To Live and Write in LA

In Hollywood parlance, a “period piece” is a script or film that takes place in the past. 'Girl Flu', a film written and directed by Dorie Barton, gave a new meaning to that phrase. It's a film about firsts. Without a doubt, it is the only film you'll ever call charming, funny and heartwarming that has menstruation as its focus.

It's not difficult to be immersed in the world of "High-Rise".

Murphy's approach is to treat the trailer project like a mini-movie with its own three-act structure.

Ang Lee's last film was created in High Dynamic Range, 4K, at 120 frames per second and in 3-D. In English that means that, compared to your big-screen HD TV, the film has more colors, four times the definition, four times the frame rate, and depth. This is the most technologically advanced feature film ever made.

Eighty-nine years ago, Al Jolson said to the audience watching his film 'The Jazz Singer,' the first film with synchronized dialog, “You ain't heard nothin’ yet.” After viewing the demo of High Dynamic Range (HDR) video and Dolby ATMOS sound at the Future of Cinema Conference in Las Vegas, I can confidently say, “You ain't seen nothin’ yet.”

A film must have strong characters to be remembered. I will remember 'The Waiting' for a long time, not only because of its characters, but because of how well they were used to explore human depravity,

Mr. Robot stars Rami Malek and Christian Slater joined series creator Sam Esmail at SXSW film panel “Coding on Camera: MR. ROBOT and Authenticity on TV.” SXSW was the site of the show’s premiere last year. This year, participants in the Golden Globe Award-winning series came back to celebrate and discuss the show’s success.

At this year’s South by Southwest film festival Seth Rogen debuted, as a work-in-progress, his new animated feature 'Sausage Party.' It is the first foray into the “R-rated world” for an animated feature. If you have no problems with watching food have sex, it’s really funny.

J.J. Abrams joined SXSW attendees and writer/director Don Coscarelli for the debut of Phantasm – Remastered at the Stateside Theatre in Austin. The debut was part of the SXSW Midnighters series which is billed as “Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.”

'The Bandit' documents the story behind the making of 'Smokey and the Bandit' and of the relationship of star Burt Reynolds and his close friend, stunt double, and creative force behind the film, Hal Needham.