May, 12, 2007 archives

it’s just the day for disrespectful film crews in our neighborhood. here’s the spring street side of the alexandria hotel, all lit up after 10pm for a shoot happening in one of the ballrooms.

i called the after-hours hotline at filmla to confirm the shoot information. valerie, the on-call person, didn’t have information about the shoot at hand, and took my phone number to call me back after she called the on-site representative. she didn’t have the shoot on her list of productions, because it was a two-day shoot starting yesterday. she went home to look up the information, but never called me back. they shut off the lights at 11:53pm.

based on the filming notification i could dig up, i think this was “off!” being produced by go films, inc. the permit number was F-204466. the location manager was adam baxter, 213-925-9050. the notification was for 7am-10pm.

since this isn’t shining directly into my building, i’m more just offended by the principle here. why issue film permits if they don’t mean anything? why have rules for downtown-area filming if they’re just ignored? why have an on-site film monitor if they don’t do anything when the permit is violated?

the rebel, or dòng máu anh hùng , was the closing night film at the vc filmfest 2007, as well as the winner of the grand jury prize for narrative films.

the film is amazing. it is set in 1920s vietnam, where the french have hired vietnamese agents to hunt down the rebels who are fighting for independence. there is a lot of action, and all of the acting is fantastic. unlike a lot of the wuxia films that have been popular recently, the fight scenes aren’t too over-the-top, and the plot is actually reasonably credible and well-developed.