Macon Film Festival 2012 ~ MAGA

Every year, Macon, Ga transforms into a film industry mecca with the highly acclaimed Macon Film Festival, MAGA. The 7th Annual promises its share of celebrities, high-profile guests, movie buffs and of course, great films.



MaGa 2012 Promo from Stephanie Shadden on Vimeo.

For event details, schedule & tickets, visit the Macon Film Festival website.

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Mario Van Peebles - WE The Party

[caption id="attachment_11225" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Photo by Ciena Leshley / Southerner"]

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With a million dollar smile and his cultured charm, actor/director

Mario Van Peebles

spent a good portion of his Wednesday morning with about 50 Grady High School students. He's in Atlanta with the Bronzelens Film Festival promoting the new film he directed titled

We The Party

. Van Peebles described the movie as "fun but with nutritional value."

Patrick Cage II

who is one of the stars of the film told me that We The Party is about the lives of six individuals and how today's generation is starting to move away from sex and drugs.

Salli Richardson-Whitfield

and

Snoop Dogg

also star in the film. [ I think the kids were impressed when Mario said that he "just phoned-up Snoop" and asked him to be in the movie because they've always wanted to do one together.]

Van Peebles was engaging from the moment he arrived to Grady's Black Box Theater. He was genuinely interested in connecting with the students by asking them questions about their career choices and wanting to learn the latest freestyle dance moves. He advised the students that professionally, good (and friendly) people skills are very important and to "be in a business that you love with people you want to work with and to try to (always) say something meaningful."

Mario Van Peebles was clearly having a good time. He hung around for pictures and autographs until his publicist whisked him away... My colleague and good friend,

John Brandhorst

and I were able to grab a picture with Mario just before.

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The Sea is All I Know ~ Movie Release

Last March I featured an interview with award winning filmmaker

Jordan Bayne

about her new compelling film,

The Sea Is All I Know

, starring Academy Award winner

Melissa Leo

and

Peter Gerety

.

I am very proud to inform you that The Sea Is All I Know will be screening in L. A. this week at the

Laemmle Sunset 5

.

Friday-Sunday

. Some critics are already calling this film, Oscar material.

To read my original interview, click

here

.

The trailer is quite moving:

"Even in the darkest hour; Life has a way of teaching us; Love never fails."

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Final Destination 5: 3D

Director: Steven Quale

Starring: Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Tony Todd, and Courtney B. Vance

The Final Destination

films are about as complex as chewing bubble gum.  The formula is the same each time. The opening sequence finds one person having a horrific premonition of an impending accident.  Everyone they know is either smashed, shocked, or torn to bits.  The main character then warns everyone to get out just in time.  After the accident, death begins to stalk each survivor one by one.  The series has tackled a plane crash, car crash, roller coaster accident, and a race track collision.  For this fifth installment, it is a terrifying bridge collapse that starts the carnage.  Eleven years is a long time for a franchise to exist in Hollywood and surprisingly the 5th movie actually manages to improve upon the last few sequels.

Acting in these films is not important, but the two leads

Nicholas D’Agosto (Dirty Girl)

and

Emma Bell (AMC’s The Walking Dead)

do a nice job portraying horrified and disgusted.  Horror staple

Tony Todd (Candyman and Final Destination Part 1)

reprises his role from the earlier films.  C

ourtney B. Vance (TNT’s The Closer)

is the detective who thinks there is more to these seemingly random deaths.  

Director Steven Quale

has solid experience working on films like

Avatar

and

Terminator 2

, and he managed to sneak in a fantastic surprise ending.  For any fans of the franchise, it is the highlight of the entire movie.

[caption id="attachment_9601" align="alignright" width="300" caption="I'll just wear glasses"]

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Only horror fans will find this type of film entertaining.  The tension leading up to each kill is intense. The  

acupuncture incident

and the

lasik surgery mishap

were particularly grueling to sit through.   This is definitely a movie to enjoy with  friends.  

