Sam Esmail
Born: September 17, 1977 in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA
[September 2014] In a relationship with Emmy Rossum.
He is a writer and producer, known for Comet (2014), Mr. Robot (2015) and Mockingbird (2014).
Author: festreviews
Happy Birthday: John Ritter
John Ritter (1948–2003)
Born: September 17, 1948 in Burbank, California, USA
Died: September 11, 2003 (age 54) in Burbank, California, USA
Married to:
Amy Yasbeck (18 September 1999 – 11 September 2003) (his death) (1 child)
Nancy Morgan (16 October 1977 – 1996) (divorced) (3 children)
[How John wants to be remembered] Just as a guy who was interested in the golden thread that intertwines all of us together. You know, that golden thread that goes through me and you, and the cameraman, and all the people out there and back through Nancy. That’s what an artist can do, that someone – anyone – could do, if they’re willing to pluck that. And either it makes you laugh or it makes you cry, it’s that golden thread of humanity, and I’d like to be remembered as maybe a guy who plucked a few of those.
| BRIDE OF CHUCKY 1998 dir. by Ronny Yu Stars: Jennifer Tilly Brad Dourif |
 They All Laughed1981 dir. Peter Bogdanovich Cast Audrey Hepburn Ben Gazzara |
 Bad Santa2003 dir. Terry Zwigoff Starring Billy Bob Thornton Tony Cox |
 Unforgivable1996 dir. Graeme Campbell Starring John Ritter Harley Jane Kozak |
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 SUBMIT your TV PILOT or TV SPEC ScriptVoted #1 TV Contest in North America. |
 SUBMIT your SHORT FilmGet it showcased at the FEEDBACK Festival |
 1st CHAPTER or FULL NOVEL CONTESTGet full feedback! Winners get their novel made into a video! |
 SUBMIT your FEATURE ScriptFULL FEEDBACK on all entries. Get your script performed |
Happy Birthday: Anne Bancroft (1931–2005)
Anne Bancroft (1931–2005)
Born: September 17, 1931 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Died: June 6, 2005 (age 73) in New York City, New York, USA
Married to: Mel Brooks (5 August 1964 – 6 June 2005) (her death) (1 child)
Martin May (1 July 1953 – 13 February 1957) (divorced)
When [Mel Brooks] told his Jewish mother he was marrying an Italian girl, she said: “Bring her over. I’ll be in the kitchen – with my head in the oven”.
[of her Mrs. Robinson role in The Graduate (1967)] Film critics said I gave a voice to the fear we all have: that we’ll reach a point in our lives, look around and realize that all the things we said we’d do and become will never come to be – and that we’re ordinary.
 Don’t Bother to Knock1952 dir. Roy Ward Baker Starring Richard Widmark Marilyn Monroe Bancroft |
 The Graduate1967 dir. by Mike Nichols starring Dustin Hoffman Bancroft |
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An Audience with Mel Brooks
THE HINDENBURG
THE KID FROM LEFT FIELD
Happy Birthday: Kyle Chandler
Kyle Chandler
Born: September 17, 1965 in Buffalo, New York, USA
Married to: Kathryn Chandler (1995 – present) (2 children)
Sometimes a scene may be about one thing, and it may end up still being about that, but the emotionality of it comes from somewhere else, or the humor of it comes from somewhere else, and it gives it that real-life quality.
| The Day the Earth Stood Still dir. Scott Derrickson Starring Reeves Jennifer Connelly |
 SUPER 8dir. J.J. Abrams Stars: Elle Fanning Amanda Michalka, |
 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Season 1Starring: Aimee Teegarden Taylor Kitsch |
 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Season 2Starring: Zach Gilford Brad Leland |
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The Kingdom
King Kong
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
BROKEN CITY| FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Season 4 Starring: Michael B. Jordan Jurnee Smollett-Bell |
 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Season 5Starring: Kyle Chandler Connie Britton |
Happy Birthday: Ella Purnell
Ella Purnell
Born: September 17, 1996 in London, England, UK
[on who she looks up to in the industry] Jennifer Lawrence because she’s managed to stay so grounded, and Chloe [Grace-Moretz] because she has an amazing work ethic – she just works and works and works. I would be so exhausted!
| MALEFICENT 2014 dir. Robert Stromberg Stars: Angelina Jolie Elle Fanning |
 NEVER LET ME GOdir. Mark Romanek Stars: Keira Knightley Carey Mulligan |
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Movie Review: JAILBREAK (2016)
JAILBREAK, 1min., USA, Animation/Crime
Directed by Alise Munson
Shot in black and white, “Jailbreak” follows the daring escape of a prisoner fleeing his cell and his quest for sweet punishment. The animated short from HouseSpecial Director Aaron Sorenson is a German Expressionist-inspired design mash-up of stop-motion and illustration with a decidedly adult twist.
Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.
Movie Review by Kierston Drier
Jail Break coming to us from the USA and directed by Alise Munson is a delight for the senses.
