NBFF Reviews: Geography Club And Paris Manhattan
Compared to my Tuesday night at the 2013 Newport Beach Film Festival, Wednesday was a much lighter affair. While The Hunt is still my favorite film that I have seen at the festival this year, both Geography Club and Paris Manhattan were much cheerier films that I can imagine would win over many audiences. While neither is necessarily great, I would say that there is much to enjoy in each and they served as a nice turnaround from some of the darker films that I have been watching at the festival. Geography Club is a light high school comedy-drama about a student facing a truth that will affect his social standing. Paris Manhattan is a French romantic comedy that would make a certain New York filmmaker proud. Considering the breeziness of both features, it was easy enough for me to let the charm of them have an effect.
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Tuesday night at the 2013 Newport Beach Film Festival was a bit of a dark one, as both films settled into dramatic territory, with one pulling this off way more effectively than the other. To put it bluntly, on this night I saw both my worst film of the festival so far and my best film of the festival so far. Rushlights was a silly crime thriller that amounted to nothing special, while The Hunt was a compelling drama that needed no more than characters and dialogue to keep it effective throughout. The night could be deemed bittersweet, in a way, as I only saw one good film, but the fact that The Hunt was the film I ended my night of screenings on is bittersweet in and of itself, as the movie was very good, but deals with intense subject matter that really had me riled up at points. Regardless, I at least have the chance to share my thoughts on these films and why one of them should be sought out.
Monday night at the 2013 Newport Beach Film Festival put me right back on schedule for viewing two films a night for the remainder of the week, possibly seeking a bit of solace (and food) at the wonderful after parties, and then stationing myself back at home, where I can deliver my thoughts on the various films I had a chance to view amongst audiences. On this night, I was able to see two movies and a short film. The films were Wasteland, which was preceded by the short film Fruit of Labor, and Gus. Each film was decidedly different from the other, but I would say I ended up having a good time overall, with Wasteland serving as the standout of the night.
Saturday at the 2013 Newport Beach Film Festival was a busy day. I specifically planned it that way, as I wanted my Sunday to be more relaxed. So I ended up seeing 4 different films, none of which were similar in any way. It was a full schedule and I have thoughts on three of them. I say three, because the first film of the day was a retrospective screening of the John Wayne western, The Searchers. This classic film was preceded by an interview with author Glenn Frankel who recently released “The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend”, essentially making it unnecessary for me to write anything about the film. Unfortunately (and this really upset me), the recording of this conversation has been lost on my part. Still, while many have written about The Searchers already (and it is a great film), I would rather spend my time sharing my thoughts on three new films that have been largely unseen by general audiences: Greetings from Tim Buckley, Isolated, and Welcome to the Jungle.
Following The Avengers, many were curious what the next thing for writer, director, and all-around geek icon Joss Whedon would be. Obviously taking on a modern day retelling of a famous Shakespeare play was the perfect project to take on. Okay, so maybe a Joss Whedon adaptation of the popular comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, was not the obvious choice, but that is what happened. Whedon called up many of his friends and shot this film in a couple weeks, using his own house as the set. At WonderCon, on Sunday, many fans of both Whedon and Shakespeare (presumably in equal ratios of course) showed up to the panel for this film and were treated to an expansive roster of panelists and some footage from the film that opens in theaters this June. Read on to learn more about what doth happened during this presentation.
Recently, we have seen films like 2012, Melancholia, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, and even Children of Men, to an extent, depict what it would be like to see the world come to an end. Just to round things out, I guess, we now have the version of that story in a movie that stars comic actors Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Michael Cera, and many more. WonderCon had a panel devoted to This Is The End, an apocalyptic comedy starring all of these guys as themselves, written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Read on to find out what went on at this hilarious panel. Now updated with new trailer.
Many of my friends know that I love The Evil Dead trilogy, the cult horror films from director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Oz The Great and Powerful) and star Bruce Campbell. I watch all three films (The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness) back-to-back-to-back every year in October, involving as many people as I can in the process. The idea of remaking The Evil Dead could seem like something that I would be entirely against, but I was willing to hear it out, as Raimi, Cambpell, and producer Rob Tapert were the ones that wanted to do it. Essentially, if it had their blessing, I would be down for a new take on “The ultimate experience in grueling terror” (original tag line for the first film). Fortunately, everything I have been seeing and hearing so far has me quite excited, which is why I was looking forward to this panel for the film, taking place a week before its theatrical release. Read on to learn more about what went down at this WonderCon panel.
Saturday was considered the most important day for WonderCon, at least as far as movie geeks were concerned, but the presentation for the new film from director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth), the giant robots versus giant monsters movie known as Pacific Rim, was easily one of the most anticipated events of the whole weekend. While the no one from the cast made an appearance, people familiar with Guillermo del Toro should know well enough that he does not need a whole lot of help from others to really have him deliver an entertaining panel, given his charismatic personality, wonderful Mexican accent, and his hilarious use of swear words when talking about his passions. Read on to learn more about what audiences were treated to as far as Pacific Rim is concerned, with its summer release date looming on the horizon.
A quick introduction, as this is my first WonderCon 2013 article, I will have been in attendance all weekend for WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California and hope to bring plenty of cool info regarding several upcoming films. First up is the new film from director James Wan (Saw, Insidious) called The Conjuring. This film is a supernatural horror movie based on a true story and James Wan came to Anaheim to present his thoughts on the film and show off some footage. He also brought with him the actual people whom this story is based on. Read on to learn more about this upcoming horror film, arriving in theaters this summer.
Looks like Dark Horse had a double dose of comic news to deliver, so here’s another WonderCon-related announcement. Matt Kindt’s MIND MGMT is apparently a much buzzed about comic series and with various movie-related announcements coming its way it should also be known that this series is now set to run 36 issues, with a new arc starting in July. For those unaware, MIND MGMT is the story is about Meru, a true crime writer who searches for the truth behind a mysterious airline flight and discovers a secret government agency of super spies, espionage, and psychic abilities. It also concerns Henry Lyme, the former top agent, who has gone rogue and is working to dismantle the organization. Read more to learn more about the new announcements regarding this series.
Dark Horse has announced a new comic miniseries that I could potentially check out. I wish I had the time to be deeper into comics than I currently am right now, but I do what I can. With that said, this new miniseries sounds pretty intriguing. A vampire buddy action comic, with inspiration coming from the likes of Lethal Weapon. That sounds like the kind of fun I could get behind, were I to have the time. Regardless, read on to learn more about Blood Brothers, a new comic miniseries that has a presence at WonderCon 2013, even though the full issues will not start hitting until this July.
Last week I had the luxury of being able to attend a few days of the Star Wars Celebration VI convention in Orlando, Florida. There were some incredible moments such as seeing George Lucas in person, meeting the great Ian McDiarmid, but then there was also one very informative discussion panel titled “Why We Love the Prequels.” What I thought was going to be a series of video clips from Episodes I, II and III in that panel turned out to be so much more. I was initially just going to share this with my fellow WSB writers via email, but then thought, hey, it’s Star Wars. Why save it for just us?
