It’s not as bad as it looks. Jared Pienkos of Fair Haven, playing an insurance pitchman, took an extremely slow-mo hood spill as part of spoof video he and some friends filmed Sunday in the parking lot of Red Bank Regional.
At the wheel was Joe Griesbach of Rumson; behind he camera were Rebecca Cramer of Fair Haven and Aly Honsa of Rumson.
“We don’t know if we’re funny yet,” Pienkos told redbankgreen. Readers will be able to judge for themselves, if and when the video makes it to You Tube, as the foursome plans. Stay tuned.
The film, an Oscar-nominated documentary by CNN producer Amy Berg, is an up-close look at Fr. Oliver O’Grady, a narcissistic Roman Catholic priest who is believed to have sexually abused hundreds of California children over two decades, and the efforts that church officials took to conceal his crimes.
Yeah, not exactly a popcorn flick.
“We’re interested in powerful, controversial films,” says FFS Chairman Richard Alter. “This one was a difficult choice. But for all the priests who are abusing, thank god there are movies like this.”
Directed by Amy Berg, “Deliver Us From Evil” is a documentary that explores the trail of emotional devastation left in the wake of Father Oliver OGrady, the most notorious pedophile in the history of the modern Catholic Church.
With footage of both the mass predator who confesses to his crimes without remorse or self-reflection and his victims, the movie explores the question of what senior officials of the church knew of O’Grady’s pedophilia and the efforts they took to keep it under wraps.
Andrew Malecki is kind of a hard case for high school guidance counselors and anathema to parents struggling to convince their kids of the value of a college education.
Smart enough to do well in most of the subjects thrown his way, Malecki’s someone who badmouthed high school as an obstacle to his real education and says, in categorical terms, that college is an utter waste of time and money. For himself, he emphasizes though his critique is broad-brush.
He’s verbally and artistically gifted, unshakably confident, and less than a year after graduating from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School doing exactly the kind of cool stuff he dreamed he’d be doing ever since he decided, mid-sophomore year, that no way was college in the cards for him.
Circumstance may someday prove, to others, that Malecki made the right choice in deciding to pursue a career in filmmaking right out of high school. It could even turn out that the teachers who knew him best at R-FH and tried to dynamite him off his chosen path grudgingly agree.
For now, though, his alma mater is more likely to hold a “Bong Hits for Jesus” rally than point to Malecki as a role model.
The tireless impressario who brought to life the Red Bank Music Community and its songwriters’ workshops and open-mic nights and StreetLife concerts is now bringing the big screen to town.
Through the RBMC, Ginsberg has put together a weekly series of music-themed fims that will play, free of charge, at the Red Bank Visitors’ Center at 17 East Front Street (NOT at the train station, as the visitors’ center website still claims).
The series debuts Monday night with “This is Spinal Tap,” the spiritual godfather of a generation of mockumentaries, starring Harry Shearer, Michael Keaton and Christopher Guest.
Here’s an event we’re really looking forward to, brought to life by the Freedom Film Society, the people behind the annual Red Bank International Film Festival.
On Saturday, Dec. 2, photographer Danny Sanchez will open up his Bridge Avenue studio for a screening of “Old Joy,” a 76-minute film by Kelly Reichardt about two 30-ish guys on a camping trip in the woods of the Cascade Mountains near Portland, Ore.
Starring Will Oldham and Daniel London, the film also features the input of some of our favorite New Jersey-rooted artists. Hoboken rockers Yo La Tengo did the soundtrack, adding to a growing list of YLT film scores that also includes last year’s “Junebug “and this year’s “Shortbus.” And Fair Haven’s Peter Sillen, director of the 2000 doumentary “Benjamin Smoke,” manned the camera for “Old Joy.”
Terry Gross’s National Public Radio interview show, called Fresh Air, could hardly have a more apt name.
The variety of fascinating personalities that cycles through her studio at WHYY in Philadelphia is proof that there is an alternative to the same-old lineup of guests making the talk show rounds to hawk big-budget movies and other dreck.
A recent week’s roster included filmmaker Stephen Frears; the authors of new books on the Bush Administration and the Holocaust; and Ray Manzarek, formerly of the Doors.
But that’s just the beginning. Gross is a seductive can-opener of an interviewer, one who almost always manages to get her guests to reveal surprising aspects of themselves and their relationships to their work.
Then again, sometimes she doesn’t. Next Saturday, Dec. 12, Gross comes to the Count Basie Theatre to show that it doesn’t always work out as well as it sounds on the radio.
Final figures aren’t yet in, but the sixth annual Red Bank International Film Festival, held last weekend, attracted a record number of moviegoers from all over the tri-state region, says Marc Leckstein, president of the Freedom Film Society, the festival sponsor.
“This was probaly the most sucessful festival we’ve had, not just in terms of attendance, but in terms of the quality of the films and audience response,” says Leckstein.
Soon, after a brief return to lives put on hold for the festival, the all-volunteer film society returns to the challenge of building the lineup for the seventh edition.
“What we try to do is to show people product that they’re not normally going to be able to see,” says Leckstein. “That’s what our audience has become conditioned to expectingsomething new and different.”
