The Envelope

The Los Angeles Times holds an Envelope Screening Series right before award season hits here in LA. I was fortunate enough to score tickets to a few select movies. The great thing about this is not only seeing the movie before its release date, but the Q & A afterwords with the actors and actresses. Not only is it exciting to meet in person such talented actors, but it's interesting and entertaining to hear their thoughts and views on the film and hear how they prepared and went about filming. Plus, I was only three rows back from the screen. And although this might be seen as a downfall during the movie, I was in a prime seat for the after-show!! (***my pictures are lousy because I was trying to be inconspicuous!)

The first of the movies I saw was "Doubt." Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. This movie, originally written as a play, is a film about suspicion, judgement and moral certitude (not my words). It was enjoyable and certainly got me asking questions. In the Q & A afterwards we were honored to have the writer/director John Patrick Shanley in our presence. To hear his ideas and his goals and his desires for the film were outstanding. And he came across as such a cool guy. It was an amazing evening, to say the least.

The next film I saw was "Last Chance Harvey," starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. And let me cut to the chase, Dustin Hoffman graced our presence with the Q & A and I couldn't have been happier. I'm mean really, Dustin Hoffman. What a brilliant man!! What movie of his can you actually say you don't like?? None. None what-so-ever. And to top it off, we were served champagne! Ha ha ha. I'm such a fortunate little girl!! So Dustin talked about how he got into the acting business. Said he never wanted to be an actor, never wanted to be famous. He was doing the typical waiting tables thing and next thing he knew he was playing in a role, more like "the role," that would launch his career into stardom. That obviously being "The Graduate." He talked about "The Graduate", he talked about what films he was asked to do that he turned down, he talked about his regrets, he talked about choosing roles. The audience was in agreeance

that a memoir was a must. I was mesmerized. A funny side note: When Dustin Hoffman walked into the theater, the smell of pot became present. I turned, with a confused/shocked look on my face, to the lady next to me. She smelt it also, and quietly, yet accusingly, pointed to Dustin Hoffman. I mouthed to her "really??." She mouthed back, "It's gotta be." I mouthed back, "No!?!?" We shrugged our shoulders and turned back to hear what he had to say. A moment later, my friend Peter, grabbed into his bag to pull out his camera, and the smell of pot again became quite apparent. I looked at my friend Peter with wide eyes and asked, "do you smell that? It smells like pot." Immediately Peter's eyes got wide and he realized that he had lent his bag to our pot-head co-worker. I debated whether or not to tell the lady next to me that, "no, Dustin Hoffman didn't get high in the bathroom before his Q & A. It's just my friend." In the end, I didn't. I didn't want to be associated with the reason why the theater reeked of pot. I hope she doesn't think any less of Dustin Hoffman now.

The last movie I was able to see was "The Wrestler." I barely made it to this movie. If it weren't for the fact I knew there would be free popcorn, I probably would have stayed home. I mean, a movie about wrestling, no thanks. Ugh. It ends up, this could very easily be my favorite movie of the year. It just goes to show, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. All of whom showed up to answer questions, along with the Director Darren Aronofsky. Amazing crew. Amazing to hear Mickey Rourke talk. To see his humorous personality come out. To hear about his personal struggles, not just the ones he portrays in the film. It was neat to learn that Darren had no budget for this movie, yet his dream to complete it, keep it alive. I learned that Mickey did all his own stunts, which after previewing the movie, you'll have great respect for that.

I was certainly sad to have this screening series over. It was such a great way to spend my evenings. I'm sure I'll find something else to do soon. I'm pretty much notoriously known for having the inside scoop on whats happening around town. And it's true. I'm always getting free tickets to this or that. It's great!! It's all in who you know, or more importantly, who knows you! Wink Wink.

Peace and Love in the New Year.