Margolin’s grandmother, who set out to get even with the scammers who tried to bilk her. June Squibb, an Oscar nominee for Nebraska, may be the oldest leading lady in cinema history! Supporting players include Richard Roundtree, Fred Hechinger, Clark Gregg, Parker Posey, and Malcolm McDowell. Guest speaker: writer-director Josh Margolin.
June 17: GODILOCKS AND THE TWO BEARS. Two squatters move into an empty house in a suburban community outside Las Vegas. When the young resident of the house arrives home, she wonders, “Who”s that sleeping in my bed?” The film is written and directed by Jeff Lipsky, a pioneer in the field of independent cinema who helped to shepherd many landmark films to audiences. Guest speakers: writer-director Jeff Lipsky, lead actors Serra Naiman, Bryan Middlestadt, Claire Milligan.
Films and speakers subject to change.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD WINTER 2024
All 7 movies in our Winter series received votes from some members of the audience. In fact, there were no negative comments about ANY of the movies shown, so I count that as a success! And the top choices were separated by only a few votes.
1. IO CAPITANO
2. PROMISED LAND
3. THE MONK AND THE GUN
A reminder of our Winter Series:
January 22: AMERICAN STAR is a taut thriller and character study set in the Canary Islands. Guest speaker: the movie’s star and producer, acclaimed actor Ian McShane (the star of the TV series Deadwood and many top movies from The Last of Sheila to John Wick).
January 29: THE PROMISED LAND is Denmark’s submission for best international film of 2023, and it made the Oscar shortlist of the top 15 movies under consideration. This epic film, inspired by real events in 18th century Danish history, stars acclaimed actor Mads Mikkelson as a former army officer who sets out to farm the land on the rugged Jutland heath and runs into opposition from a vicious nobleman. Guest speaker: composer Dan Romer, whose credits include Beasts of the Southern Wild, Luca, many acclaimed TV series.
February 5: THE MONK AND THE GUN is the submission from Bhutan for best international film of 2023. An American gun collector arrives in the country with the desire to purchase a rare antique rifle owned by a monk. This wry fable focuses on the country’s transition to democracy after many years under a monarchy, and it also has some sharp comments to make on the universal worship of guns. The spectacular scenery enhances the vivid screenplay. Guest speaker: Eric D’Arbeloff, co-president of distributor Roadside Attractions, who will discuss the challenges for specialized films in today’s marketplace.
February 12: IO CAPITANO, from Italy, is one of the five nominees for the Oscar for Best International Feature of 2023. This timely and potent story follows the journey of two boys from Senegal seeking a better life in Italy. It is spectacularly photographed and deeply moving. Guest speakers: director Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah) and Mamadou Kouassi, whose real-life odyssey inspired the film.
NO SCREENING FEBRUARY 19.
February 26: SHAYDA was the Australian submission for Best International Feature. Set in the Iranian community in Australia, the story centers on a woman determined to save herself and her daughter from an abusive husband. Guest speaker: writer-director Noora Niasari.
March 4: AMERICAN DREAMER. After a season of powerful dramatic films, we shift gears to a wicked comedy inspired by a true story reported on public radio’s This American Life. The movie boasts an outstanding cast that includes Peter Dinklage, Shirley MacLaine, Danny Glover, and Matt Dillon. Guest speaker: director Paul Dektor.
March 11: BAD FAITH. This timely, frightening documentary focuses on the rise of Christian Nationalism and the movement’s attempts to turn America into a religious state. Narrated by Peter Coyote. Guest speaker: co-director Stephen Ujlaki.
In the meantime, check out our Anniversary Classics at the Royal and other Laemmle Theatres!
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD FALL 2023
Of the 10 movies we screened this fall, only one received zero votes: LAKOTA NATION VS. UNITED STATES. The other two documentaries–BELLA and A SHOT IN THE ARM–each received a couple of votes. Even the most controversial movie I screened–OMEN–got 1 vote. The last movie screened–AMERICAN FICTION–was by far the big winner. It had twice as many votes as the closest runner-up, RADICAL. This may have been partly because it was the most recent movie screened, but it is also a genuine crowd-pleaser, as indicated by its audience award at the Toronto Film Festival. These were our top 4 hits:
1. AMERICAN FICTION
2. RADICAL
3. THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE
4. MIRANDA’S VICTIM
Here is a reminder of our Fall Series screenings:
October 2: MIRANDA’S VICTIM tells the complicated and surprising true story that led to the Supreme Court’s landmark Miranda ruling. Abigail Breslin (an Oscar nominee for Little Miss Sunshine) stars, and the supporting cast includes Luke Wilson, Ryan Phillippe, Mireille Enos, Donald Sutherland, Andy Garcia. Guest speaker: director Michelle Danner.
October 9: LAKOTA NATION VS. UNITED STATES. This compelling documentary, which has 100 per cent positive reviews, tells of the decades-long battle by the Lakota to reclaim the land they believe was stolen from them in South Dakota. Vivid film footage and compelling interviews fill in the story. Directors Laura Tomaselli and Jesse Shortbull participate in an extended conversation before the film.
