Posted 9:33 AM by Scoobie Davis

Westwood Yesterday

I had a chance to check out the anti-war protests in the Westwood area of Los Angeles yesterday. I was going to an advance screening of Gwyneth Paltrow’s new film View From the Top. When I got there at 6:30 in the evening, The crowd had blocked Wilshire Boulevard and the police were out in full force. Several police helicopters were in the area. I’m not a big protest person because whenever I’m at a protest, I see the kind of people I don’t care for—there were plenty there.

View From The Top was okay but I don't recommend it. It's a by-the-numbers romantic comedy in which Paltrow plays a flight attendent. I found it more amusing than funny. I liked it less than the Salon reviewer.

When I got out of the theater, the anti-war crowd had mostly left except for a doughty dozen or so people with signs at Wilshire and Westwood. I noticed nearby that a film crew was shooting in front of a theater; it was a scene of a movie premiere for a film. I asked one of the security people what film they were shooting. He told me it was for the forthcoming Calista Flockhart film Providence. It seemed like an elaborate scene. I walked by the craft services tent and was tempted to grab a bite but decided not to because it would have been tacky.