Workaholics Apr 18, 2011
Tales From The Texas Hill Country – Part 3 May 15, 2011
Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope Oct 13, 2011
The first large scale animated production to come out of Scotland was premiered to audience acclaim at the Sonoma International Film Festival on Friday, April 13th. A heart-warming and hilarious adventure film, “Sir Billi” features an all-star cast including Academy Award® winner Sir Sean Connery in his first ever animated voice-over role, and Tony Award® winner Alan Cumming. AMFM spoke with Tessa Hartmann of Billi Productions in Glasgow Scotland. Tessa wrote the screenplay, and her husband is Sascha Hartmann, the Director.
Academy Award® nominated Scottish composer Patrick Doyle, (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Sense and Sensibility”), created the film’s music score and British singing legend Dame Shirley Bassey also joined the project to perform the title track “Guardian of the Highlands,” marking the first time Connery and Shirley have worked together since the 1965 James Bond film “Goldfinger.”
SYNOPSIS: When tragedy strikes in the Highlands, there can be only one man for the job – Sir William Sedgewick, aka Sir Billi (Sir Sean Connery)! This is an adventure story about an inimitable Highland hero – a grandpa. As active senior skateboarding veterinarian he goes above and beyond the call of duty fighting villainous policemen and powerful lairds in a battle to save an illegal fugitive – Bessie Boo – last beaver in Scotland! A roller coaster adventure, Sir Billi braves treacherous ravines and hazardous gullies with his sidekick Gordon the Goat (Alan Cumming) to save Bessie Boo and Wee Dave the rabbit as they hurtle down a perilous river.
AMFM: I SAW THE VARIETY MAGAZINE REVIEW OF SIR BILLI. I WAS SHOCKED.
Oh listen, the other thing about being Scottish, It’s going to take more than one bad review to put me off. I said to my husband last night, “We knew by doing this project we’d be swimming with the sharks, and if I didn’t want to swim with the sharks I wouldn’t have jumped into the sea. Bring it on.
HOUSTON, April 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Relics of six Knights of Columbus canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000 will launch a tour of several American cities Friday, April 27, in Houston. The Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston will host the relics beginning with a special Mass Friday evening for the Knights of Columbus Texas State Convention. The relics will remain in the church for veneration during the regularly scheduled weekend Masses.
The six priests — Fathers Pedro de Jesus Maldonado Lucero, Miguel de la Mora de la Mora, Jose Maria Robles Hurtado, Luis Batiz Sainz, Rodrigo Aguilar Aleman, and Mateo Correa Magallanes — were all martyred for their faith by the Mexican government during the religious persecution in Mexico in the early 20th century. Thousands of the faithful turned out in 2005 for a previous pilgrimage of these relics in cities around the United States — from Dallas to Philadelphia to Los Angeles Read more
Paul Salfen interviews Harry Knowles (Ain’t It Cool News), Thomas Tull (Legendary Pictures), and some of the subjects of the documentary “Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope at Fantastic Fest. Morgan Spurlock had the idea to do a documentary on Comic-Con, the world’s largest comic book convention, after attending and falling in love with the event. Comic Con Episode IV is written and directed by Spurlock, and his Warrior Poet team worked with such iconic names as Stan Lee and Josh Whedon as well as Knowles and Tull to bring this documentary to life. The audience response to the film at Fantastic Fest was genuinely positive, with people laughing and crying at this behind-the-scenes look at the fans who gather by the thousands each year in San Diego, California to attend the Geek cultural phenomenon. The film follows two aspiring comic book illustrators, a talented costume designer, a sweet couple who share their enthusiasm for the Geek lifestyle, and Chuck Rozinsky, founder of Mile High Comics as he frets about the future of the Comic Industry. Each have goals and aspirations and sojourn to Comic Con to follow the yellow brick road to their dreams. Surprisingly heart-warming, the film is an intimate look at what drives the convention to become larger and more successful every year – its fans.
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Described by Kevin Sorbo as “a twisted love story,” Julia X 3D is a bloody morbid, humorous romp through a serial killer’s “best date ever.” Sorbo plays The Stranger, a serial killer who combs craigslist looking for dates and finally meets his perfect match in Julia. The film starts like a typical horror/slasher with a high gore factor then takes a nutty left turn when Sorbo gives personality to his twisted character. Are Hercules fans ready for this? He plays the bad guy with equal parts villainous zeal and tender affection for his victims. He’s mad – entirely bonkers.
Valerie Azlynn’s Julia refuses to be victimized and gives as good as she gets, and as the date develops there are some good moments as the characters connect. The director/writer, P.J. Pettiette, does a great job at leading the audience deeper into the story by making the darker content palatable enough that by the end of this ride you’ve both laughed and cringed. Filmed in Louisiana using actual 3D technology instead of “post-conversion” techniques, it’s example of a 3D independent feature film that can hold it’s own against Hollywood.
“In the end I was really pleasantly surprised, it wasn’t about the band, it was about the message.” – Tom DeLonge
A lovely older woman in her first stages of Alzheimer’s disease deals with an ugly, male-dominated world by finding beauty where she can. “Mi-ja” is played by Yun Jung-hee, one of Korea’s most treasured actresses. “Mi-ja” is a polite, self-effacing grandmother charged with the care of a loutish teenage grandson as well as an elderly man who’s had a stroke. A pensioner who has become invisible and ignored, she dreams of writing poetry like she did as a young girl. Yun Jung-hee breathes resilience and strength into “Mi-ja’s” graceful femininity as she strives to tempt the muse through a poetry class. Sadly, inspiration finally comes in the resolution of a moral dilemma which concerns her grandson and his friends, who’ve driven a young girl to suicide with their sexual attention. “Mi-ja” finally finds her poetic voice by doing the right thing.
“To Mi-ja, writing poems is important because she’s discovering the meaning of the world. The paradox of her life is that she’s leaving the world and forgetting the words.” – Tim Lee
