Beaks here...
This Saturday, May 21st, the esteemed fellowship of the gonzo Reel Grit screening series - a weekly event for students and alumni of the American Film Institute and select friends - will celebrate the projection of their 100th movie. Thing is, they're on movie number ninety-four at the moment, so they're going to have to get through six films in one day to get there.
Enter the Reel Grit Six Shooter: a day-long marathon of awesome genre flicks (presented in conjunction with Badass Digest), all of which will be projected on 35mm at an undisclosed location. Each film has been selected by a successful AFI grad, each representing a different discipline. Here are the six industry professionals who will be on hand to talk about a film that has had a profound influence on them:
Producing – Stuart Cornfeld (Tropic Thunder, The Fly, The Elephant Man)
Directing – Robert Mandel (The X-Files, F/X, The Substitute, School Ties)
Screenwriting – Jacob Forman (All The Boys Love Mandy Lane)
Cinematography – Amy Vincent A.S.C (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan)
Editing – Howard Smith (The Abyss, Point Break, Near Dark)
Production Design – Todd Cherniawsky (Splice, Avatar, Planet of the Apes)
The films they've selected are a surprise, but I'm told they've gone after some really fantastic stuff - some of which rarely gets screened. All I know is that everyone at Reel Grit in incredibly excited about watching 35mm of these movies, and since they show some amazingly random stuff there (e.g. Sergio Corbucci's DJANGO, Steven Kastrissios's THE HORSEMAN, Yoshihiro Nakamura's GOLDEN SLUMBER, Steven Hillard Stern's ROLLING VENGEANCE, and Michael Mann's THE JERICHO MILE), this means I'm incredibly excited.
And some of you will be joining me for this mind-melting day of cinema.
Because the Reel Grit folks know AICN readers are some of the most well-versed movie geeks around, they've set aside twenty tickets for me to give away as I see fit. Want in? Here's what you need to do: send an email to mrbeaks@aintitcool.com with the subject "Reel Grit 6 Shooter", and give me your ideal (and, most importantly, eclectic) program of six movies. The coolest lineup of films will earn you (and a guest, if you like) a trip to the marathon.
Deadline for entries is Thursday, Noon PST. I will contact all winners personally with the location and the start time. Good luck!
Thanks to Brian Udovich, Nick Robinson, John Lang, Devin Faraci and lots of other nifty people for putting this sensational event together.
