So, the sun came out, dandelions bloomed, and suddenly we are rocketing toward summer 2010 like a runaway freight train. Wow. After a winter the Washington region won’t forget for a couple hundred years, it sure feels good. My grandmother had a saying whenever an event was anxiously awaited. She’d say, “Don’t rush time. It […]
RIFF’s 2010 season kicked off Saturday night with the screening of two poignant documentaries, Dirt and Garbage Dreams. I love good, to-the-point titles and both environmental films handled serious subjects well. It’s hard to make an informative documentary that doesn’t come across as shake-your-finger-in-our-face self-righteous and yet presents a plausible plan to convert lumber jacks […]
The Oscars are drawing near and I just got an education: short films are included in the Oscars. This I never knew. Granted I don’t think I ever saw a short film until I became a fan of RIFF and the whole business hijacked my imagination but wow, that’s pretty neat.
Having become a huge fan […]
Everyone not living in a cave the last couple of months has seen or at least heard of Avatar. Compared to this avalanche of attention, Hollywood’s previously 3D efforts amount only to flirtation. Avatar ushered in a bended knee proposal and now it looks like Clash of the Titans will officiate the marriage. 3D conversion […]
O.K. These two are not directly related. One is a hybrid verb/adjective elucidating apocalyptic precipitations of the frozen variety and the other is a formal noun, otherwise known as a weeklong cinematic fest/party. As I had a tad bit of extra time on my hands this weekend, I spent it viewing the Sundance website at […]
I always seem to run into Freddy Filmmaker when I’m hungry and strolling Caroline Street. Actually, I was glad to see him and anxious to discuss the editing experience I gained completing my two-minute, silent film.
Freddy Filmmaker: So you survived a week in New York and made your first film. Congratulations. How was that hotel […]
The guy across the hall thinks our group of seven is making a porno. He comes over to complain about our repeating door slam, sees the camera, backs up into his own room, apologizes to us, and we never see him again. Personally I think he didn’t call the front desk because Ray looks like […]
Fredericksburg is becoming so cosmopolitan; you just never know who you’ll bump into on Caroline Street these days. The other morning I ran into Freddy Filmmaker and his cuddly canine, Oscar. I was anxious to tell him about my upcoming trip to New York and weeklong seminar in digital filmmaking. We both love fish tacos […]
As a film fan, I am curious about the love/hate relationship between originals and remakes. Not many remakes reside in my memory banks but of the ones that do, the original usually proves best. The rule of thumb held true when the postman delivered my copy of Brode, the Danish original to the Jim Sheridan’s […]
Post Christmas can be a bit of a letdown; much like a half-deflated balloon post party! After a snowbound DVD marathon I heeded the call of the corner coffee shop and wound up bumping into Bibly, a friend of a friend and familiar face from RIFF 09. Bibly Twix is a young, budding and ambitious […]
