TCM Film Festival Returns to Hollywood with Spielberg, More

Steven Spielberg appears at the 94th Academy Awards nominees luncheon in Los Angeles on March 7, 2022. (AP)
Steven Spielberg appears at the 94th Academy Awards nominees luncheon in Los Angeles on March 7, 2022. (AP)
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TCM Film Festival Returns to Hollywood with Spielberg, More

Steven Spielberg appears at the 94th Academy Awards nominees luncheon in Los Angeles on March 7, 2022. (AP)
Steven Spielberg appears at the 94th Academy Awards nominees luncheon in Los Angeles on March 7, 2022. (AP)

Classic film lovers know the importance of a grand entrance and the folks at Turner Classic Movies are pulling out all the stops for the return of the TCM Classic Film Festival this week in Hollywood.

After two years of virtual editions because of the pandemic, the festival kicks off Thursday with the help of Steven Spielberg, who will be on hand to celebrate the 40th anniversary of "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial." He and stars Drew Barrymore, Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace and Robert MacNaughton will gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre for a discussion with TCM host Ben Mankiewicz before the new IMAX restoration of the 1982 film screens.

It’s the first time Spielberg will be at the festival. He’ll also make an appearance to introduce a 4K restoration of the George Stevens’ film "Giant," starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean.

"E.T." isn’t the only 40-year reunion on the slate. Kevin Bacon, Tim Daly, Steve Guttenberg and Paul Reiser are reuniting for a discussion and screening of Barry Levinson’s "Diner." And Aileen Quinn is joining Alicia Malone to talk about playing the lead in John Huston’s "Annie."

The festival will celebrate talent like 85-year-old Bruce Dern, Piper Laurie, the now 90-year-old star of "Carrie," "The Hustler," "Twin Peaks" and "Children of a Lesser God" and Floyd Norman, the 86-year-old animator who has had a hand in everything from "Sleeping Beauty" and "The Jungle Book" to "Toy Story 2." Cast members of "Cooley High" and "A League of Their Own" will be on hand to discuss their films and Lily Tomlin will also cement her Hollywood legacy with a hand and footprint ceremony outside of the TCL Chinese Theatre.

"It’s a proverbial embarrassment of riches," said Pola Changnon, TCM’s general manager. "Having people back together again in these venues is just so special."

Changnon and others behind the festival are "giddy" to finally get to gather again at the historic spots along Hollywood Boulevard, from the Chinese Theatre to the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. Both venues have been been the site of past Academy Awards ceremonies and are just steps away from the Dolby Theatre, the Oscars current home. Red lipstick and fedoras aren’t required, but many attendees like to use the occasion to dress to the nines and pay homage to the fashions of Hollywood’s golden age for spirited film screenings and talks.

In addition to screenings of well-known standards like "Singin’ in the Rain," "Tootsie," "Spartacus" and "Paper Moon," the schedule also boasts "obscure jewels" that aren’t widely available.

"Our fans have eclectic tastes," Changnon said. "Some want to see things they’ve seen before. Some want to see things that they’ve never seen. They want the discoveries."

One such find is the 1945 romantic comedy "The French Way," starring Josephine Baker as the owner of a nightclub in WWII France which has never been shown before in Los Angeles. Another is a new digital copy of "The Pajama Game," which has been tied up with rights issues for years, and also coincides with what would have been Doris Day’s 100th birthday year.

"I get excited that people are going to go and discover things," said Charlie Tabesh, who is responsible for the programming.

He’s especially looking forward to the showing of Herbert Ross’s "The Last of Sheila," a cult favorite whodunnit from 1973 written by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim and starring James Coburn, Dyan Cannon and Richard Benjamin.

The festival will once again have its home base at the Hollywood Roosevelt, which since opening in 1927 has housed the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin and Montgomery Clift and played a supporting role in films like "Almost Famous" and "Catch Me If You Can." At the festival, it will serve as a headquarters, with panel discussions with honorees like Dern and Laurie and poolside screenings of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," "Soylent Green" and "Blue Hawaii." It’s also the location of the closing night party on Sunday.

They'll also have midnight screenings of "Miracle Mile" and "Polyester" and a live-read of "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" with David Koechner and Laraine Newman acting out roles from the 1958 sci-fi pic.

"One of the filters for us is 'What can we do live that you just wouldn’t appreciate the same way if it was on the network?'" Changnon said. "Something like a live-read and a midnight screening brings a different kind of juice to the moment. You know things can go wrong! And just to hear others laughing around you makes it a special experience."

And every TCM festival has its special unprogrammed moments too, even seemingly small ones like watching a film legend watch one of their films. Changnon fondly recalls sitting in a theater years ago near Tony Curtis during a screening of "Some Like It Hot" and the joy of seeing him respond to the jokes.

"Some of this talent haven’t seen an audience in a long time," she said. "Understanding that their work lives on, that new audiences are seeing their work and that it’s still regarded and respected? There aren’t a lot of venues for that opportunity."



