A Tragic Saturday Amid the Ashes

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Hello, friends. It’s Saturday, but not a happy one. Los Angeles has been devastated by wildfires all week long. Tens of thousands of acres have been scorched between the Palisades and Eaton fires alone, many thousands of homes destroyed, and entire neighborhoods decimated. Several friends and colleagues have lost their houses. Many others have evacuated. And we don’t actually know how bad it is because there’s no end in sight. It’s truly shocking.

I’ve lived in Los Angeles most of my life and I’ve never seen anything like this. Growing up in Woodland Hills, we often had wildfires in the hillsides from the Santa Ana winds this time of year — I recall ash falling into the swimming pool — but nothing to this extent. I feel thankful that we’ve remained safe so far, but we packed up a few things in case we needed to leave quickly. Palos Verdes is about 20 miles away from Pacific Palisades, directly across Santa Monica Bay. The air has been gross and our cars have been covered in ash. And while no fires have threatened us yet, where we live has a very similar landscape to Malibu: hilly, with winding roads and lots of dry, brushy open space.

Thanks to the many friends who’ve texted, emailed or called to make sure we’re OK. We are, and we’re looking for ways to help. You probably are, too. There are many lists of resources going around, but this is a good start:

In the midst of all this destruction, it may seem frivolous to talk about movies. I had misgivings about it myself. But then I thought perhaps it would provide a welcome distraction for a little while, and I wanted to show up for my viewers, listeners and readers. I wanted to remain consistent. So here I am. It was actually quite a busy week over at our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast, if you’d like to join us in those places:

• BETTER MAN. We like a big swing, and this unconventional music biopic definitely takes one. The film from Michael Gracey (“The Greatest Showman”) depicts British pop superstar Robbie Williams … as a chimp. And it works. This movie is super fun. In theaters now.

• HARD TRUTHS. There’s a ton of technique on display in Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s performance in “Hard Truths,” but the veteran actress makes it look effortless. She’s very much in the awards conversation for her portrayal of a miserable Londoner in the latest from Mike Leigh, and duly so. In theaters now in limited release, goes wider Jan. 17.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! We talked about the state of the wildfires, the many celebrities who lost their homes, as well as what the tragedy means for our city and the entertainment industry in the months to come. The LA Film Critics Association has postponed tonight’s awards dinner, for example. We do this livestream every Friday at Noon Pacific, so come join us.

• GOLDEN GLOBES REACTION LIVESTREAM. This does seem frivolous in retrospect. But if you’d like to know what we thought of Sunday night’s Golden Globes, this was a fun conversation with a great turnout.

• BEST MOVIES OF 2024. Sometimes movies are good! Alonso and I picked a bunch of them.

• WORST MOVIES OF 2024. Sometimes movies are bad! Alonso and I picked a bunch of these, too.

Over at our Patreon, we started recapping season 2 of “Squid Game.” We both binged the first season of the Netflix series over the holidays, and we’e ready to return to the island. It’s taking a little while to get going, and this shell-shocked version of Gi-hun isn’t quite so compelling, but we’re hoping things pick up as the season progresses. Our recaps of the first two episodes are up now, and we’ll take them two at a time for the next few weeks. So if you binged the whole thing, please, no spoilers!

For RogerEbert.com this week, I reviewed the documentary “Every Little Thing.” It follows the work of Terry Masear, who has dedicated herself to rehabilitating injured hummingbirds at her Hollywood Hills home. It’s a kindhearted film with a timely message about the importance of empathy and healing, and some of the slow-motion cinematography of these tiny, winged creatures is mesmerizing. But as a feature-length film, it feels stretched thin. This would have made for a perfectly charming “CBS Sunday Morning” segment. In theaters now.

And on Thursday, I had the pleasure of discussing the week’s new movies on KCRW Press Play with the brilliant Madeleine Brand and my buddy William Bibbiani. Among them is the documentary “Diane Warren: Relentless,” which takes an intimate look at the legendary songwriter. The hitmaker and 15-time Oscar nominee is indeed relentless, and idiosyncratic, as stars like Cher, LeAnn Rimes and Jennifer Hudson can attest. This will make you appreciate how many enduring songs she’s written over the past 40 years. In theaters now and streaming on MasterClass starting Jan. 16.

Gonna keep it a little shorter this week, but I’m especially thankful to you for for sharing some of your time with me during these crazy days. If you’re in Southern California, please stay safe, and let me know how you’re doing. If my newsletter was useful to you, or at least provided a welcome distraction, I’d be honored if you’d pass it along to family and friends. Take good care of yourself and your loved ones this week, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.

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