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Juno Temple and Julia Garner Shine in ‘One Percent More Humid’ at TFF

dorriolds — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 15:46:39 +0000

Tribeca Film Festival’s feature narrative, One Percent More Humid, premiered last night in Chelsea at the SVA Theater. The haunting coming-of-age story centers on two childhood friends on a break from college who reunite in their New England hometown. It’s a sweltering, sticky summer, hence the title. Iris (Juno Temple) and Catherine (Julia Garner) find relief in the cooling waters of the local lake.

Juno Temple as Iris in ‘One Percent More Humid’

It soon becomes clear that their seemingly carefree skinny-dipping at the beautiful secluded spot, runs deeper. Iris and Catherine are obviously troubled. Sensitively written and directed by Liz W. Garcia, the town and its characters are so palpable, filled with realistic details. I felt like she intimately knew this world.
“I grew up in Ridgefield, Connecticut,” said Garcia, “and was haunted by events in that town. I wrote One Percent to get these characters out of their dilemma.”
The beauty of this indie is its slow reveal. Under Garcia’s direction, the camera zeros in on hints, telling the story through breadcrumb snippets. In one scene, the two actresses subtly convey a hint of sabatoging their well-being. Iris, chain-smoking, confides to Catherine that she’s having amazing sex.
But, instead of bubbly, she’s under pressure. The weight is knowing the affair is ill-advised. “I’m seeing my thesis advisor. I’m sleeping with him. He’s married.” Her professor is played by the magnetic Italian actor Alessandro Nivola.
In another scene we witness Catherine, drunk, in a bar, throwing herself at the brother of what we learn later is an important connection. But eventually, the viewer discovers he’s manipulating Catherine to garner information that will sink her.
Details of the girls’ shared grief boils to the surface, and we see that this is more than typical college-aged angst. They are wading into a torrential storm of self-destruction. Every action they take—pot, pills, alcohol, obsessive sex—is an attempt to feel better. They’re numbing themselves because they can find no absolution for guilt that rains down on them.
One Percent More Humid is one of the fine offerings by women directors this year. Through the storytelling, Garcia gifts us with what’s lacking in so many blockbusters: the woman’s perspective. Temple and Garner rise to the level of A-list performers; they’re effervescent and make it look effortless.

Showtimes:

Sun., April 23, 4:15pm, Cinepolis Chelsea 03
Mon., April 24, 7:45pm, Cinepolis Chelsea 01
Tues., April 25, 10pm, Regal Battery Park Theater 11
Drama, 98 min.

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Tribeca Film Festival 2017 Celebrates Women

dorriolds — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 00:25:45 +0000

The 2017 Tribeca Film Festival begins Wednesday, April 19 and runs through Sunday, April 30. This is the 16^th year of awe-inspiring offerings. Many thanks go to co-founders Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro for this long-standing celebration of New York City, movies, media, and activism.
The festival is known for its exquisite mix of pure entertainment and searing documentaries. Jane Rosenthal said, “You have to remember, the festival started as a way to help our community after 9/11 and to bring people together and to bring a community together. That kind of activism is the DNA of this festival, not just of us as individuals.”

TFF cofounder Jane Rosenthal. Photo by Dorri Olds.

Ever since its inception, Rosenthal has championed the power of women by showcasing their work. Not only are there 25 female jurors this year, but out of 98 festival selections, 32 are helmed by female filmmakers. There has never been a more important time for solidarity among women.

Highlights of 2017 TFF Feature Films Directed By Women

For showtimes click on film titles

One Percent More Humid Iris (Juno Temple) and Catherine (Julia Garner), are overwhelmed with grief after a shared tragedy. They turn to using sex like a drug to numb out and spin out into self-destruction. The movie was written and directed by Liz W. Garcia.
Flames Real-life couple, filmmaker Josephine Decker and artist Zefrey Throwell, filmed their romantic relationship over a five-year period. Movie viewers experience the pair during their giddy in love phase and high on their creative juices. Viewers watch the couple’s sexual encounters, knowing there is another woman in the room, she is off-screen but recording every intimate detail through her camera. It’s an eerie and fascinating concept to watch a relationship from its gleeful beginning to its soured end.

