Desert Reel Panel Discussion Tonight!

The Desert Reel Film Festival will host a panel discussion from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. TONIGHT, Thursday, April 21, 2005, at the Advanced Technology Center in Midland.

The event is free to the public. Panelists include director Kelley Baker ("Good Will Hunting," "Finding Forrester," "To Die For"), actress Melissa Crider ("The Haven," “Mulholland Dr.,” “Frailty”), producer Joe McSpadden (“The Woman Chaser,” “Dirt”), local television anchor Stephanie Rivas, and film editor Jon Alvord ("Sin City," "Armageddon," "X-Men”).

The Advanced Technology Center is located at 3200 Cuthbert. The panel discussion will take place in the auditorium. Starbucks will provide coffee with snacks provided by Amy K’s Baked Goods during the break.

The Starting Lineup

Now playing at a theatre near you!

The Amityville Horror (R)
Starring: Ryan Reynolds & Melissa George
Director: Andrew Douglas
View Trailers & Clips

2005 Desert Reel Film Festival Workshops

All workshops will be held in rooms 117 and 118 of Wilkerson Hall on the Odessa College campus. Workshops are limited to 35 people. Register by e-mailing ivantony03@hotmail.com


Lighting, Rick Owens
9 - 11am
We've all seen 'em -- shots that were filmed too dark or have too much light. Getting your lighting right -- especially out in the field -- can be a challenge for beginning filmmakers. Filmmaker Rick Owens will teach you the tricks of the trade and demonstrate best practices for out in the field.


Guerilla Marketing and Self Distribution of Your Film, Kelley Baker
9 - 11am
Independent filmmaking is alive and well, it's independent distribution that is dead.
At a time when "independent" films have to have a star and at least a couple million dollar budget, how do you get your films seen? Forget Sundance, Miramax, and PBS. These places get hundreds of submissions a year. From wooden nickels to Web sites, to press kits and reviews Kelley Baker walks you though different ways to get an audience to turn out for your screenings. He challenges you to assess the real market for your film and provides examples of other filmmakers getting their work out, after their films were turned down by traditional distributors. You've already made the thing, what good is it doing sitting on your shelf?


Writing for Films and Television, Andrew Bowen
11:30am - 1:30pm
This workshop will cover the basics for getting started. This includes proper formatting, creating a good story and breaking it down. Also covers character development, proper page count, writing for production, the red flags for potential readers and what people are looking for. Sample Screenplays and Teleplays will be available and information about Final Draft/Final Draft AV and other writing programs.


How to be a Lean, Mean, “Green” Machine, Jon Alvord
11:30am - 1:30pm
Even though he worked on "X-Men," you could call Jon Alvord the Toxic Avenger! In this workshop - the first of its kind in West Texas - you'll learn about "green" set construction and how to select materials that are healthy, hypoallergenic, environmentally friendly, natural, sustainable and recycled in order to keep you and your crew healthier and more productive.


Acting, Melissa Crider
2 - 4pm
Melissa Crider's talent and beauty have landed her on screens both large and small, most recently as a guest star on the hit crime drama "CSI." She has also appeared in the award-winning indie film "The Haven" as well as in "Powder," "Gigli," " Mulholland Drive" and "The Beast."


Editing, Jon Alvord
2 - 4pm
Successful film editor Jon Alvord will lead this editing workshop for the beginning to intermediate level filmmaker. Jon's workshop will focus on several concepts, including: editing for action; conceptual ideas of editorial; how to organize your film shoot; how to sort through your film in preparation for editing; and helpful hints in anticipation of heading into post production

DVD Rundown

Now Available on DVD!


Hotel Rwanda (PG-13)
Starring:Don Cheadle, Joaquin Phoenix, Nick Nolte, & Sophie Okonedo
Director: Terry George
View Trailer & Clips


Ocean's Twelve (PG-13)
Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Vincent Cassel, & Catherine Zeta-Jones
Director: Steven Soderbergh
View Trailers & Clips


Suspect Zero (R)
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Carrie-Anne Moss, & Ben Kingsley
Director: E. Elias Merhige
View Trailer & Clips


The Woodsman (R)
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Benjamin Bratt, Mos Def, David Alan Grier, Eve, Gina Philips, & Kyra Sedgwick
Director: Nicole Kassell
View Trailer

The 2005 Desert Reel Film Festival Film Schedule

FRIDAY April 22, 2005

Yucca Theatre, Midland
208 N. Colorado
Box Office Opens @ 6 PM

6:00-7:00 PM Invitation Only VIP Party

7:30-9:00 PM


Happy Hour
Starring: Anthony LaPaglia, Eric Stoltz, Caroleen Feeney, Robert Vaughn, & Thomas Sadoski
Director: Mike Bencivenga
View Trailers & Clips
Official Site

9:00-9:30 PM Q&A with gueststar Eric Klein

10:00-11:30 PM

Kicking Bird

11:30-11:45 PM Q&A with gueststar Kelley Baker

12:00-12:45 AM SHORTS BLOCK 1

The Shovel
Once A Storm
The Spin Cycle
When the Cat's Away


SATURDAY April 23, 2005

Ector Theatre, Odessa
500 N. Texas
Bx office opens at 9:30 AM

10:00-10:45 AM

Cypress

11:00-11:20 AM MUSIC VIDEOS BLOCK 1

Evil Twin
Louisinana Saturday Night
Medieval Dance
Q&A

11:45-1:01 PM

The Devil Cats

1:30-3:40 PM BASIN FILM SOCIETY BLOCK 1


The Mind's Eye
Starring: Jennifer Matthews Reeves, Heath Jones, Kindell Carter, Caleb Brandon, Kris Moore, & Bill Warren
Director: Rick Owens
IMDb Page
Elevated Films

3:40-4:00 PM Q&A with Director Rick Owens, Cast, and Crew

4:00-6:00 PM BASIN FILM SOCIETY BLOCK 2


Unnoticed
Starring: Steve Hinshaw, Dawn Glover, Jennifer Hart, David Holler, & David Dunn
Director: David Sean Stringer
Trailer
Bull Durham's Review


An Evening with Larry Breeze
Starring: Larry Breeze
Director: Bryan Head
IMDb Page
El Jefe Productions

6:00-6:30 PM Q&A with Directors David Sean Stringer and Bryan Head, Producers General Echols and Jeffrey Johnson, and various cast and crew of Unnoticed.