F1 Great Ayrton Senna’s High-Octane Life in Focus of New Netflix Series about Racing Champion

 Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone poses for photos on the red carpet for the Netflix series Senna, about the life and death of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, who was killed in 1994 in a crash, in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone poses for photos on the red carpet for the Netflix series Senna, about the life and death of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, who was killed in 1994 in a crash, in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
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F1 Great Ayrton Senna’s High-Octane Life in Focus of New Netflix Series about Racing Champion

 Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone poses for photos on the red carpet for the Netflix series Senna, about the life and death of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, who was killed in 1994 in a crash, in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone poses for photos on the red carpet for the Netflix series Senna, about the life and death of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, who was killed in 1994 in a crash, in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)

Thirty years after his death in a high-speed crash viewed by millions around the world, Formula One champion Ayrton Senna's high-octane life is also about to play out in front of a global audience.

The legendary Brazilian driver — who was killed when his car hit a concrete wall at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 — is the subject of a six-episode Netflix series that debuts on Nov. 29 and follows him from his early go-kart days to that fatal Sunday afternoon at the Imola track in Italy.

Even three decades after that accident, few F1 figures evoke as much emotion and passion among fans and fellow drivers as Senna, who won three championship titles before his death at the age of 34.

Senna’s complex personality — he was a saint to his millions of Brazilian fans and a sinner to some critics who deemed his driving style too aggressive — comes to life through Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone, who embraced the challenge of portraying such a popular figure.

"He was much more than an F1 driver for us, he became an icon, much beyond his technique and his driving," Leone told The Associated Press in an interview in Sao Paulo. "He had this humanity, this honesty. The things he said, his values, it all made him closer to people."

Senna's life and career had no shortage of made-for-TV moments.

This was a driver who once won a race with his car stuck in sixth gear in front of thousands of raucous fans at the Interlagos track. And who went from fifth position to first in one lap at the 1993 European Grand Prix. And who jumped out of his car during a training session to save the life of a French driver who had crashed.

On the track, his rivalry with French driver Alain Prost was one of the most intense that F1 has ever seen. Off the track, he had some high-profile relationships as well and dated several models, including Elle Macpherson.

"For me as an actor, the more complex the character is, the better. It is more interesting to build him and live him. And this is quite a character, the biggest hero in Brazil, not only in sport," Leone said. "Ayrton was transcendent, he was more than an F1 driver. That’s a guy who is the hero of great drivers in history, like (Michael) Schumacher and (Lewis) Hamilton."

Senna won the drivers’ championship in 1988, 1990 and 1991 with the McLaren team and moved to Williams in the year he died as the favorite to lift the title again.

For Leone, though, it was also important to portray him as a person who understood his role as a national hero, who advocated for the poor and proudly waved a Brazilian flag from his cockpit during every victory lap.

"He was not distant, he was close," said Leone, who attended a red carpet premiere in Sao Paulo on Tuesday with several other cast members and director Vicente Amorim. "That’s for Brazilians and non-Brazilians. It was like this, and it still is like this."

To many international fans, Senna was simply an exceptional talent who was born to be a driver. Even former rival Martin Brundle, now a TV pundit, once likened Senna's ability to find grip on some corners to a dance seemingly innate to a Brazilian.

"It is a different kind of samba that I could not do," Brundle has said.

The Netflix series, however, shows some of the hard work and attention to detail that went into Senna becoming a wet-weather master.

The streaming giant — which reportedly invested more than $170 million in its production — also takes a bit of liberty with the truth when it comes to building up the animosity between Senna and one of his other real-life antagonists, Jean-Marie Balestre, the French former president of F1's governing body FIA.

Balestre is often accused by fans of aiding his countryman Prost in his rivalry with Senna, including at the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix by stopping the race early before the Brazilian driver could overtake his French rival in the heavy rain. And at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, when Senna was disqualified in a decision that handed the championship title to Prost.

The Netflix series goes a step further by making Balestre (played by Arnaud Viard) the man responsible for Senna also losing a go-kart title as a youngster, long before he even entered F1.

"If that was true it would be news to every reporter covering Senna’s story over the last decades," said Ernesto Rodrigues, who wrote a biography on the three-time F1 champion. "Yes, Senna had Balestre working against him many times. But Balestre was an autocrat with other drivers, too. It wasn’t exclusive."

Prost, played by Matt Mella, goes from being a racing foe to a friend after his retirement in the series just like in real life. The friction between the two as McLaren teammates and then in the title-deciding races in the 1989 and 1990 seasons create some of the best moments of the series for racing fans.

Three of the women in Senna’s life also appear in the series.

Scenes with Lílian de Vasconcellos Souza, who married Senna in 1981 and divorced him the next year, help show how the Brazilian was driven to go into F1 early in his career. Xuxa Meneghel, a wildly popular TV host, is featured for a full episode as the driver’s most important girlfriend. Adriane Galisteu, who was the champion’s girlfriend when he died, appears for less than three minutes.

Senna's importance to today's F1 drivers was on full display at the Brazilian Grand Prix this month, when Hamilton — the British seven-time F1 champion — drove one of Senna's old cars around the track as part of the tributes marking the 30th anniversary of his death.

"This is the greatest honor of my life," Hamilton said on Nov. 3. "I hope I made Senna proud."