REEL LIFE : Jury Still Out on Local TV Show : Santa Paula-based NBC production resumes filming this week, but the fate of the series remains unclear.

“Against the Grain” is under the gun.

The NBC series is scheduled to resume filming this week in Santa Paula, but network execs have not decided whether the show about a high school football coach and his family will be renewed.

Eight segments were filmed in Santa Paula. Viewers who saw the shows, which aired Fridays at 8 p.m., would recognize the local Chevrolet dealership and a hardware store, among other scenes in the town.

“Angel Falls” a CBS series that also filmed in Santa Paula, was canceled.

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Ventura martial arts instructor and actor Greg Duimovich is chopping his way to better roles in martial arts films: He chopped off his long hair and beard in an attempt to look less like a thug and more like a hero.

“I’m working my way up to the point that I can win a fight. Right now I lose in all my parts.”

Duimovich said his long hair is part of the reason he’s gotten whipped in all of the dozen martial arts action-adventure movies he’s worked in.

His current film job is less punishing. Duimovich said he is training a woman for a role as a Los Angeles Police Department officer in the upcoming independent production titled “Vigilante with a Badge.”

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The supernatural tradition of ancient China goes on screen Sunday as the Ojai Film Society shows “Chinese Ghost Story.” The Hong Kong film is a cinematic vision of the mythic time when the Chinese court was dominated by evil sorcerers.

The film follows a naive tax collector and a Taoist monk as they grapple with ghosts and monsters. One reviewer called it the funniest movie in a decade. Screening of the unrated film is at 7:30 p.m. at the Ojai Playhouse, 145 E. Ojai Ave.

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These are the top 20 videos as reported last week from Salzer’s Video in Ventura:

1. Fire in the Sky

2. Aladdin

3. Indian Summer

4. Groundhog Day

5. Falling Down

6. Point of No Return

7. Chaplin

8. Once Upon a Forest

9. The Crush

10. Alive

11. Scent of a Woman

12. Benny and Joon

13. The Temp

14. Boiling Point

15. Homeward Bound

16. Mad Dog and Glory

17. El Mariachi

18. Untamed Heart

19. Married to It

20. Sidekicks

Pancho Doll compiles Reel Life each week for Ventura County Life. If you have information on local film, television or video events or personalities write to him at 5200 Valentine Road, Suite 140, Ventura, 93003 or send faxes to 658-5576.