TCM Film Festival 2021

This weekend has been the eleventh annual TCM Film Festival. Typically held in Hollywood at the Chinese and Egyptian Theaters and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the festival has been virtual for last year and this year because of the pandemic. This has allowed us to enjoy the activities from home. 

We miss the festival. We were fortunate enough to have attended the 2012 and 2013 festivals and had the time of our lives. We got to see Mel Brooks, Julian Sands, Debbie Reynolds, Kirk Douglas (!!), Burt Reynolds, John Voight, Ned Beatty, Stanley Donen, Jane Fonda, Mickey Rooney, and Max Von Sydow(!).  We saw films we loved on the big screen for the first time, films that were new favorites, and incredible interviews. We are itching to go back. 

The virtual experience gives a taste of the in person experience, with the great interviews and discussions of the films. There is still something magical about the in person experience. 

Nothing compares to the magic of sitting in a theater with a group of like minded people, watching an incredible film, in the way that it is meant to be seen. 

To see Casablanca at the Chinese Theater. To see How the West Was Won at the Cinerama Dome in the right aspect ratio. To see cartoon shorts on a theater screen where they first aired. 

Film is magic. And I can’t wait to fully experience it again. 

Until then, I’ll continue to enjoy these films at home and thank TCM for this virtual experience.