Film Fest Is Reel Deal for for O.C. Fans

For some, it’s sports. For others, it’s food. But for Richard Breslin, it’s the movies.

Breslin admits he’s obsessed. The 24-year-old UC Irvine English major says he tries to see one a day, three or four on weekends. The ideal plan? Ditch a couple of classes and catch the latest release, then a video at home before grudgingly heading to a Costa Mesa restaurant for his late shift as a waiter.

“The most fun I have is in the theater; it’s the best of times for me,” he said. “It’s kind of an addiction, but I love it. Most of my friends are the same way.”

Breslin will cultivate his habit over the next several days at the second annual Newport Beach International Film Festival, at theaters around Orange County. The festival, which ends Sunday, spotlights more than 80 independent feature and short films from the U.S. and countries such as Japan, France, England, Canada, China and Iceland.

The festival got going Thursday night at the Edwards Newport in Newport Beach with the world premiere of the director’s cut of Wolfgang Petersen’s “Das Boot” (1981), now more than three hours long. Breslin was there with a couple of pals, enjoying the arrival of Petersen and the movie’s star, Jurgen Prochnow, and finding himself nearly speechless over the movie.

“It’s so much better than I remembered,” he said while taking a break to get more popcorn. “Intense, man, really intense.”

Breslin explained that film means so much to him because, since he was a child, he used movies to flee from daily responsibilities and disappointments. Good flicks also teach, he added. At their best, films can be documents about morals and ethics, Breslin said.

“All of them aren’t always relevant, [and] sometimes they get stupid and sappy,” he said. “But [movies] usually have a message about [doing] the right thing. That part always makes me feel better.”

During his brief comments before “Das Boot,” director Petersen didn’t mention the moral implications of his film about a German U-boat on a dangerous mission. He spoke excitedly of how this new version raises the intensity through additional scenes and a booming, digitally remastered score.

“Brace yourselves,” he warned. “You will jump out of your seat toward the ceiling!”

Jack and Ellen Sandford, a Newport Beach couple in their 70s, concurred.

“I had to cover my ears a couple of times,” Ellen Sandford said, wincing.

Jack nodded: “Yeah, it was very strong, but it was a very powerful movie.”

The Sandfords went to the premiere to show their support for the festival. “It’s really something great for the community; it gets the county some attention,” Ellen Sandford said.

In an interview the next day, the couple considered how much films have changed since they were young. Jack Sandford recalled that their first date--more than 50 years ago--started with a movie. “I can’t remember what it was, but William Powell was the star,” he said. “I think we were paying more attention to each other than what was playing.”

Ellen Sandford said the biggest development she’s noticed has been in technology, which has become more important than good stories and solid characters for major studios devoted to action films.

“I do think that movies used to seem smaller, [but that’s because] they told ‘realer’ stories about people’s lives,” she said. “I like the new ones because they’re so colorful, but I don’t remember them much afterward.”

The Sandfords go to movies once or twice a week, they said, and watch videos at home, sometimes with their four children and their families.

Said Ellen Sandford, looking at her husband: “He loves [Arnold] Schwarzenegger and all those crime [and action] ones.”

He interjected: “She likes Meryl Streep and [Tom] Cruise. Love stories.”

“We have to compromise,” Ellen Sandford continued, “one for him and one for me, so we usually watch two videos. We do love the movies, though; it’s so Californian.”

Not everybody attending the festival is here for pleasure. Dozens of movie distributors are roaming the theaters looking for unknown films by unknown filmmakers that could be big in general release around the world.

Tom Pham is one. Pham, who lives in Toronto, is searching for “Asian-oriented” films (a handful are being showcased at the festival, including offerings from Vietnam, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand) for the Pacific Rim market.

Over the past year, he’s visited major festivals in Berlin and Jerusalem, among others, and says the Newport Beach festival could prove to be a bounty for people such as himself.

“I’m very impressed with the offerings and the festival in general,” Pham said recently. “It looks to me like they are doing very well [and] helping” distributors do their job.

“This is business for me, of course, and I have to think about China, Japan and the other countries I’m looking for movies for,” he said. “But I love the movies, I really do, so this is a lot of fun, no matter what. I wouldn’t miss being here.”

* MOVIE SCHEDULE

The Newport Beach International Film Festival lineup. F3