Blame This is 22-year-old writer-director Quinn Shephard’s feature debut. She also plays the starring role of emotionally unstable Abigail who lands the lead in class for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Mean girl Melissa Bowman (Nadia Alexander) is pissed. The substitute drama teacher (Chris Messina) notices the hostile classroom environment and steps in to rally for vulnerable Abigail. The timing is tricky, though. The teacher’s marriage is strained, leaving him shaky, too.

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story Written and directed by Alexandra Dean, this is a new look at a Hollywood legend. Although known for her beauty, she had an incredible mind. Through the film we learn about her inventions, including a secret communication system for the Allies to beat the Nazis. She never received credit for her engineering innovations.

I Am Evidence Every year in America, thousands of rape kits containing DNA evidence are left untested by police. Over 175,000 kits have been uncovered. Only eight states (Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York) have passed laws requiring that rape kits be tested by police. As a result, decades worth of kits have been shelved, the cases are unsolved and the perps are free. Directed by Trish Adlesic and produced by Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order SVU’s Olivia Benson.
Warning: This Drug May Kill You This timely documentary by Perri Peltz takes an unflinching look at the devastating effects of addiction through the stories of four families whose lives have been decimated by addictions that began with prescriptions to pain meds.
To keep up TFF2017 highlights, follow @DorriOlds and #Tribeca2017.

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Tribeca Film Festival 2017 Celebrates the 45th Anniversary of The Godfather

dorriolds — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 13:08:02 +0000

Update: Tribeca Film Festival The Godfather Reunion was magical.

Diane Keaton, James Caan, Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino, Talia Shire, Robert Duvall and Robert De Niro reunited at Radio City Music Hall, NYC

Tribeca Film Festival in the 16th year of the annual cultural movie marathon festival, announced the program’s big closer. On Saturday, April 29, movie lovers will be treated to a celebration of the 45th anniversary since The Godfather hit theaters. There will be back-to-back screenings of the The Godfather and The Godfather Part II at Radio City Music Hall. An all-star panel will follow the screenings. The discussion will include Hollywood gold including director Academy Award®-winning director Francis Ford Coppola and A-list actors Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Robert De Niro. Beyond our wildest dreams for us cinephiles.
Following this once-in-a-lifetime cast reunion at the Tribeca Film Festival in celebration of the 45th anniversary of The Godfather, Paramount will release all three films in the epic crime saga on Blu-ray^™, DVD and Digital HD May 9th.
The discs include hours of bonus content, including commentary by Francis Ford Coppola on all three films, as well as fascinating behind-the-scenes features on the unlikely events, intrigue, allegiances and luck that put together the unknown director with the “unwanted” cast. The special features also explore the film’s enduring influence on popular culture, the impact of the locations and music, interviews with the filmmakers and cast, a Corleone family tree and historical timeline, photo galleries, storyboards and much, much more.

PANELISTS

Al Pacino

Actor and director Al Pacino was born in East Harlem and grew up in New York City’s South Bronx. He attended the School of Performing Arts until he moved on to study acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio with Charles Laughton, and later, at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg. His first leading part in a feature film was in the 1971 drama Panic in Needle Park. The following year, Francis Ford Coppola selected him to take on the breakthrough role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award®.

Robert Duvall

A leading man since the 1960s, Robert Duvall has specialized in driven characters of all types. Respected by his peers and adored by audiences worldwide, he has earned numerous Oscar® nominations for his performances in The Judge, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini and The Apostle. Duvall won the Academy Award® and a Golden Globe® as Best Actor for his role in Tender Mercies. In addition, he has received Golden Globe® Awards for his performances in the title role of HBO’s Stalin as well as for his memorable turns in Apocalypse Now and Lonesome Dove.

