Happy Saturday From Dodger Stadium

Hello, Saturday Matinee friends! As you’re reading this, Chris and I are at Dodger Stadium, meeting up with runners from all over Southern California to practice the first six miles of the LA Marathon. This is a really fun morning because it gives you a feel for the start of the course and gets you psyched for what’s coming. The beginning of the LA Marathon goes through downtown, so it’s super hilly, but you also get to see all of that gorgeous, varied architecture up close, and it’s a good vibe in general. The race itself is in two weeks on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, so we’ll be flooding the streets of Los Angeles with green. Wish us luck.

On Sunday, I get to take part in the annual FilmWeek Oscar Preview, which is always a pleasure. All the critics who appear each week on Larry Mantle’s AirTalk radio show on LAist 89.3 get together and record our Oscar show live in front of an audience. The past couple years, we’ve done it at The Orpheum Theatre in Downtown LA, which is a stunningly gorgeous, ornate venue. I’ve included a photo above from behind the scenes at last year’s show, and I’ll share a link to the episode in next week’s newsletter in case you’d like to listen. Right this very second, I don’t know who I’m choosing for best actress — it really could go either way between Lily Gladstone and Emma Stone — but hopefully I’ll figure it out in time.

Speaking of Oscar picks, be sure to print out your 2024 ballot and meet us at our YouTube channel as we make our LIVE predictions ahead of time. We’ll be there at Noon PST on Tuesday, March 5. The always delightful Glenn Whipp, awards expert for the LA Times, will join us to share his insights. Let us help you win your Oscar pool! Or at least sound smart at parties talking about cinematography. Should be fun.

As for this week’s movies over at our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel, it’s an extremely random cross-section. And if you’d like to find us in podcast form, we’re always here:

• SPACEMAN. Adam Sandler takes a big swing with this ambitious sci-fi misfire. He stars as a Czech cosmonaut on a year-long journey to Jupiter when he discovers an alien entity on board, voiced in soothing tones by Paul Dano. We love when Sandler shows off his dramatic side, but this never comes together. Streaming on Netflix.

• THE GREATEST LOVE STORY NEVER TOLD. Recently, we reviewed “This Is Me … Now: A Love Story,” Jennifer Lopez’s ambitious cinematic companion piece to her new album. This is the making-of documentary. If you’re into process like I am, you’ll dig it. JLo is way more candid than you’d expect, and her moments with Ben Affleck are hilarious. Both movies are streaming on Prime Video.

• ABOUT DRY GRASSES. If you see one three-hour-plus Turkish epic this year, make it this one. The latest from master filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan has the rich characters and emotional sweep of a novel. In theaters (and apparently on Netflix in some places).

• IO CAPITANO. My least favorite of the five Academy Award nominees for best international feature, but this migration story has some harrowing moments and a wallop of an ending. In theaters.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! It’s become our favorite thing to do on Fridays. Lots of spirited discussion here about the “new” Nicole Kidman AMC promos, Liam Neeson remaking “The Naked Gun,” and Mel Gibson, who remains divisive. Join us every Friday at Noon Pacific.

Also this week, we revisited “Moonstruck” for February’s Off the Menu review. Each month, Alonso curates several films with a connecting theme, and our members at the $5 level and up get to vote on which one we review. (All our patrons are welcome to enjoy the review itself, though.) This time, we honored the late Norman Jewison, who died in late January, leaving a lengthy and eclectic filmography. I hadn’t seen this 1987 romantic comedy in many years, and was delighted to discover how well it holds up. “Moonstruck” won Academy Awards for its warm, witty performances from Cher (best actress) and Olympia Dukakis (supporting actress), as well as for John Patrick Shanley’s screenplay, which is packed with lovably eccentric characters and deadpan zingers. What are your memories of “Moonstruck”? Let me know!

I couldn’t let the weekend go by without remembering Richard Lewis, legendary comedian and longtime friend and co-star of Larry David on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Lewis died this week of a heart attack at 76, but had been diagnosed last year with Parkinson’s disease. The veteran New York comic made a career of exploring his neuroses through sharp observation, and made us feel better about our own in the process. Plus, he had been generous about discussing his sobriety since the mid-1990s and helping others do the same. But he was also a crucial figure from the beginning on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” now in its final season. From Daniel D’Addario’s thoughtful tribute in Variety: “Lewis approached his character with an observational comic’s twisted but methodical logic, and a willingness to go anywhere to find the joke. In this, he became an important comic foil for a show whose star exerts a powerful gravitational field.”

Finally, I’m happy to share that my dear friend and former AP colleague Sandy Cohen, whom I worked alongside many Oscar nights, is back with a new season of her podcast, “Inner Peace to Go.” Since leaving the non-stop world of entertainment journalism, Sandy has devoted her energy to helping others find peace and ease in their lives, and using her natural inquisitiveness to do it. Her bite-sized, science-based nuggets of wisdom are so useful, and her enthusiasm is infectious. You can find “Inner Peace to Go” here and in all the podcast places.

Thanks so much for sharing some of your time with me, I’m truly grateful to have you here. If you’ve enjoyed this and wouldn’t mind sharing it, I’d be honored. Have a great weekend, hope to see you Tuesday for live Oscar picks, and I’ll meet you back here next Saturday.