Pita Pit, Ha Penny & The Egyptian Theater - Boise

What makes it a great festival?

Beyond the films and the crazy dunken antics? Beyond the chance to chat with film makers? Beyond the sense of "we are all in this together" *and* surrounded by really, really like minded people? Beyond all the cool locals who volunteer for the festival? Well, the chance to bask in the glory of one of the most beautiful theaters I have ever seen. First off what am I comparing The Egyptian Theater to? The Paramount in Oakland, The Castro Theater in S.F. and the Tuschinski Theater in Amsterdam. So, what am I saying here? Boise has a world class theater that is incredible! It is palatial and has an ornate and beautifully painted Egyptian motif complete with two bold statures and pilars on stage that are covered in the soft, muted glow of 24 carat gold leaf. When the lights go down, the gold glows softly as the magic on the screen begins. Am I overstating this? No. Think I'm crazy? Boise? An amazing theater? Yep. Haven't seen it? Have you not been paying attention to this blog!? Am I writing this in a vacuum here? People, I told you this earlier! Get out of the house and take in some of The Idaho International Film Festival. Yes, you! Put down that remote! This is as good as it gets *and* it is going on right now!

The Pita Pit is located just around the corner from the Egyptian Theater and it is where I have been enjoying casual dining and lovely dinners for under $6. The food is great and the staff plays death metal at volumes that will make your ears bleed. I found this comforting. The food is good. You need to go here and grab a pita! Oh, also. Food from the Pita Pit is very messy and is the only 'to go' food items which are not allowed in the Egyptian Theater.

The Ha Penny? Pub. Pub grub and a damn fine place for a pint any time. I have been going here as often as possible during the festival. You should join us for drinks. We'll be there for drinks soon. See you at the pub. See you at the Egyptian. Oh, and undoubtedly I'll see you at the Pita Pit a few more times before I fly out of town and head back home to S.F.

Work In Sanity - Idaho International Film Festival - 2008

OK. We've all seen some low budget Indie classics. My personal favorite of all time: "Passing Stone." You will never see it. You are missing out. This is the best acting I have ever seen and *if* you can find a way to see it you'll lose your mind. "He did this? With $18,000? No way! There is no way on earth!"

So, what can you do for less? Much, much, much less? 'Work In Sanity.' Total budget: $300! For the record you get the 'Hard Core Indie Award' from me. Yes, it is possible to do really, really cool stuff for nothing. I couldn't resist and in the Q&A had to ask: "The psoriasis was really disgusting. What did you use for that special effect?" Cecellia tells me: "Elmer's Glue and some blush." Several seconds later you have an oozing, peeling and disturbingly realistic rash that appears to be festering. It was disgusting. It made me cringe.

The film itself is a weird and at times painful account of the deranged daily lives of some telemarketers. This one goes from strange to 'out there' and beyond so quickly that you will lose your mind. Clearly this is by design. What in particular? A super-hero dude that shows up late night at a convience store to buy rolling papers. They don't sell papers, but "papers are included for free with Drum tobacco..." Our random telemarketer is there having just been thwarted by arcane laws that limit alcohol sales to particular hours. Turns out the super-hero has beer at home, doesn't want the tobacco which he happlily offers up for free. A friendship is born and there's maddness in the air!

I have no intention of blowing the plot here. Suffice to say this one is really, really out there and a piece of work. Some will hate it. But wait, there's chickens! They have Orwellian 'office behavior' monitoring cameras amidst the cubicles. Fantastic! This is classic Hard Core Indie. You love it or hate it, but anyone watching this one will see some of the magic unfold. And? Added plus? Have you ever had a really, really shitty office job? Really bad? Trust me on this. There's a lot of people out there who can relate to this film. The bad and the boring the really, really awful? There's a number of ways people try to keep their sanity at these jobs and if you can relate you will love this.

Haven't seen it? Oh, come on! Get out of the house! The Idaho International Film Festival is dishing up rare and seldom seen gems. There are priceless moments to be had. Effortlessly. Get on out to the festival and catch some films. You won't see anything like this one on T.V. Really! There's a few days left. Make it happen!