Fashionado’s

own

Vincent Martinez

accompanied me to the theatre, and I can tell you by the bruises on my arms and ribs that the suspense got the best of him!  Had I known I was going to take a beating I would have slipped a xanax in his bag of Skittles.  I will make one recommendation to the producers when they make part 6. They might want to give thought to changing the title... considering they just made part 5 there is obviously nothing

final

about it.

fashionado

film

score 6 out 10

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film

Jamie Clemons

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Cast:  James Franco, Andy Serkis, Brian Cox, and John Lithgow

I will admit that I have never seen the original 

Planet of the Apes

films from the 1960’s and 70’s.  I did unfortunately  see the hot, steaming mess that was  

Tim Burton’s

remake of the original film in 2001.   So I had low expectations going in to see this new installment.  While far from great,  

Rise of the Apes

has a solid premise and a glimmer of what could be some pretty amazing sequels.

Academy Award nominee

James Franco (127 Hours)

plays a scientist struggling to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease.  He develops a drug that enhances brain function and is testing its effectiveness on apes.  Franco’s motive is strong.  His father, played by the fabulous Academy Award nominee

John Lithgow (Terms of Endearment)

,  is suffering from Alzheimer's and is on the verge of losing his battle.  The drug is effective, and it leads to a baby ape, Caesar, developing a high level of intelligence.  The CGI ape is played by

Andy Serkis

who is very familiar with motion capture technology.  Serkis helped to pioneer new ground over ten years ago with his portrayal of Gollum in the modern classic

The Lord of the Rings.

As Caesar's intelligence increases over the years he begins to realize that he is treated more like the pets he sees in his residential neighborhood.  

In a violent scene, Caesar rushes to the defense of John Lithgow and injures another man.  Animal control then forces James Franco to turn Caesar over to a facility that cares for apes.   This ape orphanage is run by  

Brian Cox  (The Bourne Supremacy).

Cox’s character is not concerned with how the apes are treated which further alienates Caesar from humans.  One of the better sequences of the film involves

Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy of the Harry Potter series)

. He is an employee at the ape facility who takes a bit too much pleasure in making the apes suffer.  Caesar's revenge is satisfying and a little electrifying.  Eventually there is a great ape escape, and the apes flee through San Francisco in a race to reach the great Red Wood forest.  The end sequence is thrilling as the apes battle the authorities on the Golden Gate Bridge.

The film's major flaw is that the it takes too long to build up to the actual rise of the apes.  Anyone going to this film knows the gist.  The apes will take over and we become their pets.  

Director Rupert Wyatt

does make you feel compassion for the apes; you sympathize and even route for them.  You will just have to wait for the final 20 minutes for the exciting parts.  There will be a sequel for sure, and the possibilities are endless.  Halfway through the movie I was ready for it to be over, but at the end I was ready for round two.  Bottom line: too much time was spent monkeying around.  When you name your movie

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes

, make sure they rise up.

fashionado

film

score 6 out 10

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film

Jamie Clemons

Super 8

Director: J.J. Abrams
Producer: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Joel Lamb, Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Ryan Lee, and Riley Griffiths


E.T., Gremlins, The Goonies, The Karate Kid, Back to the Future, and Poltergiest,  all of these films have a few things in common.  The protagonists were all pre teens or teens, they were all facing extraordinary obstacles, and they all benefited from Steven Spielberg’s involvement.  What the 1980’s lacked in fashion it made up for in the quality of its movies.  Super 8 is a throw back to the films of my childhood and hands down the most fun I have had at the movies in years.


Let me start by saying that this is not a sequel or a remake! This is a new story written and directed by J.J. Abrams (Star Trek and Mission Impossible III).   The 2011 movie season is on record has having the most sequels ever released.  Super 8 is J.J. Abrams love letter to Steven Spielberg.  Anyone who grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s could not have escaped Spielberg’s influence on culture.  Spielberg's gift as a filmmaker has always been the heart and emotion he is able to convey in his movies.  If you have a heartbeat you are not able to watch one of his films and not have an emotional response.

