American Film Institute

Local Films Get Their Due at NBFF

Works by Cherie Kerr, Joseph Armario, Doug Penikas, among others, make appearances alongside Jon Carnoy and Michael Horelick's skateboard doc

Team Kerouac

Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund chat about the film version of 'On the Road'

Sean Baker's Puppets and Starlets

The LA Film Fest winner's latest film goes inside the porn biz

The Alarm's Great Rock & Roll Swindle Reaches Silver Screen via Wales and Costa Mesa

While attending Estancia High School in Costa Mesa during the 1980s, Jim Cooper loved the punk-influenced North Wales band the Alarm, which broke up in 1991.Reading the Los Angeles Times in 2004, Cooper discovered Alarm frontman Mike Peters pulled a hoax on the record industry. An idea for a movie w ... More >>

As Newport Beach Film Festival Goes to the Mat for Volunteers, Fighter Flick With Good Buzz Coming

​The Newport Beach Film Festival, which runs April 28 to May 5, is again seeking "enthusiastic film lovers to volunteer." Warm bodies are needed for guest relations, merchandise sales, theater ushering, office reception, and gala and special-events staffing for the 12th annual event.Three- to fo ... More >>

'Spooner' Is Love Crazy

Recently crowned Sundance king Drake Doremus' early promise is evident in his directorial debut

[UPDATED] Like Crazy, Latest Film From OC-Bred Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones, Is First Sundance Sale

​UPDATE, JAN. 23, 2:51 P.M.: The reaction to Like Crazy getting picked up from Ben York Jones:"I'm completely overwhelmed. I don't think anyone here with the film has gotten more than an hour or two of sleep in the past 36 hours. Those negotiating were up all night doing so, and the rest of us w ... More >>

The Yankles, Summer Wars and Monopoly Documentary Among AIFF Audience Favorites

​Just because some filmmakers were not honored at the gala awards ceremony Saturday night inside a Grand Californian Hotel ballroom, it does not mean the Anaheim International Film Festival was done dishing out trophies.Due to "technical difficulties," a list of audience favorites did not reach th ... More >>

Anaheim International Film Festival Previews With Temecula Wines, Short Films on a Loop and Super Sexy Manny Medrano

​A "historic moment" happened last night on the third level of the GardenWalk outdoor shopping mall (just follow the Disney Tower of Terror shadow)--historic not just for Anaheim but California and the whole world as we know it, according to Sinan Kanatsiz.www.facebook.com/anaheimfilmAIFF co-found ... More >>

Drake Doremus' 'Douchebag' at Sundance

OC stage prodigy-turned-filmmaker Drake Doremus brings his 'very personal' movie to Park City, Utah

UCI Fall Film Program Hosts Pedro Costa, Tsai Ming-Liang, Stanley Kubrick, Yes Men, Kirby Dick and Closeted Gay Politicians

Kirby Dick is coming to Irvine to screen "Outrage," his documentary on closeted gay politicians.​UC Irvine's Film and Video Center was late in releasing details of its fall program because the FVC's tiny and tireless staff was unsure whether there would even be a program. (Thank you, UC system acr ... More >>

Laguna Film Society Gets Local

For years, the Laguna Beach Film Society (LBFS) has presented foreign films and American independent features and documentaries to its members and non-members who attend screenings at South Coast Cinema or the Festival of Arts grounds. Keiko Beatie, formerly of the Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) ... More >>

When Benicio del Toro Got Mad at Gustavo

Photo by my chicaI originally wasn't going to post about this because it has no relevance to Orange County, but my jefe insists: I had a run-in with actor Benicio del Toro at last week's American Film Institute tribute to Michael Douglas. The context of why I was on the red carpet in the first place ... More >>

Spooner is Hidden Gem at Newport Beach Film Fest

Herman (Matthew Lillard) and Rose (Nora Zehetner) get a jump on their relationship in "Spooner."This post is based on one of life's happy accidents. Folks at the Newport Beach Film Festival, which runs through Thursday, asked weeks ago if I wanted to write about a film called Spooner, which was dire ... More >>

To Do Tonight - 2/16

Arlene and the Guys Big Band, 8 p.m.Jazz music on a Monday. What could be more classy?Steamers Jazz Club, 138 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, CA; 714-871-8800 iPod Madness, 9 p.m.Bring your own iPod and play DJ for the crowd.Taco Beach Cantina, 211 Pine Ave., Long Beach, CA; 562- ... More >>

Nobody's Perfect

Some Like It Hot

[Special Screenings] Local Showings of Oscar-Nominated Short Films, More

The Devil May Care

William Friedkin on Bug, Cruising and nights at the opera

Sympathy for the Monster?

Patty Jenkins places myth in the service of truth