TCMFF 2024–Tentative Picks!

A week ago Thursday (March 28), TCM finally dropped the full schedule for the upcoming TCMFF. Since then, I have been pouring over the schedule, discussing the various schedule conflicts with my husband. We’ve identified the screenings that we absolutely cannot miss, screenings that we’re interested in, but don’t necessarily have to do, and other screenings to which we’re indifferent. This year’s schedule is absolutely killer, despite presenting some agonizing conflicts. This schedule is so good, it feels like it was designed just for me. Last year, we attended the festival with the awesome Spotlight passes. This year however, I am attending with a Media pass and my husband will have the comparable Classic pass. We will be getting experience with the line queuing and the numbering system. I’ve read about how the lines work in previous festivals and understand the protocol. Last year, I wanted to make sure we saw something in every venue so we could see what they’re like. This year, I want to make sure to see something in the two new venues–El Capitan and the Egyptian.

Here is the tentative schedule that my husband and I agreed upon, though in many cases, it is subject to change.

Wednesday

We’re flying into Burbank from Portland Tuesday night. Luckily, our flight is a little less than 2.5 hours, so it won’t be too daunting. Originally we were going to fly into LAX on Wednesday afternoon. However, with a 1:30pm arrival time on Wednesday afternoon with a media event scheduled ~4:30pm, I decided that it would be too stressful to try and get across Los Angeles to Hollywood in 3 hours. I could already feel myself becoming anxious trying to be on time and at the time I was still 1.5 months away. Regardless, I rearranged our plans so that we’d already be in town on the day we have a lot planned.

On Wednesday, my husband and I will need to pick up our passes. I am hoping that we may have time Wednesday morning to possibly go to Larry Edmunds book store. We will also be attending the Facebook TCMFF Group party at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. The museum has an MGM costume exhibit that we plan to see during the party. My husband and I will need to leave the party briefly to go back to the Roosevelt for the 4:30pm media event. Afterwards, we’ll head back to the party. We then have a 7:30pm Musso & Frank reservation. Will this be the year that my husband finally orders the Welsh rarebit that he’s been dying to try? We’ll see. Last year he was supposed to try it and then ordered a pork chop instead.

Thursday

I have a lunch reservation at Miceli’s on Las Palmas Ave. for late Thursday morning. It is where Lucille Ball went in 1956 to learn how to toss pizza dough for the “Visitor From Italy” episode of I Love Lucy. I will try to go to Larry Edmunds this day if I don’t make it on Wednesday. I also want to go to Amoeba Music, but we won’t have a car this year. The walk is about 30 minutes, which isn’t bad, but we’ll need to see if we have time. The festival doesn’t officially kick off until 5:00pm with the opening night party. We’ll definitely be attending that. Prior to the party is a panel about the ins and outs of running a festival and then later the annual trivia event. Both sound interesting, but we’ll see if we go to either.

I made this schedule myself in Excel just to visualize the conflicts.

Right off the bat, first block of the schedule and there’s a major conflict. Pulp Fiction can already be removed as it is the opening night film reserved for Spotlight and Essential passholders. When White Heat was announced, that was the film that I wanted to see… but then the schedule came out and Clue is scheduled opposite White Heat. Clue will be a poolside screening and Lesley Ann Warren, aka Miss Scarlett, will be present. I love Clue. It is hysterical. I am curious whether they’ll show all three endings in a row during the screening. Frankly, they should because it is the only way to watch this film. I am anticipating the Clue screening to be packed to the point where we probably won’t get a seat; but it’ll probably be our only chance for a pool screening if we were to attend any of the three awesome pool screenings that are planned.

Pick: Clue
Plan B: White Heat

Our two main choices for the second and last block of the evening are In Cold Blood in theater 1 at the multiplex or Gambit at the Egyptian. I’ve never seen In Cold Blood and I love true crime, so this would be a great pick. The con with this pick is if we see Clue, it ends at the time that In Cold Blood starts. We don’t want to leave Clue early, because seeing all the endings is the whole point of the film. You watch the entire film to get to this ending. I am also not a fan of leaving screenings early, as I don’t really want to come home having seen 75% of a dozen films. With that said, if we see Clue, it only makes sense to see Gambit, as we’ll have 30 minutes between screenings. If we see White Heat, we’d have 30 minutes to make it to In Cold Blood, or we could just stay at the Egyptian and see Gambit.

Pick: Gambit
Plan B: In Cold Blood

Friday

The first full block of the day is an easy decision. 101 Dalmatians is the only film scheduled at Disney’s El Capitan Theater and I want to see the inside. We’ve seen the outside of this theater every single time we’ve been in Hollywood (at least a half a dozen times) and have never been inside. Disney animator, Floyd Norman, is scheduled to appear with the hilarious Mario Cantone. I also discovered that Mr. Norman and I have the same birthday! El Capitan is also next to Ghirardelli, so a coffee/ice cream breakfast might be the perfect choice for this event. Were 101 Dalmatians not scheduled, I’d probably go see The Caine Mutiny or the Vitaphone feature.

