Fox Searchlight had the right idea for their upcoming Day Watch (a sequel to Night Watch, the highest-grossing Russian film ever, and the second in a trilogy that's best described as Star Wars meets The Matrix meets Underworld meets Dostoyevsky). Usually, a Hollywood press screening is just that. Your friends back home think, oooh, you got to see the stars at the premiere, right? Nah, usually, an all-media screening simply means you saw the movie 3 days before everyone else…so that, in our case, we can help edit content (such as our blog here) to give users an assist in their moviegoing decisions.





This summer, it’s going to take a lot to stand out in the crowded market, and the invite to Day Watch, opening Friday, June 1st (or to the movie fanatics, one week before Ocean's 13), was a little different. Instead of the usual screening at a packed cineplex where critics sit in the roped off area and college kids fill out the rest of the theater, this pass from Fox Searchlight touted a few extras, which all in all, actually did add up to a memorable, albeit slight fuzzy evening.

My friend Ryan Kwanten (who’s an 'up and coming' actor himself -- HBO fans, look for him next fall in True Blood) and I arrived promptly at 6pm for the event, billed as an 'evening of thrills.' The movie, and previews for the thrillers Joshua and Sunshine, weren't scheduled to start until 630pm. But Fox Searchlight, in their infinite wisdom, provided a half hour of drinks right outside the Little Theater on the Fox lot.

Granted, the film is a visual dynamo anyway, but a glass of red wine later, it's amazing how the movies in the trailers seemed like the best thing you'd ever seen onscreen, or how the frenetic film style of Day Watch felt that much more REAL. Planned or not, the pre-drinks added at least a 1/4 inch to everyone's collective grin. Afterwards, food was provided in a studio parking lot-turned-buffet line.

It’s a bit surreal seeing a movie at a studio. I told Ryan the last time I was at the Fox lot, I saw posters all over the place for his film Flicka. Ryan said he also had his first audition ever in America at the studio (he's an Aussie). We both felt extremely lucky and grateful to be there, and to be able to report back to you guys, since at heart we're really just surfer-movie buffs content to live where we do near Venice Beach, an Australian and a Samoan (that’s me), hanging out with our friends, and catching up on lots of cinema.

Here’s hoping other small, noteworthy movies like Day Watch (which will satiate fans of the trilogy, and earn some new ones) get the A-list studio treatment - and that we’ll have more summer surprises to write about... (Beyond Day Watch and the hilarious Knocked Up, check out the praise for another recently released small gem -- and this year's Sundance Audience Award winner -- called Once, and see it as soon as you can.)