October 16: NYAD was one of the hits at this year’s Telluride Film Festival. Frequent Oscar nominee Annette Bening stars as Diana Nyad, the marathon swimmer who made an unprecedented swim from Cuba to Key West when she was over 60 years old. Oscar winner Jodie Foster co-stars as Diana’s coach and best friend. The filmmakers, Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, won an Oscar for their documentary, Free Solo, and make an impressive dramatic debut with this rousing film. Must be seen on the big screen!
October 23: OMEN is Belgium’s Oscar submission for best international feature. It tells the story of a Congolese man living in Belgium who decides to return to his homeland to try to repair relations with his family. Guest speaker: director Baloji, musical performer and filmmaker who was born in the Congo, like the main character in the movie.
October 30: RADICAL won the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It tells the true story of an inspiring teacher who used unconventional methods to inspire his students in a poverty-stricken community in Mexico. Eugenio Derbez, who had a key role in the Oscar-winning film Coda, stars. Guest speakers: director Christopher Zalla, producer Ben Odell.
November 6: BELLA is a documentary about modern dance pioneer Bella Lewitzky and her tremendous influence on the culture of Los Angeles, from the 1930s to her retirement in the late 1990s. Her company was the first modern dance company ever to play at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Along the way she acted in films (was a featured dancer in the movie version of Oklahoma), tangled with the House Un-American Activities Committee and later with Jesse Helms and other censors in Congress. Guest speaker: director Bridget Murnane.
November 13: SHOT IN THE ARM is a provocative documentary that explores the history of vaccines as well as the anti-vax movement that has grown more rabid in recent years. Oscar-nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy collaborated with prominent scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson on this illuminating and timely chronicle. Guest speaker: director Scott Hamilton Kennedy.
NO SCREENING NOVEMBER 20. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
November 27: MERRY GOOD ENOUGH. This holiday comedy about a fraught family reunion has a lively cast and some vivid New England locations. Guest speakers will include writer/co-director Caroline Keene and actors Joel Murry and Neil Casey. Actors are back at Reel Talk after the strike!
December 4: THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE is Germany’s submission for best international feature in this year’s Oscar competition. It tells the timely and provocative story of an idealistic young teacher in a middle school who tries to solve a series of thefts at her school and ends up alienating administrators as well as parents. At the moment the film has 100 per cent positive reviews after its screenings at several top festivals. Guest speaker: leading actress Leonie Benesch.
December 11: AMERICAN FICTION, a mix of biting comedy and poignant drama, won the audience award at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. Jeffrey Wright stars as a professor and author facing a number of personal and professional crises. The outstanding supporting cast includes Sterling K. Brown, Leslie Uggams, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Issa Rae. Guest speakers: director of photography Cristina Dunlap, film editor Hilda Rasula.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD SUMMER 2023
This time all 8 of our movies received votes from some members of the audience. The only movie that had only a few votes was our very first film, LOREN & ROSE. All the others had significant support, even BIOSPHERE, which a few people disliked but others loved. Nevertheless, these were the top 4 movies, separated by only a few votes:
1. THE MIRACLE CLUB
2. (tie) BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT and ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE
3. BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Here is a recap of all our Summer movies.
June 19: LOREN & ROSE, a favorite at several recent film festivals, focuses on a series of conversations between a veteran actress and a talented young filmmaker. Critics have acclaimed a career high for the movie’s star, Jacqueline Bisset. Our Q&A panel will include Bisset, co-star Kelly Blatz, and writer-director Russell Brown.
June 26: BIOSPHERE, a unique sci-fi comedy, takes place in the not-too-distant future when the last two men on earth struggle to survive inside their geodesic dome. Mark Duplass (who also co-wrote the screenplay) and Sterling K. Brown (the star of the acclaimed TV series This Is Us) have the lead roles. Guest speaker: director/co-writer Mel Eslyn.
NO SCREENING JULY 3
July 10: THE MIRACLE CLUB, set in 1967, centers on a group of women in a small Irish village who travel to Lourdes in a search for spiritual and physical rejuvenation. The extraordinary cast includes Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, Laura Linney, and Stephen Rea. Guest speaker: director Thaddeus O’Sullivan.
July 17: BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT is a documentary chronicling the populist rebellion against the dictator of Uganda, who has held power in his country for 35 years. Guest speaker: co-director Moses Bwayo, who fought to install a more democratic government before being forced to leave his homeland.
July 24: WHAT COMES AROUND is a gripping suspense drama with some neat surprise twists. It begins with an online flirtation between a high school girl and a somewhat older man, then moves in unexpected directions. Stars include Summer Phoenix, Grace Van Dien, Kyle Gallner, and Jesse Garcia. Guest speaker: director Amy Redford.
July 31: A COMPASSIONATE SPY, a fascinating documentary companion-piece to Oppenheimer, centers on the youngest scientist working on the Manhattan Project. After seeing the consequences of the atomic bomb blasts at the end of World War II, he began to feel guilt about his own involvement in the project and sought to take action. Guest speaker: award-winning documentary filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Life Itself, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail).
August 7: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS stars Oscar winner Juliette Binoche as a woman who experiences the harsh working conditions for women living in northern France and employed to clean the ferries traveling to England. Many nonprofessional actors join her in the cast. Guest speaker: Anouchka van Riel from the American French Film Festival in Los Angeles, where the film was spotlighted.
