The Way We Watch

Right now I am in between articles at a job I enjoy. Is it my dream job? No-I am one of the millions of people who get up every morning and go to a job I don’t love. I just finished an article about the Sheriff and the Police Department having a dispute. Next, I will work on an article about the local Girl Scout Troop attending a funeral for one of their own. I don’t get to write about what I love-which is Classic film unless I write about it here for free. When I’m not writing for the newspaper or writing here I’m reading about Classic film, or I’m watching it. The most significant source for classic cinema is TCM or FilmStruck-or it was. Tomorrow we lose one of the two most significant sources of classic and unique films. What a damn shame it is for all of us.  Two years ago my film pallet included classic films that I was able to catch on TCM, movies that everyone knows from the seventies and eighties like Terms of Endearment, Caddyshack and Ghostbusters , and the films I ha

This is my final TCMFF 2018 post. We made it to the end, and I hope you enjoyed this journey. This year was a lot more different than in previous years. I didn’t attend as many films as I usually do and I have a lot of mixed emotions about that. I’m sad that I didn’t take in the full festival like I typically do. I love going from one film to another. That is the experience that I want and the experience that I love. This year we were able to travel outside of Hollywood, and that was incredible, and I don’t regret that for a second. I’m so glad we were able to do that. Sunday I had plans to attend Woman of the Year, Growing Up Mankiewicz , This Thing Called Love, Finishing School and then I would finish the night with A Star is Born or The Phantom of the Opera . It was an ambitious final day, but when I woke up, I was so exhausted. I didn’t want to go to the first movie, so we decided to get breakfast at Mel’s. Did I mention that I live for Mel’s avocado toast and eggs? I do-

Saturday, April 28, 2018 I made it to Grauman’s in time to get in the massive line that ran right along the NYSNC ‘Dirty Pop-Up Shop’ line. People were confused, myself included and some were in the wrong lines, myself included. Once I was directed to the correct line, I tried to salvage what I could of my purse and make sure all I had all of my belongings. Luckily here we are nearly six months later, and I’m not missing anything, so that’s good. I stood in line for maybe half an hour or so. It really didn’t seem like long at all.  The street hot dogs have smelled so dang good for three years now, and I was dying for one. Unfortunately, I always get talked out of getting one. Everyone thinks I'll get sick from it and I shouldn’t trust ‘street meat.’ I disagree and if you have eaten one of those delicious dogs being made on the street on a pop-up cart next to a guy holding a snake, please send me an email and let me know that you're alive. I would like to use you as pr

Saturday, April 28, 2018 When I received the schedule for the Festival, this was the day that I had no problem scheduling. It was a slam dunk for me. I looked at it and knew exactly what films I would be seeing all day long. For the first time since I started attending the festival, my schedule didn’t change from the moment I received the schedule. I planned to see His Girl Friday (1940); This Thing Called Love (1940); Wife vs. Secretary (1936); Girls About Town (1931); Show People (1928); The Big Lebowsk i (1998); Night of the Living Dead (1968). To start the day we went to the famed Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (TCL Chinese Theatre) to see one of my favorite films of all time, His Girl Friday . When the schedule was announced I didn’t think twice about seeing this movie at the world-famous Hollywood theatre-however was the festival drew closer I went back and forth with my decision. I wondered if I should try to see something I hadn’t seen before, but when it came down to

Day two, Friday, April 27 The thing about the TCM Film Festival is every year I go with a set schedule and every year it goes right out the window as soon as I step foot in Hollywood. On this particular day my schedule plan was to see Intruder in the Dust (1949); The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944); Harold Lloyd in 3D; The Odd Couple (1968); attend the Roaring Twenties party poolside at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, then attend the screening; The World’s Greatest Sinner (1962). It was a packed schedule, but I wanted to cram in as much as I could into the festival. The moment we woke up things changed. I was starving and tired. I was still battling my cold and didn’t feel ‘up to snuff.’ So we decided to walk down to Mel’s Diner for breakfast and go over our schedule. Listen I know that some people don’t like Mel’s I do. I happen to really love Mel’s. I love their latte’s, I love their avocado toast with poached eggs, and I love their mac and cheese. I just love a greasy d

