Mahil Senathirajah
By Mahil Senathirajah
Before hello, the incomprable Jamie Lee Curtis stated, “don’t give an actress a microphone. You people are so fucked right now”. So began the most raucous Santa Barbara International Film Festival Tribute in memory.
The proudly profane Curtis is an iconic scream queen and daughter of golden-era Hollywood royalty Janet Leigh (Psycho) and Tony Curtis (Some Like It Hot). She’s also an actress with a pretty interesting body of work at 64, an age she matter-of-factly stated near the beginning of the evening. As an aside, Michelle Yeoh matter-of-factly stated she was 60 during her Golden Globes acceptance speech. Maybe the leprosy-like stigma around (women’s) ages is waning in Hollywood?
Leonard Maltin moderated the evening, although there was little he had to do since Curtis was wound up and ready to go with a self-effacing, stand-up comic energy and a genuine appreciation for award and evening. She had the vibe of being grateful for her life, the good and bad, and with nothing to prove and nothing to lose (and happy dancing with herself). About her acting she said, “I know what I can do and I know what I cannot do and I don’t make apologies for it.”
Throughout the evening, she recounted anecdotes from her career ranging from ‘70s TV to this year’s role in Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, for which she is nominated for Best Supporting Actress, while tying everything back to the opportunities that arose from her role in horror classic Halloween.
She also made jokes about her Activia commercials saying, “I’m the only Oscar nominee that has ever sold yogurt that makes you shit” and being a “nepo baby,” a current fashionable term for Hollywood types using their family connections.
She talked about her approach to acting which is, to paraphrase, just go act. She was in a film, Tailor of Panama, with Pierce Brosnan. Actor Geoffrey Rush and director John Boorman would get into deeply analytic discussions about the film, “just taking and talking and talking…” She and Brosnan bonded over the mutual ignorance and disinterest in what was being said, “do you know what they are talking about?”
There was also a few, more serious anecdotes about the making of her films including going around the director to the set designer to have them design a light box so her face would be well lit during the interrogation scene in True Lies.
Rather than ridiculing her loyal horror fan-base, she said of them “horror fans are incredibly beautiful people. They are gorgeous.” And then recounted an story of doing a horror convention and raising $300,000 for the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles because of their generosity.
She also claimed, tongue firmly planted in cheek, that she invented Instagram. She’s a photographer and, when iphones first came out, created a blog that allowed participants to share photos. It’s still up and here’s the link Iphoneys.
Her husband, Christopher Guest (director of mockumentaries, including “Best in Show”) gave her the award but wasn’t really prepped. So, his speech essentially consisted of “this is the award, I’m going to give it you now, here it is”.
I think it’s safe to say that everyone enjoyed being fucked (alternative “made love to”) by Jamie Lee Curtis last night.
In 2019 Curtis formed Comet Pictures, which is a film, television and podcast production company that has a first-look deal with Blumhouse. Comet’s projects in the works include: Scarpetta, a series based on Patricia Cornwell’s best-selling novels about forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta; Mother Nature, an eco-horror film that Curtis will direct and co-wrote with Russell Goldman, based on the forthcoming graphic novel written by Curtis and Goldman and illustrated by Karl Stevens; a third and final season of the best-selling Audible scripted comedy/mystery podcast Letters From Camp, written by Boco Haft; a horror short Return to Sender, directed by Goldman and starring Allison Tolman. Curtis is also the founder and CEO of the website MY HAND IN YOURS, which is a charitable organization that offers comfort and celebration items with 100% of every sale being donated directly to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, an organization Curtis has been associated with for a very long time. Curtis is also a New York Times best-selling children’s book author having written 13 books.
The Modern Master Award was established in 1995 and is the highest accolade presented by SBIFF. Created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry, it was re-named the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 in honor of long-time SBIFF moderator and renowned film critic Leonard Maltin. Past recipients include Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Bill Murray, Brad Pitt, Glenn Close, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Bruce Dern, Ben Affleck, Christopher Plummer, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Cate Blanchett, Will Smith, George Clooney and Peter Jackson.
The 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs through February 18. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. Passes and tickets are on sale now at sbiff.org.
