Well, another Cinecon has come and gone - I had a good time, as usual, and while this wasn't one of my most favorite Cinecon's, I still saw many interesting films (and no super duds) which I will write up reviews for over the next few days. As usual, I skipped the late night films in order to get home and get some sleep (sad - I had to miss "Tillie's Punctured Romance" which I love, because it was just starting too late and I was worried about getting the last train of the night and then getting only about four or five hours sleep, thus being exhausted the whole Friday). Ah well. The weather (unlike last year's blazing inferno) was much cooler which was a wonderful relief (I was actually able to go outside with by hair down this year instead of a ponytail!) - - I would say one of the two coolest "weather-wise" Cinecon's I have attended. I think this helped me not get quite so exhausted this year - though I was pretty tuckered by the Saturday evening, after very little sleep since Thursday. Here's a few themes I noticed for this year's films: Diamond Smugglers ("Murder in Trinidad", "The Mollycoddle"), married women living in the 1920s who want to work outside the home and the tricks the family has to come up with to allow this to happen ("The Home Maker", "Modern Love"), One Cinecon - Two Films for each (Shemp Howard (as usual), Gary Cooper, Charley Chase, Hobart Bosworth, Eva Novak), Satan and the Jewel ("The Devil's Bait", "The Menace"), Weakling Comes Out of His Shell ("The Mollycoddle", "The Poor Nut"), Man in Prison - Wrongfully Accused of Murder ("Acquitted", "The Menace").
About Hollywood - I have never seen Hollywood Blvd so crowded before - the usual street kids, prostitutes, and bums mixed with a massive amount of tourists (mostly from Europe, it seemed like - strong Euro!) this year. Trying to get down the crowded sidewalk while tourists are taking photos of each other next to some current day star's Walk of Fame "star" (I saw people getting photos with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bugs Bunny's star, to name a few - yeah, I know - strange, Bugs Bunny - and I saw Snow White too - actually has a star), tourists standing on the sidewalk while taking photos of buildings across the street like the Kodak Theatre (what's up with that - "American Idol" fame?!), while I'm dodging the guys trying to push leaflets for tours of the movie stars homes every ten feet - ugh. Yes - the Egyptian Theatre was just as cold as ever and the lunch breaks were on the short side, but I was prepared - sweater in tow, and I even have a nice little sandwich/burger cafe I like to go to that has fast, order at the counter, service - and good food. Oh, the usual bathroom oddity - the line coming out of the men's restroom between movies was sometimes snaking all the way down the hallway and approaching the lobby, while I never had to wait once at the ladies room - just walked right on in! One time this weekend - there was already a line forming at the men's room when I walked by and went into the ladies room, which was completely empty!! Cinecon is the only event I have ever attended where there is a line for the men's bathroom instead of the women's. I guess there's just way more males at Cinecon then females - odd.
And this year's winner for the strangest occurrence on Hollywood Blvd - drum roll - - the walk on the wild side: about eleven at night at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland - hundreds and hundreds of horn-blasting, yelling bicyclists riding down the street and almost not stopping at the stoplight as people were crossing (including me, one bicycle almost hit me), then as I got across the street and was heading towards the metro station, they rode in a huge circle in the intersection by the hundreds, shouting and blocking all cars from moving. I wonder if anyone else at Cinecon saw this oddity? Well, all in all, I really had a great time! Reviews to come.
Go to label "Cinecon 44" where you will find all the reviews I have done for the films shown (adding these as I write them over the next few days) - http://moviereviewstop.blogspot.com/search/label/Cinecon%2044
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