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I have never seen so much makeup and silk in one room. And that was just the men! The soap stars arrived at the Cine Capri by limosine. I guess they couldn't make that long trek from the Ritz accross the street in their slinky dresses and heels. Moi? Being catty? As Catwoman woudl say, "meow."
The special one time screening of Batman Forever at the Cine Capri was offered by Cinema Concepts, a group founded by Lou Gossett, Jr., that uses the attraction of Hollywood films to teach values and awareness to youth and young adults. Hear that, Senator Dole?
The event was star studded. My friend, Anthony, drove all the way up from Tucson just to see Ted Lange, "Isaac" from TVs Loveboat. From Cinema Concepts was Lou himself, Edward James Olmost, Mr. Blackwell (author of those best and worst dressed lists), Steven Williams of The X Files, TV Batgirl Evonne Craig and TV writer Stanley Ralph Ross, as well as over a dozen soap opera stars from The Bold and The Beautiful and The Young and the Restless.
Then there were the local celebrities that attended the screening. I spotted KJ and Frank Johnson of the Phoenix Suns and many TV and radio personalities, like the lovable Karla Foxx. Ross, who was master of ceremonies greeted us before the film and warned, "I hope they didn't screw this up."
As for the movie, it's just what the kids ordered; action packed, leaving no spare moment for character development. Jim Carrey was great, but I was pleasantly surprized of the time given to develop Chris O'Donnell's Robin. What Batman Forever forgot is that it's BATMAN that we came to see. Val Kilmer was wasted. One of the top actors of our time, Kilmer brought great power and presence to the man behind the mask, but was given little time to do much else.
Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian was a pretty after thought. Missing were the witty exchanges I loved in Batman Returns between Michelle Pfeiffer's brilliant Catwoman and Michael Keaton's "original" Batman. I was hoping for more of the same between the young newcomers, but instead we were given massive explosions, cheesy mats, and what seemed like continual chases. And why was Tommy Lee Jones playing Two Face when Billy Dee Williams was Harvey Dent in the first two films?
The Cinema Concepts reception at the Ritz was impressive. I thought I might be blinded by all that glitter. Down, Kitty. There was free food and h'orderves and we were entertained by a young group of flashy flappers, as well as three powerhouse singers that had us dancing well after midnight. All of my friends, from the film business to film buffs, had a great time.
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