ACCESS SACRAMENTO presents New Scriptwriting Class - PCS 2010 By popular demand, we now offer special a scriptwriting class (three Saturdays, 10am - 2pm) on writing "short form" film scripts. Polish your PCS entry or take the short course to further your film writing skills. Limited enrollment - $50 fee per session. Register in advance at Access Sacramento by calling (916) 456-8600 "0" with a credit card. Need not be an Access Sacramento member or Sacramento County resident to sign-up for this class. Sign-up early - class will fill fast. Matt is in great demand as a script writing teacher.  The “Place Called Sacramento” script entry deadline is Monday, April 19th, at noon.   Saturdays -

Art met environmentalism Thursday at the Crest Theater when the first annual "Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival" made a one-night stop. This version of the "Wild and Scenic" is an extension of the original film festival that is in its eighth year in Nevada City. The event is sponsored by the South Yuba River Citizens League. The condensed festival in Sacramento also was sponsored by the S.O.S. Cranes, Habitat 2020, the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) and several other local environmental activist groups. It was made possible by a grant from Patagonia as well as donations from other organizations, including Clif Bar, Tom's of Maine, Osprey Packs and Sierra Nevada Brewi

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus Directed by Terry Gilliam By Tony Sheppard Capitol Weekly This is a movie that will be seen for two reasons: The movie itself and morbid curiosity associated with the death of its star, Heath Ledger. Ledger had completed “The Dark Knight” and was shooting this when he died of an accidental drug overdose, leaving Director Terry Gilliam with half a movie, no lead actor, and an uncertain future for the project. Gilliam is still best known by some of us as the wacky animator for the original Monty Python shows. But he’s also an accomplished director of not just Python movies, but also “Brazil,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” and “Twelve Monkeys,” amongst

Wagner Media Group presents a reading of its latest film project, For the Love of Ivy, Sunday, January 17th at the Big Idea Theatre, 1616 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento at 2 pm. For the Love of Ivy is a bi-racial love story, told in flashbacks, that begins a few days prior to the arrest of Rosa Parks, on December 1st, 1955. The central character, Ivy, is a young black maid who has impressed Tyler Madison and his wife June, who have just moved to a small Southern town from the more liberal North. Author John Wagner has made his story very topical by framing it with scenes of President Obama being sworn into office in the beginning and the end. We see Ivy as an elderly woman who can’t believe

A Single Man Directed by Tom Ford By Tony Sheppard Capitol Weekly Colin Firth plays George Falconer, a professor in 1962 Los Angeles who loses his long time partner in a distant car wreck and struggles through the lonely aftermath, trying to get through each day without him. There’s nothing unique about losing a loved one but Falconer, as a gay man in that period, has only one person he can share his feelings with, his best friend Charley (Julianne Moore) with whom he also shares a complicated past. At work and in his daily life, he maintains a stoicism that hides the lost romance that was always hidden. “A Single Man” is based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood – the Chris of “Chris

A group of Roseville filmmakers have made their dreams reality with an inspiring full-length film. No Parking is a beautiful story written by Seth Shore made into a full-length film directed by Hector Marquez. It premiered with great local acclaim that hopes to propel it to further success as a project that is much larger than the movie alone. Much like the movie’s tagline, “the ride is the destination”, the film is only the beginning of the overall drive for No Parking. Grief coerces Paul and Ray to embark on a high school dream they never entertained with action. An 11 day road trip in a ’73 Volkswagen Bus is impetus for revelation into the human heart at its rawest point; when ‘the da

Disclaimer: the contributor of this and his wife run Movies on a Big Screen (MOBS), Sacramento’s weekly screening series of documentaries, general independent film, classics and cult titles. The following is blatant self-promotion of a MOBS event. According to Andy Williams' 1963 carol, "It's the most wonderful time of the year."  Well this year, Movies on a Big Screen has decided to restore some balance to the equation by offering two Crappy Christmas shows! On Sunday, December 20, Movies on a Big Screen will "present" the 1964 anti-classic, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, also known by the far more thrilling title, Santa Defeats the Aliens.  Briefly, this "fun-filled romp" involves

