TCM Film Festival 2015

Hello! I realized I haven't posted on this blog in quite a few years, but here is my update on my experience at the Turner Classic Film Festival 2015 (March 26th-29th to be exact). So here we go. My Dad and I decided we defiantly needed a break from cleaning my Grandma's house, so he suggested the TCM Fest after seeing the commercials.

So we figured we'd wing it, and not buy any passes, which started at $200 and went up to $1000+. Something I felt the website didn't make exactly clear (and I've never gone to any festivals/conventions before so I don't know how this varies from thing to thing) was that certain passes have clearance for certain events (cocktail hour and mix and mingle stuff, which respectfully we weren't interested in), but also certain theaters, which means certain films. We knew pass holders have priority seating, but it's still a queue up of first come, first serve basis.
So our planned schedule of films we wanted to see were: Thursday - The Sound of Music (1965) - A long shot from the get go, I knew it would be popular | Friday - "Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - The one I wanted to see most, it's one of those epic films to see on the silver screen aside from it's a brilliant film all around, "Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) Buster Keaton Silent Film with a live orchestra musical score accompaniment, a close second choice that I wanted to see, "Roman Holiday" (1953) Audrey Hepburn (her 1st big movie) and Gregory Peck, need I say more? Once of the best Romantic Comedies, Saturday - "The Apartment" (1960) One of Billy Wilder's best, Jack Lemmon & Shirley MacClaine.

We drove down on Wednesday (scenic California with all the fruit and cow farms :p) and saw a trailer on the freeway for a cast member from "Rizzoli & Isles" (The closest thing to seeing anything related to the movies). We stayed in the Comfort Inn by the Stars Walk of Fame, which was about 10 minutes walking distance from the theaters that were showing movies, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel was the mainstay of the Festival. It was close to the Hollywood High School (with a giant mural on the opposite side of the building of  famous alumni, John Ritter, Rudolph Valentino (Their sports teams are called "the Shieks" after his movie of the same name, haha), Carol Burnett, Judy Garland), and we stayed at the "Comfort Inn", which was one of the smallest hotel locations I"ve ever seen (verses a small individual motel), just the one side, there must have been less than 30 rooms, yet still it still had a pool. It was part of the "Comfort Inn" chain of hotels, though this particular one was run by what seemed like an Indian family; they were all really cute and nice and very fun.

We checked in, then went out for dinner (Buffalo Wild Wings was okay) and went to sleep. On Thursday we had breakfast (Hotel complimentary breakfasts make me happy) and went to the LDS Los Angeles Temple, which was about 5 miles from our hotel, but in the notorious LA traffic took 45 minutes. I know everyone complains about the traffic, (everyone had terrible road rage and really liked their horns :p) but I think it's something you'd have to get used to. We missed the first session, but hung out in the Visitor's Center and watched the missionary videos with two very cute Lady Missionaries, & saw a display of a painters work by the name of Liz Lemon Swindle (Her name made me laugh). And if you're wondering, the soap in the Visitor's Center Bathroom smelled like Cocoanut :) Then Dad went to a session and I hung out and took some pictures of the grounds. And we had dinner at Ono Hawaiian BBQ.

LDS Los Angeles Temple

Liz Lemon Swindle Paintings Display in Visitor's Center

Flowers on grounds of LA Temple

Palm Trees everywhere!

Palm Trees

Me & Dad in front of LA Temple

Selfies are hard!

White Roses (bonus bee) & Infinity Pool in front of LA Temple

Ono Hawaiian BBQ

Then we went to queue for "TSofM" only to discover that there was a red carpet, and because of all the publicity, and only a certain level of pass holders (Spotlight & Essential) were even being allowed to the event, they weren't even bothering with a Standby (things I learned when we got there). So we went and got ice cream at Mashti Malone's (a double of Mango & Cocoanut Pineapple, not too sweet and very creamy, really hit the spot, Ice Cream makes everything better, what a fool I was to not take a photo), and slightly deterred, we went back to the hotel and watched "The Princess Bride" on TV. That was quite a disheartening start, and made me slightly doubt our chances for the rest of the weekend, it was also the hottest (and therefore) most exhausting day; fortunately it cooled off for the rest of the weekend into comfy 80's, I also realized that sandals were the way to go.

El Capitan Theater

On Friday, had breakfast (complimentary, woot!) and walked to the El Capitan Theater. I could tell it was already nicer weather wise, and it wasn't nearly as hectic as the day before with all the red carpet stuff and crowds going on (also Jimmy Kimmel Live's studios are over there, so people queue up for that too in the afternoon, I learned). We were about 4-5 people in line, we went about an hour early before each showing. We talked to two nice guys in line, in front of us was a guy who had just moved to LA from New York with his wife and had seen "Lawrence" on the big screen before (I never had, a BIG appeal about seeing it), he was also trying to see another film, a guy behind us knew a bit about movies, so my Dad and I both had a nice chat (he's seen "Lawrence" on the big screen before too!)

