lydecker wrote: ↑April 24th, 2024, 12:53 pm
First, let me say that I adore TCM and could not live without it. For years my husband and I debated about going to the festival but the thought of paying for the cost of the passes plus travel to LA (for 2) always seemed to be a wee bit extravagant to screen movies that, in most cases, you had seen many times before. However, after the sudden, devastating death of my husband 18 months ago, I decided to treat myself to the festival this year. If you haven't been there, you may be shocked to learn (as I was) that buying passes is absolutely NO guarantee that you will be able to see any film. I purchased the "low" end of the passes ($850) (there is one festival pass that is cheaper) and assumed that I could just go from film to film to film. Not so. Getting into a film requires waiting in 2 lines every time and it is almost a certainty that you will have to line up at least 90 minutes prior to each film, simply to get a "queue pass" which gives you the ability to line up AGAIN (30 minutes prior to the screening) to maybe/maybe not get into a desired film. Spending literally hours in line for each film severely limits your ability to see lots of films. (Not to mention it kills your back!) It also causes you to have to leave films you love up to 30 minutes early so that you can get in the "queue pass" line in the hopes of seeing the next movie. I had to walk out of a screening of Double Indemnity (which screened at 9 AM but I had to be in line at 7 AM for a decent change to get a seat) about 30 minutes before the film's end (just about killed me to do so) so that I could stand in line for 90 minutes in the hopes of getting in to see The Sin of Nora Moran. Crazy!!! In most cases the lines consisted of 500-700 people and as shocked as I was that this was the way it was going to be the whole weekend (in all probability I spent more time in lines than screening films) I was among the "lucky ones" since I actually did get into every one of my "must see" films. However, if the TCM Film Festival ran the way other film festivals I have attended did (you buy your tickets in advance and simply walk into the theatre -- no waiting) I would have seen many, many more films. There was also no time to eat, no time to go to the bathroom, etc. etc.
Bottom line, if you are going to go to the TCM Film Festival in the future you should either purchase the "Spotlight" pass (at a whopping $2549 which will no doubt be even higher in 2025) or buy the lowest priced pass at $399. Because, whether you paid over $1,000 or "only" $399 you will still be standing for hours in the same long lines. Only Spotlight pass holders get preferential treatment and are allowed into theatres first and, since there are far fewer of them, their wait time in lines is fairly minimal.
Much to my shock, very few people seem to have a problem with paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for admittance to the festival with NO GUARANTEE that they will see a single film. Shame on TCM for selling far too many passes and not caring that all of the attendees will be spending most of their time waiting in lines, instead of watching films which is the very reason they showed up in the first place.
Lydecker
Sorry your experience wasn't what you hoped.
Queue management has always been an issue. I seem to recall the first time or two I went, you couldn't get out of the queue, or you'd lose your place. They started distributing queue cards so that you could leave and return 30 minutes before the showtime, as that's when they open the doors. So that's why you now line up twice.
FWIW, it seemed to be worse this year than in any other year I have attended (I missed the first two years). There seems to have been more Spotlight and VIP folks than in years past. They are admitted first to all screenings. I first noticed it when we went to
Close Encounters at the Chinese Theatre. I knew it would be crowded because Spielberg was there, and we got in the queue about an hour ahead of screening time. I had queue number 504. The theater seats about 930. In years past, this wouldn't have been an issue. When we got inside though, there were perhaps a few dozen seats left. We ended up on the third row, which was fine for the interview but terrible for the movie (neck strain). Now they always reserve some seats for guests, and some are for ADA seating, so there should have been about 850 or so open seats available when they let in Spotlight/VIP folks. It's hard to imagine that there would be 200+ of these folks in line. The irritating thing is that once the Spielberg interview session was over, dozens and dozens of people left, because that's all they wanted to see.
The Classic Pass was $100 less if you bought it within the first month or so of going on sale. I don't find the next pass up (Essential) to be of value. We did it once for the experience, and will not do it again. It gets you into the big opening night screening, plus a gift bag. But you pretty much have to buy it the day it goes on sale (usually sells out that day), without knowing what the opening night film will be. The Spotlight Pass is exorbitantly priced, IMO.
Most of the time we would arrive 45 minutes ahead of the screening and we'd get in. For
Double Indemnity, we lined up a few minutes after 8, and got queue cards numbered around 210 or so. For a couple of titles, we arrived an hour ahead. To avoid the same problem with
Chinatown that we had with
Close Encounters, we arrived about 1:15 ahead of showtime. The hardest ones to get in are typically in the upstairs theater at the multiplex, as it seats fewer than 200. We were going to see
Summer Stock there, but when we arrived they were already well past queue card number 100, and we figured we wouldn't make it. So we opted for
La Strada instead.
They do try to schedule films in blocks, so that the gaps between showings across all 5 venues are more or less in parallel, to give you some time to get to the next venue, but sometimes extremely long films (like
El Cid or
Lawrence of Arabia, this year) can mess up the timing. I've never had to leave a film early to get to the next film. The biggest problem most people have is going to/from the Egyptian, as it's a few blocks from the other 4 theaters (which are all very close to each other).
If you want a sit-down meal before 9am or after 12 midnight, you will almost always have to decide to skip a showing somewhere. We try to have one sit-down meal and then snack the rest of the day.
TCM usually sends out a survey after the festival. Watch your e-mail for one and let them know your opinion.