Kevin Bacon is doing his best to on the side of Santa Monica Boulevard, across the street from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. “100% cotton,” he says, holding up a promotional T-shirt to a tour bus full of journalists and fans on a promotional tour. It’s not like he has a lot to work with; we’re across the street from the cemetery, not in front of it or on the grounds, probably because it’s harder to pull a miniature bus over in a more optimal viewing space, and there’s no way a one-hour tour has time to navigate parking lots.
So, here we are, being distracted by a video clip from the movie, trying to camouflage Kevin Bacon emerging from a Tesla on a run-down side street beside an import warehouse with an open receiving door. Too bad I’m on the right side of the bus, against the open-air window, and I know he’s coming. I don’t think this is what A24 had in mind when they planned this pop-in, but it feels special in a different way, more “What the fuck is going on” than “Omg it’s Kevin Bacon, how cool!” It’s a little off, a little wrong, a little seedy and sad.
A chipped manicure. Dirt under the fingernails. Richard Ramirez prowling the streets of Los Angeles after dark.
It feels, somehow, kind of perfect for a bus tour promoting the final movie in Ti West’s trilogy. If you’re thinking about booking a seat on the from StarLine, know this: you won’t get to see Kevin Bacon, either in person or in the four promotional clips that play throughout.