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Sneak Preview: "Sunset Junction"
By Lee Tistaert Published March 19, 2004
This sneak preview program that I?ve attended has given me a glance of how critics probably feel with their consistent string of press screenings. Up until this week?s screening of Sunset Junction, we had been shown a bunch of mediocre material for the most part. While Starsky & Hutch (which was screened two weeks ago) is a good, fun movie and an easy repeat viewing flick (like Old School), it?s not anything great; and Made-Up, the first movie screened, is an entertaining flick as well but not too memorable.
We?ve been tortured with some clich? movies like Against the Ropes, Twisted, and the good-natured British film last week that didn?t win me over called Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself. And all in all, I?ve been pondering whether or not I?ll be returning to the next program (I probably will). At the previous screening when the host announced the next week?s title ? a documentary called Sunset Junction ? I didn?t know what to expect, but given that it surrounded Los Angeles? gangs and violence (which somehow made me think of Traffic), I hoped that something good would result.
Pretty soon into this documentary I knew we were in for a good night, and before long, the idea of this documentary ending eventually was a sad thought. The feature actually doesn?t heavily focus on violence and gangs (it is only a small subplot), as it mostly surrounds a group of troubled Latinos in Hollywood who are taken off the streets by an organization, and offered a better life.
This is one of the most well done documentaries I?ve ever seen, and I?m not often a fan of this genre; projects like Bowling for Columbine and Spellbound are quite well done, and while this may not spark as much discussion as Columbine, Sunset Junction is a very memorable experience. The title, Sunset Junction, refers to the organization on Sunset Boulevard, a service that takes students who are stumbling in their life, hands them a job in a supportive atmosphere, and supplies opportunities for them to get a glimpse of life on the other side of the tracks.
We follow a group of Latinos and watch how their state of minds change once they allow Sunset Junction to help them live a happier and more confident life. The feature is not scripted, but the manner in which we get to know each person involved is very effective; their personalities are revealed naturally and we grow an attachment to almost everyone. And by the time the documentary is over, you might want to know what the students have been up to since then.
We had two guest speakers from the documentary: Peter Jones, the director and producer, and Michael McKinley, the founder of Sunset Junction. When I first read the paper that we?re handed and noticed that Peter Jones was one of the speakers, I had wondered whether or not it was the Project Greenlight (Stolen Summer) Pete Jones, and to a slight disappointment, it wasn?t.
When the host introduced the two of them on the stage, the crowd heavily applauded McKinley for his good-hearted achievement with the foundation, and there were even some cheers. Peter Jones has had a history with documentaries, and when he first approached McKinley with the idea of documenting this subject matter, McKinley was understandably hesitant. McKinley wasn?t quite sure what Jones? intent was at first, as he didn?t want these teenagers? lives exploited. After some dwelling on the negotiation, they placed faith in each other and decided to give it a shot.
Jones and McKinley said that the experience was all about earning each other?s trust, including amongst the students. Jones wanted them to feel comfortable with saying whatever they wanted to in the presence of the camera without feeling timid, and also wanted to achieve an innocent essence within the depiction of their lives. He didn?t want the documentary to feel forced or scripted ? he wanted the camera in appropriate spots and to capture everyone?s natural behavior.
Jones ended up with 200 hours of footage, which needed to be cut down to an hour and forty-five minutes. This process placed him with a tremendous responsibility to present everyone with the proper screen time and to make sure no one was depicted in a biased perspective. He noted that it was a very difficult assignment, as there were clips he would have preferred to show in addition to everything else, but that the balancing of tones didn?t always play appropriately.
Jones had enough faith in this documentary that he funded the entire project on his own much like Mel Gibson with The Passion of the Christ. Jones is still looking for a distributor to pick up the feature, though he has gotten potential deals with various cable networks for the future; and one theater in Los Angeles has agreed to book the documentary exclusively for one week.
On the topic of funding a movie on your own, Jones expressed that such a news statement usually catches moviegoers? attention, which was heavily proven with The Passion. However, Jones commented that filmmakers fund their own movies more often than you might think, and that people don?t always know that because the media doesn?t often pay notice to it. Since the media can be biased in their presentation of facts, such an announcement can feel unique.
Many people in the audience voiced their appreciation toward McKinley for establishing such an organization, as well as toward Jones for presenting the footage in such an uplifting fashion. One woman commented that she really admired the patience and the positive attitude that McKinley conveyed in the presence of the teens, and how inspirational the feature was. McKinley noted that he and Jones have kept in touch with most of the students who have been involved. McKinley mentioned one guy who had called him out of the blue from Las Vegas, telling him how much he appreciated what he did for him, and came into town and bought McKinley dinner.
That wrapped it up for the evening, and next week they are showing Nicole Kidman?s film, Dogville. I was sort of okay with that announcement until the host mentioned that the film is roughly three hours, and adding on to that, he said the feature has been a love-it or hate-it affair. Over the last few years I?ve felt like brutally attacking really long films if they aren?t that great, with Gangs of New York and Cold Mountain being prime victims (I also tried to watch The English Patient recently for the first time and lost interest quickly). I?m hoping for peace between Dogville and myself, and if I am strong enough to make it through that entire evening, that will be the next session I?ll be reporting on.
