Last Updated: March 7, 2007 |
Staff Writer
ReviewFest first saw Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s film Half Nelson at last June’s Los Angeles Film Festival. Half Nelson, starring Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps, has since met much critical acclaim, including a Best Picture nomination for Film Independent's Spirit Awards, an Academy Award nomination for Gosling, and Spirit Award wins for both Gosling and Epps.
In Half Nelson, Gosling plays middle school history teacher and basketball coach, Dan Dunne. Dunne aims to inspire his 13-year-old students with his edgy approach to the standard teaching curriculum, but he is hiding an even edgier personal secret. Dunne is an out-of-control drug addict outside the classroom, and his secret becomes known when his student Drey (Epps) finds him getting high in a bathroom stall one day after school. Dunne and Drey form an unexpected friendship, Drey trying to help Dunne kick his drug addiction and Dunne working to ensure that Drey does not become a casualty of the street like her older brother.
The Associate Press gave Half Nelson 3 of 4 stars, stating that Fleck and Boden’s film “presents the material with a bracing realism that keeps [Half Nelson] raw.” (courtesy of AP, 8/9/06) Fleck and Boden first penned the idea for Half Nelson into a short which debuted at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival under the title Gowanus, Brookyln. Epps starred in the short film as well. The new title for the feature was based on a wrestling term that Fleck interprets as “just on the edge of being totally and irrescapably stuck.” (courtesy of MSNBC.com, 8/10/06).
Although the film’s star, Ryan Gosling, made his acting debut in the early 1990’s as one of the new Mickey Mouse Club members, MSNBC.com considers Half Nelson Gosling’s breakthrough role. The actor, who has won much acclaim for taking risky roles in independent films, earned the most notoriety from starring in the 2004 romance The Notebook. Many independent film enthusiasts felt that Gosling “sold out” by appearing in The Notebook and are praising him for following up that role with Half Nelson, a thoughtfully made low-budget story that many are considering his best work to date and most well-written role.
If you haven’t had the chance to see Half Nelson in theaters yet, select cities are still playing the film on the big screen. The 104 minute drama was released on DVD by THINKFilm on February 13, 2007.
BACK TO TOP
Staff Writer
"The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell: The History of New America Part 1" premiered at the Majestic Crest Theatre as part of the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival. At the movie’s second festival screening on Saturday, July 1st, the film’s creator, Kevin Wheatley, was joined on the Crest’s red carpet by many of his fellow castmates and filmmakers, including well-known celebrities such as Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Wedding Crashers) and Richard Riehle (Office Space, Grounded For Life). On this evening, however, Wheatley was the star.
Two years ago, Kevin Wheatley began his journey into the Threshold of Hell. He had just been given the opportunity that most Hollywood actors dream of - to star as a series regular in a TV sitcom pilot. While his was an incredible chance for most, Wheatley began to think that he had more to contribute to the world of entertainment than simply acting. The beginning ideas for Threshold were born in his dressing room on the Warner Bros. Studio backlot, and as soon as the pilot wrapped, he began writing the screenplay.
Within 4 months, not only had Wheatley put together an epic story with over a dozen main characters, but he started a production company (Jump the Moon Productions) and began putting together a cast and a crew of over 40 people to begin shooting the film in Pensacola, Florida, with a starting budget of $15,000. Wheatley was even able to get A-list celebrities involved with the project because of their interest in the script’s originality and Wheatley’s well-developed characters. Jane Seymour, who plays the president of Old America in the film, became interested after her daughter, Katie Flynn, joined the crew as the line producer. Before long, Wheatley and his cast and crew had survived 5 weeks of filming, and the editing of over 90 hours of footage began.
The first trek of Threshold has been completed just 2 years since Wheatley first began dreaming about the film. Test audiences are becoming enchanted with the comedy’s dark humor and colorful characters. "It’s an entertaining ride through a post-nuclear landscape,’ one viewer described.
The film is a post-apocalyptic tale of existence as Americans know it. New America is what is left of the country at the end of the 21st Century. The movie’s main character, Tex Kennedy, is played by Wheatley himself. Kennedy is a descendant of American political royalty who leaves his underground bunker where he has been quarantined since the nuclear holocaust and obliteration of Old America. His quest is to find and put into power the prophesied king of the new civilization. Wheatley’s story has a vague comparison to the history of the forefathers of the United States, except in New America, the founding fathers are robots, cannibals, and a sadistic beach-going cult. In the first part of this soon-to-be trilogy, Tex and his compatriots set out on an exciting saga made even more intense by the filmmakers’ use of sound, special effects, animation and on-screen graphics.
Filmgoers to this festival screening enjoyed the movie’s creativity and humor, and recognized the first-time filmmaking efforts of Wheatley. "The creator of this trilogy should be lauded for [his] decision to employ numerous ambitious techniques to produce a successful, dark, funny, apocalyptic tale," said Optiville from Los Angeles (courtesy of www.imdb.com).
For more information on this movie and the upcoming sequels, please visit www.thresholdofhell.com or check back with us at www.ReviewFest.biz for updates.
