Allan Duffin - Writer/Producer

The Minerva Awards 2010: Carolyn Blashek and Operation Gratitude

The Women's Conference, hosted by California First Lady Maria Shriver, is an annual event that draws a huge crowd to the Long Beach Convention Center. At Big Life Films I had the privilege of working on a number of multimedia programs that were shown at the conference, including films that honored the recipients of the 2010 Minerva Awards.

Created by California First Lady Maria Shriver in 2004, The Minerva Awards have become the country’s most prestigious awards given to women “who serve on the front-lines of humanity,” celebrating their extraordinary legacies of service and contributions to California, the nation and the world.

Here's one of the films we produced. It's about Carolyn Blashek, founder of Operation Gratitude. From the very start of this country’s longest war, Carolyn Blashek has not gone a day without thinking about the men and women who put their lives on the line overseas for the freedoms we enjoy at home. Carolyn was so moved by the enormity of 9/11, that she tried to enlist in the military at age 46. She was sent home for being “too old,” and so began the odyssey that led to Operation Gratitude, the largest military support organization sending personalized care packages to deployed soldiers in US history.

Dancing at the movies: just pure fun

Reposting this great video via Ken Levine's blog:

100 Cheesiest Movie Quotes of All Time

Just plain fun. Compiled by Pajiba.com.

Getting your car fixed doesn't have to be a Broadway musical

Fortunately my mechanic doesn't sing. Or dance. At least I don't think he does.

(Via roflrazzi.com)

Moving Movies: "Stealing Home"

Love me some baseball movies. (Case in point:"Field of Dreams," written and directed by one of my all-time favorite artists, Phil Alden Robinson.) In 1988, writer/directors Steven Kampmann and William Porter brought us "Stealing Home," starring Jodie Foster and Mark Harmon.

A down-on-his-luck ballplayer (Harmon) returns to his hometown after his childhood love (Foster) commits suicide. There he reconnects with old friends and tries to figure out what to do with the dead woman's ashes, which have been entrusted to him. Harmon's character struggles throughout the film to answer a simple but very important question: How can he say goodbye to his first love, and finally — after so many years lost in the wilderness — get on with his life?

The film may not be beloved — Roger Ebert labeled it "a real squirmer, a movie so earnest and sincere and pathetic and dripping with pathos that it cries out to be satirized" — but that earnestness and sincerity are what drew me to the film, and still do today. The cast also includes William McNamara, Blair Brown, John Shea, Harold Ramis and Jonathan Silverman. Watch it with someone who's as mushy as you are.

Adam Donshik in writer/director Scott Cervine's short film "Symbiotaxiplasm"

Great news! Actor Adam Donshik won the Best Actor award at the Elevate Film Festival held on October 5th at the Nokia Theatre here in Los Angeles. Adam appeared in writer/director Scott Cervine's terrific short film "Symbiotaxiplasm." (That's Scott's photo on the left, Adam on the right.)

You can view the film by going to Adam's website: www.donshik.com. Enjoy!

Here's a still from the film: Adam's character just bought a Prius, and he drives it to [SPOILER] and then [SPOILER]. (Just watch the film, okay?)

New trailer for Bruce Campbell's upcoming film My Name Is Bruce

Hail to the king, baby. Now all we need is a release date!

"My Name Is Bruce," and other things Bruce Campbell

It's no secret, of course, that I'm a big fan of Bruce Campbell. His new film, "My Name Is Bruce," will appear on DVD later this year. For further information, you can check Bruce Campbell Online (the official website) and a blog called Bruce Campbell News Central. "My Name Is Bruce" will be released by Dark Horse Entertainment . Meanwhile, while we're waiting, Campbell appears regularly on USA Network's entertaining new action series "Burn Notice" as a retired spy with a lot of tricks up his sleeve.

I've also taken the liberty of embedding a clip from "Burn Notice" for your enjoyment. It's nonsensical, it's kinda strange, it's just right.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Fox Home Video advertises new DVD release of "Twelve O'Clock High"

With the new DVD of "Twelve O'Clock High" hitting the shelves on Tuesday June 5th (see previous post), Fox Home Video is running online advertisements like the one below, which appears on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com). If you visit the IMDB page for "Twelve O'Clock High" you'll see the ad. The Fox War Classics website also has information about the new DVD, which contains several special features, including documentaries about WWII and the making of the film. Look for me in a few of them! While you're at it, check out the companion book, The "12 O'Clock High Logbook: The Unofficial History of the Novel, Motion Picture, and Television Series," available at Amazon.com.

Creative entertainment:Dinner, Breathing, and Bruce Campbell

It's Friday, so I thought I'd write about three creative films that caught my eye -- two previously released and one being unveiled this fall.

If you like sentimental time-travel stories, check out "Late for Dinner," a 1991 film featuring Brian Wimmer, Peter Berg and Marcia Gay Harden. Two men are cryogenically frozen in 1962 and wake up 30 years later, when Wimmer's character attempts to reunite with his wife, who has spent the intervening decades mourning his disappearance. Available on VHS but not DVD.

"Still Breathing," first released in 1997, is a heartwarming romance about a guy who has visions of his soulmate, a con artist who can't understand why she is attracted to him. Brendan Fraser and Joanna Going head a cast that includes legendary performers Lou Rawls and Celeste Holm. The film's website is still up and running.

Finally, as a proud Bruce Campbell fan, I'm looking forward to his new film, "My Name Is Bruce," which Dark Horse Entertainment has scheduled for release late this year. As far as the story goes, Campbell is shanghaied by terrified townsfolk to help them battle demons. More info is available at Bruce Campbell Online and at the Bruce Campbell news blog.