August 14: ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE. Based on a popular novel, this coming-of-age story centers on two Mexican-American boys in Texas in the 1980s. Cast includes Eva Longoria, Eugenio Derbez, newcomers Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales. Lin-Manuel Miranda is one of the producers. 100 % positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes! Guest speakers: writer- director Aitch Alberto, producer Valerie Staedler, cinematographer Akis Konstantakopoulos.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD SPRING 2023
The balloting was exceptionally close on the votes for audience favorites. These were the top 4:
1. ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET
2. ROISE & FRANK
3. (tie) IT AIN’T OVER and PERSIAN LESSONS
Actually, only 3 votes separated the number 1 and the number 3 choices, so it was essentially a 4-way tie between these movies. YOU HURT MY FEELINGS and EVERYTHING WENT FINE also scored highly. BOOK CLUB and IMAGINING THE INDIAN only had a few votes each, and there were 0 votes for MONICA. Obviously not a favorite! But I was pleased to see the high level of support for so many of the other movies. See you in a few weeks. In the meantime, a reminder of all our Spring movies:
April 3: ROISE & FRANK. This charming Irish film has earned 100 per cent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Roise is a grieving widow who comes to believe that a mysterious dog is the reincarnation of her late husband and has arrived to help her coach the local soccer team. Guest speaker: director Peter Murphy, who has traveled from Ireland to join our discussion.
April 10: IMAGINING THE INDIAN is a documentary about the efforts to remove demeaning Native American mascots from several U.S. sports teams. It is directed by Aviva Kempner (who made earlier docs about baseball slugger Hank Greenberg and early TV icon Gertrude Berg) and Ben West. Guest speakers: co-director Ben West and his father, W. Richard West, founding director of the National Museum of the American Indian.
April 17: EVERYTHING WENT FINE. Director Francois Ozon’s new film stars Sophie Marceau, Andre Dussollier, and Charlotte Rampling in an acclaimed family drama. Guest speaker: French producer Antoine de Cazotte, who won an Oscar for producing The Artist.
April 24: ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET is adapted from the perennial popular and highly acclaimed YA novel by Judy Blume. Oscar nominee Rachel McAdams, Oscar winner Kathy Bates, and newcomer Abby Ryder Fortson star. Guest speakers: producers Julie Ansell and James L. Brooks (the legendary producer-director of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Simpsons, Terms of Endearment, and As Good As It Gets).
May 1: IT AIN’T OVER. This vibrant documentary about baseball legend Yogi Berra focuses on his storied career behind home plate and on his many famous wisecracks. Sports figures like Derek Jeter and Bob Costas, celebrities like Billy Crystal, and Yogi’s family members pay tribute to the famous player. Guest speaker: director Sean Mullin.
SPECIAL ADDED SCREENING Wednesday, May 3: BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER. The followup to the highly successful comedy finds the four friends (Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen) on a literary voyage to Italy. Guest speakers: director/co-writer Bill Holderman and co-writer Erin Simms. Tickets available NOW at www.laemmle.com/reeltalk.
May 8: MONICA tells a very timely story about a woman who returns home to try to make peace with the family that rejected her years earlier. Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Browning, Joshua Close, and Adriana Barraza star for director Andrea Pallaoro. Guest speaker will be the film’s leading actress, Trace Lysette, who previously starred in the acclaimed TV series Transparent and the Jennifer Lopez hit, Hustlers.
May 15: YOU HURT MY FEELINGS. Multiple Emmy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfuss stars as a successful novelist who re-evaluates her life after a surprising overheard insult. Guest speaker: writer-director Nicole Holofcener (Walking and Talking, Lovely and Amazing, Please Give, Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
May 22: PERSIAN LESSONS is a unique World War II-era drama directed by Vadim Perelman, director of the Oscar-nominated HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG. A canny French Jew finds an ingenious way to survive the concentration camp by claiming that he is Persian and can teach Farsi to one of the camp commandants. The movie is full of surprises, with unexpected humor and also deep poignancy. Nahul Perez Biscayart and Lars Eldinger star. Guest speakers TBA. Ballots for the Spring series will be distributed, and we will also have information on our upcoming Summer Series at the Royal.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD WINTER 2023
All six movies shown during our Winter series received votes from some members of our audience. I am always pleased to see such a positive response. Even the most controversial of the six movies, SHE IS LOVE, did receive votes from some members of the audience, including a few first-place votes. Our final film, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS was the top choice. I don’t think it was simply because it was the final movie screened and freshest in people’s minds. A lot of people had vivid memories of the band’s songs and recalled how much the music meant to them in their (not-so-distant) youth. These were the top 3 audience choices:
1. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS?
2. JUNIPER
3. MOVING ON
Here is a recap of our Winter series:
January 23: LET IT BE MORNING won all the major Israeli Academy Awards last year, including best picture, best director, best actor, and best actress. It centers on a Palestinian man who lives and works in Jerusalem but returns to the occupied territories for a family wedding. When the checkpoint is closed by the Israeli army, it places his professional and personal life in jeopardy. The film is directed by Eran Kolirin, who made the international hit THE BAND’S VISIT (which also inspired a Tony-winning Broadway musical) 15 years ago. Guest speaker: Jim Ruxin, film editor/director and professor at USC.
January 30: 80 FOR BRADY. Four legendary actresses–Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field–play lifelong friends obsessed with NFL superstar Tom Brady. They decide to take a trip to the Superbowl in Houston in an effort to meet their idol. Guest speakers: screenwriters Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern, who have many impressive credits in television and film, including the acclaimed indie comedy, BOOKSMART.
February 6: SHE IS LOVE is a British romantic drama about a divorced couple who meet by chance 10 years after they split at a charming inn in Cornwall. Complications ensue! Haley Bennett and Sam Riley star. Guest speaker: British director Jamie Adams, who has come in from England to attend our screening!
February 13: JUNIPER. Oscar-nominated actress Charlotte Rampling gives a superb performance as a former war correspondent who moves in with her son and grandson in New Zealand after an injury. Despite her bitterness at being confined and her love of gin, she and the grandson form a surprising bond that benefits both of them. Guest speaker: New Zealand director Matthew J. Saville.
NO SCREENING PRESIDENTS DAY FEBRUARY 20
February 27: MOVING ON. Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda star as two old friends who reunite at the funeral of a third friend. But there is another reason for their meeting. They plan to take revenge on their friend’s husband (played by Malcolm McDowell), who was guilty of raping Fonda’s character years earlier. Dark humor blends with genuinely disturbing drama. Guest speakers: writer-director Paul Weitz (About a Boy, Admission, Grandma) and producer Andrew Miano.
March 6: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS? This documentary explores the meteoric rise and surprising fall of one of the top rock bands of the 1960s. In 1969 they performed at Woodstock and won the Grammy for album of the year, besting the Beatles’ Abbey Road! In 1970 they embarked on a concert tour of Eastern Europe that was sponsored by the State Department, and suddenly they found themselves under attack from both rightwing and leftwing factions in the divided U.S. Guest speakers: director John Scheinfeld and the band’s drummer, Bobby Colomby.
Films and speakers subject to change.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD for the Fall Series found all 8 movies with votes from some members of the audience. In fact, I did not receive negative comments about any of the movies, except for a few lukewarm reactions to EO, which was definitely the critical favorite among the 8 movies shown. This only goes to show that people should make up their own minds before listening to the critics! THE SON, which was panned by many top critics, got much stronger reactions from our audience members than EO. Nevertheless, these were the top 3 choices:
1. WAR SAILOR
2. WILDCAT
3. CALL JANE
Sometimes the last movie shown gets the best reaction because it is freshest in people’s minds. On the other hand, CALL JANE–which was the very first movie shown–also scored highly.
Thanks to all for attending our Fall Series in a new location. Winter Reel Talk begins January 23 at Laemmle’s Royal Theatre. More soon!
For the Fall 2022 Series, REEL TALK WITH STEPHEN FARBER will be moving to Laemmle’s Monica Film Center in Santa Monica. It will be an 8-week series, beginning on October 17.
October 17: CALL JANE is a powerful dramatic film that looks back to the time before Roe v. Wade, when women had to take drastic steps to have access to abortion. Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver star in this timely story. Guest speaker: producer Kevin McKeon, who also produced the film BURDEN, which was one of the last films I showed before the pandemic.
October 24: ARMAGEDDON TIME is a very personal memoir from writer-director James Gray, about growing up in Queens in the early 1980s. Anne Hathaway, Succession‘s Jeremy Strong, and Anthony Hopkins star.
October 31: THE AUTOMAT is a highly acclaimed documentary about the unique cafeterias that flourished in New York and Philadelphia from the early part of the 20th century through the 1960s. Many Automat aficionadoes testify to the appeal of these inexpensive and welcoming restaurants, including Mel Brooks, Elliott Gould, and the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Colin Powell. Guest speaker: director Lisa Hurwitz .
NO SCREENING NOVEMBER 7
November 14: ONLY IN THEATERS recounts the history of the Laemmle family and their outsize impact on the art film scene in Los Angeles for more than eight decades. Many stars, filmmakers, and critics give revealing interviews about the impact of the Laemmle theaters on their own careers, and they also discuss the special challenges of the last few years. Guest speakers: director Raphael Sbarge (also a well known actor from such films as Risky Business and many popular TV series) and Laemmle Theatres owner Greg Laemmle.
November 21: THE SON is a searing family drama with an outstanding cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, and Anthony Hopkins. Guest speaker: director/co-writer Florian Zeller, who won an Oscar last year for his screenplay of The Father.
November 28: EO, the Polish submission for best international film of the year, is a unique and transporting experience. Filmed from the point of view of a donkey thrust into a series of adventures, the film recalls classics like Black Beauty. The cinematography and musical score are outstanding, and Isabelle Huppert is in the cast. Guest speakers: director/co-writer Jerzy Skolimowski and producer/co-writer Ewa Piaskowska.
December 5: WILDCAT is a unique and affecting nature documentary set in the jungle of Peru. A young Afghanistan veteran and a woman involved in the environmental movement work together to rescue a baby ocelot whose parents were killed by poachers. The wildlife footage is extraordinary, but the human story is just as potent. Guest speaker: director Melissa Lesh.
December 12: WAR SAILOR is Norway’s Oscar submission for best international film of 2022. It tells a fresh World War II era story, about a group of sailors in Nazi-occupied Norway who choose to transport goods needed by the Allies. As threats mount, their personal and romantic lives are also impacted. This has been an early audience favorite at Academy screenings. Guest speaker: actor Pal Sverre Hagen.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD SUMMER 2022 :
MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS was the favorite movie of the audience during our Summer Series. But our final film, THE TERRITORY, was a surprisingly strong runner-up. Many people chose THE TERRITORY as their favorite and others mentioned it is as their second choice. MY OLD SCHOOL also had some champions. IT SNOWS ALL THE TIME was not so well received, but several people mentioned that they enjoyed the discussion more than the film!
Here are some more details on the Summer films.
July 11: MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS. Based on the beloved novel by Paul Gallico, this charming comedy centers on an English cleaning lady in the 1950s who is determined to own a Dior dress and eventually travels to Paris to fulfill her dream. Oscar nominee Lesley Manville plays the title character, and the cast includes Isabelle Huppert, Jason Isaacs, and Lambert Wilson. Guest speaker: director and co-writer Anthony Fabian.
July 18: MY OLD SCHOOL is a most original documentary probing the strange events at a school outside Glasgow, Scotland during the 1990s. Interviews with former students and teachers, vibrant animated sequences, and a performance by Alan Cumming help to solve the mystery. Guest speaker: writer-director Jono McLeod.
July 25: IT SNOWS ALL THE TIME is a poignant drama about a family coping with their father’s early-onset dementia. Brett Cullen (veteran actor with a massive number of impressive credits), Lesley Ann Warren, and Erich Hover star. Guest speakers: director Jay Giannone and lead actor Brett Cullen.
NO SCREENING ON MONDAY, AUGUST 1!
August 8: THE TERRITORY is an award-winning documentary filmed in the Amazon and centering on the threat to an indigenous tribe as their rainforest home is invaded by outsiders. Our extraordinary panel of guest speakers: director/producer Alex Pritz, producer Will Miller, executive producer and activist Txai Surui, and Brazilian producer Gabriel Uchida.
REEL TALK AUDIENCE AWARD SPRING 2022
All 7 movies screened during our Spring Series received votes from some members of the audience. That is always satisfying to me. Many people commented that this was a great series. There was a tie for first place between two very different British movies: OPERATION MINCEMEAT and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN. And the engaging documentary, FIDDLER’S JOURNEY TO THE BIG SCREEN, was only two points behind those winning films. I was also pleased that we had excellent speakers for almost all of our movies this time, with extremely articulate directors, writers, and actors. We are all crushed by the closure of the Landmark, our home for the last 15 years. But the remodeled Landmark Westwood also offers a most inviting environment.
These were the films screened during our Spring Series:
April 18: I LOVE AMERICA. This delightful French rom-com follows the adventures of a woman who decides to relocate from Paris to Los Angeles. The story surveys her family relationships and romantic misadventures. Sophie Marceau, the star of popular movies of the 1990s like Braveheart, Anna Karenina, Firelight, and the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough, makes a welcome return to the big screen. Guest speaker: writer-director Lisa Azuelos.
BONUS SCREENING Wednesday, April 20: THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT. Nicolas Cage stars as… Nicolas Cage in this action comedy about a movie star who gets entangled with his #1 fan, a criminal kingpin. Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffany Hadish, Pedro Pascal, and Demi Moore co-star. Guest speaker: director Tom Gormican. This screening is FREE to Spring Series passholders. One of the unique perks of Reel Talk!
April 25: HAPPENING won the Golden Lion (top prize) at last year’s Venice Film Festival and also won many major awards in France. It is an extremely timely story, though set in the early 1960s, about a young college student who finds herself pregnant and faces almost insurmountable obstacles in her efforts to seek an abortion. Guest speakers: director and co-writer Audrey Diwan, lead actress Anamaria Vartolomei.
May 2: FIDDLER’S JOURNEY TO THE BIG SCREEN. This engaging documentary revisits the story of making the movie version of the smash hit Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof. Among the people giving exclusive interviews to the filmmakers are director Norman Jewison, musical director John Williams, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, actors Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, and Neva Small (who played Tevye’s three daughters in the film). Jeff Goldblum narrates. Guest speakers: producer Sasha Berman, co-producer and co-writer Michael Sragow.
May 9: OPERATION MINCEMEAT tells a fascinating World War II story about a British plan to deceive the Nazis about the location of the Allied landing in Italy in 1943. The stellar cast is headed by Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Jason Isaacs, and Simon Russell Beale. John Madden, who made Shakespeare in Love and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, directs. Guest speaker: screenwriter Michelle Alford, who created the scintillating TV series, Masters of Sex.
May 16: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN tells a whimsical true story of a man who decided to enter the British Open even though he had never played golf in his life. Oscar winner Mark Rylance and Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins star. Guest speakers: actors Christian and Jonah Lees.
May 23: BENEDICTION is a rich period drama about World War I antiwar poet Siegfried Sassoon. It covers his experiences during the War and follows his life for decades afterwards. Terence Davies wrote and directed. The cast includes Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi, Jeremy Irvine, and Simon Russell Beale. PLEASE NOTE: THIS SCREENING WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE LANDMARK WESTWOOD, 1045 BROXTON, AT 7 PM.
