The 15th annual Turner Classic Movie Film Festival brought film lovers from all over together to the heart of Hollywood and its surrounding areas to partake in a weekend of beloved stories. 

This year’s theme was Most Wanted: Crime and Justice examined the” inherent conflict between criminal endeavors and the pursuit of justice”, according to the festival’s official site. An extremely packed slate over four days across multiple historic theaters featured Little Women, The Big Heat, The Asphalt Jungle, and many more with special appearances from filmmakers and actors who were either fans of or had some part in these classics. 

To kick off the week, members of the press were invited for an early preview of the new Turner Classic Movies expansion on the iconic Warner Brothers studio tour. With the incredible archive of Warner Brothers and the focus on preserving history, this tour marks a major moment for the duo’s relationship. Added to an already show-stopping tour is transportation back into Hollywood’s Golden Age with new locations like the rose garden, Eastwood Scoring Stage, and Termite Terrace opened up to visitors. TCM versions of the tour cars cruise through the lot while the entire history of Warner Brothers was diligently delved into from the early days to current with some archival pieces on display from The Music Man and My Fair Lady. In addition to an abridged tour, a panel comprised of Danny Kahn (VP & GM WB Studio Tour Hollywood), TCM hosts Ben Mankiewicz and Dave Karger, WBD Librarian Historian George Feltenstein, and special guest Burton Gilliam shared their connections to the lot and why it was time for TCM to be permanently represented on the tour. A true celebration for TCM’s 30th anniversary that revives these legendary films for all visitors. 

For a film festival themed around Hollywood legacy and crime and justice, it only makes sense to honor Jodie Foster for her decades-spanning career with her hands and feet immortalized at the TCL Chinese Theatre. By the age of 14, Foster was already a certified movie star from acclaimed films like Taxi Driver and Freaky Friday to now in her 60’s still earning Oscar nominations and reinventing herself in prestige TV shows like True Detective: Night Country. Her close friend, Jamie Lee Curtis gave an intimate introduction for Foster, letting everyone in on what they don’t know about her including her passion for sending everyone lists of each candidate before elections so they can have a guide for voting. Taking the stage the Oscar-winning actress, who was born in Hollywood, shared some of her favorite moments with the crowd growing up in the city and shared that it was her 10th anniversary with Alexandra Hedison. A very tender moment amid festival madness that honored the legacy of work Jodie has given the world for years and she is not done yet. Later Foster was on hand for an interview before a screening of The Silence of the Lambs. 

There were a lot of film anniversaries this year with the Thursday opening gala screening of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction for its 30 anniversary. The film’s stars like Uma Thurman and John Travolta showed up to walk the carpet and have a pre-screening conversation. Another 90’s game-changer, The Shawshank Redemption, was also celebrating its 30th anniversary so Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins both made an appearance, even solving a longstanding plot hole in the film. The gorgeous Sabrina starring Audrey Hepburn premiered for its 70th anniversary displaying that Givenchy dress in the most perfect format. The film festival also highlighted the 100th anniversaries of MGM and Columbia Pictures with their films programmed into the overall schedule and two extra panels for the archives. 

Multiple film restorations premiered for the first time to overly excited audiences. David Fincher brought an IMAX version of the resorted Se7en to the Chinese Theatre. The serial killer neo-noir which at the time was groundbreaking for both Fincher and this genre. Fincher came onstage to talk to TCM host Eddie Mueller all about what it was like filming with the cast of Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt post his tumultuous directorial debut years before. Se7en was certainly ahead of its time and the remastered version only signals what a cultural moment to look back on for the many careers of everyone involved and how they panned out to ultimate success after a bold swing. Most of the remastering took over a year to do according to the perfectionist director with an emphasis on repainting and color correcting especially for a lot of the background cityscapes to add nuance. A hair on Gwyneth Paltrow’s face during the dinner scene was even removed. 

 In lighter territory, Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest got the restoration treatment of a brand-new scan of the film and major retouches to the effects and coloring to premiere at the Chinese Theatre. The plane sequence playing on the massive screen to a packed audience is why we go to the movies. Nancy Meyers spoke before about her fondness of Cary Grant with an anecdote about spending the weekend together in Palm Springs. Other notable restorations screened were The Small Black Room, The Searchers with Alexander Payne in person, Steven Spielberg brought his director’s cut of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Seth MacFarlane curated newly restored animated shorts never before seen ahead of his major announcement of working with Martin Scorsese on animated film restoration,

Outside of the more serious themes of crime and justice, there were palette cleansers of nighttime poolside screenings. Festival goers could lounge by the glamorous pool underneath the palm trees enjoying a drink and the entertainment for the night. Clueless, Gidget, and Footloose had large turnouts by nightfall of cult fans ready to experience their favorites with an extremely lively crowd who were unafraid to quote lines and laugh. TCM host Dave Karger brought a surprise guest from each film ahead of the screening, with a common theme of how these creatives never envisioned their work to have such a lasting impact on culture and still be relevant today. All three seemed to be in development during periods when their genre was not selling and managed to beat the odds into becoming major successes, like Footloose being one of the few films to have its soundtrack songs hit number one while being nominated for Oscars. 

It was truly magic to see large groups of people brought to the theaters to witness their favorite films showing in all their glory the way they were supposed to be. Watching the TCM hosts spend time around the festival and engaging with their audiences was heartwarming and seeing all the major filmmakers taking part in the festivities shows an optimism for the industry. These people truly care and will show up for the sake of sharing their love of movies. The TCM Film Festival is an essential part of the entertainment industry to continue to preserve and value physical media to pass down to future generations. No one knows or loves movies more than TCM and its viewers, a refreshing film festival free of Oscar chances and all about bridging Hollywood history.