Guest Post by Akasha Garnier on the 2017 #Oscars

~ Celebrate What it is to Live a Life ~

Gracias Alfonzo Words for sharing your blogging journey and your recent 200K Page Views per month milestone and success! I am grateful to have shared great social media fun with our coloring image contest, cover reveal, movie and foodie tags, giveaways and live launch for #ShineThroughTheNoise . I am continuing to connect the dots to bring my travel thriller series “Davanti” to the page and silver screen. I am also in talks with adding a sequel to my first indie film, Influence . In the meantime, I will be gathering success stories like Alfonzo Words and some friends and travelers who have put #ShineThroughTheNoise into practice for personal and professional growth. I am still donating 10% of proceeds to my Chicago and LA charity partner: Teen Cancer America . We will be announcing more community events together in the near future! 
With the precedent and political climate set during the 2017 awards season, film aficionados and fashionistas were wondering what #Oscars2017 would bring.

#Oscars2017 ~ Celebrate What it is to Live a Life

Are the Academy Awards representing style or substance? Frequently Oscar movies are about deep subjects and historical journeys, but this year present several new ideas to consider. Many saw "La La Land" as a paean to old Hollywood and the zany lives of many Angelenos in the film industry. Some called it "frothy" and wondered if escapism would prevail, or if the Oscars would play it straight and serious by paying homage to "Moonlight" as Best Picture?

Voila, now we all know what happened next. The Oscar stage and the ballot counts, cast upset as a new norm.

Emma Stone on the Oscars red carpet, shortly before her win for Best Actress. We could see the metallic trend taking shape, accented by political points in pin form.

Emma Stone in Givenchy Haute Couture by Ricardo Tisci/Getty Images.

The Huffington Post framed it on point: "Emma Stone will be the least disappointed of the La La Land crew, having scored a triple win: an Oscar, a Planned Parenthood pin, and one of the best dresses of the night. The gold, fluid-fringed Givenchy gown looked like a more evolved, more expensive version of the yellow dress which Stone wears in La La Land, and it is fitting to stay in character–this is an acting prize, after all."

Viola Davis was the one to beat they said. Here she's poised in Armani Prive. 

She went on to become the first black woman to win an Oscar, Emmy, and Tony award for acting.
See all the dresses from this year's red carpet.
Check out the men on the red carpet.

As the red carpet parade was underway, K. Patrick Tutera and I were having a photoshoot and catching up on our arrival with photographer and suave driver in tow. Extra thank you and toast to Bre and the Hollywood Roosevelt guest relations team who reached out to make sure we had built in enough travel time and knew arrival protocol.
As the red carpets were winding down. Patrick and I had a chance to catch some candids in character on our way to the Oscars soiree.

Akasha, all dressed up with somewhere wonderful to go! (Photos: Devin Green unless listed otherwise. Akasha's hair by Lisett Munoz and make-up by Alex of Killer Hair.) 

Chauffeured ride paired with truffle pate and Ferrari-Carano.

Patrick Tutera took this photo in the library and then I took the ones of him above and below. 

There were smiles, and I believe we both wear our dimples well. I respect that Patrick is an actor and filmmaker, so we did get a serious one as well. Gotta love the custom tux he purchased for this evening! Well played, bello.

The Blossom Ballroom gourmet soiree was sponsored by Piper champagne. the official champagne of The Oscars. When I asked Bre Smith from the Roosevelt and Blossom Ballroom team if she had a favorite course from the evening's menu, she said: "I'm a champagne girl. As long as there's champagne, everything else is secondary!" She also told me that they knew the dinner should be held in one room - the main event with the grand space where the first Oscars' guest gathered. AND they are gearing up for even more special celebrations as they get ready for the 90th Academy Awards.

Patrick and I both had reasons to celebrate with the his "The Last Hurrah" film festival track and my 

#ShineThroughTheNoise book and branding projects reaching 9 countries and winning Marcom awards. I truly appreciate that we both have things to celebrate. #Truth - the Piper champagne was fantastic! We also both really enjoyed the prime rib carving station and extra tender chicken with sundried tomato.

We both tweeted some highlights from the show (without becoming completely glued to our phones, fortunately). Give Patrick's gamesmanship a look and a follow. (Last Hurrah Film) I am sure we will both have new things to share and celebrate soon!
Check out the foreshadowing and stills from the Best Picture debacle. 

