In search of the seriously beautiful…
Local San Diego band, Thieves & Liars appears on the soundtrack for DOPE – a very personal documentary that traces the huge rise, and subsequent fall, and rise again of four world class skateboard champions.
The band played a short set before the film was screened.
Recognize the car? It appeared in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, with Will Ferrell – and that’s writer and director Adam McKay behind the wheel.
In town for a Q&A with aspiring and established filmmakers, Adam took a moment to hop in the car and pose for me – he was a good sport! The car was sold to a local resident after the film wrapped, and it was parked in front of the Art Center during the seminar – and attracting a lot of attention!
Adam spoke about how he got his start in several comedy troops in Chicago. Next he became a writer on Saturday Night Live, and a year later the head writer. His first day at SNL was also the first day for Will Ferrell – and the two have been linked by work ever since. After SNL they worked on Elf together in 2003, and in 2004 made Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Talladega Nights came in 2006, and next up is Step Brothers, set to be released later this year.
After the Q&A Adam hung around out front, giving advice and talking about film. The filmmakers in attendance took full advantage of the opportunity to talk one on one with him!
Production Designer and Art Director, Gregory Mannino is here in support of his film Paper Dolls, showing on Saturday night.
Director James Kerwin and Producer and Lead Actress Chase Masterson of Yesterday Was a Lie, at the Opening Night Party.
Linda Mandrayer, Ronald Shattuck, and Film Festival Director Brigitte Schlemmer.
Producer, Writer, and Lead Actor Adam Pitman talks up his film, Paper Dolls.
Actress Christiana Minga and Peter Hulst, the Director of Photography for Misunderstood.
Jingles and Colleen Aichle.
After the opening party, it was time to officially begin the festival with a few films! The Flyboys was at the Mission Theater – the largest venue – it’s stars Stephen Baldwin and Tom Sizemore and was released in March. JJ Purty’s showed The Matter with Clark.
And at the Art Center, Yesterday Was a Lie was shown. Described as a groundbreaking new noir film, combining the thrills of a classic detective mystery with the imagination of science fantasy, Yesterday Was a Lie was directed by a Fallbrook resident – and one of the lead actresses was there. So for me, it was the obvious choice.
I remember when I took cinema classes in college, having to let go and trust that my professor had chosen wisely – because ground-breaking, genre-warping films can be mind-numbingly awesome, or mind-numbingly awful. You have to go with it, and trust that it’ll be awesome – you can’t approach it half-heartedly – you have to let it take you for the full ride. And if it’s awesome, it’s great! And if it’s awful, all you can do is vow to read more reviews next time…
But isn’t a film festival the time to take a risk and see a film that challenges you?
The director, James Kerwin was introduced before the film started and he made a comment about not worrying if you don’t get it – that it takes most people multiple viewings to really get all the layers. So fair warning!
The look of the film is gorgeous – it’s what I call glowy black and white. Mr. Kerwin explained the process at a Q&A after the viewing, and it’s similar to how I’d achieve the same look digitally in a still image – duplicate the image, blur one version, and layer them. It mimics the look of film – and the way light can bounce around when hitting the film.
The film features two beautiful blondes, and you never really know for sure if they’re two different people, two sides of the same person, or if one is a figment of the other’s imagination. That sounds complicated – but it’s not. When you’re along for the ride, it all makes sense – even the fact that you’re not sure, makes sense. That’s the whole thing – the fun of it all – being unsure and wondering.
But unlike a lot of films that leave you hanging, and leave you unsatisfied – this one has an ending that fulfills. Things aren’t wrapped up with a bow – it could never be that simple! And I may interpret the ending one way, and you another, and I think that’s a beautiful thing!
In other words, it was awesome!
Producer and Lead Actress Chase Masterson, and the Director, Fallbrook resident James Kerwin at the Q&A after the film.
Chase Masterson talks about the challenges and the joys of producing her first film.
I recently did a session with Marty Casey on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. I can’t share all the images just yet – but I can share these!
There’s more from this session, and it’s amazing! The best is truly yet to come…
I just got my program guide for the Fallbrook Film Festival this weekend, and wow, there are a lot of choices! On Friday alone I’d like to attend the opening night ceremony at the Art Center, and then there are three films at three different venues I’d like to see. And then a meet and greet at the Irish Pub, after one of the films, with the filmmakers. The whole weekend – all three days – is like that. Just go, go, go from 10AM to midnight.
It’s going to be great!
Every year in April, Fallbrook throws a big party downtown and 70,000 of our neighbors from here and from nearby towns join in to celebrate the avocado – almost doubling our population for the day. It’s a big deal in Fallbrook!
What is Brooktown? It’s home! Technically it’s slang for Fallbrook – the cool kids in the 1960’s came up with it – at least that’s the story I was told at first. Then I heard that it first appeared on a high school yearbook in the 1930’s. But whenever it originated, it’s the insider way to refer to Fallbrook…
The view from Maddox Nursery – rolling hills, groves, oak trees, a few palms, scrub brush, and beautiful homes tucked away in places you never see from the main roads. That’s Brooktown!
It’s far too easy to drive past Dinwiddie Preserve and never really discover it… But it’s worth discovering!
I loved the color of the red blossoms on this tree – they may look small in the images, but they were huge.
In the 1880’s olive trees were planted all over Fallbrook, and between 1913-1915 olives were the biggest cash crop in the area. There was even an olive press here, for making olive oil. Remnants of those old groves can be spotted all over town, but the prettiest stand of olive trees is on the corner of Mission and Live Oak Park Road.
And finally some weeds from in front of Elder House.
So that’s it for my contribution to the 2008 Fallbrook Sourcebook! Some of these same images are currently appearing on Fallbrook.org and earlier today I discovered that my 2005 cover image for the Sourcebook is appearing on the front page of FindFallbrook.com – some images have a long life, and it was definitely an image that defines what Fallbrook is all about!
Palomares House is one of the oldest homes in town – built in the 1890’s. It’s currently run by the Fallbrook Land Conservancy, and community events are held in the house and on the grounds – which are beautiful. The teaser images of the tree in bloom I posted a few weeks ago, were made on it’s grounds.
The first two images were made on March 31, and the last two on March 20, 2008.
Live Oak Park is Fallbrook to me. It’s oak trees, rolling hills, a stream, and bright blue skies and birds flittering and fluttering, and peace and beauty.
These images were shot from March 24-26, 2008 for the Fallbrook Sourcebook. I think only one made the final cut for the magazine, but I love them all!
Los Jilgueros isn’t a park – there’s a trail that you can walk, but you must not disturb the wildlife – and the wildlife is abundant! A stream runs through the 46-acre preserve, and there are areas where it spreads out into wetlands, and other areas that are more pond-like. It’s a great spot to bird-watch or just walk the mile-and-a-half path and enjoy the scenery.
These images were shot on March 21, 2008, for Fallbrook Sourcebook.
