Cinequest survives closing night without Charlie Sheen
As Cinequest’s closing night approached, there was a bit of buzz about whether downtown San Jose would survive a visit from notoriously wild actor Charlie Sheen, executive director and narrator of Paul Sanchez’s “Brothers in Arms,” the festival’s closing night movie Sunday.
Well, Sheen couldn’t make it because he had to be in New York for work Monday morning and apologized to the audience in a videomessage played at the California Theatre. But Cinequest’s closing night went just fine without him thanks to Sanchez’s riveting and very funny documentary about the making of Oliver Stone’s 1986 Vietnam film, “Platoon.” The audience seemed to love the movie and the conversation afterward with Sanchez, who played a medic in the film, co-star John C. McGinley and other members of the cast and crew.
The 28th annual film and virtual reality festival brought in a crowd of more than 100,000 people over 13 days. Movie lovers packed most of the big events, including Friday night’s silent cinema presentation of the 1928 Lillian Gish classic “The Wind” (with the incomparable Dennis James at the California Theatre’s Mighty Wurlitzer organ), Saturday night’s Maverick Spirit Award event with Andie MacDowell and Sunday’s Media Legacy Award event, where former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery had a fascinating, hourlong conversation with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz.
Mankiewicz, by the way, said he’d love to come back to the festival next year. Cinequest founders Kathleen Powell and Halfdan Hussey would be smart to snag the engaging host for onstage interviews.
UN-REAL ESTATE AT BELLARMINE AUCTION>> A large and generous crowd of about 600 people turned out Saturday night for Bellarmine College Prep’s 42nd annual Golden Bell Auction, a French-themed affair held on the campus of the prestigious San Jose Jesuit boys school. There were plenty of big-ticket items on the live auction block — including 49ers season tickets, a new Jeep Wrangler donated by the Normandin family and their car dealership and a seven-night stay at a Paris apartment — that went for thousands of dollars apiece, raising money for the school’s financial aid programs.
I had to chuckle at one silent auction item, though: A large vintage dollhouse, complete with furnishings, donated by Joanne and Charlie Faas. Like any good piece of Silicon Valley real estate, it seemed a little small but managed to attract multiple bidders and ended up going for 10 percent over its value.
CONTEST BREWING AT FIVE POINTS>> Baristas from some of the South Bay’s favorite coffee spots — Chromatic Coffee, Academic Coffee, Forager Coffee, Kick Back Coffee Roasters and Roy’s Station Coffee & Teas — will be competing Wednesday night in San Jose’s first Irish coffee contest at Five Points bar on East Santa Clara Street. The contest starts at 5 p.m., and spectators are welcome — though there won’t be any Irish coffees served to the public that night.
However, the winner’s recipe will be reproduced and served at Five Points during Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities. That party gets started at 7:30 a.m. with a traditional Irish breakfast for the Six Nations rugby match between Ireland and England at its sister bar, O’Flaherty’s, and continues all night.
Manager Dave Mulvehill says VIP tickets are available for the festivities for $100, which include all you can eat, five drinks, a souvenir T-shirt and, maybe best of all, no line to get in. Go to oflatsvip.eventbrite.com for details.