Dad in front of El Capitan Theater, while in Standby queue

 

Dolby (used to be Kodak) Theater (Oscars take place there), across the street from El Capitan

After a slight delay because they didn't have change for people (it was $20 without a pass, cash only), we went inside. That's when I realized that the El Capitan is a Theater owned by Disney, so they had the Cinderella (2015) display going on in the lobby. Some props, like Cinder's cleaning box, candlestick, and a book list of eligible women in the kingdom (I didn't get a photo of that when I was looking at it during intermission), and they had Cinderella's Blue Dress! Super pretty and sparkly and it had butterflies on he collar.

Cinderella (2015) Dress Display

A little bit of history on The El Capitan Theater (998 seats), it's one of those old theaters (1925, I looked it up), bought and restored by Disney in the late 1980's-early 1990's, it is gorgeous, so much detail. As we were standing in line, a car drove up with a fancy looking suited driver, and an old lady came out, I assumed it was a cute little old rich lady coming for the screening. I was looking at the Programming Guide we picked up from the night before at the Roosevelt Hotel, I saw that there was a special guest before the film (all the film screenings had some type of panel before hand), the editor of Lawrence of Arabia, Anne V. Coats, who won an Oscar for her efforts. We bought our tickets and were seated, and before they had a little program about her, and I realized she's quite well known, in the industry in any case, and like everyone who worked on LoA, it's their most well known work.

A guy (I can't remember his name!) who wrote what he described as a "coffee table book" for the 50th anniversary for LoA and who(m) had interviewed her in the past was her presenter. As she walked out (to a standing o) my Dad pointed out she was the old lady who had arrived in the car! She was English (which I guess was a give, everyone was who made the film), and mentioned how she began to edit films (met with her husband in a juice bar if I remember correctly), and came to meet director (Sir!) David Lean, and how I think she said Albert Finney was someone who they were originally looking for Lawrence. The last question was why she thought so many women were editors, and she said because they had to mother and look after the children, known as Directors (Haha, that got a good laugh!).

Inside of El Capitan Theater

They showed LoA in  a roadshow presentation, which meant Overture, then Curtain Up, Main Credits, and a 10 minute Intermission. Everyone in the credits (David Lean, the known cast (Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn), introducing Peter O'Toole, Cinematography by Freddie Young, and of course Anne V. Coats got a good round of applause when their names came up on screen). I'd seen this film a far few times on TCM, but nothing was quite like on the big screen. It was a gorgeous Digital projection (super clean and crisp), I noticed so many things that I hadn't before, and not just visually, but I followed the story much better, and noticed much more subtleties, how the characters always travel from left to right across the screen, symbolism, the gorgeous score, Peter O'Toole's performance came across beautifully, charismatic, then slowly coming apart mentally, not knowing his place in the world, is he English or Arabic (a stand out was when he comes back after they taking the city, doing the"impossible; he's not perfect") The more films I see of Peter O'Toole, the more I like him. The desert is vast a super pretty at first, then open and empty, and at times scary and dangerous; and the first night in the desert, the starry sky, beautiful and enchanting, larger than life.

After the film, we went to lunch around the corner at Mel's Diner. After sitting for such a long film (10-2), even with the Intermission, a nice meal of a Mel Burger (with Avocado) and sharing a Chocolate Milkshake with Dad was so satisfying. It reminds me how much I enjoy Mel's, and that they have the best fries around (in my humble opinion).

Milkshake

We went back to the hotel for an hour or two, and then walked to the Egyptian Theater. It's one of the oldest theaters in LA, famous for opening in the 1920's, with the Egyptian motif in vogue at the time after the King Tut Tomb discovery. We were farther back in line this time, 20's, but we met a super nice and chatty lady, a LA local who worked at the Magic Palace (thanks to Neil Patrick Harris I'd heard of this place, a famous among magicians, both to perform and learn magic). We all talked about a bunch of different things, local stuff/regular special film showings/Disneyland/how much she loved Buster Keaton. A guy behind us had seen Limelight (1952) earlier in the day (A really great Charlie Chaplin film with a cameo by Buster!) But as the time went on, and more and more people came, out chances began to dwindle, especially disheartening when passholders kept coming, even late after the time of the film came and went, and we were all still standing there. At least I had my one famous person sighting, Leonard Maltin came walking up and into the theater (apparently he was a pass holder, and on time!) Only four Standbys got in, so that was a bummer.

