UPDATED WITH EYEWITNESS REPORT ON DJ MOM PANTS!Johnny Cash, the revenge-minded father of a dead teen porn star, Bijou Phillips, Julius Shulman, Kelly Lynch, "Kevin" from The Office, Vilmos Zsigmond and a sour-faced Kristen Scott Thomas. No, these are not my ideal players in the perfect poker game but just some figures who have rocked my world so far at the Newport Beach Film Festival, which has reached the halfway point and continues through Thursday. Friday began with a bout of deja vu all over
UPDATED WITH THE EMOTIONAL LA MILAGROSA Q&A!
The final Newport Beach Film Festival entries viewed by yours truly on closing day Thursday were solid efforts. Denied access to former San Clemente resident Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom Tuesday night, Clockwork joined a decent-sized crowd the following noon for a rollicking good time. Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo played the title characters, con artists since they were boys who by their mid-30s were at the top of their game. St
The "French Spotlight" film Seraphine, which is from France and Belgium, was the big jury-award winner at the just-concluded 10th anniversary Newport Beach Film Festival. The film nearly swept the jury's feature-film categories, winning best film, actor (Ulrich Tukur), actress (Yolande Moreau), director (Martin Provost) and screenplay (Laurent Brunet). The only other jury award for a feature went to the Korean film Modern Boy for best cinematography.In Seraphine (pictured), Moreau plays the titu
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 directed by former Santa Ana resident Drake Doremus and stars former Tustin resident Matthew Lillard in the title role. Sure, I answered, just send me a screener copy of the film so I'll know what to ask
Photos by Justin ViegaDrake Doremus works the crowd.A crowd estimated at 100-125 filmgoers, filmmakers and film presenters took over one side of Mesa restaurant in Costa Mesa Tuesday night for "An Evening With the Directors," a benefit that precedes the 10th annual Newport Beach Film Festival opening Thursday and continuing through April 30.Guests paid $60 each, with proceeds going to NBFF and Irvine Barclay Theatre's young professionals' booster group NEXT@theBarclay, to hear indie directors Sa
The First Ten, which chronicles the first decade of the Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF), airs at noon Sunday on KOCE/Channel 50. The video was created free of charge by the nonprofit Media Alliance of Orange County, whose member (and The First Ten producer) Jack Gallagher put out a call in February for festival footage and volunteers to help with shooting, editing and post production.The alliance held an invitation-only screening of The First Ten in Orange Coast College's Forum Theatre o
Herman (Matthew Lillard) and Rose (Nora Zehetner) jump into their relationship.Spooner, the romantic comedy that was directed by former Santa Ana resident Drake Doremus and stars former Tustin resident Matthew Lillard in the title role (and which won a rave here as well as an Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking Award at April's Newport Beach Film Festival), keeps getting accolades ladled on top of it. The latest comes from the 2009 Rainier Independent Film Festival in Washington state, where S
