Originally published on blogcritics.org “My brother refused to tell the authorities where I was hiding, and because of that he was executed,” explained Nahid Persson Sarvestani, creator of the documentary My Stolen Revolution, which held its North American premiere at the LA Film Fest. Sarvestani was a member of the resistance to the Shah of Iran, participating in the […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) On June 23, 2013, at the LA Film Fest worlds collided. This was no hokey sci-fi flick, but a discussion of the impact of new media on the movie industry and the art of storytelling. Hollywood and Silicon Valley Collide: Immersion, Interactivity and Narrative Expansion brought together panelists Florian Henckel Von Donnersmark (The Lives of Others, The […]
Originally published on blogcritics.org Writer/director David Lowery has what seems like a cliché story. In 1970s Texas, an outlaw escapes from prison to find the wife and the daughter he’s never met. But Lowery paints this story with a different, intimate, film-noir brush. Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints opened at the LA Film Festival Saturday, June 15. He is aided in […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) Maya Rudolph has four husbands. There’s the one that made the Saturday Night Live (SNL) veteran eight-months pregnant, and then there are her three secret hubbies. Rudolph shared this juicy tidbit at an LA Film Festival Master Class “The Serious Business of Being Funny,” on June 14, 2013. She was interviewed, Inside-the-Actors-Studio style, by Film Independent’s […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) I don’t like hippies or recreational drug use and that’s what Sebastián Silva’s Crystal Fairy is all about. Strangely, I enjoyed the film and recommend it. Part of the Los Angeles Film Festival Summer Showcase series, Crystal Fairy chronicles the road-trip and psychedelic-trip adventures of Jamie, played by Michael Cera, (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Arrested […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) What did you do on your vacation? Joss Whedon adapted Shakespeare. At South by Southwest 2012 (SXSW) Joss Whedon explained that he found a new way to unwind from the total immersion of making a movie like The Avengers – make another movie. In 2011, after principal photography on The Avengers was completed, Whedon was contractually obligated to […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) Studies of really young love won top honors at two LA film events last month. At the LA Comedy Shorts Festival (LACSF) the Audience Award went to Harry Grows Up by Writer /Director Mark Nickelsburg, and Writer Cindy Chupack. At the second annual Collaboration Filmmakers Challenge, both the judge’s and the audience awards went to A Simple Test, […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) If you left the May meeting of the Alameda Writers Group (AWG) with unanswered questions about screenwriting, it was your own fault. The featured speaker at the AWG General Membership meeting was writer, director, producer, author and UCLA instructor Tom Lazarus. AWG President Marc Cushman (Star Trek, Diagnosis: Murder) introduced Lazarus whose credits include writer/story consultant for many […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) The Collaboration Filmmakers Challenge, now in its second year, brings a new twist to film contests. You not only have to make a film in two weeks, you also must collaborate on another filmmaker’s project. Both of you have to succeed, or neither one qualifies for the prize competition. For actors and technical crew, it […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show, held April 6-11 in Las Vegas, claims to be the world’s largest electronic media show covering entertainment production and delivery across all mediums. This was my first visit to this media-culture Mecca, along with more than 90,000 attendees from 151 countries. The NAB Show totally […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) “Famous People talking about S&%!” (I don’t know why they insist on spelling “stuff” like that) is perennially one of the most popular panels at the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival. That’s probably because of the life changing profundities and insightful observations by the panelists; or, maybe because the panelists are famous. This year’s […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) The fifth year of the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival (LACSF) (no, I don’t know what happened to the second “F”) opened at the Downtown Independent on April 4, with this year’s theme “Get Lucky” – and I did. So did everyone else who attended. Once again, as in 2010 and 2011, they excreted my expectations. (Excreted, ewww.) […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) The latest from movie maker P.J. Hogan is a directing tour de force, with some excellent acting from an impressive, award-winning cast, but not all that enjoyable. This is partly because thetrailer for the movie is so misleading, suggesting Mental is a whacky family comedy. It begins, after all, with the mom of the family, played by Rebecca […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) When you have a great screenplay, the talent shows up. Screenwriter Noah Haidle has crafted a story that is sure to become a classic. Stand Up Guys stars Academy Award winners Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin in an action-comedy about senior citizen gangsters reunited after one of them spent 28 years in prison. Val (Al Pacino) is […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) Everyone agrees this is a failure of a movie. Spoilers (if it were possible to spoil this movie any more than it already is) follow. As writers and filmmakers, what lessons can we learn? Plot problems: The plot follows the formula “Hotshot FBI Agents come into town and bump heads with […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) A lot goes into creating the “willing suspension of disbelief” needed for an audience to become immersed in a film and experience it — laughter, tears, fear — as “real.” The most important factor? The characters must be believable. In reviewing films to vote for in Film Independent’s Independent Spirit Awards, I watched […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) Hey, screenwriters and filmmakers, here’s a challenge for you. Make a movie about WWII, but with no battles. Make it a mystery, but assume the audience knows how it turns out. Make it a love story, but tell it completely in flashbacks. Make it a film about soldiers, but no gutsy infantryman […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) Opening e-mail is usually pretty uneventful, but that day in August was different. I saw an ad for the “The 2nd Annual Debra Hill Fellowship presents Producers Guild Weekend Shorts Contest”. Heck of a long name for a shorts contest. I’d heard of competitions like this before and they intrigued me. The goal […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) Are you a filmmaker or a journalist? If the script you’re working on is titled Zombie Princesses vs. Sharkzilla, this is probably not an issue. But if you are using your filmmaking skills to document the reality of social issues such as unjust imprisonment or the AIDS epidemic, you’d better put on your […]
(First published on blogcritics.org) This is not your grandfather’s soy sauce. The Soy Sauce in John Dies at the End is a street drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. These experiences are so out of body, that some users who come back are no longer human. Their bodies become the vehicles for an alien invasion […]