John Wildman

J.A. BAYONA’s JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM: TEN MOST RECENT FILMS WATCHED: Sound Unseen Film Festival Rocks This List!

By John Wildman 7 years ago

First off, yes it IS a dozen films. What of it?! But this latest list is pretty much all about the Sound Unseen Film Festival and the music documentaries I saw there and I saw quite a few fews there that I wanted to include here. There is, of course the typical all-over-the-map choices before hand (Orson Welles doc into Leigh Whannell action/horror? Sure, why not?!). Also, after each of my film festivals I have a “violent reaction” with the next films I watch to “cleanse the palate. ” In this case, following the cool music docs, I headed straight for the biggest, dumbest movies I could watch: THE MEG and the latest JURASSIC WORLD sequel. Hmmmm…perfect. Thanks Jason Statham and Chris Pratt!

Legacy Award honoree Craig Barron: Launching the Niagara Falls International Film Festival – A lot of heart but at times it also felt like going over the Falls in a barrel

By John Wildman 7 years ago

The combination of the films’ subjects, as well as the attendance of Welles’ mom and dad, Alison and Jeff, made for an emotional, but uplifting evening. Following the screenings at the historic Riviera Theatre the filmmaker awards were announced and a check for $1000 went to charities benefitting Firefighters and First Responders. During the awards ceremony, upon receiving the award for Best Narrative Film, WATERLILY JAGUAR producer Jonathan Piumelli announced that he and art director Shannon Lee got engaged the night before. It was a sweetly uplifting way to end the inaugural NFIFF.

Shorts and to the Point: Erica Rose’s GIRL TALK is an attention-worthy look at female sexuality in the “in-between”

By John Wildman 7 years ago

as Rose states, “This is a story about queer people just living.” Therefore, by design, what is exceptional about the film isn’t a crisis about her situation or her journey. No, what is exceptional is that rarely do we get such a direct, unapologetic in its sexual-politics, view of this world, not to mention an exploration of the gulf that sometimes exists between physical and emotional intimacy – without hanging onto a tragic moment or stock hurdle to overcome. The filmmaking is as assured as the lead character is when she is on her game, and the patience to breathe in between the “in between” Rose speaks of, makes the moments land with that much more of an impact.

Brian Cox with THE ETRUSCAN SMILE FILM FESTIVAL PHOTO GALLERY: The 2018 Naples International Film Festival celebrated a big day and night of screenings with a red carpet filled with filmmakers

By John Wildman 7 years ago

On a warm October evening in South Florida, the 2018 Naples International Film Festival hit its stride with a full day and night of screenings at the beautiful Silverspot theaters and gave the red carpet treatment to all of its filmmakers, including beloved character actor Brian Cox, who was at the fest with his film, THE ETRUSCAN SMILE. Palm trees literally swayed in the distance as the directors and stars got there photos taken and talked to the press before heading inside to catch another movie.

Jamie Patterson’s TUCKED leads awards at The 2018 Naples International Film Festival wraps things up with their Filmmaker Awards and Steve Martin and Martin Short

By John Wildman 7 years ago

The Naples International Film Festival announced the filmmaker award winners for the film festival’s 10th edition during a Closing Night Awards ceremony presented by Richard Lublin on Sunday, October 28 at Hayes Hall (5833 Pelican Bay Blvd.) on Sunday, October 20. The Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature (and a cash prize of $3,000) went to Jamie Patterson’s TUCKED, and the Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature (and $3,000) was given to Dava Whisenant’s BATHTUBS OVER BROADWAY. Among the other awards, Dermot Murphy received the Rising Star Award for his performance in Nick Kelly’s THE DRUMMER AND THE KEEPER.

Pablo Solarz’s THE LAST SUIT leads awards at Tallgrass Film Festival announces Golden Strands Awards as they wrap this year’s fest

By John Wildman 8 years ago

The 16th Annual Tallgrass Film Festival presented by Consolidated Equities Trust (October 17-21) announced their filmmaker awards on Sunday, October 21 at the Orpheum Theater in Wichita, Kansas, prior to their Closing Night screening of Theo Love’s WHITE TIDE: THE LEGEND OF CULEBRA. Leading the pack of filmmakers receiving awards, were Pablo Solarz’s THE LAST SUIT, which received the Golden Strands Outstanding Narrative Feature Award, and Quinn Costello, Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer’s RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE, which received the Golden Strands Outstanding Documentary Feature Award.

Amélie Van Elmbt’s THE ELEPHANT AND THE BUTTERFLY leads awards at Heartland Film Festival 2018 Announces Filmmaker Awards with more than $80K in cash prizes

By John Wildman 8 years ago

The Grand Prize for Best Narrative Feature (and a cash prize of $25,000) went to Amélie Van Elmbt’s THE ELEPHANT AND THE BUTTERFLY, produced by the Dardenne Brothers and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, and the Grand Prize for Best Documentary Feature (and a cash prize of $25,000) was given to Alexandria Bombach’s ON HER SHOULDERS. Among the other awards, Kendall Goldberg’s WHEN JEFF TRIED TO SAVE THE WORLD was presented with Heartland’s first FIPRESCI Best Directorial Debut for USA Narrative Film nod and Dava Whisenant’s BATHTUBS OVER BROADWAY received the festival’s Humor and Humanity Award.