The new police thriller END OF WATCH opens this weekend, playing off the current craze of “found footage” movies, but with an interesting spin. Written and directed by David Ayer (who wrote TRAINING DAY), the film uses the idea of two beat cops in L.A. patrolling South Central, with one of them documenting their day to day activities for a film class – hence the cameras always shooting what’s going on around them. The result is gritty and realistic, and not played in typical Hollywood fashion at all, and it’s very interesting to watch. I had a chance to sit down with two of the film’s stars, the very talented Michael Peña and the very beautiful Natalie Martinez. They came to Dallas for a press tour, and I was literally their last conversation before leaving to get on a plane – no pressure. I’ve always enjoyed Peña’s work, and he’s particularly good in this, plus the relationship with him and Martinez feels very real and sincere. Check out the video below, and go see END OF WATCH this weekend to find out what all we were talking about. I’m particularly interested to find out if the ending (one of three endings David Ayer shot) that Dallas critics saw is in fact the ending left on the final film. One of the things we talk about in the movie is a weddning scene, that involves almost all of the principal cast members, and feels like a very real wedding video. The other moment we touch on is a fight scene with Michael and a drunk man in the film which (like a lot of things in here) looks pretty legitimate and brutal. I figured someone got hurt, and it sounds like I was right. My sincere thanks to the lovely Rachel Parker for shooting this!
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
