It’s the end of an era…well, just a film festival one for the year. Yep, the Los Angeles Film Festival™ has now come to a close, the jury and audience awards have been decided, and all we have left is for me to deliver my final diary entry. This will serve as a last hoorah for the festival — it was incredibly fun, overwhelming, but most importantly it provided me a venue to see films I normally might’ve missed otherwise. The fact that I could have gone all my life without seeing the incomparable Summer Games or the heartbreaking Call Me Kuchu has me so thankful for partaking in this incredible film-going/news reporting experience. 33 films, 10 days, and a whole lot of popcorn later…the festivities have finally ended. I can look back on my journey, and swell in pride that I can say I was a part of it. Without further ado — and for the final time — here is my last LAFF diary session of the festival:
Read more on Los Angeles Film Festival Diaries: Day Ten…
Can you believe I only have one day left at the Los Angeles Film Festival™? Time flies when you’re at the movies! So yesterday, Terence and I had a lot going on. The good news is that we had different events and screenings, so you’ll get more coverage of the day’s happenings as a result. After having my mind blown by Bryce Dallas Howard’s short film “When You Find Me” (which was a showcase for the new Canon Cinema EOS C300 camera), I headed off to the final screening of Jared Moshé’s Dead Man’s Burden, an indie-western that’s currently in competition for best festival narrative feature. Find out what I had to say about Dead Man’s Burden and my other three screenings of the day after the jump:
Read more on Los Angeles Film Festival Diaries: Day Nine…
 One of the great things about the Los Angeles Film Festival is that in addition to seeing great films, you have the opportunity to hear professionals speak on their experience in the industry. Academy Award winning cinematographer Wally Pfister was at the festival on Saturday, fresh from finishing the timing on The Dark Knight Rises, to discuss his craft and experience. In a panel moderated by Kodak’s Lorette Bayle, Pfister spoke about his career to date, extolled the virtues of shooting on film, his partnership with Christopher Nolan and answered questions from the audience. He even gave a few tidbits about his directorial debut, so check it out after the jump!
Read more on Los Angeles Film Festival Diaries: Kodak presents Wally Pfister…
 It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Or in the case of Canon, eight pictures can create an incredible film. This past year, Cannon and Ron Howard teamed up for a contest, asking photographers to send in pictures that would inspire a short film. After receiving over 91,000 images, Canon and Ron chose just 8 to be the basis for the short film when you find me, which was directed by Bryce Dallas Howard. Though they’ve been showing the film around the country, Canon put together a special panel to talk about the experience of making a film from pictures and new advances in digital film making. Moderated by Tim Smith, a Canon Film &TV advisor, the panel included Kevin Chinoy (Producer), Andre Lascaris (Director of Photography) and Evan Pesses (Chief Lighting Technician). Check out the interview and short film after the jump!
Read more on Los Angeles Film Festival Diaries: Canon U.S.A., Inc. Imagin8ion Panel…
Two days left of the Los Angeles Film Festival™, and already I’m feeling somewhat sad. It’s been an incredible ride I don’t quite want to see end, but all good things must come to an end, and this particular venue is certainly a very good thing. Yesterday, Terence Johnson and I were both able to screen the new Rashida Jones’ penned comedy, Celeste and Jesse Forever. Because Terence didn’t have a press pass or ticket, he had to stand in the rush line before the ushers would allow anyone into the theater. Terence had zero confidence of making it into the screening, but I kept texting him that he most assuredly would, and he did indeed! I guess Terence forgot to read all my clairvoyant American Idol predictions this past spring. Oh well, it’s never too late to learn that I’m just your average psychic! Below are some of our thoughts concerning the screenings and events we partook in on the eighth day at LAFF.
Read more on Los Angeles Film Festival Diaries: Day Eight…
Yesterday, I was driving down Olympic Blvd. like the Mad Hatter, honking at cars and getting very frustrated with the midday traffic, scared I would not make my first showing of the day on schedule. For whatever reason, the Gods smiled favorably on me and I somehow managed to show up in the nick of time. Yesterday was more of a slow day for the festival overall — there were no major Gala screenings and the regular films were shown later in the evening — but the crowds all showed up in their usual fervor. I find it hilarious how everyone rolls in at once, right at the last minute — I guess we cannot help but be a society full of procrastinators, totally pushing back time until it slaps us in the face to wake the hell up! This is the story of my life, especially my college years. Alas, I shall leave the past behind (well, not really because we are after all speaking about yesterday’s events) and jump right into my day… Read more on Los Angeles Film Festival Diaries: Day Five…
7:30pm – 9:30pm:
Yesterday marked the shortest festival time, as I was only booked for two screenings since the films began later on in the evening. There was definitely a lot of buzz building as I was walking in to see Seeking a Friend for the End of the World — the red carpet was lively and bustling, and Keira Knightley looks even more beautiful in person if you can believe that. Besides the excitement over seeing the two lead characters in this apocalyptic romantic dramedy (although by the end, there is no comedy left to be had), I believe the majority of people attending the festival were all there to support screenwriter-turned-director Lorene Scafaria’s debut film (Scafaria is best known for her witty screenplay of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist). There was a lot of love in the theater for Lorene, and I have to say she does a fine job…to a degree. This is not a perfect film by any means — Kiera Knightley and Steve Carell’s chemistry works better on a friend scale than a romantic one — but it was thoroughly engaging. To me, it’s Melancholia-lite with a bit more humorous bits albeit less visual bedazzlement. However, it has a host of great small performances from actors that steal every scene they are in. Derek Luke and Martin Sheen make the most of their scenes, but it’s Gillian Jacobs (Community) and Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) who truly shine, proving that these two highly undervalued actresses need to score more film roles. I’ll dive more in-depth on Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, but suffice it to say that while I enjoyed the direction and overall quality of the film, I would be lying if I said I much preferred watching our two leads over the minor characters that had me cracking up in fits of laughter. Read more on Los Angeles Film Festival Diaries: Day Four…
Well folks, I can’t say that yesterday served up the strongest roster of films playing at the festival, but there was still plenty of joy to be had. I had less time to sleep since my first screening began at 11:30 am, so I was a bit moody to begin with. Thankfully, the traffic gods and I have formed some kind of silent agreement, and so it only takes me 25 minutes to drive to Downtown Los Angeles instead of the usual hour plus drive with traffic. Even the green lights can’t seem to stop shining for me! Before I stroke my ego any further, let’s get right down to the day’s events. This is one of two days where I’ll be watching five (yeah, you heard me) films for the entire day. So far, I’ve seen fourteen films in total at the Los Angeles Film Festival™, and we are barely a third of the way through the entire occasion. None have surged past Prometheus as my favorite film of 2012 thus far, but with thirty-six films in total to see, there may be one that could possibly dethrone Ridley Scott’s latest.
Read more on Los Angeles Film Festival Diaries: Day Three…
 Hello again, everyone! Once again, I had a terrific day at the Los Angeles Film Festival™, but my first screening began much earlier this time. I was able to avoid the congested traffic, filled with parents driving to their kid’s graduation, by coming to Downtown LA with plenty of time to spare. My first film began at 2:20 pm, and there were literally no breaks in between screenings. As soon as I finished one film, I had to jump in line for the very next screening. I’ll have a wider gap in time starting the 18th, so you’ll see a lot more reviews being put up during that time. Right now, I’ll pump out as much as I can when I have the limited time. Without further ado, check out my day…
Read more on Los Angeles Film Festival Diaries: Day Two…
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