SYP Says

Star Wars According to a 3-Year Old

In honor of Mother's Day and my own lovely mum, here's Star Wars According to a 3-Year Old--proof that sometimes being a mom is worth it for moments like these.

Here's the 2 min. version.

Here's the 2 min. version interspliced with clips from the movie.

Thanks to Armen for sharing these with me. I told him I needed a laugh and he gave me more than one. :)

Ashland Indie Film Fest 7th Annual

The 7th Annual Ashland Independent Film Festival is underway! Don't miss what LA Weekly calls the "almost-perfect blend of programming, audience and location."

You can still purchase tickets online for films at the AIFF Web site. You can also go to the box office at the art-deco Varsity Theatre on Main Street. There's a lot going on, although, alas, no official Bruce Campbell screenings or events. Besides the films and the late-night discussions at The Black Sheep, the official after-lounge of the AIFF, tonight at the Awards dinner, the 2008 AIFF Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to "the dean of documentary filmmakers" Albert Maysles. He will bring his classic documentaries Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens, and his new film The Gates to the festival this year. (I saw The Gates when I lived in NYC and it was amazing.) Academy Award Winner Helen Hunt showed her directoral debut Then She Found Me yesterday and will receive the 2008 AIFF Rogue Award.

Widely known as one of the best small indie film festivals in the country, the AIFF recently received a prestigious grant from the Academy Award of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It was the only festival in the Northwest and only one of twenty in the U.S. to receive one.

I was on the advisory board of the festival this year. I would have liked to have done a lot more, but I did manage to do a couple of things, including donating my own money and bringing Musician's Friend on as a local sponsor for the first time. And just my luck, I have been fighting a nasty Spring cold for a week and am still sick--not good for being in a theatre or anything else for that matter. I had hoped to make it to the event tonight but it's not looking good.

Nonetheless, I'm glad to have played even a tiny role in AIFF's festivities this year. It seems to specialize in showing interesting documentaries and is a wonderful part of the Ashland culture. It's really nice to be in a place as small as Ashland that still has fun things to do.  DVD Talk visited the festival last year and said "With strong programming, an extremely supportive audience, and a charming small town (with a world class Shakespeare festival), it's an excellent festival choice for people who can't imagine dealing with a larger fest like Sundance or SXSW." We don't have too many goodie bags for the celebs, but we do have a lot of heart. :)

Best Films of 2007

I am a huge film buff, although from my blog you probably wouldn't know it. My film posts are admittedly very few and far between. I'll try to rectify that a bit in the new year. In any case, these were the Top 10 films I saw in 2007 (most released in 2007...only a couple a bit older than that). It was a pretty good film year. Even movies I thought were overrated (e.g. Waitress), were still pretty acceptable, all things considered.

1. No Country for Old Men: The Coen Brothers do it again.
2. The Lives of Others: The German Conversation
3. Eastern Promises: A new Cronenberg film, plus Viggo Mortenson naked (need I say more)
4. Zodiac: Engaging crime procedural that still satisfies as an unsettling thriller. Must have been released early in the year--it kind of got lost in the shuffle.
5. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days: Grim Romanian film about illegal abortion. Winner of the top prize at Cannes in 2007.
6. Rescue Dawn: What? An accessible Werner Herzog film? :)
7. Once: Bittersweet love story with a fab soundtrack
8. 13 Tzameti: French combination of Fight Club and Spain's Intacto
9. Ratatouille: Loved it--cartoon or not.
10. The Lookout: Underrated heist indie

My Top 5 popcorn movies of 2007:

1. The Bourne Ultimatum
2. 300
3. Grindhouse
4. Shoot 'Em Up
5. 1408

Top 5 Films from 2007 on my Netflix queue:

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
3. Sweeney Todd
4. I'm Not There
5. Control

And if you've got more time to fritter away, check out my picks for Best Albums and Songs of 2007!

Diva 25th Anniversary

In celebration of Diva's 25th anniversary, Rialto recently released a new 35mm print that is making a tour of theaters in the U.S. Alas, I don't think it will make it to Ashland (lol), but I make break down and buy the DVD. (The soundtrack, which I've owned for years, is a must-own.)

I was lucky to have a family that loved foreign films. Jean-Jacques Beineix's Diva was one of the movies I saw when I was quite young, about 9 or 10. We used to go to the Little Art Theatre in Yellow Springs, Ohio and I'd always get a delicious homemade chocolate chip bar and mint tea. I saw many '80s indie classics there before I left home at 14 to go away to school--from After Hours to Tampopo to Sugar Baby--but none I loved more than Diva with its opera, car chases, and French New Wave cool.

Entertainment Weekly writer Lisa Schwarzbaum's lovingly sentimental review of Diva's 25th anniversary rerelease captures exactly how I feel about this film which is not only one of my all-time favorites, but it even started a new style of French filmmaking called the cinéma du look.

Don't miss seeing Diva on the big screen. Here's the tour schedule to check if it's coming to your town.

Diedrich Bader in Calvin Marshall

Jeff and I are having a quiet Sunday dinner tonight at Chateaulin, a French bistro in Ashland (good food and owned by a New Yorker, of course), when I hear him yell an enthusiastic hello across the room to a guy sitting at a table alone. The man comes over and shakes our hands while Jeff introduces me. "I'm sorry...who are you again?" I say dumbly, thinking this was just another friend of Jeff's. Nope, turns out this is Diedrich Bader, Oswald from "The Drew Carey Show" and Napoleon Dynamite. I was really impressed that Jeff knew his name, but anyway, Diedrich was super friendly and he has done some great work over the years.

Diedrich's in town shooting a baseball film called Calvin Marshall that will be out next year. The movie's being shot in Ashland and Medford and brings Gary and Anne Lundgren of Broken Sky Films back to the Rogue Valley where they shot the award-winning short "Wow and Flutter."

I could have kicked myself afterwards because I should have mentioned to him that I'm on the advisory board of the Ashland Independent Film Festival and it would be really cool to have him and the director back for a screening of the movie next year. I have no excuse whatsoever because earlier today I met Anne Ashbey for coffee. She's in charge of the Internet group at Harry and David, a fellow Council member, and the person who got me involved with the AIFF. Oh well, even I have a brain lapse once in a while. :)

Here's the article about Calvin Marshall that was in today's paper.

Air Guitar Nation

I recently recorded a 45-minute documentary on the Sundance Channel called Air Guitar in Oulo. It focuses on one (odd) Canadian's journey to the World Air Guitar Championships in Oulo, Finland. I found it both fascinating and painful, mostly because the guy seemed lonely and completely misunderstood, but I have to admit the movie stuck with me.

Last week, I was going to buy additional tickets to the Ashland Independent Film Festival (beyond the world premiere of Bruce Campbell's newest, My Name Is Bruce) and noticed Air Guitar Nation was showing on Saturday night. I thought it was the same movie I'd already seen, but, no, it is actually a new film about air guitar which chronicles the birth of the US Air Guitar Championships.

Funnily enough, Air Guitar Nation is distributed by New Video, the same company that produces and distributes the DVDs I used to market at A&E and The History Channel. I spent quite a bit of time with them over the years, especially early on in my A&E career when I focused a lot of energy marketing The Avengers releases in the US. Kudos to Susan and Steve--this is their first foray into theatrical releases and I'm sure it'll be a success. Small world.

Anyway, fans have a chance to rock themselves into a featured role on the Air Guitar Nation DVD. Through June 1, you can submit photos of yourself playing air guitar and the winner will be on the DVD extras and win a trip for two to the US Air Guitar finals in NYC this summer. The top 10 finalists will be featured at http://www.AirGuitarNation.com. 

If you have no idea what air guitar even is (or just want to be amused for a couple minutes), check out this video. If you want to be really cool and play a real guitar, visit GuitarCenter.com or MusiciansFriend.com!

Bruce Campbell in My Name Is Bruce...don't call me Ash

The 6th Annual Ashland Independent Film Festival will be held in Ashland, Oregon from April 12-16, 2007. Over 90 documentary, feature and short films will be shown, including four that were nominated for Academy Awards this year. Here's a list of all of the films. Click here for the film schedule.

The highlight of the festival for me is going to be the sneak preview on Friday the 13th of Bruce Campbell's new movie, My Name Is Bruce, in which a small Oregon town, plagued by the Chinese God of War, kidnaps a B-Movie actor (guess who) to help them defeat it.

The movie was shot and produced in Ashland, White City, and the surrounding Southern Oregon area. In honor of this world premiere screening, the Festival is showing other Bruce Campbell cult movie classics that same day, including Bubba Ho-Tep and my personal favorite, Evil Dead II.

I didn't realize until the press about My Name Is Bruce that Bruce Campbell lives 15 minutes from me in Jacksonville, Oregon. How cool is that. He is one of my all-time favorite actors! (Who's laughing now?? bwa ha ha...)

Sat 8/19: Back to NYC DAY 4

I needed a bit of restful alone time after all of the festivities of the last few days, so I slept in late and didn't rush anywhere particular. I took the subway down to 34th Street and made my way over to Lush for handmade soap and bubble bath. I first found out about Lush in London a few years ago and remember how psyched I was when they opened their first NYC store. I walked around my old neighborhood--the last apartment I had in the city was at 30th Street and 5th Ave. Surprisingly little had changed in 5 months. Same delis, same Turkish rug stores.

There is basically no Korean food in Ashland, Oregon or the surrounding area, so I figured I should have lunch in Koreatown. I went to one of my favorite 24-hour Korean restaurants in the city, Won Jo. It's not fancy, but they always have good food. I had tofu and seafood soup and mandoo. Yum!

After a bit more sightseeing, I walked up to Grand Central Terminal and hopped on a train to Goldens Bridge in Westchester for Phil's 40th birthday party. In attendance were Phil and Lisa's families, their friends, Creative Good employees and various business associates. One of the people who showed up was my old boss at A&E, Steve Ronson. What a surprise that was! It was lovely to catch up with him though.

Here's a pic of Steve (in the middle) and his wife with Mary Baumgartner's husband, Philip.

Some more party pics:

Marty Keane, SVP of e-commerce at Bluefly.com and Armen Chakmakian's brother.

The Birthday Boy with his honey.

Mary Baumgartner, VP of New Media at HBO with her son, Jack.

Got a ride back to the city from Mary and her family. They invited me over for drinks at their apartment in Tribeca. Then it was off to a quiet dinner alone, so I went to one of the places I love most in the city, a basement dive in Chinatown called Samar (formerly New Indonesian) on Doyers Street off Pell. They have the best Roti Canai--a little dish of chicken and potato curry with a flaky bread kind of like an Indian paratha. There are prettier, hipper places to eat in the city, but not many authentic Malaysian restaurants. This is one of the few. If you're looking more for fusion or at least something less... grungy, try Cafe Asean or Bali Nusa Indah.)

I was so busy eating, that I mis-timed my next to-do. I rushed over to the Film Forum to see a movie called 13 Tzameti, a French thriller that won prizes at the Venice and Sundance Film Festivals, but I got there too late, so I decided to go to Times Square, an area I used to avoid like the plague when I lived in NYC and see what's what.

It was worse than I remembered--a total zoo of tourists and teens. I must be getting old. I could barely stand it, so I got out of there quickly and walked up 9th Avenue through Hell's Kitchen. Mostly a quiet day today, but I needed it.

Tag, you're IT!

Harry Joiner recently tagged me for a little blog game that came to him from Dennis Smith. Now, I have absolutely no idea who Dennis is, but I'm sure he's a cool guy. Such is the way of the Internet. Here are my answers--post yours if they're worthy.

Four Jobs I've Had

Before I had entry-level jobs at nifty places like Jazz at Lincoln Center and Vanguard Documentaries, and before I got into the e-commerce and online marketing world 12 years ago working for brands including A&E, The History Channel, and now Musician's Friend, I cut my teeth on jobs like:

1. Manuscript Reader: There are many people in the world who think they are great writers. Don't believe them!!
2. Concertmaster: Mostly, I just tried not to trip.
3. ESL Tutor at a Prison: The men I taught at Fishkill gave me some of the most helpful life advice, such as: make sure to always have driver's licenses from at least two different states...
4. Caterer: Made me realize that I really enjoy cooking, but not for hundreds of people at once. Too sweaty.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

1. Aliens: Game over, man! Game over!
2. La Femme Nikita: Luc Besson at his best.
3. Contact: I want to be Jodie Foster in this movie.
4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Spaghetti westerns and Clint Eastwood. A match made in heaven.

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch

1. Gilmore Girls: The best-written show on TV
2. The Sopranos: Except that I think I actually like Six Feet Under more. Oh well.
3. Star Trek: The Next Generation: I was going to put Amazing Race which I do like quite a bit, but if I'm honest with myself, I could watch 24 hours of TNG and DS9 reruns--oh wait, isn't that Spike TV? (Sorry, Keith)
4. Battlestar Galactica (new): My new fave!

Honorable Mention goes to McLaughlin Group..."Bye, Bye!"

Four Places I've Been on Vacation

1. Jaisalmer, India: The best camel trek of my life
2. Zihuatanejo, Mexico: The best fresh abalone of my life
3. The Grand Canyon: Did a rim-to-rim of GC in 2 days--go if you've never been
4. St. Martin: Blue water, yummy croissants, and naked people

Four Favorite Dishes

1. My mom's black bean tacos
2. pav bhaji
3. pissaladiere
4. spanakopita

Four Places I'd Rather Be

Right now, actually nowhere. I loved living in NYC, but I'm having a glass of wine on my deck overlooking the Oregon mountains which isn't such a bad life either. But there are a few places I'd like to visit soon, including Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Costa Rica, Turkey, and Mongolia.

Four Bloggers I'm Tagging

TBD...do I even know four other bloggers??

And speaking of bloggers I don't know, here's a great cartoon from hugh macleod.

Unkind Donuts

Just got back from the Ashland Indie Film Festival where I saw WORDPLAY, the breezy new documentary about crossword puzzles, NY Times Editor Will Shortz, and the people who love them (from regular joes to Bill Clinton, Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina, and Jon Stewart).

Go see it if you are a word nerd like me (switch the letters "h" and "s" in "Noah's Ark" and you get "NO! A shark!"). It's funny and touching and a pleasantly entertaining way to spend 90 mins. Watching the movie left me a little homesick too--much of the documentary is spent with crossword fanatics in NYC and Stamford, CT where the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is held.

Try your hand at a puzzle or two here .

Q. E. D.

Bada Bing, Antarctica

I recently  saw March of the Penguins, a very sweet documentary about the annual journey of Emperor penguins as they march to their traditional breeding ground, withstanding extreme cold, raging blizzards, and harsh winds, just to pair off with a mate who will lay only a single egg.

As many people were, I was touched by the movie which humanizes penguins and left me feeling cuddly and warm. Penguins are really much more like us than we realize. For the latest on this, click here (photo courtesy of a clever chap I know):