film

IN APPRECIATION OF TONY SCOTT  REGENCY SOUTH COASTVILLAGE WILL SCREEN FOUR SCOTT FILMS 

From imdb:

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, as a young boy and girl fall in love they are moved to run away together. Various factions of the town mobilize to search for them and the town is turned upside down -- which might not be such a bad thing. 

Let me start by admitting that I'm a Wes Anderson fan.  I'll stop short of saying that he can do no wrong, but he hasn't done wrong yet.

Moonrise Kingdom comes close.

"Blood In, Blood Out,",  the Disney company's first R-rated film under the Hollywood Pictures banner, is screening on Wednesday night, March 28, 2012, at 7:30 PM, at the Regency South Coast Village Theatre.

The film is a story worthy of "The Godfather", from a Mexican point of view, and centered on the creation of the Mexican Mafia in prisons in the 1970's and 80's. But it was far more than that.

Directed by Taylor Hackford, "Blood In, Blood Out," is a great crime drama that follows the intertwining lives of the three Chicano relatives, Miklo (Damien Chapa), Paco(Benjamin Bratt) and Cruz (Jesse Borrego) from 1972 to the mid 1980s.

The film starts out with them as members of a street gang called Vatos Locos of East Los Angeles, and as dramatic incidents occur, their lives and friendships are forever changed. 

I have seen the future of horror fiction, and his name is Clive Barker” – Stephen King

Hellraiser is my favorite horror film of all time.  I saw this film on television when I was really young and it inspired me to become a writer of horror fiction.  What really intrigued me about the film was that I never saw anything like it before.  Its depiction of combining the grotesque with the beautiful was truly original.  The film inspired me so much that I sought out and read the original novel The Hellbound Heart.  I fell in love with how the writer, Clive Barker, told the story through a poetry of pain like how I fell in love with the images he shot for his screen adaptation. 

Barker stated in an interview that the first movie you make is out of sheer luck.  Barker lived in England and was friends with fellow producers Oliver Parker, Allen Parker and Chris Figg.  There were all inexperienced but wanted to make a movie.  Allen put up some money so they could put a package together and get investors interested.  Clive adapted the Hellraiser script from his novel, drew up some drawings of the villains, and wrote up some loglines for the package.  Figg and Barker flew to Los Angeles hoping to pitch their project around town.  They wouldn’t have to go far because the first company they pitched to, New World Pictures, wanted to make the film.  And so, in 1987, Hellraiser was born. 

The world was a better place when I was 19.  My favorite superhero had finally made it to the big screen.  Gas cost around a dollar per gallon so I filled up the same Honda I’m still driving today for only $12.  Obesity wasn’t an epidemic in the country yet so girls in bikinis actually looked like girls in bikinis instead of resembling Thanksgiving dinner.  Yep, 19 was a great year but the best part of it all was whenever I needed a j

This semester I’m teaching film history classes at Fullerton College.  As much as it pains me to have to teach about this extremely racist film by Southerner D.W. Griffith, I have to do it because of its historical merit. 

The Birth of a Nation (1915) was the first epic film of 12 reels during a time when other films only had 4 reels.  Birth of a Nation was a 3-hour epic that held audiences spellbound.  It was a film adaptation of a novel called The Clansman by Thomas Dixon.

The Birth of a Nation was made to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the ending of the Civil War.  The film took place during the war itself from 1861-1865 and during the reconstruction period from 1865-1877.  Griffith portrays the mythological antebellum South as a lost paradise.  The prewar agrarian South represented the final remnants of the old world ideal before falling victim to the industrialization of the north. 

My production company, Torture Chamber Productions will celebrate our fifth year anniversary on February 24, 2011.  It’s been five years since we first got together and chose to go the independent route.  So many things have happened over those years and we’ve changed so much but the dream has always been consistent, put out genre media that is creator owned and operated, and never spend our own money.  Let me take you on this adventure on how we came to be and how

Horror fiction has always been my best friend.  As a child growing up, horror comic books, novels, and movies gave me an escape from the horror I had to deal with in real life.

As a young child of six, I watched my father slowly deteriorate from cancer.  One of the few memories I have is seeing him vomit profuse amounts of blood into the bathroom sink.  The very last time I saw him was when I visited him in the hospital. He was completely withered away and was begging for death to set him free.

There are a few places that always invoke a magical feeling for me:  A college campus - filled with such endless possibilities and energy, a music studio where you gather to make individual pieces sound like God's voice (no matter the genre,) and a movie set where all that is combined into one experience.

