DAY ONE IN THE BOOKS
Patron Brunch yesterday was great. Ate with good friends and made some new ones. Mark Helfrich was kind enough to introduce me to one of this year's tribute recipients: Casey Affleck:
After that I made a quick stop to the Press Orientation where probably the most important news was that there are no planned "Sneaks" for this year.
Following that I made my way up to the Chuck Jones for the Patron screening of Damien Chazelle's La La Land. I'll admit that a built from scratch movie musical has had me dubious but it won me over. Great work from Ryan Gosling and particularly Emma Stone. If anyone runs into Emma this weekend...pass it on MTFB thinks she's fantastic in this. Also, tell her that I'd like to meet her too.
Grabbed a quick kabob at the Opening Night Feed and then attended the tribute to Casey Affleck followed by a screening of Manchester by the Sea. This title has had a lot of buzz since it popped at Sundance back in January. Honestly I found it overly long. It just seemed like the first act was really lethargic. That perception wasn't aided by the fact that The Palm was a sauna.
The last half hour or so is well done. Michelle Williams is quite good and Affleck is as well. Also young actor Lucas Hedges hangs with the adults admirably.
Final note about the film: the music was overbearing to the point of distraction.
Overall for the moment MTFB says La La Land 4/5 and Manchester 2.5/5
For those whose minds run to such things, my guess is that La La Land will likely be a big hit thus weekend and consequently make some fairly serious noise when the talk turns to Oscar. Score, Song, possibly the Sound Editing and Mixing categories. Maybe Picture, Director, Actress, Original Screenplay, Cinematography and Film Editing. Gosling could Squeeze in for Actor but that's going to be a tougher sell.
Manchester's Affleck and Williams have been getting mentioned for Actor and Supporting Actress since Sundance but...Best bets, at least in my view are a nod for Williams and an Original Screenplay nod for Kenneth Lonergan. Affleck could get in but, like Gosling, the competition is probably going to be brutal.
I'll be interested to hear what some of the real Oscar pundits have to say.
DAY TWO AND THE PLAN
This is what I think I'll be doing tomorrow:
Sully/Palm @10am
Bright Lights/Palm @1pm
Moonlight/Galaxy @4:30pm
Amy Adams Tribute w/Arrival/Palm @7pm
TBA'S FOR SATURDAY:
I'm taking these TBAs from what is appearing on the TFF #43 App as of late last night:
By Venue:
The Galaxy:
1:15 Manchester by the Sea
7:45 Arrival
The Zog
1:00 Wakefield
4:00 The Eagle Huntress
10:00 Lost in Paris
The Masons
3:00 Things to Come
8:00 Great Expectations
10:30 End of Eden
Le Pierre
8:15pm Fire at Sea
10:30pm Maudie
FINALLY...
A big thanks to those of you who have been passing along the kind words about reading this space. It really does mean more than you know.
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