Continuing our coverage of the 2014 GMCLA Voice Awards, we bring you our interview with Melissa Etheridge from the red carpet. Stay tuned for interviews with Greg Louganis, Lawrence Zarian, Brian Pendleton & Chad Goldman, Shane Bitney Crone, Brendon Ayanbadejo and more!
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Moviewallas had the extreme privilege of covering the red carpet at this this year’s GMCLA Voice Awards presented by First Investors.
The 2014 Awards were presented at the Globe Theatre in Universal City, Saturday, May 3rd. This year’s recipients included:
- Humanitarian Voice Award – Crown Prince of India, Manvendra Singh Gohil
- State Farm Good Neighbor Voice Award – Philanthropists Brian Pendleton & Chad Goldman
- Ally Voice Award – The Montgomery Family (Families Are Forever)
- Inspiration Voice Award – Accepted by Melissa Etheridge and Bruce Cohen
Here is our red carpet interview with the 2014 Awards Ceremony Hosts, Lance Bass and Pauley Perrette. Keep tuned to Moviewallas.com for more red carpet coverage soon!
The film ALEX OF VENICE made me think about how we think about films.
I have noticed, more so of late, that most people are eager to stamp a film as belonging to a particular genre, and then in the same breath penalize it for being just another example of that genre. For example, a film will get labeled a British comedy and then criticized for not living up to the standards of good British comedy. But why should a film have to be this, or that? Why cannot it just be a slice of life. With no aspirations other than that. Is that not enough? ALEX OF VENICE is the sort of film I watched and then wanted to hug afterward. Many will brush it aside as inconsequential, trite even. But I warmed up to it. And later, just believed in it. And you can’t say that about much of cinema these days.
A great deal of the film’s success lies in the casting of Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the lead. Winstead, like Shailene Woodley or Brie Larson, has such an honest, open screen presence, that the audience instinctively rallies behind her. To have a protagonist in a film that the viewer automatically roots for is half the battle won. Contrary to expectation, ALEX OF VENICE is not about a man in Italy. Its about a girl named Alex (Winstead) who lives near Venice, California.
Alex, an attorney at a grassroots organization, returns home from work one evening to be told by her husband (Chris Messina, who also makes his directorial debut with this film) that he has had enough of being the stay at home dad to their ten year old son, and wants out for a while. He is gone the next morning. Which leaves Alex’s life suddenly thrown into a whirlwind. Her father (an unexpectedly wry Don Johnson, who plays a famous former television star, natch) invites Alex’s free-spirit sister (the plucky Katy Nehra, who also shares writing credits) to come stay with them to help things out. As much as Alex struggles to reach a new equilibrium, it stays persistently out of reach. How do you convince a son pining for his father that things may never return to how they used to be? How do we reconcile with our parents’ worsening health, striking the balance between keeping your pride and granting them dignity? How do we negotiate the boundaries of a siblings’ involvement in our lives? Who amongst us has not dealt with all of this. The film deals with these issues with a lightness of hand and even though it tows toward being a mainstream film, it also pulls off being authentic.
Plus how can you find fault with a film that finds roles for Jennifer Jason Leigh and Beth Grant. Chris Messina, who has quietly being creating a fine resume of acting credits (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, ARGO, the underrated 28 HOTEL ROOMS, and many television credits including THE MINDY SHOW), shows remarkable empathy behind the camera as well, and I am eager to see what he helms next. He has already demonstrated uncommon savviness with picking the soulful Mary Elizabeth Winstead to be main player in his directorial debut.
This is a lovely little film.
One shows up at the Tribeca Fim Festival not knowing quite what to expect. And then like any other festival, one gets their bearings in the next couple of days.
One finds out, for example, that none of the three venues where festival films are screened are actually in Tribeca (two are in Chelsea and a third in East Village). One expects the general sensibility of the festival to be like that of the city it is in, hectic and impatient, and no-nonsense and talky. But I am a bit surprised, if pleasantly, to find that the festival is actually rather laid-back and matter of fact. Without exception, the screenings occur like clockwork with nary a hitch. Nobody hyperventilates at the sight of celebrities, and the voices of filmmakers do not crack with nervous gratitude when introducing their product before the start of a screening. Maybe its just that New York crowds are so inured to celebrity run-ins that nothing would be more gauche than to get excited upon seeing Sophia Loren or Mark Ruffalo.