I will leave you with some wisdom from an outstanding speech:

Viola Davis, best supporting actress winner, Fences

"There’s one place that all the people with the greatest potential are gathered – that’s the graveyard. People ask me all the time, what kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola? And I say exhume those bodies, exhume those stories, the stories of the people dream big and never saw those dreams to fruition, people who fell in love and lost. I became an artist and thank God I did, because we are the only profession that celebrates what it is to live a life. Here’s to August Wilson, who exhumed, and exalted, the ordinary people."

Thank you again Enricoh, and blogging community for this guest author opportunity. I'll see you on the flipside. :)

Cheers & fair winds,

~Akasha Lin

                                        ***

About our Iridescent Guest Blogger

Akasha Garnier

Akasha’s proud of her work as a writer, producer, and actress; she balanced branding work as a writer and producer in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, London, Paris/Cannes, Maui and Hawaii. She excels at helping clients shine with 15 awards/accolades since 2007.

Akasha also enjoys giving back through her Promo Partners 

The main partner right now is The Who’s Charity: Teen Cancer America and her Italian family’s Fantastic Restaurants; Nando Milano 

© Enricoh Alfonzo ~ Alfonzo Words

• I’d love to keep connected with you! 

Follow on Twitter | Like on Facebook | Join my Instagram community | Watch me on Pinterest | Subscribe to blog post Updates |

~Be Kind to One Another~ Ellen Degeneres

The Directors Seat: How to Write a Movie or TV Series Review

Inspire. Create. Write.TM

Ohayo!

Awesome News!
Yesterday morning I was sitting at 5000 followers & as of this morning I'm on 7686 Followers!
Check me out on Twitter: @AlfonzoWords :-)

Today I'm going #ThrowbackThursday & sharing a guest post feature I was honored with on The Blog Tag.

When life gives you sweet vanilla ice cream it's important to take stock & contemplate the journey getting here.



*************************************************************

Posted by SUMARIE STEENKAMP on 06/08/2016

Once upon a time not so long ago, we did an interview with one of the most amazing writers/bloggers. And as a regular reader of Alfonzo Words I knew I just had to ask this rising star for a guest post on movies/series as he is constantly talking/quoting/reviewing some new movie or series that came out.

Without any further delays, I present to you:

The Directors Seat

by Alfonzo Words

♦   Twitter    ♦     Facebook ♦     Instagram  ♦ Tumblr      ♦     Za.pinterest  ♦

What do I want to be when I grow up?

A question I would ask myself constantly as I grew up. The only answers I ever found were in movies & TV series. To give you an indication:

When I watched the movie Big with Tom Hanks, I wanted to be that. For my job to be all about toys.

When I watched the TV series Greys Anatomy, all I wanted was to be a surgeon. It sparked an insane passion for Biology in High School. In fact, it was probably the only subject I studied for. Intensely. So adamant was I, that I applied to study medicine in university.

Then the real world hit, after the joy of getting accepted and an amazing graduation vacation with all of my friends, I returned to discover that my college fund had been…misplaced. There I was, Matric certificate & no idea what to do with my life. This brought on a spiral of depression that landed me in hospital. Thankfully I got a job at Primedia the month after. It didn’t pay much but I was more determined than ever to do something, anything with my life. It only took one Google search and I was hooked. Movies! I had loved them all my life, more than most. What better career could I have found than to be a Director! Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, James Cameron! I was overjoyed and for that year I saved up so I could afford college. The admission process into the Arts Department at Wits was fierce to say the least yet I managed somehow to beat out the thousands and get a spot. If you’re still in college or have ever been, you’ll understand when I say that campus life is the good life. Haha. Great friends both old and new, leisurely strolls and EPIC parties of note. Everyday I seemed to have made a new friend.

The key subjects I enrolled in was Film, Television, Fine Art, Drama & Music. The knowledge and experience I acquired there will never be forgotten.

Fast forward, I began in the industry just as I had started, with no clue how I was going to do anything haha. Got a job with an amazing company Blue Wizard Productions & additionally got hired to be a part-time cameraman for a movie. With the company I literally had to start off at the bottom. Checking all the equipment, making sure the gazillion batteries were charged, lighting, sound, graphics, promo clips. The learning curve was steep & the support minimal. Everything was expected, so when a mess up occurred boy did I get it. There were days when I would clutch my head and wonder what the hell I had gotten into.

On the plus side, the camera-man gig was going so damn well I could tear. We got to travel to the most unbelievable places within South Africa, seriously I had no idea such Opulence existed in this country. There was even a place reminiscent so closely to France that I thought I was walking those cobbled streets. Got to drive a Cobra up Cape Point, the acceleration alone ripped through me at the slightest touch to the pedal. Cuddle up under the stairs at a lodge that had beds outside on the patio. Even ended up swimming with pythons (Yeah you heard me, Pythons and of course I didn’t know they were there when I jumped in!)

