Movie Premier: John Carter

Even though I’m not a football fan, one of my all-time favorite TV shows is Friday Night Lights, the much missed series about a high school football team in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas.  One of my favorite characters on the show was Tim Riggins, the hunky but brooding receiver, who matured considerably over the series’ far too short five seasons.

Most of the actors have moved on to other projects since the show ended its run last year.  But Taylor Kitsch, who played Riggins, has remained out of the limelight, appearing only briefly in the Wolverine origins movie three years ago.  That’s about to change, however, with the upcoming release of the blockbuster Battleship, later this year, and John Carter, Disney’s highly anticipated tent-pole movie in which Kitsch plays the title superhero.

Although John Carter doesn’t open till March, the premier was held earlier this week at the Regal Theater downtown.  Because it’s a Disney film, D23 members were invited to attend. Tickets were supposed to be available at 5PM, so Tim and I arrived at the theater at 4:30PM.  We planned to just checkout the scene before going to dinner, but two queues had already formed: one for tickets and one for the “bleachers,” from where we’d eventually watch the festivities.  We quickly got on the first line—so much for eating before the movie!  Everyone was chattering happily in anticipation.

It’s always fun to attend these things because you get to see movie stars in their natural element.  But the best part—for me, at least—is standing in line with kindred spirits.  Within moments we all knew each other’s backstory.  Turns out the guy standing next to me, who looked like he just walked over from a downtown law firm, was a rabid autograph hound.  Next to him were two ex-pats from Sacramento who were thrilled to be in the middle of a full-blown “L.A. experience.” 

Since we were among D23ers, I told everyone within earshot about our fabulous time at the Smoke Tree Ranch  and then, pointing to Geoffrey the D23 “Disney Geek,” who was standing nearby, I mentioned that he had been at the Ranch, too.

“Do you know Geoffrey the Disney Geek?” I asked Mr. Autograph.

“We’re all Disney geeks in this crowd,” he responded matter-of-factly.  “Except, of course, Geoffrey, who has his own video blog.”

With tickets in hand, we were then escorted over to the bleachers, setup on the street in front of the theater.  Well, actually, they weren’t bleachers at all, but rather a railing and two very long staggered platforms.  Fans were asked to stand either in front of or on the platforms in three long lines.  Our group of five scored the last front-row spots closest to the entrance.  Perfect timing!

The next two hours zipped by surprisingly fast.  The security guards allowed Tim to escape across the street for a quick bite, while I stayed (too excited to eat) and chatted with my new friends.  Although there was only one long red carpet, a velvet rope clearly separated the stars from everyone else attending the premier.  Non-celebrities walked on our side of the carpet; celebrities walked on the side closest to the photographers and media. 

The red carpet and velvet rope 

separating "us" from "them"

People on both sides of the red carpet started arriving at 6PM.  Most of the men wore suits, while the women—especially the non-celebrities—wore, for the most part, varying degrees of cocktail attire.  Even many D23 members—not necessarily known for being fashion-forward—dressed in spangles and black outfits.  I was very glad I had opted, at the last minute, not to wear my Friday Night Lights Dillon Panthers t-shirt.

A-listers and other celebrities finally started arriving by 6:30PM.  We saw Oscar-winner Helen Mirren, with what looked to be her two young grandchildren, and Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston, looking dapper in a suit and closely trimmed beard.  Anton Yelchin, Chekov in the Star Trek reboot movie, slipped by unnoticed on “our” side of the carpet.  Former sitcom star Dave Folley, who does a lot of voice work now for Disney, was there with his daughter and seemed thrilled to sign Mr. Autograph’s book. Frankie Muniz, of Malcom in the Middle fame, looks exactly the same except he now sports a 5 o’clock shadow, and Kevin McKidd is much more handsome in person than he is on TV.

Then suddenly we heard a burst of screaming from the far side of the bleachers.

“IT'S TAYLOR KITSCH!” the Sacramento guys, who by now knew all my secrets, yelled excitedly at me.  “And he’s on our side of the red carpet!”

Sure enough, poking my head over the railing I could see him shaking fans’ hands—and even kissing some women!—as he threw t-shirts into the bleachers.  He was wearing a dark suit and had short hair—not like Tim Riggins at all.  He was swarmed by the time he made it to our end of the bleachers.  One of the Sacramento guys yelled, “GIVE HER A T-SHIRT!  SHE'S A BIG FAN!!”  