A Gothic Tale - Boise International Film Festival

a 'festival moment"

Justin Ritter, director of A Gothic Tale and I had a chance to chat over beers before his screening. The characters in this film and the acting in general? Powerful. Raw emotion. I wanted to know about the narrator, former pro wrestler, Roddy Piper. He's grizzled and plays the part of a wastrel by the fire barrel waxing poetic about emotion about feeling.... "How did you know this was *the* guy?" Justin tells me that he's sure that if someone has "done something passionate with life" that this comes through in his films. He's not kidding. These performances are a rare opportunity to see the soul scream. Apparently schedules had been tight and he only met up with Piper once over burgers and beer in a hotel room before the twelve hour, single day of shooting . "I told him. If you do this... for twelve hours you're *with* me and I just want to ask one thing. You do it *all!* You give me everything you've got!" Piper looked him in the eye and said "I'll do it! (thumping his chest with a closed fist) From the heart!" This Q&A was also "from the heart," and what can only be described as a 'film festival moment.' This is the magic. Midway into our discussion on the stage at The Egyptian Theater in downtown Boise there was a tangent. The standard volley of Q&A and neat pre-fab questions blew to pieces. I think it started when Marshal Hilton, the actor on stage with us, began to thank Justin. There was mention of genius... Justin took the mic and addresses the crowd. Forgive me for a paraphrase here, but I was not up there taking notes as the theater began to shake... "You people!! You see this film!!!? This is not a piece of me. This is not a small part! This is all of me! This is 100% from the fucking heart!!!" The Q&A continues. There's the drunk dude in the back and he feels the love. Really, drunk yes, but getting it. "You're real, man, you are *fucking* real." There's a couple of timid comments from the back. "this is my first film in my first ever film festival..." This is a long moment of absolute perfection. It just flows. You don't plan this. You can't anticipate this. This is the best it gets. Raw power and emotion. We are not talking the standard issue Q&A here. No chance of a "What was your budget for the film?" We are not having a Netflix moment here. Justin's film came roaring to life up on stage for this Q&A with the howl of a banshee, A Gothic Tale, out beyond the confines of the screen. Trust me, I have never seen anything like this and there's no discounting this. "Oh, he'd been drinking." Perhaps. But this is as relevant as saying he wore a blue sweater (he didn't) Or that he is thirty three (he is) This was a full blown rant. And? As he told me earlier in the day if you do anything "with passion it comes out on film." I've seen the film. It does. A 'festival moment' where the audience got to rub shoulders with a roaring howl. It does not get better than this!

Come out to the festival! It goes beyond a chance to see a film. Hang out with the cast and crew. You'll have a chance to see what makes it real. It's a rare opportunity to mix it up with the people who made the film happen. Yes, you can buy them a drink after the screening! You can and you should. This is your chance to hang out and get the scoop. There's crazy stuff going on in Boise this week and you want to be a part of this. Haven't seen this film? Plan on it! Wondering what all the fuss is about? It's a film festival. You need to be here!

www.agothictale.com

Idaho International Film Festival - Let the games begin!

Idaho International Film Festival – Getting Fired Up?! I am.

I plan to see a heap of great films this year at the Idaho International film Festival. Thanks to Bruce Fletcher, Festival Director of The Idaho International Film Festival, I’ve had a chance to see a few of them already. If you are not already really, really excited about this year’s festival then it’s time to quickly check for pulse. If you are not fired up it is quite likely that you are dead. Yep. This festival has a phenomenal mix of films. Time to make plans and if your plans do not include attending the festival then it might be time to reassess. This year you need to get out there and catch some films that will blow your mind! Not sure what to expect? No problem, allow me to reiterate: THIS FESTIVAL WILL BLOW YOUR MIND! Not sure what *not* to miss? Here’s two that are absolutely required:

The Ledgend of Gods Gun & Tokyo Gore Police!! Do not miss these films!!!!

Let’s start with The Legend of God’s Gun. Here’s what I wrote for Bruce Fletcher, (also founder and executive director of Dead Channels Film Festival in S.F. www.deadchannels.com) for his World Premiere Screening of this film for his White Hot Wednesdays Film series that played over the summer in S.F.

THE LEGEND OF GOD'S GUN is one of the most striking debuts in years -- a Western that takes you to hell and back through a kaleidoscope of images, black comedy and fast blasting, death dealing guns. It's a musical journey with peyote visions amidst the harsh backdrop of a cruel world and religious vengeance.

