Austintx

Very unhappy with the revised Watch TCM app. The daily schedule for TCM seems to have been deleted completely. Only lists the current movie showing on the network and the next one scheduled. But cannot open the movie pages to read articles etc on those two movies. So apparently I have to go to TCM.com to read full schedule for the day and to open the movies I want to read more about. Then I can go to the app to watch them. Seems a step backwards and not at all customer friendly. If TCM is putting such an emphasis on its On Demand capabilities in this app, is TCM aiming to become a streaming service only???????

In 2011 TCM actually did some filming in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel on Thursday afternoon (and I think on Wednesday afternoon also). The filming was fans doing intros (with Robert O) to some of the the movies showing on TCM that weekend and interviews of the stars at the festival (e.g., Mickey Rooney did an interview). Anyone could watch the filming in the lobby and could be in the background. So it was worthwhile to come into LA in the morning on Thursday. Also on Monday after the festival TCM scheduled a tour of the Warner Brothers studio, including a bus to the studio. The tour was an extra cost, not included in the costs of the festival pass. The filming was not announced but was on the schedule that was released a few weeks before the festival. The tour was announced in a TCM email shortly before the festival.

It was a fun, but exhausting, time on the cruise. Robert, Ben, Ernest Borgnine and Eva Marie Saint were out and about throughout the cruise. Although there were less films and less stars than the festival in April, being on a ship provided a great opportunity to meet and talk to more classic movie lovers. One highlight was the session on Hitchcock blondes with Eva Marie Saint and Tippi Hedren (in a very short mini skirt that few women in the audience would have been brave enough to wear). Tippi told us that she is consulting on a film about the relationship between Hitchcock and her with Sienna Miller starring as Tippi. Another was seeing Harold Lloyd's Speedy with the Alloy Orchestra providing live music. And Robert revealed that Drew Barrymore will be the host of the Essentials starting in March. I also admit to spending some time (and money) in the casino, something that I am glad I will not see in LA in April.