Her Summer (2004)

The second film from Bluebox Limited, the group of young filmmakers (Scott Beck and Bryan Woods) that made the successful University Heights, is called Her Summer. The story involves two young friends who scour through a box of old police evidence, searching for clues of the unsolved murders of two people and the potential whereabouts of a missing police officer who discovered the bodies and was related to the victims.

The story behind the story is the police plot is based on actual events that occurred in Iowa and the script went through various incarnations trying to tell that story... first a heavy character drama, the second a silent ghost story film, the third a teen buddy film. In the end, Her Summer ends up trying to be two of those, but with very mixed results, with only one of them being successful.

Written and directed by Woods, the greatest challenge with Her Summer is that the filmmakers tried to force together two very different styles of storytelling, with very different intents, into one film.

First, the true life ghost story is told very well, with minimal dialogue, structured and planned out visuals as well as very creepy music. Interspersed between this unnerving tale of murder and mystery are two high school/college age kids who search through a box of police evidence about the crime, joking, talking about dates to dances and life in general. The dialogue is, at times, improvised, making it less tight and often meandering.

Splicing together a sharp, well thought out ghost story with exposition about teen angst between two guys in a basement makes for a inconsistent approach and ultimately leads to confusion. As the film opens, I am immediately brought into the mystery behind the murders and the torment the police officer goes through the night he discovers their bodies.

I am then thrust into a conversation about a guy hemming and hawing about calling a girl he likes and asking her to a dance. I'm then brought back to the crime scene and unexplained, ghostly events. Then back to a conversation about Mountain Dew and the appropriate use of the term Dewski.

You get the idea.

It is two different movies thrust into one and while the end of the film tries to effectively tie the two storylines together, it only does so with a modicum of success. I kept asking myself, "What does this movie want to be?"

The beauty of microcinema (i.e., very low budget filmmaking) is that you have the freedom to take chances and try things mainstream film studios wouldn't attempt. So, I appreciate the idea and the risks behind telling Her Summer this way, however I wish the filmmakers would have either told a really good ghost story or made a film about the fleeting, yet memorable moments of youth... but not at the same time.

Dali Museum

I'm ashamed to say that I've lived almost my entire life in the Tampa Bay area and had never visited the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg... until last week.

As part of our daughter's required support of the arts outside of school, we spent a few hours at the Dali Museum and were blown away by the artwork, his passion for religious history and icons, his talent and his growth as an artist.

The kids were often enthralled and occasionally confused, but certainly not bored. The collection of art at the museum is enormous and contains some of his most famous and complex works of art, melting clocks and all.

The museum also gave guides for kids which explain his symbolic use of the aforementioned clocks, ants, grasshoppers and imagery representing the advent of nuclear power.

The Dali bench outside the museum.

Overall, it was a really impressive experience and I suggest you make your way there, if possible.

University Heights (2004)

If I were born 20 years earlier, I'd be Scott Beck. Beck, the writer/director of the very successful microbudget film University Heights formed Bluebox Limited to produce and distribute his work along with fellow Iowan college buddy and film partner Bryan Woods.

I envy Beck's place in the cinematic time line. When I was his age, I was dying to make movies, but the technology was not there to make it available to the average person. So I had to wait. And while I waited for technology to catch up to my dreams, I got married, had kids and got a real job. All of these things are wonderful, but limit my ability to pursue my dreams because of the lack of free time. Appropriately, film making now comes in fourth, behind God, family and the job. So, I do what I can, when I can.

College student Beck, on the other hand, is blessed with immense talent and a DVX100 camera. He has made a ton of films and grew as a filmmaker with each project. The culmination of his efforts is a deep and multi-layered story in the feature University Heights.

Heights is a character piece that brings numerous characters on a college campus together in interweaving and intertwining story lines that converge into a very satisfying climax.

Scott Beck

The main characters include Grant, a semi-stoner college youth on the rebound and Katie, his new love interest who disapproves of his choices. There's Jake, a teacher teetering on severe depression who has struggled with relationships his whole life and now wonders about his own sexuality. There's Lou and his hapless buddy who warm their lives through hate and distrust. And there's Tom, a professor of ethics who's past life shows he did not live what he taught. The unexpected loss of his wife and a re-evaluation of his own life has straightened his path, but his past still haunts him.

This is the complexity of a story written by a 19-year old. If I was envious, I'd hate Beck, but he's too talented for that. :)

Heights is an impressive film made by an impressive team using all volunteers and a shoestring budget. The cast is very solid, especially considering its size. Beck is lucky to have access to so many resources with free time... thank you college! Use it before you lose it... it only gets harder from here.

