Truth matters. Community matters. Your support makes both possible. LAist is one of the few places where news remains independent and free from political and corporate influence. Stand up for truth and for LAist. Make your year-end tax-deductible gift now.
The best films to see this winter, according to LA’s indie programmers
Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in "White Christmas" (1954).
(
Film-Grab.com
)
While Netflix’s plan to buy Warner Bros.-Discovery has everyone from theater owners to filmmakers and Hollywood unions concerned about what it could mean for the future of the box office, the current state of moviegoing options in Los Angeles is strong — with independent theaters in L.A. having a bit of a moment.
The people who help bring audiences out to those theaters by curating a wide-ranging mix of films that go beyond the standard new big studio offerings are film programmers — the cinephiles whose job it is to introduce you to new (or new to you) films and offer you opportunities to see old favorites in a theater setting too.
LAist checked back in with programmers from Old Town Music Hall, Vidiots and the Academy Museum to get their picks for movies to see on the big screen this month and a few into the New Year.
Old Town Music Hall: Holiday classics and singalongs
Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo dates back to 1921.
(
Courtesy Old Town Music Hall
)
Classic films are what Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo is known for, and this winter, it has a full slate of holiday film screenings scheduled. James Moll, president of the nonprofit, volunteer-run theater, shared a preview.
“We always love introducing new audiences to some of the great holiday classics,” Moll says, including White Christmas (Saturday), starring Bing Crosby, Christmas in Connecticut (Dec. 20), starring Barbara Stanwyck, and a newer holiday favorite starring Peter Billingsly, 1983’s A Christmas Story (Sunday).
Sponsored message
Moll also notes that every screening at Old Town Music Hall begins with a live musical performance on the theater’s Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ (complete with a singalong) and a vintage cartoon. And in December, the songs are of course holiday themed.
Some films that play at Old Town Music Hall also are preceded by short introductions from film experts or special guests.
In January, author and cultural historian Harlan Lebo will introduce 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain (Jan. 3). A screening of 1964’s Kissin’ Cousins (Jan. 4) starring Elvis Presley will include an appearance from Cynthia Pepper, who plays the role of Midge in the film, and an introduction from film archivist Stan Taffel.
Vidiots: Movies to debate whether they’re holiday movies
Vidiots in Eagle Rock.
(
Julie Leopo
/
LAist
)
At Vidiots’ historic Eagle Theatre in Eagle Rock, director of programming Amanda Salazar has curated a slate of films that are sure to please a wide variety of film tastes.
There are of course some traditional holiday classics on Vidiots’ December calendar but also a wide selection of holiday-adjacent counter-programming — movies like the 1996 action thriller The Long Kiss Goodnight (Dec. 19), starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson, the '80s cult-horror classic Silent Night, Deadly Night (Dec. 20), 1990’s Edward Scissorhands (Dec. 21) and 1989’s post-Christmas-set Ghostbusters II (Dec. 26).
Sponsored message
Looking to avoid the holidays altogether? Vidiots has you covered there, too, with screenings of films like the 1953 film noir classic The Big Heat (Dec. 20), directed by Fritz Lang, John Woo’s 1990 Hong Kong action film Bullet in the Head (Dec. 22) and a new 4K restoration of the director’s cut of the 1985 sci-fi comedy Brazil (Dec. 26) in honor of the recent passing of playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard.
The Academy Museum theaters: Anything but another Christmas movie
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is screening at least one Christmas movie (Home Alone, with actor Macaulay Culkin and director Chris Columbus in person — though it is sold out!), but the majority of its winter offerings have nothing to do with the holidays.
And if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to see more movies, the Academy Museum has plenty of January and February screenings set already, so you can plan ahead.
The museum’s director of film programs, K.J. Relth-Miller, spotlighted the following series:
- 3D-cember! (Dec. 26-31)
“This Winter marks the return of 3D-cember!, the museum’s fourth annual presentation of classic and contemporary 3D films. We’re nodding toward the original 3D boom of the 1950s with the cult classic Gog (1954), presenting family-friendly films like Coraline (2009) every afternoon and showcasing the dazzling arthouse sensation Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018), which ends with an hour-long, single-take dream sequence.”
- Where the Forest Meets the Sea: Folklore from Around the World (Jan. 10-Feb. 12)
“From cinema’s early history in films like Häxan (Sweden, 1922), filmmakers have used the visual medium to reinterpret local folktales, stories first told around campfires on a winter’s night. We can’t wait to share this series, which takes us to the former Soviet Union (Viy, 1967), Guatemala (La Llorona, 2019), Japan (Onibaba, 1965), India (Bramayugam, 2024) and beyond for a sprawling investigation of this age-old tradition as interpreted for the screen.”
- To Infinity: Space Travel in the Movies (Starts Jan. 30)
“Outer space inspires us all, including some of history’s best and most brilliant filmmakers. This series kicks off with a conversation with George Takei and a screening of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and continues with astrobiologist Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides for The Right Stuff (1983), Jodie Foster and astrophysicist Nivedita Mahesh for Contact (1997) and many more fan-favorite space films.”
Sponsored message
Bonus: Studio Ghibli double features
"My Neighbor Totoro" plays at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills on Dec. 21, along with "Grave of the Fireflies."
(
Courtesy Walt Disney Pictures / Studio Ghibli
)
If you missed Studio Ghibli Fest 2025, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Japanese animation studio with re-releases of several Ghibli films, the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills is screening 22 Studio Ghibli movies with two weeks of double features, starting Dec. 19 and running through Jan. 1.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
