Just Another Day in Hollywood

Yesterday Jimmy Karen took me out to lunch at another throwback to the Golden Age of Holllywood, The Magic Castle, where I met more of his wide-ranging gang of veteran actor buddies. In addition to being a '...lavishly appointed restaurant that serves a critically acclaimed menu in an elegant manner,' the Magic Castle is '...the private clubhouse for the academy of Magical Arts.' When you arrive at the Magic Castle you enter through a small library where after your reservation has been confirmed a bookshelf opens up to allow you inside. The labyrinthine interior leads you from one show parlour to another where every evening Academy member magicians perform.

Later that evening I attended an advanced screening of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow on the Paramount lot as a guest of Jimmy Karen and his lovely wife Alba. In an earlier post I wrote that I'd never seen as nice a theater as the ArcLight on Sunset, but it didn't compare with the Paramount lot theater with its plush armchairs and enough leg room in the aisles so that you wouldn't have to stand up to let people through. When everyone had arrived and taken their seats the lights went down and the picture came up; no annoying Coke commercials or previews, just the movie. It's all about the movie.