Father Geek here with the latest word from our lovely editor on the beach out on some beautiful Pacific Isle, Ms Moon Yun Choi...
Aloha, Moon Yun signing in from Hawaii…
CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES is out on video.
CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES is out on video.
Funny, I don’t think Eric Byler, the writer/director, wants to hear this but I finally viewed the screener he gave me about a year or so ago because I thought it would be a good film to watch when I’m depressed.
I had seen it twice before, once at the 2002 Cinema Paradise Film Festival and the second during the Hawaii theatrical showing of the film Roger Ebert described as “mysterious and erotic,” one which plays like an emotional thriller.
Byler had given me the screener about a year or so ago because the audio was bad in the theater and he wanted me to view the twice nominated Independent Spirit Award film with good audio. Surprisingly, he was right.
There’s a scene in the film where Charlotte/Darcy (Jacqueline Kim) is having dinner with Michael (Michael Idemoto). I vaguely recall Byler saying during the audience Q & A that it’s actually a break up scene but they don’t say it. Byler describes himself as an artist, one who renders the romantic elements of a story with realism and truth.
Funny too how one evening when I was having dinner at Pietro’s with an old friend of mine I thought about that dinner scene – how art imitates life, life imitates art when two people have nothing to say.
Oh, my situation wasn’t as traumatic as the havoc that Charlotte/Darcy causes in the lives of Michael and Lori (Eugenia Yuan), his neighbor/tenant who he longs for. My friendship was saved. I just thought how funny that scene came to my mind at that particular moment.
The VHS/DVD has hit the streets but if you’re having a hard time finding it, you can order it on the web by going to: This Location.
In Hawaii, Blockbuster will start carrying CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES in early November.
Official Website: www.CharlotteSometimesTheMovie.com
Additional DVD Release Material includes:
- -- Audio Commentary 1. Eric Byler (director), Michael Idemoto, Eugenia Yuan (stars).
- -- Audio Commentary 2. Eric Byler (director), Jacqueline Kim, Matt Westmore (stars)
- -- Q&A Session Moderated by Roger Ebert, w/ Byler, Idemoto, Kim
- -- Behind-the-Scenes Footage, Bloopers, Interviews
BLOOD OF THE SAMURAI on DVD…
Also out on DVD from another talented Hawaii filmmaker is Aaron Yamasato’s award-winning feature BLOOD OF THE SAMURAI. The ultra-low budget film, an ode to B-action samurai flicks of the 1980s, won the Aloha Airlines Hawai‘i Film & Videomaker Award at the 2001 Hawaii International Film Festival and played at numerous film festivals around the world.
I’ll be filing a report on my on-the-set experience of the BLOOD OF THE SAMURAI TV series which is set to air on a local TV station (OC 16) in mid-November. Yamasato plans to have his TV series out on video too. From what I saw of the video footage, the production value of the TV series looks better than the original movie version.
The upcoming sequel, BLOOD OF THE SAMURAI: THE SERIES, is a six-episode martial arts action adventure. The series stars the original actors from the first movie: Bryan Yamasaki (TRENT), Michael Ng (ROB), Colleen Fujioka (BROOKE) and Stephanie Sanchez (ROXY). Yamasato is also proud to add new characters to his “samurai universe”, including Superbrawl Champion Egan Inoue as the vile gangster SHINZO, his henchman ONI played by Taekwondo champion Danny Kim, Miss Hawaii USA 2003 Alicia Michioka as the mysterious ninja YUKI, and Ban Daisuke, of Kikaida and Inazuman fame, as SENSEI.
The DVD is available to order worldwide on www.Amazon.com.
The DVD also includes ICEBERG -- Yamasato's multi-award winning claymation film short about the "Titanic" disaster depicted from the viewpoint of the Iceberg's innocent animal inhabitants.
For more info, go to www.bloodofthesamurai.com.
And finally I want to send out a congrats to Mimi Gan on the award the director received for her short doc, “With Honors Denied,” which won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films recently. I had filed a review on “With Honors Denied” on Ain’t It Cool News after meeting the director at the 2002 Maui Film Festival.