Super 8 is set in the summer of 1979.  A group of young friends have banded together to make a zombie movie on a super 8 camera.  They sneak out one night to film a scene at the local train depot and witness a horrific train crash that nearly kills them all.  This sequence is merciless and your heart will be pounding.

After the crash, strange things begin happening all over town: dogs disappear, electronic devices and appliances disappear, and worst of all people begin to disappear.  The military arrives to clean up the mess but a local deputy, played by Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), knows that they are harboring a secret.   The deputy’s son, Joe, is the heart of the story and played by newcomer Joel Courtney.  Joe is recovering from the loss of his mother and his father's emotional distance.  Joe's crush for Alice, played by Elle Fanning (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), is the one bright spot in his gloomy life.  The humor in Super 8 is timed perfectly and laugh out loud funny.  Ryan Lee is a complete scene stealer.  He plays Cary a young man with huge braces and a love for all things fire.  The chemistry between the young cast is stellar and I was invested in all them and their well being.



Abrams touches on all the elements of the teenage struggles that made those films of the 1970's and 1980’s so great: the awkwardness of puberty, conflicts with friends, and the biggest lesson of all, learning that your parents are flawed people. For all of you in your 30's-40's who have fond memories from the movies that impacted your childhood, Super 8 will win you over.  Abrams kept the plot of this film hushed.  In fact, up until its release, exact details were not even known.  It was a very smart marketing move on his part and based on the box office it worked.  Do not wait for Netflix on this one.  The ticket price not only gets you in the movie but it will make you feel like a kid again and that is pretty super.

fashionadofilm score 9 out of 10

fashionadofilm Jamie Clemons

The Sea is All I Know

[caption id="attachment_7565" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Filmmaker/Director Jordan Bayne & Oscar winner Melissa Leo."][/caption]



 

The Sea is All I Know is a powerful new film by award winning filmmaker Jordan Bayne. It stars Academy Award winner Melissa Leo, critically acclaimed actor Peter Gerety and Kelly Hutchinson.

In a recent conversation with Bayne, I asked her to describe the film and she did so with a series of words. She said The Sea Is All I Know is a film about "love, relationships, betrayal, faith, death and healing." The film takes you on an emotional journey [and exploration] of the universality of life and what it means to truly experience a life-changing "act of selfless love."

Kelly Hutchinson who plays a daughter who comes home to die and reunites her estranged parents played by Peter Gerety and Melissa Leo. Through all of this, Leo and Gerety must set aside their personal feelings and angst for eachother and support their dying daughter who has forced them to face emotions they are unfamiliar and/or uncomfortable with. At the end, "her death, in a metaphysical way, brings healing" to the parents.

Peter Gerety is "amazing in this character" said Bayne, adding that "he is just sublime in this piece."

Bayne admits that she wrote the piece with Melissa Leo in mind as she has been a longtime admirer of her work. The day the Oscar nomination was announced, Leo called Bayne and reassured her that she was committed to doing The Sea Is All I Know and told Bayne not to worry. [Congratulations on the well-deserved win. Everyone was thrilled.]



"Even in the darkest hour, life has a way of teaching us, love never fails."

The Sea Is All I Know trailer captures so much emotion in a gripping 1 1/2 minutes. I appreciate the layers of complexity in the film. Especially Jordan Bayne's unconventional "love story" approach. We've all had personal encounters with life, love and death and from speaking with Bayne [and evidenced in the trailer] The Sea Is All I Know is a film that sends a message about the power, strength and dynamics of humanity.

Excellently and passionately written, directed and executed, The Sea Is All I Know will make you re-evaluate the things that truly matter in life.

[caption id="attachment_7570" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Center, Jordan Bayne, at work. All photos by Ilana Elberg."][/caption]

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