Awing of El Capitan Theater while waiting in line for "Roman Holiday")

We walked back to the El Capitan to wait in line for "Roman Holiday". The El Capitan turned into our good luck theater apparently. Both with LoA (10am) and RH (9pm), there were more than a few empty seats, which may a few reasons, not as popular of a film (perhaps?), but also not in the "prime time hour" of the day, and no "special special guest", like an actor.

We were standing in the Standby line in front of the El Capitan, and I looked down and realized we were standing right on top of Alan Menken (his star in any case).

Alan Menken's Star on Walk of Fame

As we sat down, there was an organist playing on the stage, a medley of some Disney songs (appropriately), The Godfather, That's Entertainment, When You Wish Upon a Star. This guy was seriously awesome, and cheered me up immensely after the bummer of missing "Steamboat Bill, Jr." (I tried to get a photo, but he was too far away/not lit enough for my phone to pick him up). Announcer guy said his name (I can't remember it!) He bowed and then played "Be Our Guest" as he floated down into the stage, via trap door. I've come to the conclusion that everything owned by Disney is magical :D Dad bought us pretzels and me an Apple Juice (my favorite!) A young women came out and gave a little background to the film (Audrey Hepburn debut, filmed on location - thanks to movie magic the historic locations are closer together than they are in reality, how her character Princess Ann was based off of Princess Margaret). The theater had a special little "Hollywood" intro on the stage with a streamer curtain and lights and all that before the curtain went up. The great thing about seeing films with an audience is the shared experience; moments become more exciting, funnier, sadder, more dramatic, super fun. If you haven't seen "Roman Holiday" I highly recommend. Also, Gregory Peck, what a dreamboat :)

On Saturday, we were thinking about seeing "1776" (which I learned later had the cast in attendance, so we probably might not have gotten in regardless, including William Daniels aka Mister Feeney was there!) So instead we went on a Hollywood bus tour. It was funish, but I think if we ever go back to LA, I would like to do the Warner Bros lot tour (or maybe a TCM Bus Tour for a more Old Hollywood flair), and Dad wanted to, but we didn't get the chance to see the La Brea Tar Pit Museum. Venice Beach was kinda junky (for being such a well known beach, was rather touristy and not very interesting, it reminded me of San Fransisco and not in a great way, I have to admit).

Venice Beach

Santa Monica

Santa Monica (cont.)

 
Santa Monica was nicer, more the beach that you would expect, and double the price of living, according to the tour guide ($1 million houses in Venice, $2-3 million beach front properties in Santa Monica)

Me & "Hollywood Sign" (very tiny!)

(1 of 3) Leonardo DiCaprio's House(s)

Old Lucille Ball/Dezi Arnaz's House

 That night, we tried to get into "The Apartment" (1960) Only after we queued up and I was looking at the Programming Guide did I realize that Shirley MacClaine was in attendance, and then figured that we wouldn't get in. We met a nice guy named Kevin, a local who worked in Special Effects. He didn't really tell us which stuff he worked on (I think it's a general rule of thumb of people in the industry, they have too much respect for the work they do to really boast about the films they work on/people they work with) but he was super nice, we talked about how we liked book adaptations as films (Seabiscuit, John Adams), how Dad and I had seen Casablanca a few years back at a Fathom Events TCM Screening. And we didn't get into the showing (I don't think many Standbys did at all, we were in the 60's number wise).

We drove to the Santa Monica Beach to try to catch the sunset (we just missed it, thanks traffic) but then bought some TV dinners for Sunday and went back to the hotel.

On Sunday, we looked up the closest church, Hollywood Ward 12pm, and drove there (about 10 minutes away turned into 30+ minutes, but we got there in time). Only to discover that the ward meeting at 12 was the Spanish speaking Ward! A lovely women by the name of Sister Foreman saw us standing in the hallway (looking rather lost I assume) and introduced herself and made us feel very welcome (Spanish have a good reputation for being really warm and welcome, and they defiantly are, I can say from personal experience now), and told us that the English speaking ward used to meet at 12 last year, so the website was simply out of date, which made us feel much better that it wasn't our fault about the time change. So we stayed for the Sacarament, and then went back to the hotel, watched some BYU Idaho Sessions on BYU TV, and just chilled. We had bought TV Dinners the night before so we could have dinner, but wouldn't have to go out and eat and spend money on the Sabbath.

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (taken Saturday night)

And Monday morning, we woke up, had breakfast, and then drove home! (And had Appleby's for lunch/dinner close to home). And that was our adventure/vacation in Los Angeles! No Robert Osbourne sightings, I'm afraid ;) But if we ever go again, we would know how to plan better for it, both events, and if we miss showings of films. And now I've seen m\ore of LA than just Disneyland!