Congradulations Frangela!

My buddies Angela Shelton and Francis Callier are featured on the freaking cover of the LA WEEKLY! Sweet!

LA WEEKLY does a unique take on the "best of L.A." annual issue each year. The timing is great since summer is really starting it roll and people don't need more excuses to live in the city... but they kinda do (it's hot.) The weekly does a great job of not packaging these as simple best of lists (they leave that to Los Angeles magazine which does a best 25 list EVERY fucking month.) Last year the theme was the apocalypse, what to take with you if its the end of the world. This year it's the most interesting people in town.

Jessica Yu's first film

Before she went on to win Academy Awards and have films screened at Sundance, filmmaker Jessica Yu made this wonderful short film, SOUR DEATH BALLS. One of those "so simple it's clever" ways to begin a career.


Thanks again to Amy Rodrigue for the tip!

Ten things about Vegas videos

Over on the "Cinevegas You Tube channel" there is lots of great stuff. One of the newest additions is a series of videos by festival alumni celebrating the 10th anniversary this year. The abstract theme is "Ten things about Vegas." The resulting videos are unbelievably creative and beautiful. Here is one of my favorites by Kevin Jerome Everson:


Short filmmakers out there; try more submissions like these to film festivals rather than your 20 minute take on a small World War 2 special ops squad.

VISIONEERS

This is one of the Cinevegas' "Diamond Discoveries" for 2008. If the rest of the films are as good as this one looks, it will be a stellar year for the festival in the desert. Starring Zack Galifinackis and Judy Greer, it's one of those undefinable films that have to be seen rather than explained. I'm not going to even try, instead I'll just redirect you to the trailer here.

Super nerdy shoes

Well, I admit that I got my new shoes from this post on IO9.

They are comic-book converse high tops. I thought they were pretty much the nerdiest shoes out there. But then my buddy Mark showed me these concept Nikes based on the film FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF.

I feel like I'd need a complete fashion overhaul to ever be able to pull theses off. Maybe Mark could. So the next shoe to try and up the geek factor would have to be these "Freddy Kruger themed hightops!"

Gruesome! If you are with me this far, you might as well go head over to the "McFly 2015" website and sign a petition to make the futuristic Nikes from BACK TO THE FUTURE 2 a reality!

Brilliant Virginia plates

I love this licence plate from my home state. I especially dig the bloody red hand prints.

Comic con costume

I'm thinking about dressing up for the con this year. I know what I am probably going as but am not sure what costume Susan should put together. How about this?

Father-Son Film Club

My friend Amy Rodrigue turned me onto this story today about a man who lets his 16 year old son drop out of school on the condition that the kid watch 3 movies a week with his father. It's a really sweet story that illustrates an amazing ability of film to shape this young person's life and to bring a parent and child closer together. I know it sounds kinda schmaltzy and to be honest it is, but still as someone who works in film and sees layoffs and the encroaching dominance of other arts its an encouraging and powerful story.

Ice spheres for whisky on the rocks

Boing Boing posted about this ice cube shaper yesterday that makes ice into seamless spheres. Supposedly this is the ideal way to drink your whisky on the rocks because it melts at a slower pace. This is a great gift idea, although I don't know yet for whom. I'm going to throw it on my delicious page with a gifts tag for later.

CineVegas announces 2008 lineup

I cannot wait! As usual, the "festival on the edge" has lots of cool sounding stuff that I have never heard of before. The whole crew does an incredible job of putting on a show that blows my eyelids off my skull. I mean, I'm pretty into some edgy art but last year's live performance by TV Sheriff pretty much blew what little mind I had left at that point.

This year I'm excited to see YOUR NAME HERE, starring Bill Pullman, Taryn Manning and Traci Lords in a sci-fi dream from director Matthew Wilder. I'm also excited to see what prompted the new competitive documentary section at CineVegas this year. I've already seen one of the docs, THE END, a fantastic documentary about East End London Gangsters which I caught in Rotterdam.

There's so much in this announcement today that I'm getting excited to see. I think many people assume I look forward to CineVegas so much each year for the party scene but it honestly is where I see some of the most provocative and challenging film work of the year, every year.