We?ve been tortured with some clich? movies like Against the Ropes, Twisted, and the good-natured British film last week that didn?t win me over called Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself. And all in all, I?ve been pondering whether or not I?ll be returning to the next program (I probably will). At the previous screening when the host announced the next week?s title ? a documentary called Sunset Junction ? I didn?t know what to expect, but given that it surrounded Los Angeles? gangs and violence (which somehow made me think of Traffic), I hoped that something good would result.
Pretty soon into this documentary I knew we were in for a good night, and before long, the idea of this documentary ending eventually was a sad thought. The feature actually doesn?t heavily focus on violence and gangs (it is only a small subplot), as it mostly surrounds a group of troubled Latinos in Hollywood who are taken off the streets by an organization, and offered a better life.
This is one of the most well done documentaries I?ve ever seen, and I?m not often a fan of this genre; projects like Bowling for Columbine and Spellbound are quite well done, and while this may not spark as much discussion as Columbine, Sunset Junction is a very memorable experience. The title, Sunset Junction, refers to the organization on Sunset Boulevard, a service that takes students who are stumbling in their life, hands them a job in a supportive atmosphere, and supplies opportunities for them to get a glimpse of life on the other side of the tracks.
We follow a group of Latinos and watch how their state of minds change once they allow Sunset Junction to help them live a happier and more confident life. The feature is not scripted, but the manner in which we get to know each person involved is very effective; their personalities are revealed naturally and we grow an attachment to almost everyone. And by the time the documentary is over, you might want to know what the students have been up to since then.
We had two guest speakers from the documentary: Peter Jones, the director and producer, and Michael McKinley, the founder of Sunset Junction. When I first read the paper that we?re handed and noticed that Peter Jones was one of the speakers, I had wondered whether or not it was the Project Greenlight (Stolen Summer) Pete Jones, and to a slight disappointment, it wasn?t.
When the host introduced the two of them on the stage, the crowd heavily applauded McKinley for his good-hearted achievement with the foundation, and there were even some cheers. Peter Jones has had a history with documentaries, and when he first approached McKinley with the idea of documenting this subject matter, McKinley was understandably hesitant. McKinley wasn?t quite sure what Jones? intent was at first, as he didn?t want these teenagers? lives exploited. After some dwelling on the negotiation, they placed faith in each other and decided to give it a shot.
Jones and McKinley said that the experience was all about earning each other?s trust, including amongst the students. Jones wanted them to feel comfortable with saying whatever they wanted to in the presence of the camera without feeling timid, and also wanted to achieve an innocent essence within the depiction of their lives. He didn?t want the documentary to feel forced or scripted ? he wanted the camera in appropriate spots and to capture everyone?s natural behavior.
Jones ended up with 200 hours of footage, which needed to be cut down to an hour and forty-five minutes. This process placed him with a tremendous responsibility to present everyone with the proper screen time and to make sure no one was depicted in a biased perspective. He noted that it was a very difficult assignment, as there were clips he would have preferred to show in addition to everything else, but that the balancing of tones didn?t always play appropriately.
Jones had enough faith in this documentary that he funded the entire project on his own much like Mel Gibson with The Passion of the Christ. Jones is still looking for a distributor to pick up the feature, though he has gotten potential deals with various cable networks for the future; and one theater in Los Angeles has agreed to book the documentary exclusively for one week.
On the topic of funding a movie on your own, Jones expressed that such a news statement usually catches moviegoers? attention, which was heavily proven with The Passion. However, Jones commented that filmmakers fund their own movies more often than you might think, and that people don?t always know that because the media doesn?t often pay notice to it. Since the media can be biased in their presentation of facts, such an announcement can feel unique.
Many people in the audience voiced their appreciation toward McKinley for establishing such an organization, as well as toward Jones for presenting the footage in such an uplifting fashion. One woman commented that she really admired the patience and the positive attitude that McKinley conveyed in the presence of the teens, and how inspirational the feature was. McKinley noted that he and Jones have kept in touch with most of the students who have been involved. McKinley mentioned one guy who had called him out of the blue from Las Vegas, telling him how much he appreciated what he did for him, and came into town and bought McKinley dinner.
That wrapped it up for the evening, and next week they are showing Nicole Kidman?s film, Dogville. I was sort of okay with that announcement until the host mentioned that the film is roughly three hours, and adding on to that, he said the feature has been a love-it or hate-it affair. Over the last few years I?ve felt like brutally attacking really long films if they aren?t that great, with Gangs of New York and Cold Mountain being prime victims (I also tried to watch The English Patient recently for the first time and lost interest quickly). I?m hoping for peace between Dogville and myself, and if I am strong enough to make it through that entire evening, that will be the next session I?ll be reporting on.
