2008 San Diego Film Festival Coverage: Part One

I always make a concerted effort each year to attend the San Diego Film Festival, mainly because it feels like my duty as a San Diego native to foster the "growing" program. And yet, each year I attend, I can't help but feel like the selection is getting more and more intolerable. Rarely do programmers book foreign films or experimental features. It seems as though SDFF is stuck in commercial-territory, although I don't know why given the fact that it seems less commercially successful with each passing festival. My first day at the event this year was Friday--I had to skip out on Thursday given my now out-of-town academic obligations--and not a single showing I attended was even close to being sold out.

All that said, I really don't mean to bash the folks who run SDFF. They're hard-working, always nice, and this year even graciously provided me with a free pass to catch screenings. But it's depressing that hardly any film on this year's line-up will see a theatrical release; most of the selections will be doomed to see straight-to-cable fates. (Even some good movies I've seen at the festival in years past--the Jeremy Renner/Gabrielle Union vehicle Neo Ned comes instantly to mind--have suffered this exact pattern.) In fact, 2008 marks the first year I've skipped a day I could have attended the festival--Saturday--due to complete apathy for the choices. To my credit, I did use the day to catch the festival's Thursday-night opener, The Lucky Ones, in a regular theatre, and liked it very much. So kudos to programmers for scoring that one.

Today is Sunday, and the three movies that I'm about to see look to be the best offerings at the festival: The Brothers Bloom, Remarkable Power, and Morning Light. Two of them already have releases slated--one with an Oscar campaign--and the other has good buzz. Yes, I've whittled down my choices this year to the bare essentials, but can you blame me? Perhaps I'll actually leave SDFF this year with a 50% recommendation-rate as a result. Watching Friday's mediocre crop, all I could think about was how much better this year's AFI Fest would be. Here's what I caught:

Lost in the Fog is a nice little documentary by first-time director John Corey about a special racehorse, but being "nice" isn't enough to make the movie worth seeing in this case. I was interested in the movie's portayal of the horse's San Francisco-based owner, Harry Aleo, for the first thirty minutes, but once Corey turned the focus almost solely on the titular horse, the doc got old quick. Yes, I can respect the fact that Lost in the Fog may have indeed been a one-of-a-kind competitor, but what's stirring about this story on a human-level? Not much, and hence the film fails to win over those of us who aren't horse-racing enthusiasts. The picture isn't unpleasant, but it's mediocre in the sense that it doesn't reach for anything nearly as special in the cinematic-world as that which its subject did in the equestrian-realm.

Just as Lost in the Fog won't interest anyone who isn't a horse-racing fan, The Wrecking Crew probably won't grab the attention of non-music-diehards. The doc is directed by Danny Tedesco, son of Tommy Tedesco. "Who?" you might ask. Yeah, Danny thought you might say that. Tommy was the guitarist for "The Wrecking Crew", a group of studi0-musicians who did the instrumentals on countless studio albums in the late '50s and early '60s. The bunch turned in tracks for The Monkeys and the Beach Boys, among others. At their height, they would lay down an album a day -- six tracks in the morning, six at night. Yes, the story is interesting, but perhaps it was only meant for an hour-long HBO special. Danny Tedesco's version is an overlong indulgence in his father's career and the musicians that surrounded it, which is understandable but not cinematically-forgivable. After sitting through The Wrecking Crew for 95-minutes, I had more than had my fill of the material. The movie proved to me that the group was indeed amazing, but did little more to captivate me beyond that.

Jacob Medjuck and Tony Dean Smith's Summerhood was perhaps the most enjoyable movie of the day because I could see it in full detail (out of the three, this was the only one shown in 35mm), but it was also probably the most rote and uninspired selection of the bunch. The movie is a rumination on the pains and pleasures of childhood summer-camp, told through the emotional-POV of a nine-year-old boy known by fellow campers as Fetus (Lucian Mesel). The topic could've been ripe for nostalgia had it been handled in a more original way, but Summerhood is a completely cliche and indulgent take on the subject matter. The only area in which it branches out is in its surprisingly adult take on the actions of the camp-employees, which proves more oddly-unsettling than its does humorous. Sure, some of the kid-actors are charming, but who really cares when the movie is as shallow as this one? Daddy Day Camp was a more profound take on the topic. Summerhood may get a small theatrical release because it is narrated by John Cusack, but it won't be very successful if it does.

Now it's time for me to catch some films that may actually be good for a change. Please don't disappoint me, Rian Johnson -- The Brothers Bloom is first on my agenda!