These getaways were where I truly discovered the travel bug & also gave me a new found power over my work. I would return with vigor & concur the challenges I faced on a Daily basis at Blue Wizard. From the obnoxious son of the boss in all his Douche*ness to the crazy deadlines to finish a project. I took it all in stride. It’s absolutely mind-boggling how much goes into what you see on the screen. To give you an indication, I once had to edit a quick 11 minute video on Safety at a Nestle factory.

Cool parts: I got handed the entire project, which meant I would be directly involved in the camerawork, lighting, sound & editing. Not just lugging around the equipment. Got to work with the graphic designer to get the sequences & aesthetics just right.

Crazy parts: For an 11 minute video it took an entire day of shooting from sun up till sun down and then editing through those hours & hours of footage to find the right clips needed. Since there was two cameras it was double the hours. And yes the footage was necessary because of the angles, sound bites & moments captured.

From this, I was able to hone my skills and even get the chance to edit prime time TV shows, which was a true highlight in my career.

The thing that stuck with me though was that I could never watch a movie or TV series the same again haha. Thinking about the angles, camera work, lighting, sound & editing involved as I watched. What was once a mindless, enjoyable thing became a critical analysis of the techniques used and a learning process for me, yet still all the more enjoyable.

On the movie side I had finally been given the supreme honor of not only writing but also directing one of the scenes. The premise was at a 5 star golf resort where the couple would be spending their valentine’s day. Let me tell you, you can plan and plan for a scene to go one way but in the moment, aye caramba! it’s a whole other dealio. I had to think on my feet & improvise in a lot of places but true and true it was a brilliant weekend. I got teased by the actors for the romantic scenes I had written. We had tons of fun & I learned how to swing a club yet be gentle with the putter.

All in all it, everything I learned, everything I did was an unbelievable experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world. It’s made me into the man I am today. My writing might be my primary focus right now, but I still have mad passion for the film & television industry. Someday I will get back into it. Big, Big Plans are afoot haha.

So with all of that being said, I have an almost obsessive affair with Movies & TV Series having atleast 7 Terabytes worth of the stuff. That’s 7000 Gigabytes mind you. I can spend endless hours watching every known Genre of Movie &/or TV series.

Here’s a quick guide on how to write a movie/TV series review:

Be Personal! No one wants to read a generic, monosyllabic regurgitate of what’s already on the interwebs. You have a unique voice, use it. I want to know about your experience, what made the piece truly memorable for you, what emotions did it invoke whether positive or negative, speak out & speak up. Trust me, your opinion matters. The more you are your true self in a review, the more readers will flock to see what you have to say on it.

1. Include a short blurb of the storyline as you understand it
2. Include your personal experience with the Movie/TV Series
3. Tell us about your favorite characters
4. Conclude on your overall reflections
5. Make us anticipate a watch or deter us, whichever is your purview
6. Give it a personal rating out of 10

Here are some quick one liners from me on memorable movies:

Interstellar: “Transcended my perspective on the known universe. Had my friend and I, for the first time, literally on the edge of our seats.”

Deadpool: “A Chaos Storm of awesomeness! Epically changed the whole superhero game especially for Deadpool comic book fans, myself included.”

Star Wars – “The Force Awakens: Brought back all those feelings and memories of why I absolutely love the franchise. With a gut-wrenching twist thrown in the middle.”

Love, Rosie: Ah, the age old story of two best friends falling in & out of love. Made more relevant by my own story with a best friend. Somehow we always come back to each other.

The Fault In Our Stars: "Pain demands to be felt." Such EPIC feels in this movie, fresh & witty dialogue. A storyline that is just wordless in it’s beauty. Okay… Okay….

I really hope that helps should you ever want to do a Movie or TV series review.

If you would like examples check out these posts on reviews I’ve done so far:

Supernatural (TV Series): Review

The Originals (TV Series): Review

Once Upon a Time (TV Series): Season Premiere

The Flash (TV Series): Review

Empire (TV Series): Review

The Fosters (TV Series): Review

Lucifer (TV Series): Review

Bonus: here’s a awesome movie review by Cassarica at the Amazeblog : For the Horde – Warcraft Movie Review

And you thought you knew everything about this awesome writer/blogger? No way!