The Tribeca Film Festival was founded by Robert DeNiro and producer Jane Rosenthal in 2002 at a time when Tribeca was an oft ignored neighborhood of the city. Things have come a ways in the thirteen years since during which more than 1500 films have been screened. Created initially as a salve to the 9/11 events and to foster recognition for the Tribeca area, the festival has now evolved into a full-fledged player in the big festivals film circuit.
I will be posting reviews of films I saw at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival in the coming days.
It’s Episode 229 of the Moviewallas Podcast. In this episode we let you know what we thought of:
– Enemy
– Nymphomaniac Vol. 1
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (32.1MB)
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Its a day that make me proud that I live in San Diego.
As the headline from the Landmark Cinemas press release (below) today states: “A Community Speaks Out For Its Favorite Theater (And Wins)“, the good people of the city of San Diego have managed to reverse a disturbing trend, the trend being the closure of small, independently run cinema houses across the nation. The giant multiplexes have displaced the smaller venues for screening films, particularly those that show independent and foreign films. How many times have we heard of such theaters shutting down in town after town. It is no different than the systematic closure of smaller book stores around the country.
It seemed the Ken Cinema, that bastion of fringe/independent/foreign cinema in San Diego, and the only single-screen movie theater in the city, had run its final mile when it was announced two weeks ago that the legendary theater was going to shut down at the end of April. How could the place where I had watched The Kid With A Bike, and The Dark Horse and The Great Beauty, and the Oscar Nominated Shorts not exist anymore? The cinema, formally part of the Landmark Cinemas chain, was to have its final movie screening this week. It was unbearably sad to see the demise of a great local institution. There were the expected protests from movie lovers, but truth be told I had little hope that much would come from the outrage expressed by a small community of cinephiles. After all, the decision was based on economics and therefore immune to all the emotional reasoning in the world.
Imagine the great surprise then to hear this morning that the Ken Cinema owners were able to miraculously figure out terms to keep the cinema going! I know that the likes of Scott Marks (lead film critic for The Reader) refused to take no for an answer and became an indefatigable champion to keep the Ken alive. And many others added their voices. And alive it is now!
In a usually not so awesome world, this is a little bit of awesomeness. It fills me with pride to live in a place where people care about cinema enough to reverse a national trend! Not bad, San Diego, not bad at all.
LANDMARK CINEMAS PRESS RELEASE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Lauren Kleiman Chris Principio
LaurenK@landmarktheatres.com ChrisP@landmarktheatres.com
A Community Speaks Out for Its Favorite Movie Theatre (and Wins)
San Diego, Calif. (April 24, 2014)— Landmark Theatres, Property Owners, Barry Green and Randi Hock along with Torrey Pines Property Management President, Chip Crandall are happy to announce today that they have come to terms ensuring that the Ken Cinema will remain open for many years to come.
According to Ted Mundorff, President and CEO, Landmark Theatres, “the community spoke and we listened. Because of the outrage to the closing of this beloved theatre, it caused Landmark and the Berkun family to sit down and get it done.”
In addition, Landmark is looking to implement several upgrades to the theatre including a new digital system and luxurious seating.
This weekend, the theatre has scheduled a special ‘thank you’ celebration of their patrons favorite films including screenings of Seven Samurai, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Lawrence of Arabia, The Big Lebowski and Singin’ in the Rain. “Now instead of a sad celebration, this weekend will be filled with smiles and gratitude”, added Mundorff.
The Ken will reopen on May 2nd with a full schedule of showtimes.
About Landmark Theatres
Landmark Theatres is a recognized leader in the industry for providing independent and select commercial films in a sophisticated adult-oriented atmosphere. They have 50 theatres in 21 markets across the country.
Landmark Theatres is part of the Wagner/Cuban Companies, a vertically integrated group of media properties co-owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban that also includes Magnolia Pictures, Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2929 Productions, AXS TV and HDNet Movies.
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