MosJan Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 Blue Hour Film by Erick Nazarian to be screened in Glendale 19.08.2009 20:04 GMT+04:00 http://www.panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_print.gif http://www.panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_mail.gif /PanARMENIAN.Net/ Award-winning writer and director Eric Nazarian will discuss his film, The Blue Hour, following a screening of the film on Saturday, August 22 at the Glendale Central Library Auditorium. The Blue Hour, explores the connections between a Mexican graffiti muralist, an Armenian camera repairman, an African- American Blues guitarist and an English pensioner living near the Los Angeles River. The ensemble cast includes actress Alyssa Milano. The film was received a number of prizes when it debuted in 2007. The Blue Hour, was recently nominated for a Voice Award, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Writers Guild of America West, for "giving voice to people with mental disorders by incorporating empathetic and accurate portrayals into their scripts, programs and productions." Born in Armenia, Eric Nazarian is a graduate of USC School of Cinematic Arts. In 2008, he received the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for his original screenplay Giants. Out of 5,224 submissions to the Academy only five screenplays were awarded the prestigious fellowship, and he is the first Armenian in the history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to be awarded the fellowship. He is currently working on a series of feature films set in the U.S., Europe and Armenia. Praise for The Blue Hour, "The Blue Hour reps a strong calling card for Eric Nazarian." - Variety "Eric Nazarian's The Blue Hour is a beautiful and delicately constructed first film." - Atom Egoyan. "Nazarian demonstrates an uncanny affinity for the language of cinema...this is clearly another filmmaker to watch out for in the coming years." - Torino Film Festival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zartonk Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 Looks like a promising film Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nané Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 Variety Review Online October 2nd, 2007 The Blue Hour Posted: Tue., Oct. 2, 2007, 12:24pm PT A Knappmiller/Ramirez, Blue Hour production. (International sales: Knappmiller/Ramirez, Arcadia, Calif.) Produced by Lynette Ramirez, Brian Knappmiller. Executive producer, Nick Slatkin. Directed, written by Eric Nazarian. With: Emily Rios, Alyssa Milano, Yorick Van Wageningen, Clarence Williams III, Derrick O'Connor, Paul Dillon, Sophie Malki. By JONATHAN HOLLAND Four quietly told tales about loss, three of them about death and the solitude it brings, make up "The Blue Hour," a well-turned, melancholy item set on and around the Los Angeles River. Largely dialogue-free, the pic shuns histrionics, instead generating its gathering emotional force via carefully crafted images and sharp editing, though it fails to reap the potential benefits of the decision to tie its yarns together. "Hour" reps a strong calling card for debutante Eric Nazarian, and could find an extended afterlife on the fest circuit. In the pic's most upbeat strand, ironically named Happy (Emily Rios) is a Mexican kid who escapes her parents' domestic bickering by spray-painting graffiti on the banks of the river to the accompaniment of headphone hip-hop. A homeless man (Paul Dillon) -- a one-time astronomy professor whose acquaintance she briefly makes -- is killed by a hit and run driver. The second, emotionally richer, story focuses on a camera repairman, bear-like but tender Armenian Avo (Yorick Van Wageningen), trying to come to terms with the death of his 4-year-old daughter Heidi (Sophie Malki). Communication between Avo and traumatized wife Allegra ("Charmed" star Alyssa Milano) has broken down. Much of this story is told in flashback, giving it a narrative depth absent from the other sections. In the third, weakest section, blues street musician Ridley (Clarence Williams III) cares for his ailing mother and is haunted by the singing coming from another room in the old hotel where he lives. Fourth yarn takes us through the routine of kindly old Humphrey (Derrick O'Connor) as he prepares for his daily lunch by his wife's grave. The characters are briefly aware of one another across stories, but to little discernible dramatic consequence. So tenuous are the connections between them that the stories could have been kept apart with no real loss of substance. In a film dealing so explicitly with feelings, the script could have shed a section and found time to bring out the emotional nuances of the remaining interactions more strongly. Pic is best seen as a linked series of quiet, telling moments -- Ridley playing the guitar at his dying mother's bedside, Yorick looking across the river at Happy's graffiti of a sad clown, Happy looking up through the dead prof's telescope. Dialogue does good work when it comes. Much of the pic shows characters walking through the streets alone, which visually starts to pall by the Ridley section. All perfs are suitably muted, as is the minimalist score. Strikingly composed images of the river as it winds through the city thankfully do not seem to be aiming for symbolism. Pic features a cameo by '60s Brit singer Eric Burdon, banging out the blues in a local bar. Camera (color, widescreen), Sam Levy; editors, Helen Hand, Emily Koonse; music, Aldo Shllaku; production designer, Tim Grimes; sound, Jeremy Peirson. Reviewed at San Sebastian Film Festival (Zabaltegi New Directors), Madrid, Sept. 24 2007 . Running time: 93 MIN. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=ca...amp;starting=11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nané Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 The Blue Hour - A Film by Eric Nazarian Location: 222 E. Harvard St. Glendale, CA 91205 818-548-2030 Details: CA Award-winning writer / director Eric Nazarian will discuss his film, The Blue Hour, following a screening of the film on Saturday, August 22, 6 pm at the Glendale Central Library Auditorium, 222 East Harvard Street in Glendale. Admission is free. The DVD will be for sale, with sales benefitting the Friends of the Glendale Public Library. The Blue Hour, explores the connections between a Mexican graffiti muralist, an Armenian camera repairman, an African- American Blues guitarist and an English pensioner living near the Los Angeles River. The ensemble cast includes actress Alyssa Milano. The film was received a number of prizes when it debuted in 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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