Join in on the conversation on our social media accounts:

Facebook Group

Twitter @theblogtag

Instagram #theblogtag

Original Post Here

*************************************************************************

Also check out my brand New YouTube Channel: Enricoh Alfonzo

I uploaded my first video yesterday, it's the book trailer for Melissa Kate's new release, Love in the Fast Lane

***************************************************************************

Let's just say it's been a long long journey getting here & I know I still have a ways to go. I'm grateful for all the amazing souls I've met along the way & will continue to appreciate them in any way I can for as long as I breathe.

Know that every closed door leads to other interesting paths you never thought possible and so long as you remain true to your Dreams of Bigdom, no matter where you go, you'll always end up where you truly belong...Just Believe & never stop moving forward. 

There is No equal to the creativity in Imagination~

  © Enricoh Alfonzo ~ Alfonzo Words

• I’d love to keep connected with you! 

Follow on Twitter | Like on Facebook | Join my Instagram community | Watch me on Pinterest | Subscribe to blog post Updates |

~Be Kind to One Another~ Ellen Degeneres

Movie Tag: SendCake Films

Inspire. Write. Create.TM

It's the start of a new week & I know that we could all use some great #MondayMotivation and a good laugh.
Watch one of my all time favorite motivational songs

Feeling more confident to tackle the day, even the week now, don't ya?

Awesome, thanks to Akasha Garnier who graced us with the first brilliant Movie Tag here on the blog, I was able to meet the outstandingly talented Andy of SendCake Films or as I like to call him, "Goose" :-)

His journey is simply awe-inspiring and filled with golden nuggets. ENjoy!

Meet Andy of SendCake Films

Andy’s voice makes him sound like he should be on a US TV drama series - where that Englishman is the evil villain driving a Jaguar. In the real world, he’s not a villain. Andy is fanatical about filmmaking, writing and photography, but would still quite like that Jag. He trained as a teacher and started writing a novel in the middle of his finals at university, when he couldn’t sleep. Eventually Andy moved to London for a job and took up photography. He wrote his first full-length screenplay over the course of about 7 years. While waiting for feedback on that script he got bored and decided to write and direct a short film… and so his filmmaking obsession was born.

Andy is really proud of the work he’s done with photography, where he focuses on performance and portrait work. He’s has had photographs published in various national newspapers, photography and life style magazine, theatre programs and websites. When Andy moved towards filmmaking he teamed up with the photographer who taught Andy everything he knows about taking a great photo. That photographer became Andy’s DoP for two shorts. The brief Andy gave him was ‘I want that feel and style and look you give your photographs, but moving.’ The results were fantastic. At that point Andy realized that as long as you can surround yourself with experts with a ‘can do’ attitude, you can probably do anything you set your heart on.

Andy acknowledges he really is only at the start of his adventures in filmmaking. He continues to write, produce and direct and has also started working with other writers, offering feedback and advice on their screenplays. People did so for him, so he feels it’s good and right and also fun, to pay forward the same favor.

Andy is slightly obsessed with cake. He likes to think he invented the hashtag #SendCake and #CakeJoy. The latter being what he gets from filmmaking, helping others and well… cake. The former actually now being his production company name SendCake Films.

·        What is the worst Apocalyptic scenario you have seen in movie/TV show?

The scenes in ‘Kingsman Secret Service’ where Samuel L Jackson’s character turns on the phone signal that makes people go nuts. The violence is Apocalyptic, if left unchecked. It’s terrifying. But the scene that really gets me is; where the toddler is locked in the bathroom and its nuts mother is trying to break down the door to kill her (in the style of Nicholson in ‘The Shining’). An amazing bit of writing.

·        What’s your favorite genre?

I call myself a film slut. I love everything. If I had to get specific and chose say something I’d watch on a Friday night - In film I love a good black comedy. On TV I am a huge fan of things like ‘Castle’, ‘24’, ‘The Blacklist’ and ‘Fringe’.

·        In what movie/TV series would you like to replace the main character?

Yikes. I’m not sure I could do that. If I don’t like a character it will be because someone wrote them a specific way for a specific reason. Maybe I’m not supposed to like them? I guess the only character I’d like to replace would be the beast in the fist ‘Jeepers  Creepers’. I’d never let the audience see it. The film’s opening is fantastic and scary and gripping. Right up till you see the beast… then it looses its scare.

·        Do you believe in happy endings?

Yes. Do I believe all TV or films need to end happily? No.

·        Which movie represents the best love story?

The last Toy Story film. Sometimes the best love story isn’t about boy meets girl etc etc. It can be about family and friendship, long-standing relationships and sometimes being able to let go.

·        Which movie was the Best representation of a book?

The Neverending Story (Die unendliche Geschichte) by Michael Ende . The book was amazing – the film just beautiful.