Prelude: Showing This Weekend at TVIFF

One of the many angles of a high school shooting is explored in Oscar Velasquez' Prelude.

My Fall film festival season may not be kicking off until Friday, Sept. 26 when I begin coverage of this year's San Diego Film Festival, but don't let that keep you from getting a jump on me this weekend if you live in San Diego, Los Angeles, or the Inland Empire. The Temecula Valley International Film Festival kicks off this Wednesday, and there you will have the unique opportunity to catch my friend Oscar Velasquez' short, Prelude, which is currently making the festival rounds.

Prelude intertwines short segments of the lives of students and parents who are connected in an instant when they or a loved one is afflicted by a high school shooting. The film was made on a shoestring budget as Oscar's final project at the Los Angeles Film School, but you wouldn't guess it given its impressive aesthetics. Shot on gritty 16mm by gifted D.P. Trevor Masid, the imagery mainly consists of grungy, geometric compositions that set the mood well.

Certain actors' performances fare better than others--Germaine de Leon's turn as the focal shooter in a one-line part detrimentally suffers from trivial scripting and self-indulgent delivery--but such variance is an unfortunate consequence of the constraints of making a first film. Oscar occasionally gets a little too caught up in his narrative too, relying on a contrived situation with character Carmen (Dominique Concepcion) to carry dramatic-heft in the film's final third that comes off as exploitative when it should actually be emotionally-jarring.

Despite its flaws, Prelude makes for a worthy watch and a serviceable addition to a growing body of films that explore the complexities of today's youth. If you're attending TVIFF, it will undoubtedly be a solid addition to your festival-schedule.

Prelude screens in Shorts Program III at TVIFF on Thursday, Sept. 18 at 6PM and on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 9PM. Writer/director Velasquez will be present for the Saturday screening.

San Diego Comic Con 2008 - DAY FOUR

The last day of Comic Con was a short one for me--I only attended two panels--but it marked a solid finish to a worthwhile convention. Both panels were considerably involving and I was able to sit really close to the action (second row!) due to the Sunday-standard lower-attendance level.

Both panels took place in Ballroom 20, the largest room at the Convention Center other than Hall H. I arrived early for my first panel, so I ended up catching the tail-end of the Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay DVD release program with stars John Cho and Kal Penn and directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. Nothing much was said of consequence--when is it during a stoner-comedy panel?--but the trio did formally announce that a third film in the franchise would be made. Oh how I can't wait until I have the privilege of enduring such drivel...

Next up was the panel for the much-discussed "reboot" of the Friday the 13th franchise that will be released next year. Producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form and stars Jared Padalecki and Amanda Righetti (and a few others whose names I don't recall) were on hand to unveil the teaser-poster and theatrical trailer. These didn't look like anything special, but they did show more promise than those of the standard teenage slasher movie usually do. Perhaps Marcus Nispel, the director who brilliantly revived the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, will be able to breathe new life into what was never a very good franchise in the first place...

My last panel for this year's Con was that hosted by Rogue Pictures. The first film featured was 25/8 with a sole panelist, writer/director Wes Craven. The title refers to the human's need to stay one step ahead of evil (which operates 24/7). Other than that, the panel really didn't flesh out what the movie was about outside of the fact that it is related to a serial-killer terrorizing children in a small-town. Craven seems to be confident in the material, which is reason enough to be excited for the film.

Finishing the panel was a look at David S. Goyer's The Unborn. Joining Goyer were stars Odette Yustman, Meagan Good, and Cam Gigandet. My eyes were focused on the startling looks of the two actresses the entire time, so I didn't really come to understand exactly what this horror-effort is about. All I know is that Goyer is a very talented guy and his cast--who spoke very highly of him, by the way--is wholly appealing. And the visuals in the trailer they brought along with them were quite striking. It should be a fun time.

After the panel finished, I followed the advice offered by the official Comic Con schedule and took one last lap around the Exhibit Hall. (Errr... slow walk-through, that is; the place has become such a zoo, it's nearly impossible to enjoy.) On the whole, 2008's convention offered a tremendous time. I'll definitely be back for more next year.

San Diego Comic Con 2008 - DAY THREE

Comic Con has only been over for three days now and yet I feel strangely empty. In years past, I never thought of participating in the festivities nearly as much as I did this year. I attended in an unorganized manner and always felt a bit out of my element amongst hoards of comic fans. For 2008's convention, however, I decided to go in with a set plan to maximize the entertainment-value and film-related material I would experience. The results did not disappoint, even on Saturday, the worst day of the convention...

