Second of a four-part series
On Saturday, in real tips for real people #1, I offered some advice on how to get to and around downtown Los Angeles, the new location of the LA Film Festival (LAFF).
Now it’s time to go to the movies. After all, that’s why we’re all here (I hope). Let’s walk through some tips in chronological order, beginning with the moment you enter the theater and sit down.
First of a four-part series
All film festivals are the same. All film festivals are different. Conflicted, you say? Well, no, not really. The general experience is the same — you just have to fill in the blanks. You arrive, get to the hotel, and plan your first day. You find the optimum route to the festival location, the best place to park (if you have a car), and the best way to get around from venue to venue.
You attend your first film, and learn the modus operandi for waiting in line, entering the theater, and finding the best seat to view both the Q&A as well as the film equally well (not always as easy as it sounds). This may vary from venue to venue, so with each successive film at each “new” venue the process is repeated.
Road Kill (formerly Road Train) was actor Xavier Samuel’s final motion picture prior to becoming a household name after being cast in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Shot in the spring of 2009 on his home turf in Adelaide, South Australia, the film is a supernatural thriller about a group of teenagers menaced by a driver-less triple-trailer truck in the Australian outback.
It was back in early November 2009 when I posted the official sales trailer for the movie as it was about to be exhibited by worldwide sales representative Lightning Entertainment at AFM in Los Angeles, the industry film market that runs concurrently with the public AFI Film Festival.
Due to a family emergency I will be unable to update the blog for a few days. I will try to stay on top of any breaking stories and continue with the brief news items I normally post on Twitter at twitter.com/larry411.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers — I hope to be back to posting regularly as soon as I can.
One advantage to seeing hundreds of films at film festivals is an awareness of the behind-the-scenes side of moviemaking. I always sit all the way through the end credits — not just because there’s usually a Q&A but also since that’s where you get to see where these films were shot. It’s often mentioned by the filmmakers afterward as well.
I’m amazed at the number of movies, many of which are among my Top Picks from various fests over the past few years, have been filmed in New York State’s Hudson Valley.
Regular readers of this column know Kevin Zegers and Trevor Morgan quite well. These two actors probably sit at #1 and #2 in the number of world premieres they’ve starred in which I’ve attended at festivals over the years.
Zegers holds a record with seven films at the Toronto International Film Festival from 2005-2009 –one in ’05 (Transamerica), three in ’07 (The Jane Austen Book Club, Normal, and The Stone Angel), two in ’08 (The Narrows and Fifty Dead Men Walking), and one in ’09 (Frozen). I attended all but two and have posted reviews along with Q&A pictures and videos on this blog.
Lost Dream is the auspicious debut feature from writer/director/editor Asif Ahmed, and readers of this blog have been able to follow the progress of this independent film ever since the talented Michael Welch (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse) and Shaun Sipos (Final Destination 2, Melrose Place) were cast as the leads. Viewers will also recognize Jeremy London (Party of Five, 7th Heaven), Patricia Richardson (Home Improvement, Strong Medicine), and the legendary Joseph Campanella.
Since the movie completed production, Welch has wowed audiences as the hapless human Mike Newton in both Twilight and The Twilight Saga: New Moon, two of the most successful motion pictures of all time, and next month will be seen in the third film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.
While I love to follow the ups and downs of independent film distributors and the moves through their boardrooms’ revolving doors, it is generally not something I write about on this blog. In most cases, industry insider news is somewhat esoteric and not that relevant to the regular discussions we have here.
But the news of Bob Berney’s sudden and awkward departure from Apparition has become a hot topic, particularly among fans of two of my Top 5 Picks from this year’s Sundance Film Festival: The Runaways and Welcome to the Rileys.
The first round of voting began in March for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. Those votes have now been tallied and the final list of nominees has been revealed. For this round of voting, fans have a much smaller list to contend with. The polls opened at 12 noon EST at the MTV Movie Awards site.
The most nominations went to The Hangover with six, followed by The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Avatar with five each.
Peter Parker? Percy Jackson? How about D’Artagnan? As if two competing remakes of The Three Musketeers weren’t enough, now comes word that Logan Lerman, the on-again off-again rumored top candidate for the new Spider-Man AND lead in the currently on-the-bubble Percy Jackson franchise, is about to take on the role of the iconic swashbuckler.
It was back in March 2009 when I first announced that Lerman would be taking over the lead role in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. Directed by Harry Potter’s Chris Columbus, the first film, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, opened three months ago and has now made over $220 million worldwide.
Television is generally not the purview of this column, but…Betty White on SNL! BETTY WHITE ON SNL! I mean, come on!
So…for those of you who may have missed it…or want to see it again…here is the ENTIRE episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Betty White, broadcast Saturday, May 8, 2010:
As I wrote several days ago after arriving home from the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival, I decided to forego my traditional post-festival wrapup and selection of Top Picks this year. The reasons are laid out fairly succinctly, I hope, in the article. However, I certainly don’t want the talented filmmakers and actors to suffer due to the overall problems of the festival by going unrecognized.
So while the quality and quantity of the lineup wasn’t quite up the level of previous years, I still leave New York City with some recommendations. There weren’t any movies that put me to sleep or drove me out of the theater. After all, as I mentioned earlier in the week, the sheer volume of submissions almost guarantees some level of competence.
The 2010 Tribeca Film Festival has come to an end and it’s time to take stock of the experience. As I do following every film festival (45 since the start of 2006), my plan was to return to Philly and wrap up my coverage by selecting my favorites. But I’m faced with a bit of a dilemma this year. Tribeca isn’t what it used to be, and that point was driven home this past week in New York.
Beginning with the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival last September, I began live Tweeting. Not only is it more immediate, obviously, than writing articles at the end of the day, but it also allows the reader to feel as though they’re right there beside me.
The annual Gen Art Film Festival in New York City has always been one of the most unique events in the industry, spotlighting a select 7 features and 7 shorts over 7 nights.
Each evening’s festivities conclude with an afterparty open to all who attend the screenings. The quality of the small lineup is always truly extraordinary, resulting in some of the most memorable experiences of my career.
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