Next Week's Outdoor S.I. Screenings

Outdoor Screening: Riding Giants
Directed by Stacy Peralta
2004 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection

Mon | August 3, 2009 | 8:30 PM or dusk
Gallivan Center
239 South Main
Salt Lake City

Concessions provided by Red Rock Brewery

Riding Giants, Stacy Peralta's surfing sequel to his Sundance debut and award winner, Dogtown and Z-Boys, is a multi-generational insider's look at the origins of surfing, the colorful and subversive birth of surf culture, and the mythology and lure of the "big wave." This passionately fluid film is the first authentic history of surfing from its humble Hawaiian beginnings to the big business it became to the still-rebellious waves it breaks today.


Interested in volunteering at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival? A Festival representative will be on site with volunteer information for you!


Songcatcher
Wed | August 5, 2009 | 8:30 PM or dusk
City Park
1354 Park Ave.
Park City

Concessions provided by Red Rock Brewery and Coach's Grill

The year is 1907 when musicologist Doctor Lily Penleric journeys to the Appalachian mountains to visit her sister. She soon discovers the emotional folk songs of Scotland and Ireland that have been preserved and passed down through generations of this secluded community. Determined to document this history, she immerses herself in mountain life, falls in love with a local musician, and is profoundly changed by the unsung world of the mountain people.

MountainFilm Festival Zero Emissions Tour

Tomorrow evening in Park City there will be a FREE screening of 90 minutes of films (PG ratings) from the Telluride-based festival. An M.C. will arrive via bicycle to introduce the films and lead the conversation. This in an incredibly unique event and a chance to support meaningful, socially-engaging films.

Sat., July 18, 2009
8:00 pm
Park City Library - Jim Santy Auditorium

MountainFilm festival bills itself as the country's leading independent documentary film festival. The Zero Emissions Tour is bringing the 2009 films to Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado on the backs of bicyclists. The Park City Film Series is hosting the event.

After the Oscar

Utah resident, Geralyn White Dreyfous, is perhaps best known as the Executive Producer of 2004's Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, Born Into Brothels. She continues her work as an Executive Producer and also works as Executive/Artistic Director (not to mention Founder) of the Salt Lake City Film Center. Dreyfous is also the co-founder and Director of Impact Partners, an organization that brings together investors and filmmakers to create films addressing pressing social issues. To say the least, she is an incredibly busy lady who is highly involved in her community and the local film industry.
After attending last night's celebrity and press premier of the documentary, The Cove, hosted by Ben Stiller and Bobby Kennedy, in New York City, Dreyfous took an early morning flight back to Salt Lake. She squeezed in a scheduled (and rescheduled) phone interview with me today between speaking at a luncheon and her other responsibilities. Dreyfous not only has her fingers on the pulse of Utah's independent film scene, she's creating it.
With the SLC Film Center, Dreyfous provides free community screenings and discussions of independent films, documentaries, and dramas emphasising social content and artistic excellent. They bring filmmakers and the general public together to create a dialogue about issues and the craft of film making. The Film Center takes the momentum of January's Sundance mindset and keeps it running in Utah throughout the entire year.
Their upcoming film series include themes such as: Stranger than Fiction (bizarre documentaries), Constitutional Issues (hopefully featuring Article VI), Local Filmmakers (yeah!), and a series for children/families. Each series usually features four films which are shown once a month for four months or once a week for a month. July 31st the center begins their Made in Utah series. Five films filmed in Utah shown at Pioneer Park following a Made in Utah food and craft fair supporting local entrepreneurs.
Of her many current projects, Dreyfous seemed most excited (or maybe I was most interested) about a film called Connected. It delves into the interconnectedness of everything from botox to bees. It is currently in post-production and will hopefully be finished in time to be submitted for Sundance consideration. Impact Partners have at least four other films readying for Sundance submission deadlines.
Just because this woman's got an Academy Award under her belt certainly doesn't mean she's now sitting idle. Geralyn Dreyfous is an activist. Thanks to my introduction to the SLC Film Center, I've now got a few more film events on my calendar. And thanks to my conversation with Ms. Dreyfous, I've got a few more movies on my "to-see" list. A final thanks to the Film Center's library that will be providing me with dvds of these yet undiscovered film gems, that you, my dear readers, will be seeing reviews of in the near future:)

The Proposal

A Romantic Comedy?
Comedy, certainly.
Romantic, not so much.

Is it going to win any awards?
No.

Did I enjoy it?
Immensely. I was totally in the mood for a light comedy.

Predictable and Cheesy?
Yes.

Any stand-out moments?
I'm a big fan of singing scenes in movies generally, so I'll just leave it at that and give nothing away.

A total chick flick?
Not totally.

Best Acting?
I'm not a huge fan of anyone who was in it but Ryan Reynolds is certainly growing on me and Sandra Bullock just gets better with age. I hadn't seen Craig T. Nelson in anything in a long while and he was actually quite good. Oscar Nuñez, from The Office played a quite funny character part, who was totally the opposite of his Oscar character on the television series.

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.