...Nice segue, eh? Anyhow -- upwards and onwards...

I had intended to begin Saturday by catching the panel for NBC's "The Office" in Ballroom 6A, but to no avail. Despite arriving a half an hour early, the room's 1,000 seats filled up long before I even began to approach the entrance-door in line. Even though I love the show as much as the next guy, clearly I'm not the "#1 Fan" that the roughly 1,500 others who got there before me are...

But no matter. The hugely-awaited (albeit my second choice in the time-slot) Terminator: Salvation panel awaited me in Hall H. Emceeing the panel was director McG, who proved himself to be every bit of the self-indulgent asshole he is rumored to be when relentlessly trying to pump up the film for the audience. Despite talking about all of the "revolutionary" things the film is accomplishing with high silver-levels on the film-stock and an absence of CGI , the movie-trailer McG brought along with him looked thoroughly unimpressive. (I have a feeling that he knew it, too, because he began the panel by calling lead actor Christian Bale--only to voice-mail, of course--rather than dwelling on what had just been shown.) Also present were stars Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Common, and Bryce Dallas Howard, but none of them were able to conjure up much enthusiasm in me. While McG was somewhat successful in getting fans to "make noise" because of his sheer persistence, I'm not sure that the panel really talked anybody into seeing the movie who wasn't already planning on going. (Then again, does any panel?) Nonetheless, Salvation won't be coming out until next year and the Terminator series already has a built-in audience that doesn't need the 9' terminator displayed in the panel to be convinced to show up on Opening Day... I'm sure this entry won't have any problem at the box-office.

Next up for the day in Hall H was the Disney/Pixar panel, which featured Bolt and Up, two efforts that couldn't have come off more differently had programmers deliberately tried to achieve such an effect. Both projects were extensively showcased in long clips (nearly 20 minutes worth per movie). Disney's Bolt came across a as loud, obnoxious animation with a heavy emphasis on action and its two high-profile voice-talents, Miley Cyrus and John Travolta. Despite enjoying the theatrical teaser shown before Wall-E, the footage that directors Byron Howard and Chris Williams brought along with them was rather discouraging in regards to the movie's prospect. Despite its high concept, Bolt looked to be something of a mess. Then again, when was the last time Disney really failed with a non-live-action motion picture?

One thing's for sure, however: Pixar almost certainly has their next hit in Up, which boasts yet another wildly original concept for the studio, met every step of the way with beautiful-looking animation. The clips that co-director Pete Docter brought of this tale of an old man who uses balloons to hoist his home up into far away mountains before he is sentenced to life in a nursing home couldn't have me more excited. Only one element of the movie is a deterrent: it will be shown in Real D. After the eye-strain that Journey to the Center of the Earth just provoked in me a couple of weeks ago, I dread having to slap on those glasses once again to see the movie in the same way that the masses do.

Next up (and the last panel for me for the day) was the Universal Panel, which cast The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Death Race, Drag Me To Hell, and Land of the Lost into the spotlight. The first two come out during the next month and both of their panels seemed unnecessary. Nevertheless, both brought out quite a few stars to promote.

In The Mummy 3's case, stars Brendan Frasier, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Luke Ford, and Maria Bello showed up to try to get fans pumped. Frasier spoke the most of the bunch during the panel, and he seemed nearly as idiotically self-indulgent as McG did a couple of hours earlier. The group brought along a few clips of the film, none of which I really understood having not seen the first two Mummy films. (Neither really got me excited to watch them either, although I reluctantly will this week in preparation to review this installment.) On the whole, the panel represented another lackluster effort to promote a piece of work that doesn't really need promoting...

The Death Race panel fared much better, which was something of a surprise given those involved. What was most miraculous about the whole thing was that director Paul W.S. Anderson, a man responsible for some of the worst films of the past five years (namely the Resident Evil trilogy), actually came off as a somewhat talented, rational guy. After listening to Anderson talk about the effort he put into his movie, I hope it offers a fun time for his sake. Also present for the panel were stars Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson (who was surprisingly intimidated by the huge crowd), Ian McShane, and Natalie Martinez and original Death Race 3000 writer Robert Thom. All of them were surprisingly involving, with Statham and McShane cracking some funny jokes and Allen offering some solid insights into her dignified participation in a rather silly movie.

