Saturday, May 5, 2012
The weeklong showcase of movies from around the world transformed the city into a mini-Hollywood of sorts.
Replete with red carpets, glitzy parties, filmmaker Q&As, gallons of popcorn, and movies of every stripe, the 13th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival did not disappoint. For a week, Newport Beach was transformed into a mini-Hollywood, sans the high-maintenance celebrities and stalking paparazzi. Some 52,000 film buffs visited local theaters to mix and mingle with the stars and creators of outstanding cinema. The highlights included the Opening Night Red Carpet festivities, Friday night's Lexus afterparty, Orange Coast College students premiering their short films, red carpet premieres of Decade of Dominance and Should've Been Romeo, the Absolut Party at Equinox, intimate screenings at the revamped Port Theater, Fashion Island parties …
Jim Gaffigan offers an amusing take on the favorite sea creature of environmentalists.
As a counterpoint to the recent news of whales getting tangled in fishing lines, how about a little whale humor? Comedian Jim Gaffigan, whose popular observations cover everything from bacon to Catholicism, has a new bit on whale weight problems and predators.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Parents who have lost their children to a prescription drug overdose honor them at Big Newport Theater.
It takes just a second to connect yourself to someone who has lost a loved one to an overdose from prescription pills. On the final day of the Newport Beach Film Festival, the victims of the epidemic were remembered during a candelight vigil. Behind the Orange Curtain -- a documentary exposing the growing epidemic of youth abusing deadly prescription medications -- had its final viewing Thursday to a sold-out crowd. A candlelight vigil was held on the lawn outside Big Newport Theater just before the film started. Parents brought photos of the children they have lost and placed them on the grass. The candles were lit in remembrance by parents, friends and family members to honor the lost lives. "The important message of Behind the Orange …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The film explains the often misunderstood condition.
The Newport Beach Film Festival has brought some great films to local audiences and one of my favorites is The D Word: Understanding Dyslexia. I viewed the 52 minute film at Island Cinemas and enjoyed how well it explains the difficulties people with Dyslexia deal with on a daily basis. Filmmaker James Redford -- whose son Dylan also has Dyslexia-- said the film presents an opportunity to help others living in turmoil and I would have to agree. I felt it did a good job at providing specific examples about the learning disability, and it shows rather than tells by bringing the audience into peoples' personal lives. The film includes interviews with young Dyslexics and there are some famous faces in the film too, who share their experiences …
Monday, April 30, 2012
The 11th annual Multicultural Fair took place over the weekend at Sage Hill High School.
Some of the world’s most diverse cultures brought a worldly feel to Newport Beach in a festival of ethnic music, dance and food. Sage Hill School's 11th annual Multicultural Fair was held Saturday. This year's festival provided guests with diverse food and clothing choices from around the world also helped raise money to benefit global community service organizations such as Vision Village -- which donates eyeglasses to disadvantaged youth-- and Krochet Kids International, which sells hats made by women in Uganda and Peru and to help them escape poverty. “It feels really great to help these women out,” said Celeste Brodereick, a tenth grade student at Sage Hill. “We volunteered because we were interested in fashion but we could also …
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Filmgoers get a look as the theater as it opens briefly for the Newport Beach Film Festival.
The mystery behind the new Port Theater in Corona del Mar was finally revealed over the weekend, when its doors opened to a limited number of guests who enjoyed a filmmaker seminar as part of the Newport Beach Film Festival. I had been dying to see the unveiling of this iconic theater, probably more than anyone else because I grew up on Carnation and Marguerite avenues and the Port is perfectly sandwiched between the two streets. My grandma and I walked to the Port and watched foreign films after my school days at Harbor View Elementary. Yes, they mostly screened foreign films, but they were good films nonetheless and a bag of popcorn made up for the hard to read subtitles. On Saturday the Port Theater showed off its fairytale makeover …
Friday, April 27, 2012
The conservative '70s-era rocker played to a sold out crowd at the Coach House Thursday. Yeah, he had plenty to say.
The Motor City Madman isn't about soft messages. Ted Nugent, the self-proclaimed “Great White Buffalo,” performed a flawless show Thursday night with his ear-piercing band the Nigerian Rebels to a sold out crowd at the Coach House. A mountain of stacked Bad Cat and Eddie Van Halen 5150 signature amplifiers were creatively decorated with two lifelike AR-15 assault rifles that reassured the audience of second amendment advocates that this was, indeed, a Ted Nugent show. “Hey Coach House, I just go to work everyday and [tick] off [people] without even trying,” screamed Nugent halfway into the song Doctor, the second of the set. Despite the recent controversy regarding Nugent’s comment at the National Rifle Association convention in St. …
Opening night features the world premiere of "Jewtopia." Showings of "Behind the Orange Curtain," a film about teen prescription drug abuse in Orange County, are nearly sold out.
If you noticed a few extra stars in the sky Thursday night, it could have been the sparkling reflection from the red carpet at the 13th annual Newport Beach Film Festival. The romantic comedy Jewtopia made its world premiere at the Big Newport Theater and its all-star cast walked the carpet for a crowd of enthusiastic reporters and flash-happy photographers. In the movie, Tom Arnold -- a self-proclaimed film festival junkie -- plays gynecologist Bruce Daniels. Having made his rounds at Tribeca and Sundance, he thinks the Newport Beach Film Festival stands up well against the festival heavyweights. "They've done an amazing job in their 13 years of building a festival," Arnold said. "For them to build this festival here so close to L.A., …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The 2012 Newport Beach Film Festival opens with the world premiere of Jewtopia.
The 2012 Newport Beach Film Festival kicked-off Thursday with the sold out screening of Jewtopia. Jewtopia stars Tom Arnold and fellow cast members Elaine Tan, and Bryan Fogel were among the actors that talked with reporters on the red carpet before the sold out screening. More than 400 films from 50 countries will be viewed by over 50,000 movie goers at this year's festival which runs through May 3. Did you attend opening night? Tell us about it in the comments.
Monday, April 23, 2012
The long awaited return of the Port Theater in Corona del Mar will happen just in time for the Newport Beach Film Festival.
One of the most iconic buildings in Newport Beach will finally be unveiling its long awaited remodel this week as it serves as a venue for the heavily anticipated Newport Beach Film Festival. The Port Theater on East Coast Highway, which has been closed and deserted since 1998, has been slowly undergoing a facelift fit for the 21st Century. While theater officials have been hush hush on the project, an official from the Newport Beach Film Festival confirmed some design secrets the public could expect when its doors reopen Saturday afternoon for the seminar, "Vision and Craft: The art of filmmaking." "It's the Port Theater so there has to be portholes, lots of stainless steel portholes and lots of stainless steel gates, granite all over the…
Gene
7:47 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Sounds like a Free for All, we love Young Ted around here. As far as I'm concerned, he can do whatever he wants, as long as he keeps up the searing electric guitar solos and hair. I don't care about the gun issue, I don't have to like guns and killing things because I've got Ted to do that. Only in the U.S.A. do these things happen. When my older brother turned me on to Nugent at age 14, it … more ›