Attending the red carpet arrivals during the TCM Film Festival has been something I have done every year. Each year has been different, but great.  The first year I attended with Angie of The Hollywood Revue and JP of Comet over Hollywood . I don’t recall if we waited in line all that long, but we had great seats that year and in three years of attending TCM red carpet events I can say that first year was the best I have attended. Sidenote: Sean Cameron should emcee everything TCM does.  The second-year Brian attended with Angie and me, and we stood in line for nearly an hour and a half, and we had front row seats. This year we stood in line for a little under an hour. It was warm in the sun, but not as bad as the year before. I had yet to eat at my favorite place, Jinya Ramen , so I ran to get some food to tide me over as we stood in line. I sat on the dirty Hollywood Boulevard curb and inhaled my first ramen meal of the festival. It was as wonderful as I had hoped it wou

About the red carpet. Before we get into the Mel Brooks of it all can I start by saying that if you are not watching the shows that Turner networks are producing, then you are missing out. I have always had a bit of a soft spot for Turner (TBS) original shows. In 2006 TBS first aired one of my all-time favorite shows, My Boys . The show revolves around sportswriter PJ Franklin who is searching for love with the help of her closest friends, her ‘boys,’ if you will. She isn’t super feminine and relates more to the men in her world than women. (I relate to it on so many levels.) The show lasted four seasons and is indeed a gem. Please purchase it on DVD immediately. The writing is fantastic, the assembled cast is perfect, the show is just butter. PJ Franklin (Jordana Spiro) is and was everything I want to be in my life and career and who wouldn’t love to be surrounded by good-looking and funny men like Reid Scott, Michael Bunin, Jamie Kaler, and Kyle Howard? I mean come on TBS. On

The first official day of the Turner Classic Film Festival was well underway as we woke up bright and early the next morning. We could already hear our fellow classic film friends stirring in the hall and down in the breakfast area as we pulled ourselves together to head out for breakfast. We joined Lauren and Roger again, but this time for brunch at Brite Spot . We were excited to make it to another part of LA that we hadn’t seen and try to eat breakfast somewhere that wasn’t Mel’s Diner (a place I happen to actually love) or Starbucks. The atmosphere was perfect, the coffee was exactly what I needed and the food, oh so good. I had the Southern Decadence, which was a Biscuit with fried chicken, bacon, cheese, sausage gravy, and an egg. It was incredible, and I loved it. It’s so hard to beat delicious diner food, and this place excelled in great diner food. It was just enough to get me through the busy day ahead and into the late dinner we had planned with Angie later. We went

This year’s TCMFF was unlike any others I had attended. This year Brian and I opted to spend a few more days in Los Angeles exploring the area outside of Hollywood and Highland. We decided to make this year more of a vacation and spend a few more days in L.A. because I had changed positions at my job and didn’t know if we would be able to attend the festival in 2019. So we decided to go all out in 2018. We flew in the Wednesday before the festival. Our tradition is to meet up with our pal Angie and have lunch at 25 Degrees at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, but this year we changed it up a bit. Instead of spending the day at our usual haunts along Hollywood Boulevard we made plans with our pal Lauren to spend the day anywhere else. We dropped off luggage our at the hotel and met Lauren at the Roosevelt to start our adventure. Lauren, a native of Southern California, had insisted for the last year that we get ourselves out of the Hollywood area. When I first started going to

I wasn’t born into the world of classic films. Most of the people who attend the TCM Film Festival are lifelong classic film fans. There is a handful of us who have developed our love of film over time. I would say I’m about 15 years into my ‘film education.’ I'm still a teenager learning the ropes. When TCM announced its first Film Festival, I knew I desperately wanted to attend. It took me a few years of saving and learning what my taste in film was. I had to watch hundreds of movies to determine what genre I preferred, what actors and actresses I gravitated to and what made it so special to me. I needed to know that it was going to be worth the money for me to attend. The first year I attended was in 2016. I went solo, but my friends Angie and Jess took me under their wings. Angie let me tag along to most of the showings she wanted to attend. When I went with her, they were films I wouldn’t have chosen myself. I fell in love. I learned something new about myself, and