Walkie Talkie Blog
I witnessed some great talent in Tacoma last night. And I don’t mean The Beebs. I managed to avoid the gridlock crawling towards the Mecca-like Justin Bieber concert, heading north instead for Day 6 of The Grand Cinema’s Tacoma Film Festival. This particular evening’s selection called itself Grit City Flicks,
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Reading about 25 promising talents of independent film on a magazine page or tiny smartphone screen is one thing. But getting to interact with these talents and seeing their work in a theater makes the experience much more ... I don't know ... 3-D perhaps? For the third year in a
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We sure do love us a good prequel, the party before the party. Friday night's "Sneak Peek" event at The Grand Cinema was the Prometheus to its here-before-you-know-it Tacoma Film Festival (October 4-11), except it actually made sense and involved a lot less alien goo. Attendees answered trivia about the
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When undertaking a sprawling 15-hour film (yes, FIFTEEN) about the history of global cinema, one can start just about anywhere. Mark Cousins, who wrote and narrates The Story of Film: An Odyssey, begins near the end, 103 years after the invention of motion pictures. For his documentary's first images he
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Filmmaker Denny Tedesco has spent the last several years touring the world with his labor of love, a documentary entitled The Wrecking Crew, and this week it arrives in Tacoma for one day only. The Grand Cinema will host afternoon and evening screenings of the film on Wednesday, May 23,
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STIFF's evening show at Grand Illusion Cinema last Sunday brought a mixed bag of films to a nearly packed house. A Man, Buried (which I previewed in an earlier Movie Biz Buzz) started things off on the right note, with viewers enjoying this magical, darkly comic fable. While Tacoma's Rick
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Can you believe already three years have passed since producer/co-writer Randy Sparks finished his short comedy It Don't Rain on Sunny Days? Even more unbelievable is that I and the Volcano still can't shut up about it. Actually, I get into such a forward-thinking mindset, always seeking out the newest
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The jagged white triangle of Rainier explodes against a blue sky during the warmest day Tacoma has probably basked in this year. At first glance, the large house overlooking downtown looks as cheery as the weather, yet it houses a cold secret. See that? Someone has even blacked out a
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Late in 2011, a French director, hardly known to American audiences, came to this country with his film The Artist and won the admiration of critics and five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Now we head back east, as select American moviemakers invade the shores of France for next month's
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WRITER/DIRECTOR JESSE WATSON'S FILM TO SCREEN AT STIFF >>> We all have multiple identities. Sometimes, Tacoma's Rick Walters makes films. He produces, acts, and has even written and directed his own short, 2011's Scamp. At other times he wears the title Dad for his son Race (the two performed together in
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WRITER-ACTOR TONYA YORKE'S FILM LISTEN ACCEPTED AT STIFF 2012 >>> With already two films to its credit this year, Tonya Yorke's In the Room Productions quickly moves into the spotlight. While the Tacoma actor-producer's effort in The Shootout, a western about gunslinger Jesse James, nears completion for the festival circuit, last
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SHOOTING THE END OF THE WORLD ENDS IN GREENWATER >>> The ant can't act. I return to the set of Koinonia last Monday, and the shooting has moved indoors. Struggling through a post-apocalyptic world, John (played by Tony Doupe) finds temporary shelter inside an abandoned house. He awakes one morning to
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POKING AROUND AFTER THE MOTHER OF ALL GLOBAL WARS >>> My journey to Koinonia, the new feature by Tacoma's Andrew Finnigan, begins last Thursday. Mount Rainier looms larger and Highway 410 gets narrower as I head toward my destination. Buildings melt away, replaced by nothing but trees in all directions.
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THE DIRECTOR'S CUT >>> "I was supposed to be done with this thing already," Tchinski tells me. "Of course, you know how things go." Let me break it down for you: "this thing" refers to Grimises Rising, the new feature-length horror-thriller from director Harry Tchinski of Graham. After the splashes his previous
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JESSE HARRIS DID, AND STARTED SEATTLE'S NFFTY >>> Let's talk numbers. 21 Jesse Harris' age when he co-founded the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (the cool kids call it NFFTY) in Seattle with Jocelyn R.C. and Kyle Seago. What had YOU accomplished by that time in your life? Probably starting your
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HISTORY IN THE FILM-MAKING >>> The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle has brought back its History Is ____ Film Competition for a second time since beginning in 2011. Then I suppose what they say about history is true... (I take off my shades and peer seductively into my readers'
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MAKEUP ARTIST WILL DECORATE YOUR FILM >>> Tacoma's freelance makeup artist Kari Baumann has her own business, and she calls it Decorate Your Face. I hear that name and immediately a mental movie begins playing of Baumann gleefully chucking handfuls of foundation and glitter (glitter?) at her clients' cheeks, with
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TACOMA FILMMAKER IS OFF AND RUNNING WITH PHOENIX RUN WEB SERIES >>> I love some of the conversations I get into with filmmakers. Like one last week I had with Tacoma's TJ Walker - when I erroneously labeled his current project, Phoenix Run, a "zombie" Web series. He quickly reclaimed it
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A FUNDRAISER FOR POWER >>> In time for a swell 30th anniversary appearance, Annie returns to the silver screen this Saturday, Feb. 18, at Olympia's Capitol Theater. But don't come looking for a 3-D reboot like some of these supposed "classics" Hollywood plans to dig up this year. (The Phantom Menace?
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SEE SOMETHING NEW EACH WEEK >>> Hey, me again. With the first month of the year already gone, just thought I'd check in and see how those New Year's resolutions were coming. Maybe your list looks a lot like everyone else's - exercise more, drink less, actually start reading the