Downtown's Crest Theater will screen A Christmas Story, the retro comedy classic based on Jean Shepherd's novel, in the third annual Christmas Story at the Crest event Saturday, December 19.  Beginning at noon, guests will enjoy several tables of home-baked sweets and hot chocolate in the lobby of the gorgeous art deco theater, while awaiting their turn to meet a real-bearded Santa, available to take gift requests and photos with hopeful children and adults.  The film begins at 1 p.m.  Ten dollar tickets will benefit Jesuit High School. For the uniquely uninitiated, A Christmas Story is the campy cult classic about 1940's school kid, Ralphie Parker, who wants nothing more than for Santa t

The Messenger Directed by Oren Moverman By Tony Sheppard Capitol Weekly Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson are an Army Casualty Notification Detail, tasked with informing the N.O.K. (next of kin) when their loved ones have been killed in action. It’s a soul-destroying assignment and, as explained by the older man (Harrelson) to his younger colleague (Foster), it’s not one that can be made easier by staged shows of understanding. But it’s a necessary function in a time of webcams and cable news shows. They race to get to the N.O.K. before they hear the news from anybody else. Foster has been on the edge of stardom for a decade and may be best recognized recently as Angel in “X-Men: The Last

Rodolfo Huerta, lucha libre wrestler and one of Mexico's most beloved film icons, is known as El Santo, or "The Saint." What's surprising though, is that the masked wrestler-cum-actor lived up to his exalted moniker on and off the screen. El Santo "saved" the Mexican film industry as it was on its deathbed, creating films that drew patrons back to the big screens, said Fred Dobb, film curator at La Raza Galeria Posada. When El Santo died in 1984 at the age of 66, thousands watched as the famous actor/wrestler was buried in his signature silver mask. For one week, starting Monday, La Raza Galeria Posada will show an El Santo film every night. The free series is sponsored by the Consulate

  SPC Presents Frank Andrick's ELEMENTS An evening of poetry, prose, storytelling, film, cine-poems, sound and music on October 12th 1719 25th Street (25th and R) featuring Christopher Fairman, Josh Fernandez, Wendy Rivara, and David Houston and Strings plus screenings of films by Man Ray and Stan Brakhage Mon. Oct. 12, 2009  At 7:30 PM Host: Bob Stanley refreshments and a poetic meet and greet at 7:30 Free. Donations Accepted. 1) The show starts at 8:00PM sharp with a short film plus poem and songs by Chris Fairman. 2) Segue into a set by Frank Andrick reading/performing poems interpolated with films by Man Ray, Stan Brakhage, etc. with an additional few poems with Wendy Rivera on

The Sacramento International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (SIGLFF), Sacramento's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) art event, is coming to the Crest Theatre Thursday through Saturday. "Embrace your sexuality, whatever it is," said Patti Barcena of SIGLFF. "SIGLFF is good entertainment. Where else will you get to see GLBT films with such an appreciative audience?" SIGLFF is a non-profit event that shows worldwide film and video works of both positive or critical portrayals of GLBT communities, people and aspects of their daily lives. "This international festival provides an outlet for GLBT filmmakers to express themselves and have their works shown on a big screen to

The Crest theatre brought back memories for one pair of Sacramentans Tuesday Night. Dick and Joanne Cossairt, both 76, were among hundreds on hand to celebrate the Crest's 60th anniversary with the screening of "That Midnight Kiss." "The new Crest marquee looks the same as when we were kids," Joanne Cossairt said. "They did an amazing job." The evening began around 6 p.m. with many in line at the concessions table for the 60th-anniversary special: ten packs of Smarties candy which were popular in the 1940s, soda and popcorn for $3. Then at 7 p.m., Crest manager Sid Heberger took to the stage to make a presentation. She thanked those who were there at the original screening and a young

