Mary Kay Place became an overnight TV star as wannabe country singer Loretta Haggers over forty years ago on “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.” She won an Emmy award and never looked back, working all the time without interruption in “The Big Chill,” lots of movies and lots of quality TV including a recent two parter on “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Writer director Kent Jones remembered her in a 1997 Francis Ford Coppola movie called “The Rainmaker” and decided she’d be perfect to play the part of his mother in a semi-autobiographical movie that opened this week at the Tribeca Film Festival. Mary Kay plays “Diane,” the lead character in a beautifully understated, subtle indie film that should earn her a lot of awards attention this fall. “Diane” just needs the right distributor, like Sony Picture Classics, to push it along.

What a little gem “Diane” is and so is the character. Diane and her extended family live around Pittsfield, Mass. Her husband is dead– we think from cancer, after working in factory. Her grown son is battling drug addiction. Her family is quickly dying off. And there’s Diane, who does for everyone else, beats herself up over one life mistake made 20 years ago. She’s kind of an everywoman but she’s not sentimental and she’s not looking for sympathy.

Jones surrounds Mary Kay with a great group of friends including Andrea Martin, Estelle Parsons, Joyce van Patten, Phyllis Somerville, and Deirdre O’Connell (who must get her name added to the IMDB page for this movie). Jake Lacy is a standout as Mary Kay’s son who may or not make it after trying to self-destruct in so many ways.

Women of a certain age (baby boomers) who are caught between their aging children and parents will identify strongly with Diane’s life. Mary Kay doesn’t wear her as an obvious warrior, but a survivor– a do-er– who is dedicated to making it to the finish line. Diane is noble, but not overtly, and there’s a scene of her dancing to a jukebox in a bar that is really one of the triumphs of acting– you’ll never forget it. Bravo!

Ryan Gosling and Damian Chazelle were robbed two years ago when the actor and the movie “La La Land” failed to win their Oscars– big time.

But today the pair have returned at Cinema Con in Las Vegas with the trailer for “First Man,” their new movie. And look out– according to reports, they may yet get their revenge.

“First Man” concerns Gosling as Neil Armstrong taking the first walk on the moon. Tweets from Cinema Con are glowing with enthusiasm.

The movie will be released this fall by Universal. And value added: Claire Foy, aka The Queen from the Crown, plays Mrs. Armstrong. Bryan D’Arcy James, Corey Stoll, Jason Clarke are also featured.

We can’t wait to see this trailer! Or to hear the soundtrack! Justin Hurwitz, who wrote all that great “La La Land” music with Pasek and Paul, is the composer.

Is this the new odds-on Oscar favorite? You betcha. Chazelle is gifted. And everyone loves NASA movies. “Apollo 13” won Best Picture. “Capricorn One” was so good that people in red states think it was real!

This winter has been a wild ride for Disney and Marvel: their “Black Panther” is now the third biggest movie of all time. It’s historic and a phenomenon. So now what?

Now what is “Avengers: Infinity War” which opens technically tomorrow night. This is the third “Avengers” movie with one more to come, but it’s also the umpteenth movie with a rotating cast of characters, some of which have had other movies like Iron Man, Spider Man, Thor, his brother Loki, Peter Quill and his guardians of the galaxy, and so on.

Nearly all the Marvel characters from the Disney movies are in “Infinity War” with the exception, notably, of Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye and Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury (kind of). Some are under used, like Anthony Mackie’s Falcon. This is a hard movie to describe because everyone wants to know what happens and no one wants to know what happens. The IMDB lists characters who aren’t even in the movie. So we walk a fine line.

I guess the main thing to know here is that Thanos is the villain, played so beautifully by Josh Brolin that I really started to like him despite his obvious shortcomings. Thanos is the Bashar al-Assad of Marvel movies. I don’t know if there’s an intentional political undercurrent, but you’re going to recognize it. He is psychotically interested in causing death.

The main Avengers are determined to repel him, and they include Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch (she really shines in this film), Zoe Saldana as Gamora (ditto), and Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange. To a lesser degree we do see Tom Holland as Spider Man, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Pratt and his gang from “Guardians,” and of course– because they are hot right now– Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa from “Black Panther” and Letitia Wright and Danira Gurai.

“Infinity War” is full of thrilling stuff as characters who do not know each other cross over, and mix it up. Tom Holland is fun as he meets other super heroes and asks if they’re using their real names or their aliases. The directors, the Russo Brothers, don’t have a lot of time for characters to work in their back stories or prior relationship because the action never stops– but that’s okay. By now we know a lot of it.

As we’re coming to the end of this series– maybe– and this is part 3 (kind of ) the Russos know we are getting rid of some people, seeking closure (kind of). So yes, characters do die. There seem to be two kinds of death– definite death, contained within the story structure, and seems real. Then there’s another kind of death, that feels implausible but happens nevertheless. You have to watch this movie to the very, very end, through the credits, and then some, and we are still left with questions. Lots of them. Luckily, in a year, we may get some answers.

At last night’s press screening, the audience was silent– SILENT– from about the last ten minutes, through the credits, and the usual Marvel end teaser. I mean, no one stood up, no one left. When everything was over, to the last drop, the ushering out was also like you could hear a pin drop. I don’t know what’s happened in the LA screenings. But “Infinity War” takes chances like no other super hero film. It’s a big roll of the dice. Will it be worth it? I have think so. But I’m curious about reactions.

Some last minute things: I just love Danai Gurira. I really want to see more of her on film. Also, not stressed by their own movies a lot of the guys seemed more relaxed– like Chris Evans and Chadwick Boseman. Benedict Cumberbatch is a tremendous actor– there are Cary Grant type roles for him somewhere. And I do wish I’d seen more of Falcon. Josh Brolin rocks.

Otherwise, “Infinity War” is an A, I’d give it a 90+ or whatever, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again.