Junebug July 1st

Sundance Institute Film Series: free independent film screenings every month.
Meet filmmakers and discuss their films after the showings.

From the 2005 Sundance Film Festival is a film called Junebug. It features Amy Adams before she was a big name in Hollywood.

Wed., July 1st
Park City Library, 7pm

Live "Radio"

Remember the days when families used to sit around their radios instead of their tvs? Neither do I, but I have seen A Christmas Story an innumerable amount of times so sometimes I think I do. Thursday evening I attended the opening night of American Radio Cafe in Provo to get a feel for those "good ol' days".

If you've seen the movie, Prairie Home Companion, you've got a good idea of what this was like. The old-timey skits were light and fun. And they did live commercials for their sponsors, Comcast and Seven Peaks, which was really different and totally great. This is a lost form of entertainment and it was nice to see it revived. I only wish it had actually aired live to a radio station.

The show was emceed by Daniel Beck, a handsome actor/singer with an incredible voice, fantastic facial expressions, and a suave demeanor. He was joined by three other talented actors; Cathleen Mason, Alex DeBirk, and Melinda Lockwood DeBirk. They performed with the American Radio Cafe band, who also played songs on their own. The other musical guest, Jarett Burns, performed catchy music with a soulful voice. It is no surprise that he made it to the Hollywood round on American Idol's eighth season and was featured as an up and coming artist on the Cafe.

My favorite part of the production was watching a 1941 episode of a Superman cartoon on a big screen while the actors performed its original dialogue. A 22-piece orchestra performed its score while two men provided sound effects. I was enraptured. Overall, it was a refreshingly unique way to spend an evening.

Kirby Heyborne, Utah's most popular local actor and also a gifted musician, takes over as host for next week's shows. It would be interesting to compare and contrast how the performers interact with two different frontliners and also to see if they adjust the show any after gauging this week's audiences. Talk of shows at East Bay Studios are in the works and another run at Covey Center in the fall is planned. Can't make it to one of the live performances? Daniel and Kirby's performances with American Radio Cafe will soon be available for purchase on DVD and a 30 minute "highlights" version should soon be airing on local cable stations.

Recent Movies

Writing about film for film people is intimidating, but because I have written nothing this week I feel I owe you all at least a short post.
I haven't seen a movie in the theaters in several weeks. I mentioned on here how much I liked the Star Trek movie. I'd give it an A if I were grading it. The only other recent film I've seen was X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And although I give the original X-Men film an A, this most recent incarnation of the series deserves a mere C+.
I'm ready to see some new stuff. Year One looked like it could be funny but one of my favorite critics, James Berardinelli, gave it a D+ and described it as "inexplicably unfunny" and the other critics I like ranked it no higher than a B-. So it looks like I'll pass on spending money on that one.
No critic reviews on Yahoo Movies yet for The Proposal. I'm not a huge Sandra Bullock fan and I am wary of the whole romantic comedy genre, but this one looks completely amusing. I'll let you know if I manage to see anything this week. Be sure to leave your suggestions in the comments section. But don't bother trying to convince me to see The Hangover.

48 Hour Project Follow Up

May 15th a group of 48 filmmaking teams, three judges, and one producer gathered to kick-off Salt Lake's 3rd annual 48 hour filmmaking project. Teams were divided into four groups of 12. Each team in a group drew one of 14 genres out of a hat. After that, each team was given the following elements to use in their film:

Character: Dan or Danielle Bridges, Roommate
Prop: a certificate
Line of Dialogue: "Whoa, I didn't see that coming.”


And they were off! 48 hours later 33 films ranging from 4-7 minutes in duration were presented to judges. The late films still made it for screenings and had the opportunity to be voted "audience favorites". Screenings took place a few days after wrapping production at Jordan Commons' Megaplex 17. The theater seats 325 and tickets were sold for nearly every seat.


More details including award winners can be found at:
http://www.48hourfilm.com/saltlakecity/
You can also watch the films online there.


Top filmmakers will present their film at the 48 Hour Film Project's Filmapalooza, which will coincide with the NAB annual session next year in Las Vegas. These winning teams will also be invited to participate in the making of a documentary and some will be included in other film festivals.

I was sad to miss all the festivities while I was out of town this year. Next year I will be certain to join a team and participate in the madness and excitement of it all. Hope to see some of you there!

U of U Alumnus

I found a great article today at Filmmaker Magazine about a filmmaker named Lee Issac Chung who graduated from the U's MFA film program in 2004. He is currently working on a feature called Lucky Life. You can read the article here.