6:30-8:30 PM


Dirt
Starring: Tracy Fraim, Julieta Ortiz, Michael Covert, Ignacio Guadalupe, & Tara Chocol
Directors: Michael Covert, Nancy Savoca, & Trace Fraim

8:30-9:00 PM Q&A with gueststars Michael Covert & Tracy Fraim


SUNDAY April 24, 2005

Ector Theatre, Odessa
500 N. Texas
Box office opens at 11:30 a.m.

12:00-1:15 DOCUMENTARY BLOCK

House of Elegance
Plagues Pleasures of the Salton Sea

1:45-3:00 SHORTS BLOCK 2

Lone Defender
Cypress
The Offering

3:15-4:30 SHORTS BLOCK 3

Tales of Demise
Sonata
Sketchcetera
2 White Kids with Problems
Lite Weight

4:45-5:30 SHORTS BLOCK 4

The Shovel
Once A Storm
The Spin Cycle
When the Cat's Away

The Starting Lineup

Now playing at a theatre near you!


Fever Pitch (PG-13)
Starring: Drew Barrymore & Jimmy Fallon
Director: Bobby Farrelly & Peter Farrelly
View Clips & Trailers


Sahara (PG-13)
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Penélope Cruz, Steve Zahn, William H. Macy & Delroy Lindo
Director: Breck Eisner
View Clips & Trailers

The Weekly Top Five

Top 5 Baseball Movies

Jeff Says...

1. The Natural
2. Field of Dreams
3. Hardball
4. The Bad News Bears
5. A League of Their Own

Bull Durham Says...

1. Bull Durham
2. Field of Dreams
3. Eight Men Out
4. The Sandlot
5. The Natural

What Say You?

1-Year Chips, TV Tips, Basin Flicks, & Desert Reels

Today I celebrate one year of sobriety. Well, not really. Not from the bottle anyway, rather, the can. I have now lived life 365 days straight without an ounce of nicotine in my body because it was precisely one year ago today that I gave up the Copenhagen exactly one year ago today, a fact Bull Durham's Wife happily pointed out last evening.

Well... that's not exactly true either. Last night I picked up plenty of second hand smoke at our monthly Basin Film Society meeting where Jeffrey Johnson unveiled the skeleton structure of our new web site, David Sean Stringer shared the latest cut of his film Unnoticed which included a new musical score, Roger Coughlin (AV Productions) informed us he's merely days away from closing his deal with Cox Communications for an access channel, Brian Head gave us a sneak-peek at his documentary, An Evening with Larry Breeze, and I shared my plans to start a new Movie E-zine. It was an amazing night.

In light of Roger's revelation, BullDurham Productions plans to produce a television pilot that will air on Roger's access station in Midland, Midland. Bull Durham's Hot Corner, the televised version, will be a half-hour or one hour show (depending on the budget and time availability) about movies featuring trailers, clips, reviews, a weekly top-five, interviews, and viewer mail. Essentially it will be a televised blog. If you are interesting in sponsoring a locally produced television show in Midland, drop us a line.

And, as it turns out, I had an important lunch meeting today. If all goes well BullDurham Productions will begin pre-production on a promotional video for one of the larger churches in Odessa in the very near future. Stay tuned for further details.

The Desert Reel Film Festival is just a scant three weeks away. (April 21-24, 2005) Things are getting pretty busy around The Hot Corner and I'm not too sure how much bloggin' I'll get to do between now and then, but you can bet I'll be posting reviews of some of these films and keep you informed of events as the day approaches.

The Hot Corner has had over 300 unique visitors again for the second week in a row. We also had over a 1000 unique visitors in the month of March! Thanks! That's why Bull Durham's Hot Corner is the fastest growing, tightest, hippest movie blog on planet earth! You!

DVD Rundown

Now available on DVD!


Sideways (R)
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, & Sandra Oh
Director: Alexander Payne
View Trailers & Clips
Read Bull Durham's Review


Spanglish (PG-13)
Starring: Adam Sandler, Téa Leoni, & Paz Vega
Director: James L. Brooks
View Trailers & Clips


Elektra (PG-13)
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Terence Stamp, & Goran Visnjic
Director: Rob Bowman
View Trailers & Clips

The Weekly Top Five

Top 5 Comic Book Films

Jeff Says...

1. Spider-man
2. Superman
3. X-men
4. Batman
5. Chasing Amy

Bull Durham Says...

1. Sin City
2. Spider-man 2
3. X-men 2
4. Daredevil
5. Spider-man

What Say You?

The Starting Lineup

Now playing at a theatre near you!


Sin City (R)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Nick Stahl, Powers Boothe, Rutger Hauer, Benicio Del Toro, Elijah Wood, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Brittany Murphy, Michael Clark Duncan, Carla Gugino, Alexis Bledel, Josh Hartnett, Michael Madsen, & Devon Aoki
Director: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, & Quentin Tarantino
View Trailers & Clips


Beauty Shop (PG-13)
Starring: Queen Latifah, Alicia Silverstone, Andie MacDowell, Alfre Woodard, & Mena Suvari
Director: Bille Woodruff
View Trailer & Clips