Taylor Kitsch, a.k.a. John Carter

And that’s how I got my very own John Carter t-shirt, touched by the superhero himself! No time to say anything, though, because within minutes Kitsch’s “people” took him away to the other side of the red carpet, where he really did belong.

“OK.  We can leave now,” I announced as soon as he left.  But we stayed and soon were directed into the theater.

The Regal’s theater #1 is a huge venue used exclusively for special events, like movie premiers.  Everyone with a highly prized “laminate” (i.e., movie pass) dangling around his or her neck got to go into theater #1.  The rest of us, with our less important green wristbands, were directed toward the much smaller theater #5.  But at least Disney sprang for dinner. 

“Is that popcorn for us?” I yelled as we ran past the snack area, eying the bags neatly stacked on the counter.  The clerk waved us over.

We then headed to theater #5, where we had to surrender all cameras and cellphones.  In exchange, we were given cool John Carter 3-D glasses and an envelope containing an 8X11 movie poster.  Andrew Stanton, the film’s director, gave a short speech about how he’s wanted to make a movie about his hero John Carter ever since he was a kid.  And then—finally!—the film began.

I won’t ruin it by giving details here.  Suffice it to say, Taylor Kitsch is a better fictional football player than he is a gravity-defying superhero on Mars.  Still, the movie is entertaining and full of special effects.  We had lots of fun.

P.S.  To see D23's take on the premier, click here.

Only in L.A.

Karen called a couple weeks ago, saying she could get discount tickets for a one-night benefit performance of "You Can't Take It With You," a play starring Tom Hanks and a stellar cast of friends. I had wanted to go, but the ticket price was prohibitive. I, therefore, jumped at the chance when Karen said she could get me in for a quarter of the price. The only catch: I had to buy at least two tickets. Tim wasn't interested and Karen had to work, so I sold the second ticket to Katie, a student who lives in Northern California when not taking classes at UCLA.

The event was held at UCLA’s Royce Hall, one of the most beautiful buildings on campus. We were, of course, relegated to the balcony with all the other cheapskates. I had foolishly left my binoculars at home, so we had to strain our eyes to see any celebrities in the audience below us. We imagined seeing Ron Howard, whose production company Imagine was one the evening’s sponsors, as well as Francis Ford Coppola, who catered the post-play reception.

The real action was on stage, however. Beside Hanks, the cast included Tom’s wife Rita Wilson, well-known character actress Caroline Aaron, Dave Annable (Justin on the TV show “Brothers and Sisters”), Maria Bamford, brilliant actress Annette Bening, Kevin Chamberlain, former Oscar-nominee James Cromwell, funnyman Ian Gomez, Jon Hamm (“Mad Men’s” hunky leading man), Peter Krause (of “Six Feet Under” and “Dirty, Sexy Money”), Mila Kunis (from “That 70s Show”), William Shatner (Captain Kirk himself!), comic genius Martin Short, Alicia Silverstone (the ingenue in “Clueless”), and Holland Taylor (the annoying mother on “Two and a Half Men”). The director was Nora Ephron, who worked with Hanks on “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail.”

The play was wacky. Set during the Great Depression, it featured two lovebirds (Kunis and Hamm) who come from completely different backgrounds. Her family is extremely eccentric; his is reserved and rich. Conflict ensues when the families finally meet.

The event was billed as a “reading,” so everyone read from the script. The acting was good, even though apparently not much rehearsing went on beforehand. Annette Bening was her excellent self and Kunis and Hamm were appropriately attractive. But it was Tom Hanks who really stole the show. Wearing a tall fur cap, he played the Russian dance instructor who has opinions about everything (“IT STINKS!!”). He rarely stuck to the script and, at one point, started madly throwing chairs off the stage.

Not to be outdone, Martin Short, who played Bening’s husband, also veered from the script and several times brought the play to a screeching halt by rushing over to give Bening a long passionate kiss—all while her real-life husband, Warren Beatty, watched from the audience. Everyone screamed in delight. And then there was Bill Shatner, the play’s patriarch, who ad-libbed with the best of them. By the end, my cheeks hurt from laughing so hard!

After the applause, we ran downstairs to see if we could spot any celebrities exiting the theater. Looming above all the rest was Warren Beatty, looking exactly like he does in the movies.