·        What do you consider a “binge-worthy” TV series?

 HIMYM (How I met Your Mother), Bones, Fringe, Dexter.

·        Do you get emotionally attached to characters?

Yes. Both to love and hate.

·        Do you get emotional while watching TV Series or Movies?

Yes. But if you tell anyone I’ll deny everything.

·        If you had to choose a main character from a TV series/movie to come save you, who would you choose?

Raymond Reddington from ‘The Blacklist’. It would be an action fuelled rescue but there’d be cigars and luxury at the end.

·        Who was your childhood Hollywood crush?

 Daphne Zuniga as seen in ‘The Sure Thing’ with John Cusack.

·        Which popular shows do you think are overrated?

Don’t hate me – Game of Thrones.  I turn over when it comes on.

·        Which movie/TV series centralized around one of your favorite cars??

Has to be ‘Knight Rider’ – who wouldn’t want a Kit looking after you?

·        Which movie do you think deserves a sequel the most?

Spies Like Us. If it could be as amazing as the first… which I doubt. I’m not a big fan of sequels.

·        Which movie would you like to see a prequel of?

Inception – though again I doubt it could be as good. Not a fan again. It’s normally only about making money at this point.. is how I feel anyway.

·        Which TV series would you love to revive?

"The Professionals" (1977 TV series in the UK). Just simple cops and bad guys lead by three contrasting characters. Great stuff.

·        What’s your favorite mythical creature / monster from movie / TV series?

The thing in John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’. First horror I saw when underaged. Scared the hell out of me.

·        Who’s your favorite director?

Paul Greengrass - Recently directed Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks

·        Do you prefer older movies or movies with a lot of CGI?

I don’t really mind. Bad CGI ruins a film, though. I think I prefer older movies – if that means story driven ones.

·        Who’s your favorite actor?

Javier Bardem. His acting ability is phenomenal. I’d love to write something for him one day!

·         Which Indie Movie is your favorite & why?

‘My First Mister’. A simple but real life concept-driven film, amazing acting, a story line you can relate to and no CGI. A wonderful example of what indie cinema could be like.

·        If you had just One message, One Golden nugget to share with other Adventurers/Writers out there. What would that be?

Stop planning. Start doing.

Quickfire:

24.  Movie vs. TV Series

Movies

25. Anime vs. Reality TV

Anime

26. Antique road show vs. Car show (Top Gear)

Car Show

27. Horror vs. Comedy

Comedy

28. Superman vs. Ironman

Iron Man

29. Charlie Chaplin vs Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey

Read this:

Exciting News from Andy:

We’ve just gone into preproduction on the film that took me 7 years to write, which is very exciting. I say we – the company who helped produce my first short – SevenSeas Productions in Canada in the form of James Highet is producing it and I am doing my best to help! I decided not to direct it as I think to raise the money we’d need to get it made, investors would need a more experienced director. We found a talented theatre and film director called Ian Hylands to direct.

It’s a British romcom called PhatNav. It’s about a withdrawn, shy and anonymous voice over artist (with the most heard voice in the world) who falls in love with a free-spirited heiress, who in turn is being pursued by a sleazy fortune hunter.

It’s similar in style to ‘Notting Hill’.

At this stage we have found couple of very talented actors for supporting roles, an experienced casting director in Canada (Tamara Shelley of TLS Casting) and a 2016 Oscar nominated producer who seem to be interested in helping us get the project going - which is fantastic. We just started looking for a lead actor – where the voice will be paramount – and other support cast. We’ve a big social media campaign planned, including chances to make some big decisions for us and to win days on set watching filming.

Overall – it’s slightly terrifying. But I’m trying to learn from my short experience thus far in filmmaking and surrounding myself by experts who are unconscious competent: Those who know what they are doing, without having to think about it.

Follow SendCake Films:

Twitter

Facebook

Bonus Question!

Thanks to a Brilliant suggest from Christine Tatum over at 200 Saturdays Until Paris

We forgot to ask Andy the most important question:

·         What is your Favorit Cake?

I love all cake... But chocolate cake. The gooier the better, would be at the top of the top. The top gun of cake.. The best of the best :-)

Though it's more the dream of the perfect cake of which my life is an endless search! Haha!

Made by Andy's wife for his Birthday

Chocolate cake, chocolate & jelly filling, chocolate fingers around the outside, chocolate icing on top of a layer of peanut butter M&Ms with more pbutter M&Ms you can see on top! Pure chocolate sugar rush!

~Be Kind To One Another~ Ellen Degeneres