These were the films screened during our Winter Series:
January 31: BREAKING BREAD (Israel/USA) is a most engaging documentary about an annual food festival in Haifa that brings Jewish and Palestinian chefs together. Guest speaker: director Beth Elise Hawk.
February 7: BRIGHTON 4TH (Georgia) tells the story of a former wrestling champion who travels from the country of Georgia to Brighton Beach, New York, in an effort to help his son to break free from some of his gambling debts. Guest speaker: director Levan Koguashvili.
February 14: I’LL FIND YOU is a stirring romantic drama set mainly in Poland in the years before and during World War II. Rachel, a Jewish violinist, falls in love with Robert, a Catholic opera singer. Adelaide Clemens and Leo Suter play the young protagonists, with vivid supporting performances by Connie Nielsen and Stellan Skarsgard. Guest speaker: director Martha Coolidge, whose credits include Valley Girl, Real Genius, Rambling Rose, Lost in Yonkers, and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.
February 21: BUTTER is a funny and tender coming-of-age drama about an overweight but talented teenager who manages to turn the tables on his tormentors. The cast includes Mira Sorvino, Mykelti Williamson, Ravi Patel, and newcomer Alex Kersting in the leading role. Guest speaker: writer-director Paul A. Kaufman.
February 28: HUDA’S SALON is a taut suspense film that exposes the tensions in present-day Israel. A Palestinian hairdresser has been pressured into spying for the Israeli Secret Service. As the day progresses, Huda finds her life and that of one of her customers in danger. Guest speaker (via Zoom): writer-director Hany Abu-Assad, who was Oscar-nominated for two of his earlier films, Paradise Now and Omar.
March 7: THE OUTFIT is a suspense film from the Oscar-winning writer of The Imitation Game, Graham Moore. Mark Rylance stars as a tailor who gets into a deadly battle of wits with some of his Mafia clients. Guest speaker: screenwriter Johnathan McClain.
BONUS SCREENING Wednesday, March 9, at 7 PM: AS THEY MADE US is a poignant, sharply written family drama starring Dianna Agron, Simon Helberg, Dustin Hoffman, and Candice Bergen. Guest speaker: writer-director Mayim Bialik, an award-winning actress (and neuroscientist) making her directorial debut. This screening is FREE to Winter Series passholders. Spread the word to others who may be interested in this special event!
Fall Series Audience Award: All 8 movies shown in our Fall Series received votes from some members of the audience, so that is always satisfying to see. Nevertheless, there was a clear winner: BELFAST was definitely the audience favorite, which suggests that it will perform well in this year’s Oscar voting. Second place was a tie between BEING THE RICARDOS and CITIZEN ASHE. The third place movie was BRIAN WILSON: LONG PROMISED ROAD.
On the question of which theater audience members preferred, a majority preferred the Landmark Westwood over the Landmark on Pico, though many people said both theaters were fine and indicated no preference. We will undoubtedly use both theaters in the future.
These were the programs in our Fall Series.
October 11: BERGMAN ISLAND. Guest speaker: Film critic Ella Taylor.
October 18: A MOUTHFUL OF AIR is a poignant drama about a woman fighting to overcome depression after the birth of her first child. Last year’s Oscar nominee, Amanda Seyfried (Mank, Mamma Mia, Les Miserables) stars, along with Finn Wittrock, Amy Irving, and Paul Giamatti. Guest speaker: writer-director Amy Koppelman, who also wrote the best-selling novel that inspired the film. This was a very personal story for her, and it will be great to learn more from her. Reel Talk is the only series in Los Angeles that allows audience members to meet top filmmakers and engage with them in person!
October 25: ONLY THE ANIMALS is an intriguing, unpredictable French mystery thriller told from the perspectives of several different characters involved in the disappearance of a wealthy woman. The action moves from the wintry terrain of southern France to the tropical landscape of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. Guest speaker: Charles Cohen, Chairman and CEO of Cohen Media Group.
November 1: SPEER GOES TO HOLLYWOOD is a documentary that tells the bizarre and fascinating story of Albert Speer, an architect in Nazi German who became one of Hitler’s closest advisers. After being convicted of war crimes during the Nuremberg trials, Speer served a 20-year prison term and then tried to whitewash his own past and make a Hollywood film about his experiences in Germany before and during World War II. Guest speakers: director Vanessa Lapa and producer Tomer Eliav.
November 8: BELFAST. Kenneth Branagh’s film about his childhood in Northern Ireland in 1969 won the audience award at this year’s Toronto Film Festival and is one of the top contenders for the Oscars. Set at a time of fierce battles between Protestants and Catholics, the film is seen through the eyes of a young boy (newcomer Jude Hill) and co-stars Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, and Ciaran Hinds.
November 15: BRIAN WILSON: LONG PROMISED ROAD. This engaging documentary about the great Beach Boys composer and singer explores Wilson’s life from the days of his early success through troubled times to his present-day role as the ultimate survivor. An astonishing array of personalities–including singers Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Jonas, and conductor Gustavo Dudamel–pay tribute to Wilson. Guest speaker: director Brent Wilson (no relation).
November 22: BEING THE RICARDOS, the new film from brilliant writer-director Aaron Sorkin, focuses on one week during the production of the pioneering sitcom, I Love Lucy, in the early 1950s. During this period the marriage of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz experiences some cracks, and Ball also comes under political attack for alleged Communist sympathies. Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem star as the Arnaz/Ricardos. Guest speaker: producer Todd Black (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, The Pursuit of Happyness).
