So, here we are 22 days into a new year and so much has happened. We've lost Lemmy, Bowie and so many others. Cancer seems to be on the come back folks, so watch yourselves.
I started my winter right by going to a warmer climate. For a few days, I went to California and visited the folks and watched a bunch of movies. I didn't see a bad one the whole time I was out there but a few that you should keep an eye out for are-
Anomalisa- Directed by Charlie Kaufman, based on a radio play that he wrote for a competition. He came out and did a q&a with the co-director and producer.
A Heavy Heart (a.k.a. Herbert)-A German drama. Writer/Director Thomas Stuber was there for a q&a, very cool guy.
The Revenant-Yeah, that movie. It was a sneak preview and Producer Mary Parent did a q&a after the film. She has a lot of cool stories.
Schneider vs. Bax- An action comedy from the Netherlands.If you get the chance, check it out.
Spy Time (a.k.a. Anacleto: Agente Secreto)-A Spanish spy comedy. It's pretty good, but I'm a little biased towards spy films, more on that later.
One of the bigger highlights of the festival for me was actually in a movie that had been out for a while and I'd written off until Redbox. Every year, they have this series called Talking Pictures where they show a movie (sometimes it's one that's been out for a while, other times it's about to come out, just depends). I tried getting into this a couple of years ago when they had Javier Bardem talking about one of his films. I stood in the stand by line for an hour with nothing to show for it but flat feet. Most of the time you can anticipate the guest because the festival will have a big awards ceremony either the day before or after so if you're paying attention, it's not difficult. I sort of suspected that Matt Damon might be there but since he wasn't receiving an award, I wasn't willing to bet on anything. I was just happy to finally get a ticket to this thing after being turned away so many times. Bring out a producer or even a film historian from NASA, it's all good.
A big advantage to knowing people in the same city as a big film festival is that you get to borrow their car so you're not at the mercy of public transportation. I happened to be borrowing my moms convertible, the only way to travel in California! I had a movie right before The Martian screening and another one shortly after it. Public transportation would have screwed me so big shout out to mom!
I made it out of the first movie (Schneider vs. Bax) and down the street to the next theater in time to park and find the line just as it started moving. Found a seat, got comfortable and then they made an announcement. It appeared that today's guest, Matt Damon, was running late because of foul weather from his departure point, but they expected him to arrive by the time the movie was over. Okay, cool, Matt Damon is going to show up. I felt like one of the last people in America who hadn't seen the movie by this point but after two and a half hours, that changed. I really enjoyed it, more than I thought I would. After the credits rolled, the woman in charge of the screening comes back out and announces that Matt Damon's plane still hasn't landed but it should in the next 20 minutes. If we were willing to be patient, Matt Damon and Ridley Scott would be there to discuss the movie. This was too good to be true! Ridley Scott was going to be here?! I'll not only wait, I'll volunteer to pick them up from the airport! I have a car, it's a convertible and it's mostly highway from the theater to the airport. I could discuss films with Ridley Scott and audition for Bourne 5 at the same time, win-win, right? Unfortunately, they already had people in place for this contingency so I missed out on that opportunity but they were willing to refund my ticket for my next movie which started in about 15 minutes at a different theater.
They did finally show up and it was interesting to hear what they had to say about the making of the movie. Eventually, they had to go and as an interesting trifecta, although I can't swear to it since I didn't get that close of a look at him, but I think their security was being handled by Cliff Stewart. For the non-security geeks out there, this guy has been called the bodyguard to the stars, total bad ass in the private security world.
That was the first half of the month, in more recent current events, I'm about to start casting my own movie. It's a spy thriller called Order 86. We've been working on this since September of last year and it's been a real uphill climb but the pieces are finally starting to fall into place and if we can make it over the last of the hurdles then we'll start filming at the end of February. Feel free to visit the website www.order86movie.com as often as you like. We have a team of editors that are constantly updating material, all in the name of your entertainment. There's also a link there that if any of you feel like making a donation to the cause (subtle hint, art's not cheap), you can do so.
If you'd like to audition or sign up for a crew position, send an email to info@order86movie.com and let us know your preference.
That's about all I have to report for now. Work is still work and when I'm not there, my life seems to be filled with spy films. Thanks for reading and tune in next time when I'll have an update on casting as well as my opinion on that big awards ceremony coming up in February.
