Late this morning I attended a screenwriters panel discussion inside Santa Barbara’s Arlington theatre, which was moderated by IndieWire‘s Anne Thompson.
The honored screenwriters were Sing Sing‘s Clint Bentley, Nickel Boys‘ Joslyn Barnes, A Real Pain‘s Jessie Eisenberg, The Brutalist‘s Mona Fastvold, September 5‘s Tim Fehlbaum and Conclave‘s Peter Straughn.
The Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar should absolutely go to Conclave and to Mr. Straughn — easily the most eloquent, moving and memorable script.
Alas, nothing of real substance — artistically, politically, culturally — was discussed today. Thompson is no Bill Maher, and so she asked her usual boilerplate blah-blah questions, and the screenwriters answered them in a mild-mannered, “this is who I am and how I work and yaddah-yaddah” fashion, and it was basically a pleasant flatline experience.
I eventually decided that the only way to write about the panel with any intrigue was to discuss fashion choices. Because at the very least, the writers’ sartorial choices held my attention.
What Mr. Straughn wore was fine. Subdued blues, grays, blacks. No hiccups.
Mr. Bentley’s green-and-white pullover was chosen because he’s a flaming ginger and green blends well with red hair, but the splotchy white design was, for me, problematic. I recoiled the instant he walked on stage.
HE is opposed to The Brutalist, but Fastvold’s midnight blue pantsuit was perfect; ditto her shiny black pumps.
Ms. Barnes wore the very best pants (bright orange plaid).
Mr. Fehlbaum’s attire caused no problems, certainly not by my sights.
Cardinal Benitez’s speech to all the cardinals following the bomb blast: “I carried out my ministry in the Congo, in Baghdad and Kabul. I’ve seen the lines of the dead and wounded, Christian and Muslim.
“When you say we have to fight, what is it you think we’re fighting? You think it’s those deluded men who had carried out these terrible acts today? No, my brother. They’re small and petty. They’re only interested in themselves, in Rome, in the election and power. And those things are not the Church.
“The Church is not tradition. The Church is not the past. The Church is what we do in the future.”
