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Since I love movies and I love seeing movie stars I always try to keep an eye out for events where I can see both. I was very excited to find out through twitter that Ryan Gosling would be making an appearance at Sundance Cinemas in West Hollywood. Following a showing of his directorial debut Lost River Ryan did a q&a. Most people are familiar with Ryan Gosling from The Notebook but I have been a fan of his since I saw him in Remember The Titans.
I was excited about getting to see him in person. The event was not widely publicized so it is very lucky for me that I follow Sundance Cinema on twitter and saw them tweet about it. I reached out to a friend who is always ready for an adventure and we were able to purchase our tickets and pick our seats through the theatres website.
I am a huge fan of theatres who let you select your seat on their website when you buy a ticket. It makes going to q&a events much more enjoyable because you don’t have to get there hours early to try and get the best seat possible. If you go to the theatre in the future you can park underneath it and can park for free for up to three hours when you get your parking ticket validated.
When my friend and I decided to go to the q&a we were doing it because we wanted to see Ryan Gosling and try to meet him/get a picture with him. Honestly, had I known how much I would dislike the movie I would not have gone. And had Ryan not been coming after the movie I would have walked out and asked for my money back.
On the drive to the theatre I let my friend know that according to twitter Ryan’s movie was not great but I went in to the experience with an open mind. I knew nothing about Cake or Big Eyes before I went to those screenings and really enjoyed those movies so I figured it was possible that Lost River could be a similar experience. You have read it before and you will read it again, I love movies. However, there are certain types of movies that I am not a fan of and Lost River is a perfect example of that.
The story revolves around a family who has stayed in a town that is dying off which causes them to fight to hold on to their house. Christina Hendricks plays Billy who has two sons, teenage Bones and a little boy Franky. Billy is behind in payments on the house and accepts a job from a guy at the bank which leads to one of the most bizarre and uncomfortable parts of the movie. The job is at a night club where people perform acts that consist of showing the audience anything that ends in blood. When Billy first walks in she sees Eva Mendes dancing and then fake murdered. By this point in the movie I was more than ready to walk out.
While Billy is working to make ends meet Bones has been stripping abandoned buildings for cooper to try and get money only to run into the town bully who decides that the cooper belongs to him. This bully is known for cutting the lips off of other people who steal his cooper so obviously you do not want to mess with him. Bones befriends his next door neighbor Rat who tells him that when a reservoir was built in Lost River it cast a spell on the town which is why their lives are horrible.
As the story gets more and more ridiculous I began to question the sanity of Ryan to have created this world that was so peculiar. In case you decide to see the movie I don’t want to ruin the ending so all I will say is that if you like movies that no one understands then this is the movie for you. Though I will also add this, it is certainly an artsy type film but when it debuted at the Cannes film festival it was booed and has received horrible reviews so if people who typically appreciate these movies did not enjoy it I would take that as a sign.
Once the movie ended a British guy came to the front of the theatre and was followed by Ryan. Sometimes when we see people in film and television we get an idea of what we think they might be like in real life. Amy Adams and Jennifer Aniston were exactly how I thought they would be when I went to their q&a’s. I hate to burst your bubble but Ryan Gosling is not the charismatic, fun guy you see in movies. I really appreciate during q&a’s when the speaker looks at the audience as they talk because it makes it more enjoyable to watch in person.
For the most part Ryan only looked at the British guy. There were a few questions that audience members were allowed to ask which seemed like the only time that Ryan looked into the audience. What struck me during the q&a is that the movie that Ryan discusses is nothing like the finished product.
Ryan talked about how he grew up in Canada but always had this fascination with Detroit and that it served as the location for Lost River. He wanted to tell a story about the people who are left behind in towns that are dying out but to me he didn’t accomplish that. The movie takes place in an almost abandoned town but he doesn’t tell a story about what happened to the town or the people he just uses it as a location for a bizarre fantasy.
There were several things that he said that my friend and I thought made no sense. The little boy who played Franky was terrified of the camera and would cry when he saw it so Ryan had to hid to film those scenes. I was just curious if this little boy never auditioned because they would have found out about his fear ahead of time. The way he talked about that situation it just seemed like it would have been easier to hire another child. I realize that this was Ryan’s first time writing a screenplay and directing and there is always room for improvement but I really hope that this is his last attempt at either.
The second the q&a ended Ryan was escorted out so unfortunately there was no chance to get a picture or autograph which would have made the whole experience go from a 1 out of 10 to a 9/10. If you want to find out about events like this I would encourage you to follow movie theatres in your area on twitter so that you will know if there are any q&a events with some of your favorite movie stars.
How to Meet Ryan Gosling
Honestly, the best chance to meet him is by attending events like this. Even though I did not see him meet any fans at this particular event I saw him a year later and he met quite a few people. The second event I saw him at was one for The Nice Guys. To my knowledge he does not participate in any conventions so q&a events are your best chance to meet him. If you want to find out about attending events like this in the future be sure to join my email list to get access to my private Facebook group.