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro launched his motion picture career in Brian De Palma’s The Wedding Party in 1969. In 1974, De Niro won the Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather, Part II. In 1980 he won his second Oscar®, as Best Actor, for Raging Bull. De Niro has also received five Academy Award nominations for his work including Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, and Silver Linings Playbook. In 2009, De Niro was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. De Niro takes pride in his production company, Tribeca Productions, the Tribeca Film Center, (which he founded with Jane Rosenthal in 1988,) and in the Tribeca Film Festival, which he founded with Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff. Tribeca’s A Bronx Tale in 1993 marked De Niro’s directorial debut and in 2016 he directed Tribeca’s The Good Shepherd.

James Caan

One of the most versatile actors in film, James Caan is best known for his Academy Award® nominated performance as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather and for his Emmy®-nominated portrayal of football star Brian Piccalo in Brian’s Song. Appearing in more than 50 movies, Caan also earned great recognition starring in Rob Reiner’s critically acclaimed film Misery; and For The Boys, co-starring Bette Midler. He was equally praised for his performance as a brain damaged football star in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People. Caan made his directorial debut and starred in the critically acclaimed film Hide In Plain Sight.

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola was born in Detroit and grew up in Queens, NY. After graduating from Hofstra and UCLA, he worked as screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is a five-time Academy Award® winner. His film credits include Patton, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Francis has also been producing wine for over 35 years at his Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley wineries. His other business interests include luxury resorts in Central America, Argentina, and Italy, and an award-winning short story magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story. Francis’s current interest is in a new from of entertainment he calls Live Cinema, being a combination of theater, film, and television. He is presently working on a long-form screenplay he hopes to produce in this new medium.

Taylor Hackford

Taylor Hackford was the director of the Academy Award® winning films Ray and An Officer and a Gentleman. In addition, he helmed the beloved features Against All Odds, The Devil’s Advocate, Dolores Claiborne, and Blood In, Blood Out. Hackford most recently directed Robert De Niro in The Comedian. His feature documentary work is equally acclaimed, with Chuck Berry: Hail!, Hail! Rock n’ Roll and When We Were Kings, a behind-the-scenes look at the legendary 1974 bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, which won for Best Documentary Feature. He has served two terms as president of the Directors Guild of America.

Talia Shire

Talia Shire comes from a family of artists. The Yale drama school alum has appeared in over fifty movies and television shows, received two Academy Award® nominations, and won the NY Film Critics Award for her performance in Rocky (1976). She and her husband Jack Schwartzman independently financed and produced several movies among them Never Say Never Again (1983) and Rad (1986) whose sequel is currently in development. In 1994 she directed One Night Stand. In 1994 Jack Schwartzman died. In 1997 she was one of several producers on the Tony nominated play “Golden Child.” Family is at the center of her life. Talia’s children continue on in the same tradition of theatre and film. Her two step children John Schwartzman (Cinematographer) and Stephanie Schwartzman (Artist), her son Matthew Shire (Writer/Producer), Jason Schwartzman (Actor/Musician/Writer/Director/Producer), & Robert Schwartzman (Actor/Musician/Director/Producer).

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Getting our ‘Kicks’ at TFF with Justin Tipping and newcomer Jahking Guillory

dorriolds — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 10:04:16 +0000

Tribeca Film Festival’s red carpet for the movie “Kicks” was a blast. In attendance were cast members Jahking Guillory, Mahershala Ali, Kofi Siriboe, Christopher Jordan Wallace, Christopher Meyer and Michael Smith. Director and co-writer Justin Tipping was brave enough to be vulnerable. He exemplifies the best aspect of indies—raw emotion.
Synopsis: Brandon (Guillory), 15, dreams of a pair of fresh Air Jordans but right after he gets them, they’re stolen by local hood Flaco (Siriboe), causing Brandon and his two friends go on a dangerous mission through Oakland to retrieve them.

Dorri Olds: What inspired this story?
Justin Tipping: I got jumped with a pair of Nikes when I was 16 and [felt] the humiliation of that. I remember talking to a brother and he was like, “Oh, good, you’re a man now.” It was that moment that I felt proud but in retrospect that is completely backwards. Why are we supposed to think violence is about becoming a man? Why does that make me a man? There’s no reason for it but it’s always perpetuated in society. It’s all around us. Like you hear, “Man up.” But why is that? What does that even mean? Why isn’t it “Do good in school?”
“Kicks” played during Tribeca Film Festival 2016. And now it’s available On Demand. This indie is a winner. Don’t miss it. Rated R. 87 min.