“There’s Warren Beatty,” I whispered to Katie.

“And Faye Dunaway,” she responded, as I struggled to recognize the person standing next to him.

“Hmmm . . . Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty,” I thought to myself. “Why does that sound so familiar? Then suddenly, “Oh my God!” I yelped. “It’s Bonnie and Clyde!” What a thrill!

We followed the crowds to the patio where a champagne and dessert reception was being held. We hoped to rub elbows with some of the bigger name celebrities, but saw only James Cromwell (very tall) and Kevin Chamberlain (I still don’t know who he is!). Then, just as we were about to leave, I noticed flashbulbs going off inside the lobby. We pushed our way over to see what was happening.

I couldn’t see Hanks, Bening or Beatty, but we did have a clear view of Jon Hamm and Martin Short yucking it up about something. Actually, all we could see was the back of Hamm’s head as he laughed at Short’s antics. We stood there for several minutes and were about to give up when Hamm turned our way. We could see his face—well worth the wait!

It couldn’t get any better than that, so we left.

Star Sightings 2007

One of the fun things about living on the west side of Los Angeles is occasionally running into famous celebrities. For instance, we saw actor Jon Voight on New Year’s Eve, while running through the Century City mall en route to one of our favorite restaurants, Houston’s. Tim and I both had babyback ribs on our mind and so didn’t pay Voight much attention, but I did notice he was unusually tall (for an actor) and far more handsome in person than he is on film. He was the third Academy Award winner we’d stumbled upon in a month, so we considered 2007 an especially good year for stargazing.

The year had actually started pretty well when I saw Rob McElhenney ( the “cute one” on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) buying furniture at the Pier 1 within walking distance of our house. He was with an attractive blonde woman, who helped him load various purchases into his convertible. A week later, Tim and I saw Fred Ward (Gus Grissom in the movie “The Right Stuff”) buying cold cuts at Gelson’s. It must have been after noon, but he looked like he’d just got out of bed.

Character actor David Paymer (Oscar nominee for “Mr. Saturday Night”) apparently attends the synagogue near our home because we saw him getting into his car there one Saturday. He looks exactly like he does in the movies.

Better yet was the time Tim and I were cruising my favorite science fiction bookstore in Santa Monica, when in walked Joss Whedon, creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and (more importantly!) the beloved but short-lived TV show “Firefly.” I looked around to see if any of the staff recognized him, but they didn’t. I could hardly breathe! Luckily he left after only a few minutes, because I was bursting to tell Tim.

“Guess who was just in here!!” I gasped. “JOSS WHEDON!!”

“Who’s that?” he asked unfazed.

“You Philistine!” I screeched. “Don’t you know the genius behind ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Firefly’?”

Still no clue.

Tim was all ears and eyes, though, when we recently attended a comedy writers event at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. The guests of honor were James L. Brooks (Oscar-winning director and screenwriter for “Terms of Endearment”), Larry Gelbart (creator of the TV show “M.A.S.H.” and screenwriter for “Tootsie”), and Judd Apatow (current media darling and screenwriter of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”). We arrived early so we could get good seats, plus scope-out any celebs in the audience. The pickin’s were slim at best. In fact, I was just about to voice my disappointment when here came comedian extraordinaire Garry Shandling and newcomer Jonah Hill (the heavyset kid from “Superbad”). We were thrilled. By the way, the speakers were all brilliantly funny, but especially Apatow, who was obviously humbled to share the stage with such accomplished writers like Brooks and Gelbart. It was a wonderful evening.

Not all star sightings are on the west side, of course. The night of Tim’s staff Christmas party, we saw Academy Award-winning actress Diane Keaton taking photos of her family and friends in Downtown Disney. She looked exactly like Annie Hall!

“She didn’t even try to disguise herself!” I told Karen later.

Karen concurred. “Yeah, I’ve seen her around town a couple of times and she looks exactly like herself.”

Our biggest coup, however, occurred after seeing the movie “Beowulf.” As we were leaving, I thought I recognized someone who was entering the theater. Tim was his typical ten paces ahead.

“Babe!” I yelled, madly gesturing for Tim to come over. “I think I just saw Tom Hanks!”

Without missing a beat, Tim turned around and went racing after his prey. Returning two minutes later, he congratulated me on my catch.

“Good eye!” he said. “It was definitely him!”

I wonder who we’ll see this year. . .

1/3/08