RIP, BETTY WHITE (1922-2021)...

This isn't really film-related as she primarily made her indelible mark on television, but much condolences to the family members and friends of Betty White...who passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 99 today.

Best known for her roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose Nylund in the sitcom The Golden Girls, White was one of the most prolific entertainers to work in Hollywood. Also highlights in her long-spanning career were a hosting gig on Saturday Night Live (SNL) back in 2010, having a regular role on the recent sitcom Hot in Cleveland, and being the recipient of five Primetime Emmy awards and one competitive Daytime Emmy...as well as a Los Angeles regional Emmy in 1952 and a lifetime achievement Daytime Emmy in 2015 (one of the Emmys that White won was for her SNL hosting gig).

White's television career lasted 70 years, and a 2014 edition of Guinness World Records certified this remarkable achievement as the longest-ever for a female entertainer.

It is absolutely a shame that Betty White didn't get to celebrate her 100th birthday next month.

In regards to White's birthday, the folks who were planning a huge movie event for the past few weeks to mark her milestone—which would've been on January 17—clearly didn't know what the word "jinx" meant. That movie event will still take place.

With or without a movie event that will honor her, Betty White will nevertheless live on in the annals of Hollywood history as a legend...and that's all that matters.

THE BROKEN TABLE Film Festival and Awards Update!

As of today, The Broken Table has been selected by seven film festivals...the most recent being the Beyond the Curve International Film Festival! Click on this link to see its inclusion on BCIFF's cool Wall of Fame page.

I would also like to announce that my short film is currently the recipient of three awards: one for Best Seven Minute Film by the EdiPlay International Film Festival, another for Best Short Thriller by the Cult Movies International Film Festival and the last one being for Best Cinematography—which honors The Broken Table's talented director of photography, Brandon Cabral. This certificate was also awarded by Cult Movies Fest.

There are over two dozen additional festivals that I submitted to who I'm also waiting to hear from! It won't be till late summer or early fall of next year where all of them will have decided whether or not my short psychological thriller is included on their program schedules.

But as of right now, I'm already grateful that seven festivals have shown my film recognition and given accolades to it! A huge thank you to them... Happy Tuesday.





EDIT: While I was typing this blog entry, I just received word via e-mail that the Krimson Horyzon International Film Festival is the eighth event to select The Broken Table! Wonderful news! I will be using a different poster to apply this fantastic festival's laurel to it soon.

Movie Review: THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS...

Earlier today, I went to Regal Cinemas to watch The Matrix Resurrections...and needless to say, it wasn't as dreary as the first two sequels that were released in 2003!

If you're a fan of the original Matrix trilogy, then you'll dig Resurrections. If you're only a fan of the action sequences in the original trilogy, then you'll enjoy Resurrections. And if you disliked The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, then you should like Resurrections because it definitely didn't take itself too seriously and wasn't full of a bunch of psychoanalytical mumbo-jumbo!

I appreciated Resurrections for its self-deprecating humor; with the new Morpheus, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, poking fun at the mannerisms of the old Morpheus that was portrayed by Laurence Fishburne in the original trilogy.

Also, with Neo (Keanu Reeves) working as a video game designer during the 60 years that passed between Revolutions and Resurrections, there was an opportunity to take a light-hearted dig at the first trilogy (and reboots in general)—as the video game that Neo, a.k.a. Thomas Anderson, worked on was based on The Matrix.

Carrie-Anne Moss is back as Trinity, Jada Pinkett Smith returned as Niobe and Lambert Wilson reprised his role as The Merovingian. A new incarnation of Agent Smith is played by Jonathan Groff, while Priyanka Chopra Jonas portrayed the adult version of Sati from Revolutions.

Stealing the show as new characters are Bugs (Jessica Henwick) and The Analyst (Neil Patrick Harris).

Don Davis, who conducted the memorable music in the original trilogy, wasn't back to do the film score for The Matrix Resurrections, but the music composed by Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer worked just as nicely.

And of course, the action sequences and visual effects in this Lana Wachowski-directed installment were just as dazzling as those of Resurrections' three predecessors!

I would say more, but I don't want to spoil the movie for those of you Matrix fans who haven't watched it yet. All I'm gonna say is...Neo isn't the only one who can fly by the end of this film!

Have a safe and Merry Christmas, everyone.

Movie Review - SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME...

So as of today, I've watched Spider-Man: No Way Home three times at the multiplex! How can I not...considering the fact that this film, along with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, are clearly the best Marvel movies of 2021. And ever!

No Way Home is an action-packed, very-nostalgic and extremely-emotional climax to Tom Holland's first Spidey trilogy (yes, there will be a second trio of movies with Holland returning as the Webslinger).

It was a blast to see Alfred Molina return as Doc Ock, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Thomas Haden Church as Sandman, Rhys Ifans as the Lizard, and of course, Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin.

But even more of a blast was seeing Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield causing the audience at each screening I attended to cheer loudly when the two Webslingers appeared on screen for the first time! And that moment in the film's climax where they and Holland's Spider-Man swing together on the Statue of Liberty as they prepare to battle Electro, Sandman and the Lizard? Wow!

There are so many other things that I want to praise about No Way Home, but they would turn this into a very long review.

