Landmark Theatres Film Club Q&A Podcast

Isabelle Huppert (actress) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Moderated by Ted Mundorff, President and CEO of Landmark Theatres. Film synopsis: Michèle (Isabelle Huppert, Things to Come, Amour, The Piano Teacher) is a rich and powerful woman, head of her own successful video game company that specializes in violent erotic games, who brings the same ruthless attitude to her love life as to business. But she is forced to face her own powerlessness when she is attacked in her home by an unknown assailant, changing her life forever. Determined to reclaim her confident life, Michèle vows to identify and track down her assailant and wreak retribution. She suspects all around her, including friends, former lovers, neighbors and colleagues at work, and is drawn into a curious and thrilling game of cat and mouse with the mystery man—a game that may, at any moment, spiral out of control. Psychologically fascinating, Elle is perverse and provocative, yet gripping and suspenseful. Based on the novel Oh… by Philippe Djian. With Charles Berling, Laurent Lafitte and Anne Consigny. Directed by Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Black Book). (Fully subtitled)

Aaron Taylor-Jonhson (actor), Jake Gyllenhaal (actor), and Tom Ford (writer/director). Interviewed by Dan Gorski (Landmark Theatres). Film synopsis: Nocturnal Animals is a haunting romantic thriller of shocking intimacy and gripping tension that explores the thin lines between love and cruelty, and revenge and redemption. Amy Adams (American Hustle, The Master) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Brokeback Mountain) star as a divorced couple discovering dark truths about each other and themselves. Also starring Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney and Michael Sheen, Nocturnal Animals is written and directed by Tom Ford (A Single Man), based on the novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright.

Jeff Nichols (writer/director) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Moderated by Janet Pierson (SXSW). Film synopsis: In Loving, acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols (Midnight Special, Mud, Take Shelter) celebrates the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga), who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry—and their love story has become an inspiration to couples ever since.

Trevante Rhodes and Ashton Sanders (actors) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Moderated by Ira Madison (MTV News). Film synopsis: A timeless story of human connection and self-discovery, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. At once a vital portrait of contemporary African American life and an intensely personal and poetic meditation on identity, family, friendship and love, Moonlight is a groundbreaking piece of cinema that reverberates with deep compassion and universal truths. Anchored by extraordinary performances from a tremendous ensemble cast, writer/director Barry Jenkins’s (Medicine for Melancholy) staggering, singular vision is profoundly moving in its portrayal of the moments, people and unknowable forces that shape our lives and make us who we are.

Mick Jackson (director) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Moderated by Ted Mundorff, CEO/President of Landmark Theatres. Film synopsis: The whole world knows the Holocaust happened. Now she needs to prove it. Based on the acclaimed book Denial: Holocaust History on Trial, Denial recounts Deborah E. Lipstadt’s (Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener) legal battle for historical truth against David Irving (Timothy Spall), who accused her of libel when she declared him a Holocaust denier. In the English legal system, in cases of libel, the burden of proof is on the defendant; therefore, it was up to Lipstadt and her legal team, led by Richard Rampton (Tom Wilkinson), to prove the essential truth that the Holocaust occurred. Denial is directed by Mick Jackson (Temple Grandin, The Bodyguard) and adapted for the screen by writer David Hare (The Reader).

Jocelyn Moorhouse (director) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Moderated by film critic Debbie Elias (Behind the Lens). Film synopsis: The Dressmaker tells the story of the beautiful and talented Tilly Dunnage (Academy Award winner Kate Winslet, The Reader). After years working as a dressmaker in exclusive Parisian fashion houses, Tilly returns home to a town in the Australian outback to reconcile with her eccentric mother Molly (Judy Davis). She also falls in love with the pure-hearted Teddy (Liam Hemsworth), and armed with her sewing machine and haute couture style, Tilly transforms the women of the town, exacting sweet revenge on those who did her wrong. Based on the novel by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker is written and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse (Proof, How to Make an American Quilt).

Natalie Portman (writer/director/actor) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Moderated by John Horn (KPCC). Film synopsis: Written, directed by and starring Natalie Portman, A Tale of Love and Darkness is based on the memories of Amos Oz, growing up in Jerusalem in the years before Israeli statehood with Arieh (Gilad Kahana), his academic father and Fania (Portman), his dreamy, imaginative mother. They were one of many Jewish families who moved to Palestine from Europe during the 1930s and '40s to escape persecution. Arieh was cautiously hopeful for the future but Fania wanted much more. The terror of the war and running from home had been followed by the tedium of everyday life, which weighed heavily on Fania’s spirit. Unhappy in her marriage and intellectually stifled, she would make up stories of adventures (like treks across the desert) to cheer herself up and entertain her 10-year-old son Amos (Amir Tessler). He became so enraptured when she read him poetry and explained about words and language, that it would become an influence on his writing for the rest of his life. But as Amos witnessed the birth of Israel, he had to come to terms with his own new beginning. (Fully subtitled).

Simon Helberg (actor) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Moderated by Scott Mantz (Access Hollywood). Film synopsis: Set in 1940s New York, Florence Foster Jenkins is the true story of the legendary New York heiress and socialite (Meryl Streep) who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great singer. The voice she heard in her head was beautiful, but to everyone else it was hilariously awful. Her "husband" and manager, St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant), an aristocratic English actor, was determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth. But when Florence decided to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall, St. Clair knew he faced his greatest challenge. Directed by Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen, High Fidelity, Dangerous Liaisons).

