Scanning down the list of Newport Beach Film Festival winners, including those who received their awards Saturday from the Weekly's own Entertainment Sales Manager-With-the-Mostest Kristine Brooks, the overstuffed/undercooked OCW Film Dept. couldn't help but notice how many films they nailed this year (for a change). Among the flicks we'd pre-recommended (and their corresponding NBFF awards) were: FUCK: A Fuckumentary (Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking Documentary); The Tsunami Diaries (Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking Humanitarian Vision); Neo Ned (Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking Feature Film); Self Medicated writer/director/producer/editor/lead actor/gaffer Monty Lapica (Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking First Time Filmmaker); and Chasing the Horizon (MySpace Documentary).
The Weekly's R. Scott Moxley also gave an approving nod to Journey From the Fall (Vuot Song) in his interview with that film's director, Ham Tran. The film's star, Long Nguyen, picked up the NBFF's Best Actor Feature Film award.
Of course, if we're gonna trumpet what we got right, we must in the interest of full disclosure admit to where our views clashed mightily with festival voters. We singled out ESL: English as a Second Language as Newport's worst. Those who bestowed it Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking Feature Film obviously disagreed.
Hell, one of out six ain't bad. If only the Weekly did as well with its political endorsements.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.