 Don’t be turned off by the title of this article.  Please lend me your imagination and attention for just a moment of your time.  Say I was to go to any Starbucks for a coffee in Irvine.  If there were only 20 people there, how many of them would likely work in the entertainment industry and would be able to help me advance my career?  Maybe one if I’m lucky but more chances than likely the number would be zero.  Now imagine if I went to any Starbucks in Los Angeles for a coffee.  Out of the 20 people there, more likely than not at least 10 of them would be working in the entertainment industry and would be able to help me advance my career. 

OCSWA friend Kevin Sorbo's inspiring and funny new film coming soon.

What If...God gave you another chance?

Fifteen years ago, Ben Walker (Sorbo) made a decision to leave his college sweetheart Wendy (Kristy Swanson), and ultimately his faith, in order to pursue a lucrative business opportunity. Now on the verge of marriage to an equally materialistic fiance, he is visited by an angelic mechanic (John Ratzenberger) who tells him that he needs to see what his life would have been like had he followed God’s calling. Suddenly, Ben finds himself married to Wendy with two daughters, including a rebellious teen (Debby Ryan), getting ready for church on a Sunday morning, where he’s scheduled to give his first sermon as the new pastor. 

 Website/trailer here

 The Father of Zombie Films: George Romero

Ever since 1968 George A. Romero has shocked the world with his unique vision of horror fiction.  Audiences of horror, as well as the genre of horror itself, were forever changed since the release of Night of the Living Dead.  The film was Romero’s first feature film, and it would give rise to three more sequels, all written and directed by Romero.  Romero has a distinct style that separates him from the other great directors in horror.  Romero has permanently changed the way that horrors stories are told on film, as well as the way horror effects are done.

The Screenwriters Workshop will be screening the Edda nominated documentary Alfred Eliasson & Loftleidir Icelandic. Writer/director/member Sigurgeir Orri will join us to talk about the process of making the film and answer questions.

This event will take place at Orange Coast College. Arts Center Building off Parking Lot D. Room 216.  You can buy a Visitor parking permit at the Arlington entrance or park in metered space.

Non-members do not need to RSVP for this event.  More Information can be found here: http://www.meetup.com/SoCal-Screenwriters-Workshop/calendar/12997221/

Last month I went to Sharkey’s in Newport Beach to celebrate my bestfriend’s 27^th birthday.  While there I did what typical young guys do and had a great time.  Later that night a guy pointed to me and waved me to come over to him.  I walked over and said, “what’s up, dude?”

THE SQUARE
some things can't be buried

7 AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY AWARD NOMS!

Mention OC Screenwriters at the box office and get your ticket for only $7.00!

SATURDAY, APRIL 17th, 7:30pm at the Regency South Coast Village Theater. 

1561 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, CA. (Directly across the street from South Coast Plaza) (map)

With a Q&A following the 7:30pm showing with director Nash Edgerton moderated by Mark Sevi of OC Screenwriters.

“One of the best films of the year. The best film noir since ‘Body Heat’.”
- Harry Knowles, aintitcool.com

 Late is probably the deepest student film I've ever seen in my entire life.  The story begins as a well-dressed family scrambles to get ready to leave.  They rush out of the door and drive off to their destination.  While driving, they see a scruffy man walking down the road.  The father and mother tell their son to never become like such a man.  

 Four Years of Torture 

Four years ago I had a dream that I would one day own a horror production company based out of my hometown of Fullerton.  On February 24^th, 2010 I got to celebrate the forth anniversary since I put that dream into motion.  It has been a tough road and I’m proud of a lot of things that we have done, but I know there are so many more things left to do. 

Here is a recap of the previous four years of owning and running Torture Chamber Productions, Orange County’s Home for New Horror Media. 

 The Confinement Writing on Assignment

Is there anything sweeter than a good, short film?  

This Friday, the Regency South Coast Village Theater will present all the Oscar nominated short films in one place.  

At the opening of Held, we find a man held prisoner in a small room. He wakes up from being knocked out and discovers several sharp nails protruding through the wall. Each day, A cloaked captor slips photographs under the door showing a mysterious woman. This was a great film. It got me watching until the end and gripping the chair arms. A bit fearing at times but I kept seeking the end. All in all bravo editing,filming and Believable acting. ***** five stars! Bravo! Wanting to see more of the actor's work!

"The Hurt Locker" is a film about a bomb squad in Iraq during a time when IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were rampant. There isn't much to spoil in this film because there is no real story. The film basically follows a 3-member team toward the end of their rotation - they have about 30 days left and their leader gets himself "blowed up good." A new team leader, in the form of a "Wildman" (Jeremy Renner) comes in, proceeds to run rampant and no one cares except the team members be puts into jeopardy.

That's it. Really.

There's car bombs, suicide bombs, body bombs (OMFG!) and