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Robert De Niro Said For 40 Years He Has Heard, You Talkin’ To Me?

dorriolds — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 12:59:19 +0000

Did you miss Tribeca Film Festival’s 40th anniversary celebration of “Taxi Driver” on April 21 at the Beacon Theatre? I can help you pretend you were there. The evening began with an exciting red carpet, followed by a brief greeting from TFF’s cofounders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. The audience was then treated to a pristine restored version of the classic masterpiece about a cripplingly lonely New York City cab driver, Travis Bickel (De Niro), who descends into madness and becomes a danger to himself and everyone else.
Post-film screening, cast and crew members took to the stage: De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, writer Paul Schrader and producer Michael Phillips. Hear what they had to say.
“Every day for 40 f—ing years, at least one of you has come up to me and said, ‘What do you think: You talkin’ to me?’” Then he told the audience to go ahead and get it over with by saying it all together and the crowd happily complied.

Jodie Foster on the TFF Taxi Driver red carpet • photo © Dorri Olds

Olds asked Foster on the red carpet, “Can you talk about the latest movie you directed?”
“Sure,” said Foster. “It’s called ‘Money Monster.’ I love it. It is a mainstream movie and it’s a thriller. It’s intense and all of that but it’s really quite intelligent and demands a lot of the audience and hopefully people will like the fact that it’s a combination of those two things—a great ride and also really quite smart.”
Cybill Shepherd looks radiant at ‘Taxi Driver’ 40th anniversary
Shepherd said, “This was definitely a very important film for me and I would’ve given my right arm to do it. I’m so honored to be here tonight with so much talent onstage and to have this great opportunity. It is a great film.” That’s when an audience member shouted, “I love you, Cybill!” Shepherd threw her hands up and yelled back, “I love you, too!”
Harvey Keitel tells it like it is at ‘Taxi Driver’ reunion. Keitel was asked, “You went to work with a real pimp, right?” He replied, “Does the statute of limitations still apply?” After he got a riotous laugh from the crowd he continued, “Yeah, I met a pimp — a former pimp. I don’t know what that means but we improvised for a few weeks and he taught me what it was like to play the role of a pimp. I played the girl and he told me what to do. Then we went into business together.”
‘Taxi Driver’ writer Paul Schrader joins the cast. Schrader said, “This script began in the best possible way because it began as self therapy. There was a person who I was afraid of that I was becoming and that was this taxi driver and I felt if I wrote about him I could distance him from me. And it worked! It does show that art has therapeutic powers.”
Producer Michael Phillips was on hand to talk about Taxi Driver. Phillips was seated next to Keitel. He said, “Brian De Palma was living next door to me and Paul [Schrader] was writing a journalistic piece on Brian and showed Brian the script. Brian said, ‘It’s not for me,’ but thought it might be something I would like. It was. I read it and I thought I was looking into a naked soul.”
Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal are the co-founders of Tribeca Film Festival. Both introduced the event. Rosenthal said, “When I was younger I was kind of isolated and alone, sort of like the Travis character. I identified with it as I think we all did.”
Scorsese said, “We were in this condemned building on 89th. The exterior was down on 13th Street but the hallway was on 89th and Columbus. Jodie’s room was on Columbus Avenue and the building was condemned but somehow we were still in it and we were shooting a movie in there, I don’t know what happened. The next thing, we started and because it was in the script [that] there was overhead tracking I said, ‘I guess we’ll have to cut through the ceiling.’ Which is what they did. It took them about three months and then when it came time to shoot it, uh, the uh, the whaddya call it? The child labor law person said, ‘You only have 20 minutes.’ So we were trying everything. ‘Oh please, just an extra shot?’ But we got it in 20 minutes.”