Benedict Cumberbatch once again exuded coolness and wittiness as Dr. Strange, J.K. Simmons was just as awesome as J. Jonah Jameson in this film as he was in Sam Raimi's Spidey trilogy, Marisa Tomei's Aunt May was at the center of No Way Home's most gut-wrenching moment (in a good way) and composer Michael Giacchino did an excellent job combining his rousing score with motifs from Danny Elfman's music for the Raimi films, and a James Horner theme from Marc Webb's first Amazing Spider-Man movie.

And not to be left out of this gushing review are the three main stars themselves: Holland as Peter Parker and his high-flying alter ego, Zendaya as Michelle Jones "MJ" Watson and Jacob Batalon as Parker's best friend Ned Leeds (who does turn villainous in the comic books; he became the apprentice to Dr. Strange's arch-nemesis Baron Mordo...played by Chiwetel Ejiofor in Dr. Strange and its upcoming sequel, Multiverse of Madness).

If ever there was a movie that would follow in Black Panther's footsteps and become the next comic book flick to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, No Way Home is it!

We'll see if Disney and Marvel Studios successfully get Tom Holland to follow in the footsteps of the late, great Chadwick Boseman in regards to Academy Award acclaim. Happy Holidays!

THE BROKEN TABLE Has Been Selected by Two More Film Festivals!

And the accolades just keep on coming! I am thrilled to announce that The Broken Table is now an Official Selection by the Red Moon Film Festival and the Cult Movies International Film Festival.

The Red Moon festival was the first event to notify me about my film's selection earlier today (even though the online screening won't take place till December 29 and 30), while the great news about the Cult Movies festival arrived in my inbox a few hours later. This online event will occur on December 24.

There are so many other festivals that I still need to hear from, but I'm stoked that The Broken Table currently has four selections under its belt!

For more info about the Red Moon and Cult Movies festivals, click on the links below. Happy Monday!

FilmFreeway.com/RedMoonFilmFestival
FilmFreeway.com/CultMoviesInternationalFilmFestival

On This Day in 2001: The Nazgûl Make Their Debut on the Big Screen...

It was 20 years ago today that The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring hit theaters nationwide.

One of my high school friends who I saw the film with didn't know that this was the first installment in Peter Jackson's acclaimed trilogy, and neither did I! Sorry, J. R. R. Tolkien... I never read the books.

Anyways, I don't think y'all should be surprised that the most memorable characters in The Fellowship of the Ring (plus The Two Towers and The Return of the King) to me were the Ringwraiths, a.k.a. the Nazgûl. I dig mysterious villains who are completely dressed in black cloaks—which is why I'm such a huge Star Wars fan.

And FYI, Sith Lords are cooler. Carry on!

THE BROKEN TABLE Has Been Selected by Film Festival #2!

Just thought I'd share the amazing news that The Broken Table is an Official Selection at the World Indie Film Awards (WIFA)!

This announcement comes less than 10 days after my project was selected—and awarded as Best Seven Minute Film—at the EdiPlay International Film Festival.

For more information about WIFA, which will host its online event on December 20, click on the link below!

FilmFreeway.com/WorldIndieFilmAwards

A Beautiful Award for THE BROKEN TABLE!

Thank you to the EdiPlay International Film Festival for this amazing certificate...one of many that I received via e-mail from the festival earlier today!

All of the amazing folks who worked hard to bring The Broken Table to life are honored by this awesome award!

THE BROKEN TABLE Is Festival-Bound!

Happy Thursday, everyone! Just thought I'd announce that my short film The Broken Table has been selected for inclusion by the EdiPlay International Film Festival! This wonderful, Paris-based event will be held from December 15 to 19...with the chosen films available to screen online.

For more information about this festival, visit EdiPlay's website here. If you watch The Broken Table (plus the other amazing cinematic projects that will be shown) during this event, I hope you enjoy it!

T-Minus ONE WEEK Till One of My Favorite Anime Flicks of All Time Hits the Big Screen Here in the U.S.!

Just thought I'd point out that I'm officially watching Macross Plus—one of my favorite Japanese-animated movies ever made—at AMC theater a week from today! Macross Plus is one of many spin-offs of the Macross series that formed the core of the Robotech cartoon that aired on U.S. television back in the 1980s.

I originally watched Macross Plus in 1995 (when I was a sophomore in high school)...first as a 4-part American-dub miniseries that premiered in 1994 (even though I didn't see the fourth and final episode, whose dialogue wasn't voiced by U.S. actors yet, till late 1999), and then the feature film—which will be shown on the big screen next week courtesy of Fathom Events.

I can't wait to relive the awesome aerial battle between the YF-19 (piloted by Isamu Dyson, who was voiced by none other than Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston in the miniseries) and YF-21 (flown by Guld Goa Bowman) on planet Eden and above Earth's Macross City—as well as awesome beats by the computer-generated diva Sharon Apple; one of these beats being the song Information High...featured in the video below.

I can go on and on about my geekiness over Macross Plus, especially about how it inspired me to draw storyboards in 10th grade depicting what I envisioned the yet-to-be-released Episode 4 would be like (and subsequently fueling my desire to study filmmaking in college), but I'll end it here.

It would be awesome to have a live-action version of Macross Plus, but we've yet to see a live-action version of Robotech itself (which was supposed to have been produced by Spider-Man's Tobey Maguire over a decade ago) make it to cinemas! Oh well.