What goes into a bottle of Champagne? Easy answer: grapes. But how do they get there? Laura Naylor?s documentary Vas-y Coupe! (English title: Wine Crush) is a very pleasant atmospheric look at the harvest at one of Champagne?s premier vineyards. The film really isn?t so much about wine or agriculture. It is about people. Much…
Each spring, I usually attend and cover the Newport Beach Film Festival. As with just about everything this year, the pandemic has affected many film festivals, including NBFF. The festival is now underway virtually. This year geography isn?t an issue for people who?d like to see the films that have been chosen for NBFF. Like…
Nominated for Best Documentary Feature, For Sama brings a personal perspective to the Syrian conflict. The conflict in Syria has been fertile ground for documentary films. Two years ago The Last Men in Aleppo was among the doc nominees. This year The Cave is also nominated in this category. The war going on in that…
?Thank you for this day, Daddy. I hope I lived right and if I see you one day that I make you proud.? I first saw Katie Says Goodbye at the 2017 Newport Beach Film Festival, where I ranked it among my favorites. The film won jury awards for Best Actress (Olivia Cooke) and Best…
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, ?Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,…
I mentioned in one of my earlier reports that I?m stingy with my ratings of Excellent on the Audience Award ballots we are given for each film. The choices are Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor. My default is Good. To get an Excellent, a film needs to rise above the other films in some way….
The Newport Beach Film Festival presented by Pacific Sales continues to bring interesting films that may never make it to a wide distribution, but that doesn?t mean the films aren?t worthy of being seen. That is one of the values of film festivals. I would encourage everyone to look for film festivals near you. (Note…
Welcome back to the Newport Beach Film Festival presented by Pacific Sales. It was a full day for me, as you?ll see when you see the nine films I have to talk about. Okay, I?ll admit that six of them were shorts, but that still seems like a full day to me. Note that I?m…
The 20th edition of the Newport Beach Film Festival presented by Pacific Sales is now up and running. Films are shown at several venues, including Starlight Cinemas, Edward?s Big Newport Cinemas, the historic Lido Theater, and The Lot in Fashion Island. If you?re in the area, schedule and tickets can be found at the festival…
Premiering today at the Newport Beach Film Festival, In a New York Minutegives a glimpse into the lives of three strangers who inadvertently discover that their problems may be solved by a single pregnancy test. Amy is haunted by a past breakup that has manifested into an eating disorder. Angel is torn between an unhappy marriage…