James Schamus (writer/director) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Moderated by Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood). Film synopsis: Based on Philip Roth's novel, the haunting drama Indignation takes place in 1951, as Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower), a brilliant working class Jewish boy from Newark, New Jersey, travels on scholarship to a small, conservative college in Ohio, thus exempting him from being drafted into the Korean War. But once there, Marcus's growing infatuation with his beautiful classmate Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon), and his clashes with the college's imposing Dean, Hawes Caudwell (Tracy Letts), put his and his family's best laid plans to the ultimate test.

Mike Birbiglia (writer/director/actor), Keegan-Michael Key, Tami Sagher, Kate Micucci and Gillian Jacobs (actors) with special guest moderator Seth Rogen (actor) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Film synopsis: When a member of a popular New York City improv troupe gets cast on a hit TV show, the rest of the group—all best friends—start to realize that not everyone is going to make it after all. From Mike Birbiglia, the director of Sleepwalk With Me, and Ira Glass, the creator of "This American Life," comes Don’t Think Twice, a critically acclaimed comedy packed with comic stars Keegan-Michael Key, Gillian Jacobs, Mike Birbiglia, Kate Micucci, Chris Gethard and Tami Sagher that presents a hilarious and honest look at the lives of professional funny people. A nuanced story of friendship, aspiration and the pain and promise of change, Mike Birbiglia’s new film is funny, honest and insightful.

Matt Ross (writer/director) with special guest moderator Chris Messina (actor) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Film synopsis: Captain Fantastic is a charmingly eccentric, sweet and funny look at an unconventional family living deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, The Road) stars as Ben, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education. After the death of his absent wife, he is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, beginning a journey that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent. Winner of the Un Certain Regard award for directing at Cannes Film Festival, this heart-wrenching drama from writer/director Matt Ross also stars Frank Langella, Kathryn Hahn, Annalise Basso, George MacKay, Ann Dowd, Samantha Isler and Nicholas Hamilton.

Ron Suskind (author) and Roger Ross Williams (director), along with special guest Don Hahn (Disney Producer) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Moderated by Scott Mantz (Access Hollywood). Film synopsis: Life, Animated, from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams (“Music by Prudence”), is the inspirational story of Owen Suskind, a young man who was unable to speak as a child until he and his family discovered a unique way to communicate by immersing themselves in the world of classic Disney animated films. This emotional coming-of-age documentary follows Owen as he graduates to adulthood and takes his first steps toward independence. The subject of his father Ron Suskind’s New York Times bestseller, Owen was a thriving three-year-old who suddenly and inexplicably went silent—and for years after remained unable to connect with other people or to convey his thoughts, feelings or desires. Over time, through repeated viewings of Disney classics like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, Owen found useful tools to help him to understand complex social cues and to re-connect with the world around him. Life, Animated evocatively interweaves classic Disney sequences with vérité scenes from Owen’s life in order to explore how his identification and empathy for characters like Simba, Jafar and Ariel gave him a means to understand his feelings and allowed him to interpret reality.

Taika Waititi (writer/director) with special guest Melanie Lynskey (actress) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Film synopsis: In this wildly funny and endearing comedy from director/co-writer Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows, Boy), defiant city kid Ricky (Julian Dennison), raised on hip-hop and foster care, gets a fresh start in the New Zealand countryside. He quickly finds himself at home with his new foster family: the loving Aunt Bella (Rima Te Wiata), the cantankerous Uncle Hec (Sam Neill) and a dog named Tupac. When a tragedy strikes that threatens to ship Ricky to another home, both he and Hec go on the run in the bush. As a national manhunt ensues, the newly branded outlaws must face their options: go out in a blaze of glory or overcome their differences and survive as a family.

Morgan Neville (director) and Kojiro Umezaki (musician) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. The discussion ends with a special performance. Film synopsis: Over the past 16 years, an extraordinary group of musicians has come together to celebrate the universal power of music. Named for the ancient trade route linking Asia, Africa and Europe, The Silk Road Ensemble, an international collective created by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, exemplifies music’s ability to blur geographical boundaries and blend disparate cultures. From Morgan Neville, director of the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom and the critically acclaimed Best of Enemies, comes the extraordinary story this musical collective. Blending performance footage, personal interviews and archival film, the documentary follows this group of diverse instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers as they explore the power of music to preserve tradition, shape cultural evolution and inspire hope.

Lorene Scafaria (writer/director) and Susan Sarandon (actor) at The Landmark in West Los Angeles. Moderated by Jenelle Riley (Variety). Film synopsis: With a new iPhone, an apartment near the Grove, and a comfortable bank account left to her by her beloved late husband, Marnie (Susan Sarandon) has happily relocated from New Jersey to Los Angeles to be near her daughter Lori (Rose Byrne), a successful (but still single) screenwriter, and smother her with motherly love. But when the dozens of texts, unexpected visits, and conversations dominated by unsolicited advice force Lori to draw strict personal boundaries, Marnie finds ways to channel her eternal optimism and forceful generosity to change the lives of others—as well as her own—and find a new purpose in life. Also starring J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), Cecily Strong, Jerrod Carmichael and Michael McKean, the hilarious and moving film The Meddler is written and directed by Lorene Scafaria (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World).