A look at #TCMFF with Theresa Brown

I was tempted to include “superfan” in this post’s title in reference to Theresa Brown, but I think that would have made her cringe.  To me she’s a celebrity and I’ve told her so many times.  I saw the shy fan of classic movies and dedicated viewer of Turner Classic Movies (TCM) for the first time in person at last year’s Turner Classic Movies Film Festival (TCMFF), but by that time I was familiar with her face.  And if you happen to watch TCM regularly you are too because Theresa is featured in a wonderful fan retrospective, which was part of the network’s 15th anniversary celebration.  In the video Theresa discusses what she considers a perfect motion picture.  Take a look at the retrospective here.  Oh, and she was also a guest programmer…

“I had the opportunity of a lifetime to appear on TCM as a guest fan programmer for TCM’s 15th anniversary. I also was asked to do a Fan Retrospective. Don’t pinch me…I want to keep on dreaming!”

Um…yes, seeing Theresa on the TCM set with Robert Osborne is fairly fabulous!

In any case, during a recent conversation Theresa mentioned she’d made videos of her experiences at past TCM Film Festivals and sent me the links.  I love them so I asked if she’d mind if I share them here.  I’m thrilled she agreed – thank you!  And the timing could not have been better as classic film circles on social media are buzzing as a result of TCM’s latest festival announcement – this year’s TCMFF schedule is published!  So while we all consider the difficult film choices to be made at this year’s festival here’s a look back at previous festivals – from the perspective of a superfan (oops).

The following is by Theresa Brown, known is social media circles as CineMaven – Enjoy!

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MY 2012 TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

MY 2013 TCM FILM FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

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Thanks for checking out my video presentation of my experience of the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival. I appreciate Aurora for including this in her popular blog. Hopefully it gives you a taste of the frenetic fun it all is.

And TCM is doing it again…for its fifth year. And I’m attending again. Torturous decisions? Yes folks, that’s how TCM rolls. They pit several movies in the same time slot and since you can’t be in two places at once…well, you can see how that’d be a hair puller. I mean really, how can one choose between “The Heiress” and “Johnny Guitar”; “The Thin Man” and “Stagecoach” or “The Lion In Winter” “Double Indemnity” AND “Imitation of Life” ( the ‘34-version. ) TCM doesn’t make it easy. And that’s the fun of it too. I’m especially excited to see “Blazing Saddles” and “Written on the Wind” and yes, “The Wizard of Oz” in 3-D. TCM also commandeers some of the famous Hollywood movie palaces to show these movies: The Egyptian, El Capitan and the legendary Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. ( Yes, it has a new name, but no real classic films buff would use it. ) There are torturous decisions to make, lots of new people to meet and above all…classic films to see as they were intended.

Theresa