I am taking a deep breath as I write this, and apologize for the tardiness of this report. Award shows and ceremonies took a backseat to the terrifying wildfires that raged all over Southern California, which meant that many of these fetes had to be postponed and rescheduled. Finding new dates that were amenable to all concerned was no easy task. It also meant that the new calendar was jam-packed.
The best part of having these events a safe distance from the dangerous days we all lived through was being able to thank our brave firefighters and first responders in person. Almost every event invited members of these organizations so all of us could express our appreciation, while showing them a good time, Hollywood-style. Seeing famous stars pose for selfies with our homegrown heroes was humbling—and gratifying.
The first item on my personal calendar was the Saturn Awards, handed out by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films (née the Count Dracula Society). Full of high-class schmoozing, Jessie got her chance to say hello to her number-one favorite actor, Nicolas Cage, who couldn’t have been more gracious. We also got to meet the imposing Laurence Fishburne and the self-effacing Henry Thomas, who made me happy by sharing his memories of working with John McIntire and Jeanette Nolan in Cloak & Dagger, made shortly after E.T. the Extra Terrestrial in his home town of San Antonio, Texas. He fondly recalled that they would share stories of working in such vintage TV shows as Wagon Train and add, invariably, “that was before your time.” I was so happy to see Martin Kove who has been enjoying his role on the hit show Cobra Kai. A good time was had by all.
Next up I was presenting the Maltin Modern Master Award to Angelina Jolie at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. I wound up being scooped by www.People.com, which did a commendable job of reporting on the evening, breaking out four separate newsworthy stories. https://people.com/search?q=Angelina+Jolie+Santa+Barbara I especially recommend their telling of the actress’s story about winning the Oscar for Girl, Interrupted. And here is our conversation in total, minus Mike McGee’s artful selection of film clips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Jb0KZ7mQM&t=1729s
Although we had met briefly before I had never interviewed Angelina and I came away impressed. I thought her performance as Maria Callas in Pablo Larrain’s Maria would earn her an Academy Award nomination, and the excerpt we screened for a sold-out crowd of 2,000 in Santa Barbara had the audience cheering. My wife and daughter got to speak with her in the green room after our stage conversation and were similarly taken with her friendly, straightforward manner. (After all, she is the mother of six children, which doesn’t leave much chance to be full of yourself.)
Angelina has led a tumultuous life and is the first to admit that she was a wild child, especially during her adolescence, and faced dark moments even after achieving success. It was her commitment to adopting her first child that set her on the right path, and accepting the role of Lara Croft—which at first she found “insulting”—that demanded she give up smoking and get healthy.
At the end of our conversation, the redoubtable Ava DuVernay presented Angelina with the Maltin Modern Master Award, so named a decade ago after decades of my hosting this annual tribute for the SBIFF. It’s slightly unreal to have my name associated with an honor presented to the likes of Clint Eastwood, Cate Blanchett, Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, and Martin Scorsese, to name just a few of its recipients, but I’m proud to be a part of this yearly celebration. And it’s never a chore to spend quality time in beautiful Santa Barbara.
But there was no time to rest. At ten o’clock that rainy night my wife Alice drove us home to the San Fernando Valley, because we had to be up and alert the next morning for the AFI Awards luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel. It’s a rare privilege to get to mingle with the people who worked on the past year’s ten outstanding movies and TV shows. As AFI chief Bob Gazzale tells the assembled group, “You’ve already won.” That’s why everyone is relaxed and approachable. I have an unfortunate habit of arriving at the scene of a great “photo op” about thirty seconds too late…but I did come away with this candid of Harrison Ford congratulating Jesse Eisenberg, so that’s not too shabby.
Then it was home and a quick turnaround to teach my weekly class at USC, where we screened the Annie Award-winning (and double Oscar-nominated) animated featureFlow. My guest was to have been filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis but he was where I was supposed to be: at the annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards dinner. In his place I welcomed his filmmaking partner Matiss Kaza, the producer and co-writer, from Latvia. He spoke perfect English and was a very good guest.
Adrenaline kicked in for one final ceremony: the Critics Choice Association awards, held on Friday afternoon at the Barker Hanger at Santa Monica Airport. My daughter Jessie accompanied me as she does every year. We often find ourselves staring in to a sea of extremely familiar faces which is both amusing and overwhelming. It was especially nice to say hello to 95-year-old June Squibb, with whom I appeared in an episode of the short-lived sitcom Triumph and Jack. She was nominated for her endearing performance in Thelma, a sleeper that’s well worth catching online. Jessie and I sat at the A Complete Unknown table with Boyd Holbrook and Monica Barbaro, which I think ranks as “cool.”
It was a year’s worth of memory-making experiences crammed into five days’ time. We know how lucky we are to be a partake in these celebrations, and were extra grateful to be there with the heroes that have and continue to keep our city safe.