This fall the Crocker Art Museum will host a daylong festival of contemporary films by female directors exploring the roles of Japanese and Japanese American women. Held to coincide with the Crocker’s exhibit of contemporary ceramics by Japanese women, Soaring Voices, the festival will include four film screenings at the Guild Theater, located at 2828 35th Street, on Saturday, October 17. Local filmmakers, artists and scholars will introduce and offer insight on each film. “Soaring Voices tells the story of Japanese women breaking into the male-only ceramic world, and these films expand on that story by looking at the position of women in Japanese society as a whole,” commented Christian

Halloween came to Sacramento early Wednesday morning as a group of six local science fiction lovers marched downtown dressed in Klingon, Death Star Trooper and Sith Lord costumes. Dozens of children and sci-fi fans flocked to take photographs and speak with the costumed characters. Others gawked, laughed and one child even cried as they meandered from the California Museum down K Street and past the Capitol to Cesar Chavez Plaza. The march was organized to promote The California Museum's new sci-fi exhibit "Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television," which will run from Oct. 3 to Jan. 10. It will feature more than 50 props and costumes from some of Hollywood's mo

There’s something about the title “The Cove” that makes me think of a teen horror movie. But “The Cove” is a horror movie of an entirely different kind – a documentary about routine dolphin slaughters in Taiji, a small coastal town in Japan, and the degree of cover up and misinformation that keeps the practice from becoming common knowledge. This is a tough movie to watch, with brutal and graphic footage, but that’s also a large part of why the film exists – to capture on video what the local industry has tried to keep hidden.This is a message movie, made to get the word out. It’s the kind of movie that demands that a reviewer actually divulge the content. This is unusual for me and if yo

District 9 Directed by Neill Blomkamp By Tony Sheppard Capitol Weekly Sitting at the Number 1 spot in this week’s box office rankings and modestly masquerading as a relatively low-budget creature feature, “District 9” is brought to you in a hands-off way by producer Peter Jackson (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy). I say masquerading, as it’s really quite an insightful commentary on politics and international power-brokering, both past and current. The story has aliens arriving over Johannesburg, complete with their clearly superior technology and weaponry but also with a broken spaceship and apparently no intergalactic towing service. This results in two outcomes – a giant refugee camp

Funny People Directed by Judd Apatow & The Hurt Locker Directed by Kathryn Bigelow By Tony Sheppard Capitol Weekly At first sight, these two movies seem to have little in common, but watching them back-to-back while trying to catch up with the summer’s offerings reveals interesting similarities. “Funny People” is the latest from the Judd Apatow machine (‘The 40 Year SuperKnocked Dewey Zohan Step Talladega Express’ or something like that) while “The Hurt Locker” is from Kathryn Bigelow, a dudette who makes movies for dudes (“K-19: The Widowmaker” & “Point Break”). While I’m on the topic of “Point Break” does anybody know what the dudest of dudes Keanu Reeves was doing in town last week?

(500) Days of Summer Directed by Marc Webb By Tony Sheppard Capitol Weekly The Summer of the title is a girl and not the season and the movie tells the story of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and 500 days during his relationship with her (Zooey Deschanel). This could be a fairly mundane story, with few significant surprises, except for the way in which it’s told. And that telling will appeal to some audience members and drive others completely crazy as to some extent the movie becomes more about the form than simply about the tale, a phenomenon that often leaves me on the crazy side of the fence but which this time around I found really appealing. As the story unfolds, the audience is pres

Beginning Saturday, Cesar Chavez Park will host the first inaugural Sacramento Outdoor Film Festival, produced by Creative Projection Services and its subsidiary, Sacramento Outdoor Movies. Starting at 5 p.m. and running every Saturday in August, the festival will provide food, fun and games for all those attending, with a movie at 9 p.m. to close out the night. This week's featured film is Rebel Without a Cause, the 1950s classic drama starring James Dean and Natalie Wood. Other festivities include various sponsor booths for home theater supplies and computer games, a video game competition, and Sacramento's Hoppy Brewing Co. will host a beer garden with food and drinks for the event.