Next was the Drag Me to Hell panel with director Sam Raimi and stars Justin Long and Alison Lohman. The movie marks a return to (semi-) low-budget horror for Raimi (ala Evil Dead), much to his own excitement. He brought along two clips, both of which leaned towards shock-comedy, very similar to Raimi's efforts in the 1980s. They were very amusing, but if the entire movie maintains their frantic tone, then it could get a bit too obnoxious and chaotic for its own good. Perhaps the highlight of the panel was that Raimi said there was a definite possibility that there would be a fourth Evil Dead movie made with original-star Bruce Campell, written by he and his brother. (That is, for those who like the Evil Dead series, a camp which doesn't include myself.)

Last up was Land of the Lost, which featured director Brad Silberling; stars Danny McBride, Jorma Taccone, and Anna Friel; and original "Land of the Lost" creators Marty and Sid Krofft. Lead actor Will Ferrell also made a "live" appearance, supposedly from San Diego's Hotel Del Coronado "via satellite" in a recorded bit that the panelists interacted with. Not having seen the original TV series, I can't really comment on how this one looks given I didn't understand a thing about it. A short clip featuring Ferrell was shown, but it didn't represent anything of note.

I left the Land of the Lost panel a bit early--cutting out during the Audience Q&A segment--en route to the Reading Gaslamp 15 for a screening. I originally had decided to see The Rocker with star Rainn Wilson in attendance at 7:30, but my 3am-bedtime the night before was beginning to catch up with me and I decided to catch an earlier movie. I set my sites on Choke with director Clark Gregg present at 6:00 instead, but it had already filled up by the time I got in line. So what did I do? I sure as hell wasn't about to wait an hour and thirty minutes for The Rocker, nor did I really want to return to the Convention Center's ass-murdering seats for the Columbia Pictures Panel. (Psyched as I am for Pineapple Express and Quarantine, I think I'll be just fine catching highlight-footage of the panel on YouTube.) Instead, I headed home and crashed hard by 8:00. Such represented an uneventful finish to the day, but at least I was ready to go for the final day's festivities...

San Diego Comic Con 2008 - DAY TWO

Comic-Con may have officially ended ended this afternoon, but coverage is just heating up here at the Bucket 'Blog. Sorry, folks, for not being able to post as quickly as many of you had hoped during the event, but I was so active for the whole thing that any writing would've cut into what was already little sleeptime. (I was able to get a solid eight hours last night, and I crashed... hard.)

So let's pretend you didn't hear about any of this on any of those other 'blogs where 3,000 staff-writers are able to collaborate and cover every panel at the event in real time. (Or at least pretend you're interested in what I have to say about panels you've already read about.) Alas, allow me to transport us back two days in time. On Friday, Day Two of the convention, things were just heating up. After two nights of movie-screenings and little else, I was hungry for some panels. Standing next to Kevin Smith at a traffic-light while heading to the Convention Center (!), I had mentally-planned to kick off the day with the huge Watchmen shindig. Unfortunately, that proved a tough task when the line outside the humongous-but-apparently-not-humungous-enough Hall H was still nearly 5,000 deep after event-staff had already been letting people in for a half hour...

So what'd I do? Catch up with some 'ol British pals of course...

Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Jessica Hynes participated in a panel in front of 1,000 fans in Ballroom 6A to celebrate the Region 1 DVD release of "Spaced", their 1999-2001 TV show that originally ran on UK TV. I have only seen YouTube clips of the show that a friend sent me, but it was great to see Pegg and Wright, whose film-work has provided me endless hours of entertainment, in person. Both were charming and funny as ever, especially during the Q&A session. Pegg shared a virtual gunfight--a popular bit in "Spaced", and ironically one of the few I've seen--with a fan, which is always fun.

Later, I headed over to Hall H to claim a coveted seat for the day. First up for me in that room was the annual Trailer Park program, which was largely a disappointment. I hadn't ever been to the presentation in past years, but I was under the impression that they used to use it to debut trailers. I had seen all of these before. (They showed Pineapple Express, Terminator: Salvation (teaser), Twilight, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and The Mummy 3, among others.) There wasn't any huge fan-reaction to any of these, which made it even less fun.

(Photo Credit: IMDb.com)

Next up was a short panel for the 2009 remake of The Wolfman featuring lead-actors Benicio del Toro and Emily Blunt and make-up master Ron Baker. They brought along a trailer for the film that was largely unimpressive and full of shots of nothing but chaotic action and typical artificial period-piece sets and costuming. The panel proved that Blunt is every bit as good looking in person as she is on celluloid, but did little else to conjure up audience-enthusiasm forthe film. Most of us were just biding our time waiting for...