Pick: 101 Dalmatians
Plan B: There is no Plan B.

This block is a tough one. I would go see The Little Foxes, however it starts when 101 Dalmatians ends. Like I said before, I don’t particularly want to leave a movie early. The big con to this is that Mario Cantone is also introducing ‘Foxes’ which stars Bette Davis. Cantone does a hysterical Bette Davis impression. I have to hope that maybe The Little Foxes will be a TBA on Sunday. I would go see Them!, but it starts 15 minutes after ‘Dalmatians’ ends. I’m not sure that we’ll be able to get in on time to see the screening. Leonard Maltin is introducing Three Godfathers which I’ve never seen; but it’s in theater 4, so I’m not sure we’ll get in. The TCM Archive Project is the panel that looked the most interesting to me. I’d also never heard of The Model and the Marriage Broker before it was announced. This is a block that could really go any way and we couldn’t come up with a definitive plan. We might try to get into Them! and use the panel or maybe ‘Model’ as a back-up option if Them! is full. We may also use this block to get lunch if we’re hungry.

Pick: Them!
Plan B: The TCM Archive Project panel, The Model and the Marriage Broker, or lunch!

In this block, my choice is It Should Happen to You with Jack Lemmon and Judy Holliday. This is such a fun film and would be a great afternoon movie. The Hearst newsreel presentation seems interesting, but I don’t know if it’s interesting enough to give up Jack and Judy. I like That’s Entertainment, but it’s really just a big clip show. I don’t know that I need to see it in the theater.

Pick: It Should Happen to You
Plan B: There is no Plan B at the moment.

This Gidget poolside screening is killing me because it’s perfectly staggered between two movie blocks. I love Gidget. I have seen it dozens of times. This seems like a no-brainer. I suggested this movie as a poolside in last year’s after the festival survey. I feel like I manifested this event to happen. However, I don’t think we’ll be going to this screening. If James Darren, Moondoggie himself, were scheduled to attend, it’d be a no-brainer, Gidget is what I’d watch. However, Moondoggie is not the scheduled guest. Without Moondoggie, the excitement for this selection is a little diminished. I love Rear Window, but I’ve seen it in the theater four times. I’m not sure that I need to see it again at the cost of seeing something else. I’ve never seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Steven Spielberg will be in attendance. This film is also scheduled at Grauman’s, so it seems like the perfect venue to see it.

Pick: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Plan B: Gidget

If I go see Gidget, then none of these films even matter. However, we probably won’t be seeing this film and will probably be at Grauman’s for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. With that said, my choices for this block are Jailhouse Rock and It Happened One Night. We could stay at Grauman’s and see Se7en, but I don’t know that I can watch that movie so late at night. It’s pretty gruesome. I think I’d rather end the evening with something a little more upbeat. My husband and I have seen Jailhouse Rock in 35mm in the theater before. I’ve seen It Happened One Night in the theater, but my husband hasn’t. There’s also a film scheduled in Sunday’s block which uses the plot of ‘Night’ in its narrative, so it’d be a nice companion piece. Also, if I don’t see White Heat on Thursday, seeing It Happened One Night would be my chance to see the Egyptian, if I haven’t already.

Pick: It Happened One Night
Plan B: Jailhouse Rock

There’s only one midnight film–it’s a film devoted to sharing the dangers of drinking and smoking. It sounds pretty funny and it’s short. It’s also the midnight film that fits best in our schedule. I think if we see Jailhouse Rock, which ends at 10:45pm, my husband is going to want to go back to the room, he won’t want to wait an hour for another film so late at night. It Happened One Night ends at 11:30, so it’s possible to make it to this screening. However, we need to get up early for the greatest screening of the entire festival on Saturday AM, so it’s possible that we’ll skip the midnight movie and go back to the hotel for bed. We went to last year’s midnight movie, Xanadu, and it was amazing.

Pick: The Road to Ruin (it’s the only choice, lol)
Plan B: Going back to the hotel for bed

Saturday

MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME, The Long Long Trailer, is scheduled during the Saturday morning block. It’s a no-brainer. This is the film we’re seeing. It’s in the tiny theater 4, so we’ll have to get in line early. I am not missing this screening. It has been my absolute dream to see my favorite movie of all time in the theater. If The Long Long Trailer wasn’t scheduled and it was some other movie, I’d be going to the nitrate screening at the Egyptian, Night Has a Thousand Eyes. However, ‘Trailer’ is scheduled, I cannot give up this choice. I am not willing to risk seeing something else with the hope of it becoming a TBA on Sunday. The. End.

Pick: The Long Long Trailer
Plan B: There is no plan B. I have to see The Long Long Trailer.

