Filmmakers from Calaveras County premiere locally-produced First Date at Sundance First Date features NorCal actors in breakout roles Share Updated: 5:18 PM PST Feb 4, 2021 Hope Miller First Date features NorCal actors in breakout roles Share Updated: 5:18 PM PST Feb 4, 2021
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Show Transcript POINT IT AT THIS Q.R. CODE. A LINK WILL POP-UP AT THE TOP OF YOUR SCREEN. IT WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO THE PAGE WHERE YOU CAN SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION. A BIG ACHIEVEMENT FOR TWO FILMMAKERS FROM CALAVERAS COUNTY. THEY’RE PREMIERING THEIR MOVIE FIRST DATE AT THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. HERE IS A BIT OF IT. MY CONDOLENCES. YOU DOING ALL RIGHT? YEAH. WHY? CLEARLY YOUR GRANDPA DIED AND LEFT YOU THIS VERY, SURDY AUTOMOBILE HERE. IN THE MOVIE, A SHY HIGH SCHOOLER FINALLY SUMMONS THE COURAGE TO ASK A GIRL OUT ON A DATE. WHEN HE REALIZES HE DOESN’T HAVE A CAR TO PICK HER UP, HE’S TAKEN ON A WILD RIDE AFTER BUYING ONE
First Date Struggles to Make the Case for a Second Chance
First dates can be awkward, especially when they involve dirty cops, stolen cocaine, and guys named Chet.
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First dates can be awkward, and that’s even when they don’t involve dirty cops, a car filled with cocaine, and trigger-happy thugs wanting to cash in on the profitable powder. These are the ingredients that make up the first date at the center of
First Date, but it’s to the film’s detriment as they’re ultimately the least interesting elements here.
Mike (
Tyson Brown) is a quiet kid who’s been crushing on his neighbor Kelsey (
All the best movies we saw at Sundance Film Festival, ranked (including Judas and the Black Messiah ) Brian Truitt, USA TODAY
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Instead of roughing it in the cold and snow of Park City, Utah, to get to various screenings at the annual Sundance Film Festival, we ventured toward the couch to watch the best of what independent cinema has to offer in 2021.
Like the other big-time fests in Toronto, New York and elsewhere did in 2020, Sundance went virtual this year because of COVID, but didn t skimp on the cinematic goodness. This year s event included the world premiere of high-profile awards-season contender Judas and the Black Messiah ; projects with stars like Tiffany Haddish, Tessa Thompson and Nicolas Cage; a ton of documentaries featuring the glam-rock duo Sparks; Hollywood legend Rita Moreno; Black Woodstock and a beloved children s show; plus a social media-driven update of Shakespeare s Romeo & Juliet.
This week at the
“First Date” lead
Manuel Crosby about the script, auditions and their dating experience. Click here to watch!
About The Film: Mike (Tyson Brown), a high school kid with a crush, finally summons the courage to ask Kelsey (Shelby Duclos) out on a date. With a date but no wheels, Mike borrows money and gets duped into buying a clunker ’65 Chrysler. Although many a first date goes awry, Mike’s swiftly descends into a surreal misadventure that finds him inexplicably targeted by a pair of cops, a criminal gang, and a vengeful cat lady – with all roads leading to a showdown.
Lotsa quirks. Never clicks.
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Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp s comedy sets many, many obstacles between the meeting of a high-school kid and the girl he s obsessed with.
An out-all-night odyssey in which romance is interrupted by a compounding series of mishaps and crimes, Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp s
First Date follows in the tradition of similarly named predecessors like
Date Night, Blake Edwards
Blind Date, et cetera. In this case, the misadventure is mostly had by the would-be suitor (Tyson Brown), who gets waylaid time and again before he can even meet the longtime crush (Shelby Duclos) he can t believe agreed to go out with him. This is the first feature for both leads, and the writer-directors would ve done well to concentrate more on them prioritizing chemistry over introducing an increasingly quirky populace of characters whose antics keep them apart. While the two young thesps acquit themselves nicely, much around them conspires to prevent their debut