The folks making the short film “Layla is Bad” in Sea Bright have put out a late call for extra, um, extras.
Thing is, they especially need them this afternoon, starting around 3p. And they’re looking particularly for families: Moms and/or Dads with kids.
Yeah, short notice.
The draws here for volunteers are these: a chance to visit Chapel Beach Club, one of the swankest beach clubs in this area and a summer getaway to a big-name celeb or two; an opportunity to observe professional movie-making up-close; a chance to appear in a film, perhaps with a Hollywood star of tomorrow; and a free DVD of the movie when it’s finished.
redbankgreen stopped by the set yesterday and had a great time watching the crew shoot a scene in which two young lovers make out and then get into a tiff. Extras in swimwear got to sashay past the camera dozens of times.
If interested, drop by Chapel Beach Club (opposite the Dunkin Donuts, near the foot of the Sea Bright-Rumson Bridge) at 3 and ask for Vik. You’ll need to wear beach attire and bring any beach accessories you might have handy. And expect to stick around for a few hours.
An NYU Film School student is making a short comedy beginning Wednesday at a beach club in the Rumson vicinitythe exact location is being withheld for nowand seeking extras.
The film, by director Arzhang Kamarei, a Princeton native, is called “Layla is Bad.” It tells the story of what happens when an 18-year-old girl from a conservative Middle Eastern family wears a swimsuit in public for the first time.
Shooting is scheduled to continue through Sept. 14.
To participate, you should be able to pass for between 18-35 years old and be “the sporty, beach-person type,” a press release says. No big tattoos.
You should also be willing to endure the unspeakable tedium of filmmaking, in which nothing discernible happens for hours and then someone hands you a check for $5 million. Except in this case, you’ll be doing it for the fun of it and the chance to see your sporty, beach-person’s belly in a film. And you’ll get a copy of the finished product on DVD.
If you’re game, e-mail Vik Sharma and put the word “EXTRA” in the subject line. Attach a photo of yourself so the filmmakers can keep track of you.
Unpaid production assistant spots are also available.
Coming off a 13-hour marathon that had him signing geek memorabilia almost until dawn at his Broad Street comic book store, filmmaker Kevin Smith entertained 2,000 fans in Marine Park last night with a mixture of endless approachability and profanity.
Local politicians, including Mayor Ed McKenna and mayoral candidate Pat Menna, all but kissed Smith at the start of his open-air Q&A and rocked with laughter at his early answers. But they grew increasingly rigid of jowl and then vanished from stage right as the director of the recently-released ‘Clerks II’ worked his way through an hour of audience questions with dozens if not hundreds of graphic references to sex.
Until a host finally interceded, many of the questions came from self-described aspiring filmmakers asking for jobs, advice or an opportunity to have picture taken with Smith. Increasingly, such requests elicited groans from the audience.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith signed autographs this afternoon at Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, the comic book store he owns on Broad Street.
Tomorrow night, he’s scheduled to answer questions from the audience at an open-air screening of his breakthrough film, ‘Clerks,’ in Marine Park.
redbankgreen did a mini Q&A with a chain-smoking Smith before throngs of fanswho lined up from Broad Street to the firehouse on Mechanic Streetwere allowed into the store.
redbankgreen: What’s the one question you don’t want to hear tomorrow night?
Smith: ‘How much do you weigh?’ That’s never a fun one.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith will meet with fans at his Broad Street comic-book salon Monday afternoon, and singer Lisa Loeb will join him at an outdoor screening of his breakthrough film “Clerks” in Marine Park Tuesday night.
Ava Gacser of Gannett News Service has an interview with Loeb in today’s Asbury Park Press. In addition to serving as host of a series of outdoor screenings around the U.S., Loeb is flogging a new greatest-hits album and a reality-TV show about her search for a man who will love or, alternately, impregnate her.
Larry Higgs of the Press has a separate item on Smith’s plans to meet with interested parties at his store, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, Monday at 2p.
The Press says 2,000 people are expected at the free Marine Park event, which begins at 7p with an audience Q&A with Smith, followed by the screening at 8:30. No crowd-size estimate is given for the store event.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith’s breakthrough 1994 film ‘Clerks’ will be screened at Marine Park on Aug. 8, the Asbury Park Press reports today. The event is free and open to the public.
Smith, a borough native who owns Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash comic book and novelty-items store on Broad Street, will take questions from the audience beforehand.
Larry Higgs of the Press reports that the film is part of a program called “Rolling Roadshow,” in which famous films are screened in the places where they were set. The program producer’s first choice was to screen ‘Clerks’ at the convenience store where it was shot, in the Leonardo section of Middletown, preceded by a street hockey match. But the store is close to a residential neighborhood, and township officials turned down the request for permits because of concerns about noise.
The Press reports that
[Red Bank] Borough Council members gave their approval for the showing on Monday night, provided that the festival pays for police protection and cleanup and takes steps to prevent anyone under 17 from getting into the R-rated film.
The Press also says about 2,000 people are expected to turn out for the event.
