This isn’t the kind of item I normally post but there’s a personal connection that goes back several years. The genesis of the matter and course of events since then is more confusing than may be worth repeating, so I’ll just say that fake MySpaces have been ubiquitous since they began.
For celebrities this may or may not be a challenge depending on their level of interest in exposing posers and/or their fans’ misfortune in being taken in by them.
I just returned home from the historic city of New Orleans, Louisiana, where I attended the 2009 Vampire Film Festival. The Big Easy could not have been a more perfect location for the macabre events surrounding this extravaganza, which went off without a hitch and was a rousing success.
As usual, I photographed many of the exciting festivities surrounding the festival as well as some of the sights in this colorful city.
I’ve arrived in the historic city of New Orleans, Louisiana for the 2009 Vampire Film Festival. The Big Easy could not be a more perfect location for the macabre events surrounding this extravaganza, as you’ve hopefully been reading about on this blog for several months.
As is customary for all the film festivals I attend I’ll be live blogging as much as possible.
On Monday night, October 19th I attended a FranKo concert at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon. Sponsored by Big Machine Media, the record company showcase took place at the Santos Party House on Lafayette Street in New York City.
A household name in the UK, FranKo features Tommy Bastow on lead vocals, Richard Craker on guitar and vocals, Chris Gilbertson on bass and vocals, and Beau Poynys on drums.
I have seen the future of rock ‘n roll and their name is FranKo. I was fortunate to catch this hot UK band earlier tonight at the CMJ Big Machine Media showcase at Santos Party House in New York.
Much like SXSW in Austin, Texas, New York City’s CMJ began as a music festival. In fact, the film component is a relatively recent addition. The CMJ Music Festival was long known as the place for hot young artists to showcase their work. This remains the case today, as what is now technically known as the CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival begins for 2009.
Readers coming down to New Orleans next week for the Vampire Film Festival now have the opportunity to win tickets to a very special sneak preview of Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.
The highly-anticipated film is being released by Universal Pictures at 2500+ locations on October 23. Directed by Paul Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy), the family-friendly vampire picture is based on the popular series of novels by Darren Shan. In this movie, which covers the first trilogy of the 12-book series, a young boy (Chris Massoglia) meets a mysterious man (John C. Reilly) at the Cirque du Freak, a traveling show of mysticism and magic. It doesn’t take too long for the teen to discover that he’s at the portal of the vampire realm, and it’s not what he’d imagined.
People often ask me why I avoid watching trailers. Paranormal Activity is a perfect example. You see, its trailer was one of the very few I’ve watched recently. It did entice me to want to see the film — after all, that’s the idea — but now I don’t feel like I can write an honest review. But it was the trailer that was the problem, not the film.
Nothing ruins a movie for me more than spoiler-filled trailers. It’s one reason I only review films at festivals. Hype is another reason. Without having seen clips and having expectations raised by what I read and hear, I go in cold knowing nothing. In the case of Paranormal Activity, if I hadn’t seen the trailer at least those scares would have been shocking.
It isn’t often that actor Michael Welch, aka Mike Newton of Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, sits down for a lengthy interview. So it was a real coup when the folks at Twilight Lexicon did just that at the recent Creation Entertainment’s Official Twilight Tour in Chicago.
Being a human has its perks, as Mike has said in the past. Just ask Rob Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, and Xavier Samuel, among others, what playing a vampire or werewolf does to your life.
As I posted this past Thursday, the Still Green DVD finally hits store shelves tomorrow. The 2-disc set includes selections from Real Life Media’s upcoming documentary Making Still Green, commentary from director Jon Artigo, producer Doug Lloyd, and writer/producer Georgia Menides, along with music videos, photo galleries, and other goodies.
This afternoon I chatted with star Ryan Kelley about his moving performance in Still Green and some of the more memorable experiences he had in making the film. We also spoke about his career in movies and on television, including the powerful indie classic Mean Creek and his acclaimed starring role in the Emmy-nominated Prayers for Bobby.
It’s fast becoming THE story of 2009. Paranormal Activity took in $7.1 million this weekend at only 159 locations. That works out to a $44,400 average for a film that cost only $10,000 to make (some sources say $11-15K). Regardless of how you may feel about the film itself (for those who’ve seen it), there’s no denying its impact on Hollywood, especially on the indie world (which it is, despite the studio distribution).
The independently-produced movie debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival in January 2008 and was snapped up on the cheap in a deal with Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks. Steven Spielberg was involved right from the start, even “suggesting” a new ending — apparently three were shot.
Still Green is one of my Top Picks of the past few years. I attended and reported on the screenings at both the New Hampshire Film Festival as well as the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival and have been following the movie’s progress on this blog ever since.
More recently I attended the official theatrical premiere at Showcase Cinemas in Worcester, Massachusetts in May. My report from the event is posted here along with pictures of the premiere arrivals, Q&A, and afterparty.
One of the films I was truly looking forward to seeing at the just-concluded Toronto International Film Festival was Joe Dante’s The Hole, the first-ever 3D presentation there. But the screening I attended turned into an episode of “When good films go bad.”
First, the 3D projector died about five minutes into the movie. Programmer Colin Geddes assured us it would be fixed shortly, which it was. Then the fire alarm went off about 2/3 of the way through the film.
Just when you thought it was safe to come out after twilight, Vampire Fest is rising to take New Orleans by the neck. In addition to a juicy international slate of over 50 films from 11 countries in the Gothic, zombie, werewolf and ghost genre, the four day event will include panels, fabulous costume parties, fashion shows, and performance artists.
Among the countries with entries in the film festival are Japan, Spain, France, Italy, Norway, Austria, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Themes include vampire, supernatural, the bizarre, the grotesque, the mysterious, or the desolate.
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant is almost ready to hit the big screen. Formerly titled just Cirque du Freak, the film is being released by Universal Pictures at 2500+ locations on October 23. Directed by Paul Weitz (brother of Chris Weitz, director of The Twilight Saga: New Moon), the kid-friendly vampire picture is based on the popular series of novels by Darren Shan. I’ll let the reader draw the ironic coincidences between the movie’s title change, the director, and a set of films based on another popular series of novels.
In this first story of what we presume will be a successful franchise, a young boy named Darren Shan — fictionally autobiographical? — meets a mysterious man at the Cirque du Freak, a traveling show of mysticism and magic. Madness ensues — literally.
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