The curious duet of stop-motion and art illusion is superb creating a reality and
otherworldliness that is both engaging and visually decadent.
The animation in this piece is detailed, lush and highly satisfying. The story packs of humourous punch for so short a film coming in at just under one minute in length. You can’t help but side with our hard bitten hero, a complex criminal with some choice eclectic tastes.
Jail Break follows our criminal hero as he escapes from prison, narrowly missing guards and various obstacles only to get himself chained up in another, more pleasureably sense.
Comic irony that adults will enjoy, and might just go over the heads of a young audience. (Hopefully.)
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film:
Movie Review: TIME SMASH (2016)
TIME SMASH, 2min., USA, Animation/Sci-Fi
Directed by Benjamin Reicher
A time traveler goes back 2 weeks to stop himself from going to Cynthia’s new years party. Unfortunately, he brings his cat along and forgets to let him back into the machine when he returns to the present. The cat grabs onto the machine last second, becomes radioactive, and ends up in ancient Egypt. What the time traveler finds when he returns to the present is pretty messed up….
Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.
Movie Review by Kierston Drier
Time Smash by USA director Benjamin Reicher, is frankly, hilarious. This is due to simple cinematic mathematics. The plot is clear, simple and concise, the visuals are strong and punchy, the story is strong and the punchline is fantastic.
The result is quick, effective comedy.
Our story opens on a young man bent on time traveling into the past by two weeks to tell his past self to avoid going to a party. Yet on his way back he has an unexpected guest in his travel machine his pet cat.
The cat stumbles out of the craft halfway through the journey getting hurled somewhere into the depths of space and time. When our hero returns to the present the future has been utterly altered.
It’s “an Oldie but a Goodie” plot line that nevertheless relies on a killer pay off to make the story really sing. And Oh Boy, does Time Smash deliver. The only line in the entire film, is well worth the wait.
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film:
Movie Review: 1916 (2016)
1916, 4min, UK, Animation/Drama
Directed by Oscar Lewis
An old man remembers the last time he saw his father, walking with him to the train station in rural England. This short film was made to mark the centenary of men with families being conscripted to the army in 1916 during WW1.
Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.
Movie Review by Kierston Drier
Oscar Lewis, director of UK film 1 916 has chosen a story that is poetic and heartbreaking and it is visually interesting. The story appears to be the retold memory of that last time a boy sees his father.
The writing is poetic, thoughtful, abstract and heart wrenching as it slowly dawns on the viewer that the charcoal flip book style drawings we are seeing, are the worn and smudged memories of these final moments the child can recall with his father.
This piece is compelling, although slow moving. It is not a laugh a minute, raucous comedy, nor a bright whimsical romp through imagination.
It is a farewell letter from a son to his father, arriving a lifetime later. We know the narrator recognizes now what he did not recognize then that this one moment as his father walks him towards a the train that will carry the father off to war will be their final moments together.
Despite this mournful undertone the piece is not outrightly sad. It is reflective, pensive, and thought provoking.
Perhaps it is meant to remind us that memories can fade, like sketches in a book, and only with careful keeping, can we recall them and keep them close to us.
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film:
Movie Review: SEA OF INK (2016)
SEA OF INK, 3min, USA, Animation/Drama
Directed by Chenxin Yang
Sea of Ink is a two-minute animation about an artist struggling with his creative block and his journey under the sea.
Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.
Movie Review by Kierston Drier
Engaging and visually lush Sea Of Ink directed by Chenxin Yang is a stunning visual adventure.
High concept and open for interpretation, it seems to display one artist’s struggles to find the creative inspiration in his work. As he tries to make his hands do what his heart feels he finds himself sucked deep down into the bottom of a creative ocean.
Full of fantastic imagery and beautifully composed animation, this piece could be about a creative struggling with mental illness, creative writers’ block, or some sort of emotional turmoil.
It could be the artist falling deeper into their own mind or retreating into their own creative world. As the viewer, we may place onto the film whatever lenses we like regardless, enjoy the ride that is Sea of Ink it
will take your breath away.
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film:
Movie Review: BOTTOMLESS (2016)
BOTTOMLESS, 2min, USA, Animation/Biography
Directed by Veronique Vanblaere
A Belgian woman seeks citizenship in the United States, and finds that her experiences are bottomless.
Seen at the August 2016 SCI-FI/FANTASY FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.
Movie Review by Kierston Drier
This comical inversion on the classic fish out of water story is brought to us by Veronique Vanderlaere of the USA. An unapologetic and endearing story of immigration and assimilation, this piece will appeal to anyone who has ever felt the “otherness” of living what they know and becoming engulfed in someplace new.
Bottomless is refreshing! The artistic tastes are unique, the story is charming and most engaging perhaps is that the central story revolves around a tiny detail the nature of North American drinking glasses. It is not always the obvious change in scenery that gives a traveler culture shock it is the small things that remind us how far from home we are.
But our Heroine embraces her new home, and not only accepts the changes but loves them. A delightful story with some upbeat humor that will make you smile and long for an extra large soft drink.
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film:
