Kevin Jones & Adam Mast

Biography:

I grew up in Salt Lake City, and some of my most formative memories revolve around walking to and from my Little League baseball games right through throngs of Hippies in Sugar House Park. It was the summer of love and little did these long-haired dopers know that I knew more about the Beatles, the Dead, The Doors, Cream, Jefferson Airplane etc. than they did. Growing up in Mormon society so strongly influenced by the music and ethos of the 60s was not always easy, but it 'was' interesting. I've lead a varied life - graduating summa cum laude and valedictorian from Southern Utah University (home of the Tony Award winning Utah Shakespearean Festival) I failed to do much with the two degrees that I graduated with (Political Science and Psychology) and after spending a few years just living on the beach and writing songs, I wound up in business with a couple of guys I played college football with (one of whom played special teams for the Raiders for 3 seasons). Withing two years I was the Vice President of a multi-million dollar chain of Bodybuilding stores called Max Muscle. Between 1983 - 95 I lived all over Southern California from Burbank to San Juan Capistrano - and my passionate avocation has always been film and music. My first wife and I lived for concerts and premieres - we were rich, childless and fancy-free and thought nothing of flying to New York City for the weekend just to see a film. Alas, these salad days would come to a pathetic conclusion, as I left California alone - a decision made hastily when my wife ran off with Stephen Baldwin (talk about Usual Suspects?) Thus heartbroken and cuckolded at the hands of those uncircumcised Philistines the Baldwins, I sought refuge in the desert climes of St. George Utah. After a year long lost weekend where I traveled the country playing my original songs in bars and coffee houses all along Route 66, I returned to accept a job as Editor for Southern Utah's premiere Arts and Entertainment publication, The Independent. Writing humor as the Boneman (a nickname I received from a bodybuilding friend of mine - Flex Wheeler) and transforming the Indy from a 12 page rag - to a fat, colorful compendium of Art, Theatre, Music, and of course Cinematic information - both local and national. Among the writers I inherited was one very good film critic, Adam Mast (whom at the time, was about the only reason to pick up the paper). Due to our mutual passion for film we became fast friends (he?s still the only person I know who has a greater erudition when it comes to film). Not only is he a partner in zboneman.com the website we created together, but a trusted friend. His influence got me interested in film critique and together we attempt to see every film released (within the realm of possibility.) Adam and myself have created a Halloween film festival "Horrorfest" this year will be it's 5th year and it has grown into a monster (pardon the pun). Along with Bruce Bennett (another man of the Vine) we have created the Southern Utah Film Society and, though it's very much in it's infancy, early response has been astonishing. We live in an area where many Hollywood retirees migrate to and it has been terribly gratifying to see them turn out in droves. In the wake of the now defunct Eclipse Film Festival which was originally created by friends and acquaintances of myself and Adam we are trying to salvage some of the excitement that it had generated by taking up the reigns of a guerrilla film competition that Eclipse started in its last year of existence. The response has been so overwhelming that we?ve had to limit the number of participants to 20 teams, but we?ve decided to conduct the event twice a year. One to correspond with the St. George Art Festival and the other in conjunction with Horrorfest. Zboneman.com is mainly geared toward film, but we also review albums and you can peruse 8 years worth of my humor columns as well. Humor is a large part of what we do, I?ll take a studio still from every film and give it an amusing caption - something EW is now doing and now again they just crib one of mine word for word. I don?t care - if nothing else it?s flattering and amusing in a way. Particularly for our loyal readership, whom often inform me when they notice EW using one of my lines. In any case we?re very excited to be part of the rottentomatoes ranks. We recently met and befriended Binh and Senh at Showest in Las Vegas and were totally starstruck. There is only one other website in existence that?s in the same league as rottentomatoes, but let?s face it RT is the coolest film site under the stars and I know I speak for Adam when I say it is a huge thrill and an honor to be included among the finest film critics in the world. Thanks guys.

Favorites:

To Kill a Mockingbird, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Manhattan, Field of Dreams, Barton Fink, American Beauty, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sideways, Capote.

Publications:

zBoneman Movie Reviews