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Documentary to feature surfing, TV star canine


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POSTED: Thursday, November 12, 2009

The BBC is in Honolulu this week working on a documentary segment in conjunction with Animal Planet about Pono, the yellow lab who plays Vincent on “;Lost.”;

Virginio Marcos, Pono's master and trainer, said the piece is about working dogs. Apparently, Pono will be featured surfing with Marcos on his 10-foot board, paddling in an outrigger canoe and hanging out at Marcos' Diamond Head Cove Health Bar on Monsarrat Avenue, listening to the live music featured Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. When asked if Pono would still go out if a South swell blossomed, Marcos said, “;Yeah!”;

Pono hasn't been called to work since the “;Lost”; crew returned in August, but filming for the last season is far from over, so Marcos is hopeful that Vincent will make a few appearances late in the season ...

Former Hawaii resident Mynette Louie, who worked on “;Lost”; and for the Hawaii State Film Office as film industry coordinator and economic development specialist before moving back to New York, has produced a movie garnering attention on the festival circuit. “;Children of Invention”; premiered at Sundance in January this year, and recently was honored with the Puma Emerging Filmmaker Award at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

“;It was really an honor to win this award, even though we had already won a dozen festival awards by this point,”; she wrote in an e-mail. “;This was a 'hometown' award for me, and actually the most generous award we've received, thanks to Puma—a $4,000 cash grant and $1,000 in Puma merchandise to put toward our next film.”;

The story of resilience revolves around an Asian-American woman—a single mother of two young children—who gets involved in a pyramid scheme and disappears, leaving the kids to their own devices. The production was, Louie described, “;a low-budget labor of love.”;

After spending part of her childhood and summers throughout high school and college in the islands, Louie engaged in a “;transcontinental/transpacific relationship with Hawaii and New York.”;

She always intended to return to New York to produce films, and stayed in Hawaii longer than she anticipated. But there's a chance she'll be back in Honolulu if the film attains a wide release; however, those details remain vague. The schedule that is certain includes festivals in Vancouver, Austin, Denver and Taiwan. Learn more about the film or purchase DVDs at www.childrenofinvention.com ...

“;Hawaii's Reel Stories,”; the Oceanic Cable series about filmmaking and entertainment in Hawaii, is now available online, according to writer-director-producer Don Brown. The episodes will be posted in batches and updated periodically.

In addition, six hour-long “;Hawaii's Reel Stories”; DVDs are available for $15 each. Subjects include Hawaiian culture, music in Hawaii, ocean world, Hawaii profiles, island indie films and natural Hawaii. See http://www.oc16.tv/shows/20 ...

After reading some fairly impressive reviews of “;Paranormal Activity”; and hearing my 15-year-old daughter report the buzz at school, we decided to see the film for ourselves. But when we exited the theater, she announced, “;That was lame.”; Later, she muttered, “;Did we see the right movie?”;

In the shaky, hand-held, no-budget, home-movie genre, it is rather accomplished and clever. But for the most part, it was just dull. Instead, go see “;The Damned United,”; Peter Morgan's (”;Frost/Nixon”;) interpretation of Brian Clough's (played brilliantly by Michael Sheen) tenure as the manager of best team in English football (soccer). It's a captivating character study—and highly entertaining. The film starts tomorrow at Kahala Theatres.

Contact Katherine Nichols at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).