...the also-disappointing panel for The Spirit, which featured director Frank Miller, producer Deborah Del Prete, and stars Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jamie King. Unfortunately, co-star Eva Mendes wasn't able to show due to a contractual obligation to film Bad Lieutenant, despite being touted on the programming-schedule. The absence of Mendes and fellow actresses Scarlett Johansson and Paz Vega was highly noticeable; without some spunky hotness to perk things up, matters quickly became a snooze. (For such a high-profile panel, the bail-out rate among attendees halfway through was incredibly high -- likely because a more-interesting panel with Seth McFarlane for TV's "Family Guy" awaited them in Ballroom 20.) Certainly, The Spirit looks to be DOA despite its adventurous visual appearance; the clips that Miller brought along lost even my geeky interest despite their short lengths. I fear that the movie will be no Sin City and that its odd Christmas Day release is a sign of its status as a misfire. Regardless, I won't enter it this December with any bias; perhaps this is just one of those pictures that needs to be experienced in full.

After a short walk around the Gaslamp Quarter and a stop for a late lunch at my favorite local pizza joint, Ciro's, I returned to Hall H for the evening's two panels...

The first of these was put on Entertainment Weekly and was entitled "The Visionaries". Moderated by EW.com senior-editor Marc Bernardin, the panel offered a chat with four of the film industry's most innovative, successful talents: Frank Miller, Judd Apatow, Zack Snyder, and Kevin Smith (who was kind of out-of-place here, but livened things up substantially). Not much of interest was said during the panel's hour duration, but Smith had some good one liners (after Snyder continually stumbled over his speech, Smith mused "It's good you're such a visual director, man...") and it's always fun to hear comedy-genius Apatow talk about his work.

Last up for me on Friday's panel-front was Kevin Smith's annual Hall H presentation, this year covering his upcoming effort Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Quipping with a huge cast of stars--Seth Rogen, Justin Long, Jason Mewes, Elizabeth Banks, Katie Morgan, Traci Lords, and Ricky Mabe--Smith was again quite funny. (I did find it unnessecary, however, when he and Rogan endorsed their daily pot-smoking rituals in front of a crowd of many teenagers, despite the pre-show vulgarity warning.) Smith brought along a strong clip featuring Rogen, Banks, and Long and an especially-hilarious pre-clip intro and hosted the panel to great success. It was a terrific way to end the Convention Center-based portion of my day at the Con.

After Smith said his parting words for the year, I headed a half-mile up 5th Avenue to the Reading Gaslamp 15 cinemas and met up with the aforementioned "Spaced" friend to check out a couple flicks. The first was a regular release: The X Files: I Want to Believe. Not having seen the first film in the franchise and not being well versed in the TV-show, I can't make much of a comment on how similar this effort is. It is certainly understandable on its own, though not very successful. As many have already said, the movie feels like 100-minutes of second-rate TV, through and through. Coupled with a self-important anti-organized Christianity, pro-stem cell research message, the picture is as disposable and unwanted as they come. I'll post a formal tidbit on it later this week in the regular "Seen and Not Reviewed" column of the Bucket 'Blog.

Afterwards, we were treated (err... punished) to a week-early screening of Midnight Meat Train, which had been featured in a full panel earlier in the Con. Without giving too much of my opinion away before publishing my full print review on Bucket Reviews tomorrow evening, I will say that the film represents pulp of the worst kind. While beautifully shot and jarringly stylized, there's nothing about the experience that seems inherently different from any other recent attempt made by a distinctly Asian action/horror director to transition into the American market. More interesting than the movie itself was the fact that said director, Ryuhei Kitamura, and source-writer Clive Barker were so eager to harp on studio Lionsgate in their introduction to the film. Both are mad that Midnight Meat Train will initially only be released on about 100 screens this Friday--which I guess is a justified feeling in and of itself--but how they got away with expressing this in such an accusatory at an event held by Lionsgate is beyond me. (It certainly wasn't the most respectful thing to do, even leading to patrons booing the Lionsgate title at the beginning of the film.) Unfortunately for Kitamura and Barker, their movie probably doesn't even deserve 100 sites, let alone a wide release.

And, thus, at 2:08AM, I headed back to my home in North San Diego County's suburbia, only to have to return downtown by Noon the following day. Coverage of Saturday's festivities to come tomorrow...