November 29: CITIZEN ASHE is a documentary that recounts the story of the pioneering tennis champion Arthur Ashe, who also became a reluctant but ultimately trailblazing crusader for civil rights. Family members and fellow tennis stars help to fill in Ashe’s background. Guest speakers: directors Sam Pollard and Rex Miller.
Films and speakers subject to change.
We had enthusiastic audiences and exciting movies and discussions at our Summer REEL TALK Series, our return to theaters after the pandemic. The audience favorites were SWAN SONG, CONFETTI, and ROADRUNNER.
These are the films we showed during Summer 2021.
July 12: ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN. This eagerly anticipated documentary explores the exciting life and tragic death of the world-renowned globetrotting chef. Guest speaker: producer-director Morgan Neville, who won an Oscar for 20 Feet from Stardom and also made the crowd-pleasing doc about Fred Rogers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
July 19: THE COMEBACK TRAIL. This raucous Hollywood satire, set in the freewheeling atmosphere of the 1970s, stars three Oscar-winning actors: Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones, and Morgan Freeman, along with Zach Braff, Emile Hirsch, and Sheryl Lee Ralph. De Niro plays a B-movie producer in hock to the Mob who comes up with a foolproof plot to pay his debts:: He will make a movie destined to bomb and collect on the insurance. Needless to say, everything goes wrong and turns out right. Guest speakers: writer-director George Gallo (Midnight Run, Bad Boys), producer Joy Hurwitz.
July 26: ENEMIES OF THE STATE is a riveting documentary about a young man accused of espionage, a true story with more twists and turns than a John Le Carre spy novel. As his parents try to prove his innocence, questions multiply. Oscar winner Errol Morris served as executive producer. Guest speaker (via Skype): director Sonia Kennebeck.
August 2: SWAN SONG. Veteran character actor Udo Kier (Downsizing, Dogville, Breaking the Waves) has perhaps the best role of his career as a hairdresser who escapes the rest home where he is confined to perform one last job for a prize client. Jennifer Coolidge, Linda Evans, and Michael Urie lend vibrant support. Guest speaker: writer-director Todd Stephens.
August 9: SEARCHING FOR MR. RUGOFF. This fascinating doc recounts the triumphs of Donald Rugoff, a New York exhibitor and distributor who played a major role in the independent and foreign film boom of the 1960s and 70s. He distributed such award-winning films as The Sorrow and the Pity, Z, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Seven Beauties. Then at the end of the 1970s he disappeared. Filmmaker Ira Deutchman, who worked for Rugoff in the 70s, set out to solve the mystery and also pay tribute to a golden age of arthouse cinema. Guest speaker: Rugoff’s son Ed Rugoff.
August 16: CONFETTI. Director Ann Hu, tells a poignant story, drawn from her own experience, about a woman who brings her daughter from China to New York in order to get help with the daughter’s dyslexia. Chinese actors Zhu Zhu and Harmonie He share the screen with American actors Amy Irving and Helen Slater. Guest speaker: producer Josh Green. At this final screening of the Summer series, Michael McClellan and I will also be selling and signing our acclaimed book, Cinema ’62: The Greatest Year at the Movies.
Films and speakers subject to change.
Please see below to recall some of the excellent programs we hosted before the pandemic.
AUDIENCE AWARD WINTER 2020
The votes for the seven movies in our Winter Series were more evenly split than in any series I can remember. Every one of the movies received a significant number of votes. But the top choice was the film BURDEN. This was especially interesting because the favorite film of the fall series was JUST MERCY. So two movies about racism in America seemed to resonate most strongly with our audience. That has to tell you something about the state of the country as well as the state of the movie industry!
1. BURDEN
2. There was a tie for second place between CORPUS CHRISTI and GREED.
Here is a reminder of the movies we screened:
January 13: TRUTH AND JUSTICE (Estonia) is one of the ten movies shortlisted for the Oscar for Best International Feature of 2019. It is based on an enormously popular historical novel, and the movie has scored the biggest box office success of any movie to play in Estonia, surpassing even Avatar. Guest Speakers: director Tanel Toom, producer Ivo Felt.
TUESDAY, January 21: INCITEMENT was Israel’s submission for this year’s Oscar and was also named best picture in Israel’s own awards race. This timely, disturbing, and powerful film tells the story of the young man who assassinated Yitzhak Rabin. It places part of the blame on the dark forces in his society that resisted Rabin’s efforts to forge peace with the Palestinians. Guest speaker: director Yaron Zilberman, who also made the fine musical film, A Late Quartet, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman.
January 27: CORPUS CHRISTI (Poland) is one of the five Oscar nominees for Best International Feature of the year. It tells the story of a young man with a criminal record who impersonates a priest and manages to have a healing influence on his community. Guest speakers: producer Aneta Hickinbotham and leading actor Bartosz Bielenia.
February 3: AND THEN WE DANCED (Sweden/Georgia), a rich cinematic recreation of an unfamiliar part of the world, tells the story of a talented young dancer who falls under the spell of a new member of the company who awakens his sexuality. The screening will be introduced by writer-director Levan Akin via Skype, and a discussion will follow the screening with Vera Mijojlic, founder and director of the South East European Film Festival in Los Angeles.