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Satisfying ‘Detour’ with Tye Sheridan and Emory Cohen

dorriolds — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 11:31:36 +0000

One of Tribeca Film Festival’s highlights this year was “Detour,” a suspenseful neo-noir thriller deliciously saturated in drugs and alcohol. The central character, Harper (heartthrob Tye Sheridan) is stepson to alcoholic no-goodnik Vincent, played by Stephen Moyer of “True Blood.”

Harper blames the lying, cheating Vincent for putting his mom in a coma. While she lies in a hospital bed fighting for her life, Harper drowns his pain in alcohol. Wasted, he shoots his mouth off to the wrong dude: tattooed sociopath Johnny Ray, played by Emory Cohen (co-star of the Best Picture Oscar-winner, “Brooklyn”). Johnny Ray offers to whack Vincent for $20,000 dollars. In his drunken haze, Harper says yes to the violent thuggery. In the hungover and sobering light of day, Harper decides to back out. The problem is Johnny Ray won’t let Harper renege on their financial agreement and vows to go through with the murder.

Kudos to British writer and director Christopher Smith who gave us “Black Death, starring Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne. In “Detour,” Smith uses split-screen to go back and forth in time and it works. No easy feat. Smith also wrote the film’s screenplay and deserves much credit for his spot-on casting. In addition to Sheridan and Cohen, Smith cast Bel Powley (“Diary of a Teenager Girl”) as the femme fatale. She rocks it in this clever and engaging tale.

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Dysfunctional Dad Christopher Walken and Alcoholic Amber Heard

dorriolds — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 12:02:54 +0000

Amber Heard hungover

Amber Heard and Christopher Walken

Although loaded with inherited musical talent, she’s only good at drinking. Self-loathing and systematic self-destruction make Jude (Amber Heard) incapable of making it on time to even sing commercial jingles.

Amber Heard in ‘One More Time’

With no money, and no motivation, she slinks back to live with her father Paul Lombard (Christopher Walken), a faded Sinatra-ish crooner who lives in the “poor” section of the Hamptons. Multiple Andy Warhol-like portraits of Paul loom over the living room and illustrate how suffocating it is to be anywhere near Paul. Back in his home means Jude is embroiled in family dysfunction. Her bitter, yet highly-functional sister, Corinne (Kelli Garner), is married to Tim (Hamish Linklater) who was in a relationship with Jude long ago before Corinne stole him away.
Burned-out Paul is married for the gazillionth time; his current wife, Lucille (Ann Magnuson), is a lush. Being drunk seems the only way to survive being in love with overbearing, narcissistic Paul.

Christopher Walken in One More Time

Oliver Platt shines as Alan, a long-time family lawyer and friend who seems the only one in Jude’s life who sees and loves her despite her nothing-but-flawed lifestyle. The plot is light but the strength of this film is the two charismatic leads, Walken and Heard, who make you care about these comically heartbreaking characters.
One big perk is hearing Walken and Heard perform music. Written and directed by Robert Edwards.
“One More Time” is available On Demand. Official Selection at Tribeca Film Festival 2015. Comedy drama. Not rated. 97 min.

Amber Heard as Jude

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Tom Hiddleston on the Red Carpet

dorriolds — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 10:31:12 +0000

All photography © Dorri Olds
Friday, April 15, 2016 I chatted with Tom Hiddleston on the red carpet for his at Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) premiere of “The Night Manager.” The much anticipated six-part TV miniseries will air on AMC on April 19. It is based on the book by John le Carré (“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”).
When I asked Hiddleston if the worst part of his job is posing for the cameras, he laughed. Then, he looked down, thought about the question for a minute and said, “There are worse things.” Then the sexy actor grinned.

There was an awkward moment after the actor asked the photographers to wait a moment while he tucked in his shirt. One of the photo journalists ignored his request. The classy Hiddleston was understandably shaken. He walked over to the photographer and said, “Why would you do that when I asked you not to?” The cameraman, who’d obviously seized the moment in hopes of landing his “money shot,” was shameless.
The gorgeous actor quickly regrouped, returned to his step-and-repeat task. He posed with beautiful and talented “The Night Manager” director Susanne Bier. Then they had a whisper and a laugh before heading into the School of Visual Arts screening on 23^rd Street.
The much-adored Hiddleston is also starring in the must-see “High Rise.” For ticket information visit the movie website.