BACK TO TOP
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR debuted to a packed house at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival on Saturday, June 24. This eye-opening 90-minute documentary is highly recommended by ReviewFest and should be seen by all.
This film tells the history of the electric car and how it came to be, or not to be in this case. The film shows the highs and lows of electric car enthusiasts who try to fight General Motors (GM) from destroying the 21st Century's first mass-produced electric car, the EV1. Unfortunately in the end, it is Auto-Makers, 1, Electric Car Enthusiasts, 0.
Throughout the screening, the crowd booed and hissed at the people who were against the electric car in the film. Many attendees said they enjoyed learning about the "behind the scenes" of the auto industry and how they were against the creation of the electric car. One audience member said she was shocked to learn that electric cars were around in the early part of the 1900's, and like BETA vs. VHS tapes, the
consumer product that won the seller's market was the lesser of the two items. Another audience member said that with gas prices as high as they are now, this movie is bound to get a lot of attention and enrage the American public.
After the screening of the film, the audience members were treated to a "Green Day Fair" that was set up in the parking lot adjacent to the theater. There was a shell of the EV1 car on display as well as another "homemade" electric car that was highlighted in the movie.
Many other electric cars and electric car conversions were on display for people to see and learn about. The event also featured "green" vendors and informational booths from environmental organizations such as The Environmental Media Association, Energy CS, Plug-In-America, Left Coast Conversions, Whole Foods, 4 Hemp Clothing Company, and various city-wide recycling programs, to name a few.
For more information about the Electric Car, visit www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com
BACK TO TOP
Driftwood , the bone-chilling, supernatural teen thriller, made its world premiere at Screamfest LA 2006 on Friday, October 20th. Held at Mann's Chinese 6 Theater in Hollywood , Screamfest featured some of film's scariest new pictures. Many of the Driftwood cast and crew members were in attendance for this exciting evening, including writer/director Tim Sullivan.
Though Sullivan is best known for his work on traditionally gory horror flicks such as 2001 Maniacs and Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror , he approached a different realm of the horror genre with his latest project.
Driftwood is a psychological drama that was inspired by a story close to Sullivan's own heart. "Sadly, Driftwood truly is a product of my own reality" Sullivan said. The idea for the movie came to Sullivan after an experience in where a kid he had worked with in a youth group setting was sent to an "attitude adjustment camp for troubled youth" by his parents in an attempt to prevent him from becoming the next Dylan Klebold. When the young man was released from the facility at age 18, he shared the horrors of his experience with Sullivan. "Luckily this kid was strong-willed and the place didn't break him...but places like this have broken many young souls, and I became determined to this kid and those kids like him who have [had] their individuality stifled by others who think they know better." ( quotes courtesy of Elaine Lamkin)
The plot of Driftwood revolves around 16-year-old David Foster, portrayed by Ricky Ullman of Disney's Phil of the Future . Having fallen into a deep depression after the death of his older brother, David's frightened parents send him to the attitude adjustment camp Driftwood : Where Boys Become Men. Once enrolled in the camp, led by the unfeeling Captain Kennedy (former pro-wrestler Dallas Diamond Page) and his sidekick Yates (Talan Torriero of MTV's Laguna Beach ), David begins to learn the evil truth about the camp's history. Haunted by the ghost of Jonathan (Connor Ross), a former inmate whose fate has been mislead to the other kids at the camp, David becomes determined to uncover the truth of what really happened.
The acting in this movie is quite impressive, especially considering the majority of the lead roles are played by actors under the age of 20. The heartbreaking tragedy of the lost souls of Driftwood was truly brought to life by the performances of Ullman and Ross. In addition, Vincent Guastini's special effects, the creation of the eerie visuals of Jonathan the Ghost, made this thriller even more captivating. The inspiration for the ghost came from the demon face in the dream sequences of the horror classic The Exorcist , which was edited by the same editor that worked on Driftwood, Bud Smith.
Although Ricky Ullman was not on hard for the world premiere, the majority of the cast attended the screening, which played to a packed house. Even Texas Chainsaw Massacre creator Tobe Hooper was in attendance. After the screening, Tim Sullivan and the cast members participated with the audience in a Q&A session. Sullivan explained that his goal of this film was to express his driving philosophy that no one should be forced to be what they are not (as he also expressed in the KISS cult-classic Detroit Rock City ), and when this occurs, true horror takes form. " Detroit Rock City was truly from my heart, and Driftwood is from my soul," Sullivan said.
"This is definitely a disturbing film, but I don't know if I'd call it scary," said Lyn Shaye, who is a veteran of the horror genre and portrays David's mother in Driftwood. (quote courtesy of Johnny Butane) So perhaps you shouldn't be anticipating the normal blood and guts that is usually characteristic of most films showing at Screamfest. "It's more of a 'teen spook story'," said Sullivan. But definitely expect to be on the edge of your seat when Driftwood comes soon to a big screen near you. For more information on this movie, check out www.myspace.com/driftwoodthemovie.