I should also note that Beck and Woods were also finalist in the last Project Greenlight competition, ending up in the top 50 out of thousands of entries. These guys will make their mark in the industry, one way or another.

University Heights is a wonderful achievement for these young filmmakers. You can read more about this film and others, including the thriller Her Summer and the Neo-Western The Bride Wore Blood at their Bluebox Limited website. Since I bought all three films, I look forward to seeing the next two and will let you know my thoughts here.

Keep an eye out for these guys... they'll end up with a movie showing at a theater near you before you know it.

DC Gets Cribbed

DC was cast in a promotional film for her high school that will be shot in an MTV Cribs style. For those of you who have not seen MTV Cribs, it's basically a hip tour of stars homes. Well, the promotional video will be a tour of the school and will be used as a recruiting tool for the different programs available there.

She's excited about the opportunity and we were happy that she got cast. She said it was the first audition this year where she felt completely relaxed and we had hoped that relaxation approach would be rewarded... and it was.

It will be shot over a three day period two weeks from now. I'll keep you posted.

Bella (2006) - The Movie Premiere That Almost Was...

Last night we were invited by our dear friends, the Kelleys, to a special local screening of the critically acclaimed film called Bella. The story revolves around a waitress, Nina (Tammy Blanchard), who finds herself pregnant and unmarried and her friendship with Jose (Eduardo Verástegui), a former soccer star who's hidden tragedy has led him to the quiet, simple life as a chef.

And that's all I know. Why? Because, no matter how hard they tried... and they tried a very hard (seven DVDs and two DVD players), the DVDs were not compatible with the projection systems.

The Publicist, Corby Pons and star/producer Eduardo Verástegui, were very patient and extremely apologetic. The sponsors of the evening, the Alphonso family, who rented the theater and brought in the producer and star, were unphased and kept their spirits up.

In between DVDs 4 and 5, Eduardo spoke to all of us telling us his story. He was born in a faithful Catholic family, he rose to become a very successful Mexican soap opera star and moved to Hollywood. He appeared in numerous television shows and films and, through the work of his English language teacher, realized he was not living his faith. And that being successful in the eyes of Hollywood was not the same as being successful in the eyes of God.

After speaking with his priest and reading some books he decided to fire his agents and managers, sell all of his belongings and go to Brazil to work as a missionary for two years in the jungle. When he told this to his priest, the priest told him, "there is no larger jungle than Hollywood and we need missionaries here too."

So, with a few friends and acquaintances, Eduardo formed his own film company to make uplifting, faith-filled films. The first is Bella.


The film has won numerous awards, including the Academy Awards precursor, the Toronto Film Festivals Peoples Choice Award. Getting distribution has been tough but the team has been flying all over the country, building up support from a grassroots level, starting with a theatrical release of four cities to now over 30.

Because of this David vs. Goliath mentality, it broke our hearts to see the events unfold as they did. Corby told me that they felt Satan had been working against this film very hard. They've had obstacle after obstacle... nothing had gone as badly as it had last night. I told him, "no matter how hard Satan pushes, we'll push harder." The offered us all tickets to the premiere in Miami (not sure if we'll be able to attend) and signed DVD copies, when the film is released on DVD.

They were very nice, very faithful and very apologetic. In the end, however, the struggles made us root for the film that much more. The first half-hour was superbly told and engrossing. We can't wait to see the rest of the film

Another nice event of the evening was DC getting to meet Eduardo in person. From my experiences in the entertainment industry, I had learned that if you treat stars like stars, they'll treat you like a fan. If you treat them like a person, they'll treat you as a person. So, when DC was about to meet Eduardo, Dea offered the poster and a pen and suggested she get an autograph. DC responded that she didn't want to meet his as a fan, but as a person. And that's what she did.

They shook hands and DC, as a fellow actor with strong faith, was very touched and inspired by Eduardo's story. They spoke for a few minutes on acting and faith. Eduardo asked DC to keep him in prayers and that he would keep her in his. Eduardo offered for her to keep in touch, as they are "always on the lookout for actors who want to express their faith through their work."

On the way home, we all talked about how wonderful the production company was, how sad we were for them in regards to the viewing and how inspiring Eduardo's story was for us. DC also was giggly over how cute he was... or gorgeous... I can't remember the exact description she reveled in, but she was smitten. After all, Eduard was voted the third most beautiful person in the world... and he just might be.

Anyway, the premiere did not go as we had intended, but it was very memorable and made us want to support and promote the film Bella as much as we could.

If Bella opens near you, please see this pro-life, touching movie about love that goes beyond romance. These faith-filled filmmakers need our prayers and support.