Monday, July 03, 2006

L.A. Film Festival (final day)

The final day of the festival was something of a bust—partly because the film we saw was a real stinker, but also because it was so damn hot that any remaining interest in the festivities seemed to be sucked away.

We arrived an hour early, as usual. Happily, it was Sunday so we were able to park on the street for free. There wasn’t one person on line when we arrived at the Crest, so we hung-out in the shade on the other side of Westwood Blvd. Fifteen minutes later, the previous show let out and, from among those folks, a line began to form. We jaywalked and then huddled under a sad-looking tree near the theater’s entrance. There was absolutely no evidence of celebrities or cast members and, indeed, as we soon found out, this was to be a screening only with no Q & A.

The movie was “Wild Seven,” an extremely self-conscious noir piece filmed in the style of “Pulp Fiction” and other Tarantino rip-offs. Robert Forster and Robert Loggia played a pair of aging ex-cons who plan to pull one last heist; but things go awry when Forster brings his son (writer-director James Hausler) into the mix. The movie had its moments—including a funny scene with a gun dealer who also sells stuffed teddy bears—but was disappointing overall. Still, we decided the festival itself made for an exciting and fun weekend and so may just buy two 10-film passes next year!

With that, we rushed back to our car so we could get home in time to see one of our favorite TV shows, HBO's “Entourage,” where the "real" Hollywood insider stuff happens.

More adventures soon...

7/3/06

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