Yesterday, I came back from Utah after attending the Sundance Film Festival. It was pretty interesting...besides watching my sister's film The Flip Side, I also watched a New Zealand short film called Moko as well as a Japanese gangster film called Brother (which had Omar Epps and Tatyana Ali in it). Brother was actually pretty funny in a gross / sadistic kind of way...considering just how tongue-in-cheek the filmmakers depicted guys getting shot in the head, their fingers being sliced off and other neat / disturbing stuff.


The one bad thing about Utah is that it's not the place to be when you're sick...especially during the winter. Considering the fact I arrived in Salt Lake City with a headache, walking in 40-degree weather during the day and 20-degree weather at night is not really a prudent thing to do. As of this typing, I'm still coughing, darn it!

Anyways, as for the celebrities that attended Sundance, I saw actor Forest Whitaker...who was at the hotel where my sister's film was being shown. In case you people don't know who Forest Whitaker is, he was in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and, um, Battlefield Earth. Not exactly the same as running into Sean Connery or Al Pacino...but it'll do.

I'm a day late in mentioning this, but congratulations to director Ridley Scott for Gladiator nabbing the Best Motion Picture Drama award (as well as the award for Best Original Music Score) during the 58th Annual Golden Globe awards.

Now let's see how the Roman epic fares in the Academy Awards two months from now...

Yesterday, I watched the Russell Crowe-Meg Ryan film Proof of Life with a couple of my friends. The film was pretty good, but I'd say that the movie Russell Crowe is going to be most noticed in for a while is Gladiator.

By the way... For those of you wondering where I got that quote located on the left hand side of this screen (above the archives), it's by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars (1977). It sure beats Jar Jar Bink's "Yousa tinken yousa people ganna die?" remark from The Phantom Menace.


Only 4 days till the official start of the new millennium...

A few minutes ago, I came back from the theater after watching the new Tom Hanks film Cast Away. The movie was pretty good... out of 4 stars I give it 4.

One of my favorite films of 2000, Gladiator, just got nominated for 5 Golden Globe awards yesterday. The nominations include Best Picture, Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Director (Ridley Scott), Best Supporting Actor (Joaquin Phoenix) and Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard).

If Gladiator is gonna win a Golden Globe, it'd be for best original score. The film's soundtrack kicks @$$.


The Broadcast Film Critics Assn. also singled out the Roman epic for some awards...while the San Diego Film Critics singled out Russell Crowe for best actor.

Well, this news isn't about me...but it's all good. Today, my sister has just informed my family that a film she worked on about 3 years back, called The Flip Side, will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Pretty cool, hah?

For those of you who don't know what The Flip Side is (namely, everyone who reads this), it's an independent film about a Filipino family and how they live everyday life. The person who made this film, one of my sister's friends name Rod Pulido, also attended Long Beach State.

Ironically, it's me who's trying to pursue a career in film. But at least my sis could probably hook me up with connections with some big name filmmakers like George Lucas, HAHA. By the time I talk to Lucas he would've already been done making the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Oh well.

On a different note, I have to get an oil change for my car today.