Quick Film Grade: Blindspotting (A-)

@BlindspottingMv is a great, fresh, moving drama with perfectly timed funny bits on the serious topic of the plight of a young man maturing from his past mistakes and the fresh wound of PTSD after witnessing a police shooting of man running the cops. Grade: A- pic.twitter.com/gD8oZJFw42

— Simone Cromer 🌊 (@TheatreofZen) July 29, 2018

Quick Film Grade: Hot Summer Nights (B)

It was not my intentions to watch this film when it was first announced that it would be released this summer. But as my interest in Timothée Chalamet developed, I wanted to see this film, especially after the trailer. It's a decent film, Timmy's character, Daniel Middleton is slightly underdeveloped for the turns that his character takes which would help us understand and justify his actions, but in all, it's a good film and Timmy showcases a talent that we have come to expect from him.

@hotsummernights Timothée Chalamet is the highlight of this surprisingly decent film about a boy drug dealer trying to make up the void in his life after his father's death. A solid, sometimes tense, but fun summer flick starring the hottest young actor right now. Grade: B @A24 pic.twitter.com/sZqSs52EbY

— Simone Cromer 🌊 (@TheatreofZen) July 29, 2018

Quick Film Grade: Mission Impossible:Fallout (A+)

@MissionFilm Fallout is NON-stop action and the best of the MI series! Amazingly, Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt is a dangerous, but empathetic IMF agent that literally can save the world with a motorcycle & helicopter, in extraordinary chase scenes! Excellent supporting cast! Grade: A+ pic.twitter.com/LCk98t0TrQ

— Simone Cromer 🌊 (@TheatreofZen) July 28, 2018

I'm Going to TIFF 2018

If you asked me this past Saturday if I was going to the Toronto Int'l Film Festival, I would have said, 'Nope, not this year, maybe in a couple of years'. I've been attending TIFF every year since 2004, up until 2016 when a month later, I moved to California. So last year was the first year I missed TIFF, and I really missed it, but, needed a break from it due to all the craziness related to the expense of attending the festival. But on Monday, once I learned that Timothée Chalamet's anticipated follow-up role post-Call Me By Your Name, Beautiful Boy, is going to have its World Premiere at Toronto, I started to think... hmmm, is it possible for me to fly in and out of Toronto and not miss work? And the answer is: Hell Yes!

Instead of relying on a train or just a tank of gas, I now have to fly to Toronto, and I'm flying from Los Angeles. Once I made the decision to go, I determined that I could only fly out on the Friday redeye so that I could arrive bright and early Saturday, check into hotel, and be ready for a day of watching films. I would then leave 6pm on Sunday and arrive back in LA around 8:30 pm. I would be home by 11, just in time to go to bed and wake up fresh for work the next morning. Easy peasy! So it is done. Hotel booked, flight booked!

Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell in Beautiful Boy

Although I won't be able to attend the gala for Beautiful Boy, I will try to get tickets to the second screening which is usually scheduled between 11 am and 3 pm on Saturday when the gala is on a Friday night. I'll be in town by then and can see it sometime that day. This year, I purchased the Flex 6 pack which will allow me to pick six films. I don't know if I'll be able to see six films that weekend as I'll want to hang back and enjoy my beloved Toronto and meet some new Club Chalamet friends, but I will see at least 3-4 films. I'm also a member of TIFF, so this will permit me the opportunity to secure tickets a little earlier before the general public.

I've definitely come a lonnnnnng way with TIFF. My first few years were a struggle to get tickets to screenings I wanted to see; affording accommodations (one year had to stay in a hostel); then about 5 years under the generosity of a host who is now a dear friend; to now - affording to attend TIFF under my own terms and financial affordability, and I like this evolution. I've been irritated with TIFF in the past few years of attendance with the long lines, general admission seat wars, not being able to see the red carpet, not a good selection of films, etc. I needed a break from TIFF after 13 straight years of attending. With the new changes at TIFF, I hope I'm able to enjoy it without it being a hassle and being reminded that I'm not a deep pocketed beloved VIP. I'm just a film lover doing what I can to attend a film festival.

Quick Film Grade: The First Purge (B)

#TheFirstPurge is a timely analogy about the heartless, radical ideas of an American political party declaring little or no value of 'others' for the "greater good" of the nation, per God. Hmmm, where have we heard that before? Too realistic brutality. Grade: B pic.twitter.com/VhHUZMWErR

— Simone Cromer 🌊 (@TheatreofZen) July 8, 2018

Quick Film Grade: Sicario 2 - Day of Soldado (B+)

Sicario 2 - Day of Soldado: A timely sequel which focuses on another horrible flaw in the policing of the border with Mexico. Testosterone overdrive + lots of guns + one damsel in distress = bloody action packed thriller that makes you wince way too often. Grade: B+ pic.twitter.com/JAKK4DwYZW

— Simone Cromer 🌊 (@TheatreofZen) July 1, 2018

Introducing Club Chalamet

After I closed down a blog in May that I have been the editor of since 2008, and deleted the Facebook page, I told myself that I would not manage another fan community ever again. I would just sit my ass along the sidelines and just support a celebrity and enjoy the labor of love from another admin type fan/stan. But alas, it's not even two months after this proclamation, and here I am again, an admin of a message board for Timothée Chalamet! Danggit! LOL!

But before you roll your eyes in exasperation at me, allow me to explain. This past Wednesday, I just felt that the private DMs I was having with fans of Chalamet on Twitter required more space to be more free flowing in thoughts like permitting a fine bottle of red wine to breathe after uncorking and before drinking and sharing it with friends. Relying on DMs (direct message) as a way to engage in deep discourse about an actor was also very limiting in that I was only conversing with one person, and not several to get different points of views. So on Wednesday, 27 June, I had an epiphany to create a community message board for fans of Chalamet. Since the closing down of the previous fan community, I missed chatting with fans, and in that particular fandom, it has been at least 9 months since I had participated in a hearty, fun, and positive conversation with anyone on that topic. So I personally was missing out on being a part of an active discussion with like minded fans on a topic we were enthusiastic about.

I shared my idea with a few twitter friends and they supported my message board idea, and I quickly created a community name, Club Chalamet. I wanted the title to convey that it was for a group of Timothée Chalamet fans to all come together and support him. Although my focus is on the fan base that is older, 35+, the community is welcoming to all fans who are mature in their thinking and support of Timmy. I had been frustrated with some of the attitudes and behaviors of Timmy's younger fans (and even the older ones who should know better on how to act), and I just yearned for a place where a fan like me can publicly engage with other mature fans of Timmy.

To complement the message board, I created a Club Chalamet Twitter account to help promote and market the community. So in general, that's the update I have at the moment about my ongoing fan community admin support hobby gig. I'm quite excited about this venture because unlike my previous community, the message board truly will be a community endeavor, completely reliant upon fans joining and adding in their two cents to help the community thrive, while I will be the principle person marketing the community on twitter to help it grow. I will use this blog to write film reviews of Timmy's movies and film premieres/screenings/awards. I also anticipate huge news from Timothée within the next 8 months or so, and I want a community in place to provide the 100% support for him that I think he'll need and deserve.