February 10: STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN. This wry comedy-drama focuses on a failed standup comic (played by Ben Schwartz) who leaves Los Angeles and movies back in with his parents on Long Island. There he strikes up a friendship with a somewhat unstable dermatologist, superbly played by Billy Crystal. Guest speakers: director Matt Ratner and actor Nate Corddry, who plays Crystal’s bitter son.
February 17: BURDEN tells the timely true story of a young man who challenges his Southern community when his friendship with a few black activists leads him to defy the local Ku Klux Klan. The excellent cast includes Garrett Hedlund, Andrea Riseborough, Dexter Darden, Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, Oscar nominees Tom Wilkinson and Tess Harper. Guest speakers: actor Dexter Darden, producer Robbie Brenner (an Oscar nominee for Dallas Buyers Club).
BONUS SCREENING Wednesday, February 26 at 7:30 PM: GREED (UK). In this ferocious dark comedy, a wealthy but morally compromised British tycoon is celebrating his 60th birthday on a gorgeous Greek island, when his unsavory past catches up with him. Steve Coogan stars, along with Asa Butterfield, Shirley Henderson, Isla Fisher, and Stephen Fry. Guest speakers: director Michael Winterbottom and leading actor Steve Coogan. This screening is FREE to Winter Series passholders. Others may purchase tickets.
FALL REEL TALK 2019
For our audience poll at the end of the fall series, all 9 movies shown received votes from some members of the audience. In fact, there were no negative comments about any of the movies screened–a Reel Talk first! But there was a clear winner, and it was the final movie shown, JUST MERCY. But several other films received many first-place votes. These were the favorites:
1. JUST MERCY
2. A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
3. THE TWO POPES
4. THE GOOD LIAR
I also asked people to choose their favorite performances from the series. Jamie Foxx from JUST MERCY was the winner for Best Actor, with Tom Hanks a solid runner-up. Helen Mirren from THE GOOD LIAR was the clear winner for Best Actress. Saoirse Ronan from LITTLE WOMEN came in second.
Here is a recap of our excellent fall series.
October 14: THE CURRENT WAR. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Thomas Edison, Michael Shannon plays George Westinghouse, and Nicholas Hoult plays Nikola Tesla in this drama about the conflicts and dirty dealings to secure exclusive rights to the new invention of electricity at the dawn of the 20th century. Guest speaker: director Alfonson Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl).
October 21: THE GOOD LIAR. This thriller, based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Searle, stars Oscar winner Helen Mirren and Oscar nominee Ian McKellen as romantic sparring partners who get involved in an increasingly deadly battle of wits. Guest speaker: director Bill Condon, whose credits include Gods and Monsters, Chicago, Dreamgirls, and the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.
October 28: WAVES, highly acclaimed at several fall film festivals, tells the sometimes painful, sometimes joyful story of an upper middle class black family in Florida. Sterling K. Brown (an award-winner for TV’s This Is Us) plays an overbearing father who drives his teenage son (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) to achieve, while neglecting his daughter (Taylor Russell). Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges plays a fellow student who falls in love with Russell. Guest speaker: producer Kevin Turen (All Is Lost, 99 Homes).
November 4: THE TWO POPES dramatizes the fascinating moment when, during a period of scandal within the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins) decided to resign his position, leading to the ascension of Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce), the first pope from Latin America. Guest speaker: screenwriter Anthony McCarten, who wrote three recent, Oscar-winning films: Everything Is Relative, Darkest Hour, and Bohemian Rhapsody.
November 11: A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD stars Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers and Matthew Rhys (from TV’s The Americans) as a cynical journalist who sets out to expose Mr. Rogers and ends up transformed and beguiled by him instead. Guest speakers: screenwriters Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, producer Youree Henley, and journalist Tom Junod, who wrote the original Esquire magazine article than inspired the film.
November 18: THE SONG OF NAMES is the stirring new film from the Canadian director of The Red Violin. This new film also has a musical theme; it focuses on a young Jewish violin prodigy who escapes from Poland before World War II and is taken in by a family in England and becomes close with their young son. Their friendship is tested at the end of the war when the violinist disappears. Tim Roth and Clive Owen play the characters as adults. Guest speakers: director Francois Girard, producer Robert Lantos.
November 25: LITTLE WOMEN. Writer-director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) provides a fresh and captivating new take on the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott about family and a 19th century woman’s dream of emancipation. The stars include Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothee Chalamet, Laura Dern, and Meryl Streep. Guest speaker: producer Amy Pascal.
December 2: THE PERFECT CANDIDATE is Saudia Arabia’s entry for Best International Feature of 2019. It tells the engaging story of a female doctor who challenges the male prejudices of her society not only in her hospital job but when she decides to run for office in a local election. Guest speaker: director and co-writer Haifa Al Mansour (Wadjda).
December 9: JUST MERCY is a powerful drama, based on a true story about a lawyer who represented Death Row convicts who may have been wrongly convicted. Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther) plays the crusading lawyer, and Oscar winner Jamie Foxx plays the prisoner who has given up all hope before his new lawyer takes up the case. Oscar winner Brie Larson co-stars. Guest speakers: producer Asher Goldstein and actress Karan Kendrick.