Luke Y. Thompson

The Downtown LA Film Fest: grand opening, shaky day 2

Luke Y. Thompson
It's the worst nightmare of both filmmaker and film festival organizer: you're all set to go, you've put your faith in the system, and suddenly...the thing won't play. Or maybe the filmmaker withdraws the movie. The first annual Downtown LA Film Fest was unlucky enough to be hit by a......
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Comic-Con 2008: For Love of the Con

Luke Y. Thompson
The irony of the annual San Diego Comic-Con, where all of pop culture comes out in force to jam-pack a building nearly a half-mile long, is that in order to get the most enjoyment out of it, you have to suffer a bit. Want a good parking spot? Get there......
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LAFF 2008: Centered and Finished

Luke Y. Thompson
Even though HELLBOY II was called the “closing night” gala, with a huge after party to match, one more day remained of LAFF. But it didn’t seem like it would have much to offer me: family festivities provided pony rides for the kids, while the sparse remaining screenings were mostly......
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LAFF 2008: Hell to the Yeah

Luke Y. Thompson
I guess LAFF doesn’t want me to talk about how the premieres go, since my tickets for them have ended up being in overflow houses far away from the actual red carpet and celebrities, so if you want to know what Guillermo del Toro may or may not have said......
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LAFF 2008: Gardening at Night

Luke Y. Thompson
Scott Hamilton Kennedy is one of the whitest looking white guys you’ll meet, and yet he makes movies about South Central L.A. that come from a real place of knowing. Of course, OT: OUR TOWN was on one level just a movie about his girlfriend (now wife), but she also......
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LAFF 2008: Oh Heavenly Prince

Luke Y. Thompson
The day before yesterday, we spoke of misleading titles, like how there are no flying monsters in WINGED CREATURES. But it works both ways – sometimes movies have titles that lead you to believe they’ll be immeasurably lame, and they’re not. PRINCE OF BROADWAY, for example, sounds like it’s going......
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LAFF 2008: I Can't Drive 66

Luke Y. Thompson
Back at one of my previous journalism jobs, around 2000 or so, a colleague once tried to pitch a cover story about Largo, the comedy/music club that used to be at 432 N. Fairfax. The idea was that the place was kind of a nexus for everything cool in the......
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LAFF 2008: Not the Dakota Fanning Rape Movie

Luke Y. Thompson
I’d like to thank the festival for admonishing audiences against texting during the films. May the major theater chains take their lead and run with it. It’s funny, because when I was picking up my credentials, I said something about how when I see that little blue light on someone’s......
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LAFF 2008: Transsexuals! More Than Meets the Eye!

Luke Y. Thompson
I’m just gonna let that headline hang there for a moment, but we’ll come back to it… Meanwhile, things are improving on the cash-in-hand front, simply because, after a minimum of badgering, my best friend in West L.A. has allowed me to stay with him for a few days, within......
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LAFF 2008: Boogeymen are coming to get'cha!

Luke Y. Thompson
No, not this guy. But he makes a better visual than the “stars” of the two documentaries I’m about to discuss. One is BOOGIE MAN, a story about the life and influence of the late Republican campaign manager Lee Atwater. The other features the closest thing to a real-life bogeyman,......