This block features my only other chance to see a nitrate, Annie Get Your Gun at the Egyptian. However, I don’t really like this movie. I find Betty Hutton really annoying. Do I go to a movie I don’t really like just to see a nitrate? My husband said he was indifferent to nitrate and expressed the idea that I shouldn’t go see a movie I don’t like if I could see something else. That is a fair statement. Mario Cantone will be introducing Mae West in She Done Him Wrong during this same block. I can only imagine his Mae West impression (if he does one), so I feel that this might be worthwhile. It’s also in the same theater as The Long Long Trailer, so it’d be easy to get in line early. We could also get in the theater 4 line again to see Queen of the Mob which sounds interesting, or go to lunch. I am also interested in The Big Heat with Dana Delany if we don’t see Mae West.

Pick: She Done Him Wrong & Queen of the Mob
Plan B: The Big Heat or Annie Get Your Gun, or forgo ‘Mob’ and get lunch.

I love North by Northwest, but I’ve seen it in the theater a few times. The Phenix City Story is a film noir that I’ve never seen. My choice in this block is The Mad Miss Manton at the Egyptian with Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. That’ll probably be where we’ll be.

Pick: The Mad Miss Manton
Plan B: North by Northwest or maybe The Phenix City Story.

This is probably the toughest block in the entire festival. The Shawshank Redemption has Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in attendance. It is a great movie. This is what my husband was all excited to see when it was announced, but then he saw the schedule and saw the animation presentation. He loves animation and when he saw that these are animated shorts that haven’t been seen for decades and it’s presented by Seth MacFarlane, he was torn. I am also interested in International House, as it’s a precode presented by Bruce Goldstein who was awesome during last year’s presentation of Footlight Parade. I’ve never heard of this movie, but it sounds really good. I’m hoping that it’ll be a TBA on Sunday. I also love Footloose and it kills me that it’s at the pool during this time, but Kevin Bacon isn’t going to be present, so some of the luster of that selection is lost. I think my husband has decided to forgo ‘Shawshank‘, which I’m sure will be absolutely packed, in favor of the animation presentation.

Pick: Back From the Ink: Restored Animated Shorts
Plan B: The Shawshank Redemption or International House

The Saturday evening block is a little up in the air. I think we have it narrowed down to two choices–On the Waterfront and Dog Day Afternoon. Both films start about an hour after the animation shorts series ends. Both films end at midnight though, which is the same time that the midnight film, Heavenly Bodies, starts. There are two midnight films scheduled during the festival and if I were to attend one, ‘Bodies’ would be it. My husband and I have seen ‘Waterfront’ in the theater before. I don’t think either of us have seen ‘Afternoon’. This film is also being introduced by Jeff Daniels, who would be cool to see. We could also see Summer Stock, though we’ve both seen it many times. I despise the “Heavenly Music” number though. Seeing Summer Stock would be the easiest way to see the midnight film.

Pick: On the Waterfront or Dog Day Afternoon
Plan B: Summer Stock

Like I said before, the midnight screening is Heavenly Bodies. Our seeing this film is contingent on what we see in the block preceding it. If we see Summer Stock, we’ll probably hop back in line for the midnight film. If we see either On the Waterfont or Dog Day Afternoon, we’ll head back to the hotel to go to bed.

Pick: Heavenly Bodies
Plan B: Bedtime

Sunday

Sunday morning is the last day of the festival and what better way to kick of the day than with Double Indemnity at Grauman’s? I’ve seen Double Indemnity in the theater multiple times, but I love this movie and I’ve seen the outside of Phyllis Dietrichson’s home in the Hollywood Hills. We could easily spend the entire day in Grauman’s because every movie scheduled is awesome; but we’ll see. It all depends on the TBA films.

Pick: Double Indemnity
Plan B: No plan B

My choice in this block is to stay at Grauman’s and catch Sabrina. However, should the TBA be something that I’m interested in, I’ll probably go there. I’ve seen Sabrina in the theater before.

Pick: Sabrina
Plan B: Possible TBA depending what it is

This block has three TBAs so this schedule could really go any way. As it stands, my choice is Chinatown at Grauman’s, as it is the quintessential Los Angeles film. However, I could be swayed to one of the TBAs depending what it is. I love Almost Famous too, but I don’t know that I absolutely have to see it at the festival. I saw Almost Famous in the theater in high school when it came out in 2000.

Pick: Chinatown
Plan B: One or more of the TBAs depending what they are

The final block of the night is devoted to Spaceballs with Mel Brooks himself in attendance. When Mel was announced, it became my husband’s and my absolute #1 pick for the festival. Were Mel not attending, we’d be at the Egyptian seeing Sherlock Jr. We absolutely cannot give up a chance to see 97 year old Mel Brooks in person. Spaceballs is also the film I alluded to earlier when discussing my choice to see It Happened One Night. Spaceballs, while appearing to be a Star Wars parody, uses the plot of ‘Night’ to structure the main plot of its narrative. After Spaceballs, we’ll be at the party. I can only hope that the TBA isn’t something I absolutely wanted to see like White Heat, because that TBA will be SOL.

Pick: Spaceballs
Plan B: There is no plan B