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Yay for a Female-Driven, Pro-LGBT, Pro-Choice Comedy Drama That Delivers and Stars Icon Lily Tomlin

dorriolds — Sun, 17 May 2015 15:55:56 +0000

Photos by Dorri Olds
“Grandma” is Lily Tomlin’s movie. She is in top form in a role created just for her. Writer director Paul Weitz (“American Pie,” “About a Boy”) confirmed that he had written the part for Tomlin after the two had worked together on 2013’s “Admission.”
Yay for a female-driven, pro-LGBT, pro-choice comedy drama that delivers. “Grandma” is Lily Tomlin’s movie. She is in top form in a role created just for her. Writer director Paul Weitz (“American Pie,” “About a Boy”) confirmed that he had written the part for Tomlin after the two had worked together on 2013’s “Admission.”

On the red carpet at the film’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere last month, Weitz smiled as he referred to Tomlin as “so punk rock” and added that she was great as Tina Fey’s mom in “Admission.”
“She was so hardcore, funny and smart that I wanted to do a whole movie with her as the lead.” said Weitz. Before “Admission,” he hadn’t known Tomlin well, “But her intelligence rang like a clear bell,” he said. “It made me think of a character and how much that character would have to offer a young woman under duress.”
Tomlin’s smile lit up the red carpet — corny-sounding, I know, but it did — and she exuded a natural air of hippitude. As I stood next to her on the carpet, she seemed tickled by the grin plastered on my face. I’ve adored her since “One ringy-dingy” and loved her decades later on FX’s “Damages.”

Julia Garner costars with Lily Tomlin in ‘Grandma’

Watch a hilarious clip from the “Grandma” here:
Watch one of my YouTube channel’s most popular videos with Nat Wolff:

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Let’s Talk About the Red Carpet

dorriolds — Tue, 12 May 2015 08:42:56 +0000

Views from the Red Carpet and Beyond…

Covering a red carpet takes a certain kind of journalist: a masochist. Why? Because they’re jam-packed with paparazzi — mostly from Getty and other agencies — and a few rogue freelancers like me. There’s a ton of pushing and shoving from the photographers. I’m still recuperating from last month.
Doing press for Tribeca Film Festival in New York City every year is incredibly fun … and exhausting. Red carpets are intense. The 6-feet-tall guys from Getty try to shove me out of the way. I’m 5’2″ but manage to stand my ground. Then all of the Screenings! Interviews! Articles! It is always worth every second. Indies are a treat. They’re original, artistic and written for smart people, unlike your typical blockbuster. I’ve always been so impressed by co-founder Jane Rosenthal. She’s championed female filmmakers since the festival began.
At the end of each festival is an anniversary of a classic movie. This year it was the testosterone-heavy mob movie but what a classic film.

The 25th Anniversary of ‘Goodfellas’

This was the biggest thrill of the entire festival. It was also a cornucopia of stars, character actors, crew members and guests. Robert De Niro was there with his wife Grace Hightower, Lorraine Bracco with her daughter Margaux Guerard, Ray Liotta, Paul Sorvino with wife Dee Dee Benkie, Debi Mazar with musician Gabriele Corcos, actress Rachel Harris with musician Christian Hebel, Hank Azaria, Queen Noor of Jordan, actress Kelly LeBrock, actors Mike Starr, Kevin Corrigan, Pete Santora, Tony Darrow, Michael Rapaport, Federico Castelluccio and his wife Yvonne Maria Schaefer and Chuck Low, who is best known for playing wig man Morris “Morrie” Kessler in the film.
More highlights of the evening came from the stage. De Niro opened with, “Joe Pesci couldn’t be here, but he sent this e-mail: ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck, fuck.’ I’ll translate. ‘Dear Bob, sorry I can’t be there. Love to all. Best, Joe.’” I laughed so loud I startled myself.

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