The REEL ROCK film tour scales new heights with a bevy of shorts and one feature-length offering
The life of a ‘rock star’ is typically adventurous, often living on the edge of sanity, scaling every bump along the way with fearlessness. There are two types: The musical ‘rock stars’ and the stars in the rock climbing sport—those who scale the earth one handhold at a time, risking injury and even sometimes their lives.
The Del Mar Theatre’s benefit screening of ‘Chris and Don’ delivers one of the year’s more illuminating documentaries
If there is one movie you must see this year to convince you of the incredible power of love, and how it can transform those captured by its magical prowess, it would have to be Chris and Don … a love story. The heartwarming documentary, which enjoyed a healthy run and critical praise within the film festival circuit, hits Santa Cruz on Sept. 11 with a special screening and fundraiser at the Del Mar Theatre for the Santa Cruz Cultural Council. This imaginative film chronicles the against-all-odds relationship between British writer Christopher Isherwood and portrait painter Don Bachardy, whose memorable works grace the halls of the Met and The Smithsonian. But Chris and Don (****) unveils a portrait of another kind. It seems to illuminate the unending depths love can take two people, and with vivid strokes of its artistic brush—so wonderfully executed by director Guido Santi—manages to convey the unlimited possibilities of what something real can offer. Isherwood
Take ‘The Fall’ and prepare to be spellbound
In big, expensive studio movies, the entire budget may go into a star’s bank account, or noisy special effects, while no-budget independent movies often struggle to make up in integrity what they lack in production values. And then there’s The Fall, the kind of unclassifiable virtuoso performance that happens when a filmmaker has an extraordinary vision and pursues it with relentless drive, focus and imagination, come what may. Part fairy tale, and part coming-of-age drama, it combines stunning visual beauty and a beguiling storyline in a witty and artful homage to both the early days of moviemaking and the power of storytelling itself.
Irish gangsters re-examine their career choices in smart, violent, perversely funny ‘In Bruges’
In one respect, Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges is a marvelous travelogue for the medieval Old Town in the Belgian city of Bruges. The urge to join the migration of international tourists who will no doubt be flocking there in the wake of this film’s release may be irresistible. Just don’t forget to pack your bulletproof vest.
Signs and portents, plus the best, worst and weirdest of the 2007 movie year
What if they gave a movie and nobody came? A lot of theater-owners wrestled with this dilemma in 2007. Box office returns were up this year, since it now costs half your kingdom and your first-born male for a couple of tickets to the multiplex, but the incredible shrinking audience became a factor to reckon with at smaller venues.
Emile Hirsch explores inner landscapes in ‘Wild’
“Besides his outstanding intellect and creativity, his willpower, strength and integrity stood out,” says “Into the Wild” star Emile Hirsch. “He really is a tremendous spirit.”
He’s not done yet. Why Peter Fonda hopped on the testosterone train in ‘3:10 to Yuma’
Morality, courage, honor and family may be the themes explored in the riveting, re-imagined 3:10 to Yuma, but for Peter Fonda, the shoot-’em-up extravaganza by director James Mangold (“Walk The Line”) was a reminder of how well westerns can illuminate real-life political dramas.“The best way to discuss what’s going on right now is through a western—and in the past tense,” Fonda says. “If you talk in the ‘right now,’ you’re going to force people to go one way or another in an ideology they may not like, but in a western, that idiom gives you the chance of encompass all sides of the political spectrum.”
The adventurous Chris Sharma on tough rock climbs and what life looks like on top of the world
Chris Sharma has a firm grip on life. He needs the tight handhold because he’s often dangling by just a few fingers, death or injury close by. Such is the life of the world’s best rock climber. At 26, the Santa Cruz native, who now spends more time away from his hometown than in it, is the type of daredevil that will scour the world, hunting for the most challenging climb that planet Earth can offer.
How newcomer Nikki Blonsky went from wannabe to gotta-see in ‘Hairspray’
The message in Hairspray is loud and clear: Embrace being different. That may be yesterday’s news to a gaggle of gays and lesbians, but in a day and age when even something as retro as prejudice wants to make a comeback, the message can’t be heard often enough. Hopefully with “Hairspray” hitting theaters this month, something will stick. The new John Waters-inspired film musical, based on the Broadway hit, which was inspired by Waters’ ’70s cult classic—Oy!—could very well become summer’s brightest offerings. Handsomely directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman, the movie offers the same sort of zing once found in Grease or Little Shop of Horrors. A delight from beginning to end, the story chronicles the misadventures of Tracy Turnblad (newcomer Nikki Blonsky), “a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart.” Tracy’s got one passion—dancing—and a bold dream of appearing on “The Corny Collins Show,” Baltimore’s wildest television dance party.
Actor-director David Arquette unleashes his cinematic odyssey, ‘The Tripper,’ at the Santa Cruz Film Festival | by Christa Martin
After numerous e-mails, phone calls and waiting around for two weeks for an interview with David Arquette, I’m on the verge of giving up. Right then, my phone rings. “Hi, this is David Arquette,” says the film and television star, much to my amazement. We exchange pleasantries and he offers apologies for the confusion over scheduling an interview. OK, all is forgiven. He’s a really nice guy.