"El Sobero and his dirty, smelly, degenerate cohorts...'. Our narrator offers us hilarious snippets of crucial background on the damned residents of 'Playa Diablo' - the Devil's playground of whores, liars, cowards and thugs that's plagued by particularly ruthless banditos. A town in need of salvation: salvation that our dim-witted bounty hunter brings only in the form of side splitting comic relief.

El Sobero, the bad assed bandito, has no worries and assures us that "my bloodline has been raping and pillaging for thousands of years, with no ill effects..." He drinks the venom of the scorpion amidst swirling visuals - his warped form of religious ecstasy. Then the preacher comes to town--

-- and the preacher? "If that man's a preacher, then I'm saint-fucking-Francis!" He strolls through Hell to do the Lord's work in this wretched town of sinners. He's the man in black and he's not taking any crap.

Color enhanced images, and the snapping and popping of hissing film reels follow our cowboys on their path to ultimate justice. THE LEGEND OF GOD'S GUN will kick your ass and take no prisoners! You'll want to see it again. You'll want to buy the soundtrack. Miss it at your peril! - Mike Skurko

So, let me be very, very clear on this. I see a lot of films. Really. You can find me at Dead Channels Film Festival in S.F. every year and a number of other Bay Area Film Festivals. You might see me at Tribeca in New York if my schedule allows. I have a very active NetFlix account. I write about films for both S.F. Indie Fest and Dead Channels. I like movies and I am pretty certain and this point that I have reasonably good taste. Ask Bruce. We agree on a lot of films. We disagree on a good handful as well. This one? Total agreement. This is on of the best films of the year. By far, bar none. This one kicks ass. See it. Plan your night around it. I’ve seen it three times and I am flying to Idaho so I can get a chance to catch it again on the big screen. I hope to see you there.

What else? Tokyo Gore Police. Here’s what I wrote for the S.F. Indie Film Festival’s screening at the Another Hole in The Head Film Festival in 2008:

Tokyo Gore Police ‘protect and serve’ with a violent frenzy with all the requisite buckets of blood, mayhem and madness imaginable. There is an ongoing geyser of blood spraying battle in the streets of this horrible futuristic Tokyo. The ruthless, privatized police force is pitted against alien mutants known as ‘engineers.’ When they are wounded these ‘wounds’ quickly morph into killing machines. (a lobbed off arm becomes a death dealing chain saw etc.) They all have a key shaped tumor within their bodies that can be passed on and implanted to ‘re-engineer’ anyone. To kill one of these savages requires more than a head shot or a silver bullet. You need to sever the “key” from the body. Sound like fun? Sounds messy.

Our most accomplished ‘engineer hunter’ is a sweet, sexy thing. Distinguishing characteristics? She’s also a cutter. Ah, it’s all in the details. Now, what is this? Our cute alien killer about to do battle to with a masked quadruple amputee? Surprise! “Happy Birthday Ruka!” The horror has burst its’ bubble and it’s now a happy, fun in the Privatized Police Corporation scene...

We flash back and forth to some extremely demented and hilarious public service announcements as T.V. commercials throughout the film. My personal favorite being three cute school girls singing “Let’s go stylish with wrist cutting!” Just enough “Engrish” charm and realism to make this scene as cute as Hello Kitty while they morbidly introduce a new design that is “rounded for a cleaner cutting edge that school girls love!” Oh, this can’t be beat.

More great T.V. ads. “Remote Control Exterminate!!” is a demented Wii that lets the viewer slice and dice a tormented player. Complete with all the spraying blood we’ve come to expect from just about everything with the Tokyo Shock label.

Hard core latex fetish parties, girls with 69 branded on their asses, mutant space sluts with cocks for noses and perversely protruding eye balls, horrible mutations... Horizontal slices and a gaping stapled slash where the nipples ought to be. The grand finale is a performance art golden shower from the stage. The crowd of mask wearing, latex clad fetish fans screaming with pleasure as they are sprayed with fresh blasting streams. Can it get any weirder than this? Yes. What about a woman who’s private parts morph into a snapping, blood thirsty alligator? Well? Shocking enough? Tokyo Gore Police seems to get stranger every second. Nothing is sacred and yet in the immortal words of Hunter S. Thompson “It never got weird enough for me.” I’d say Hunter checked out too soon. He missed one where it most certainly gets weird enough! This film will take you into the extreme realm of cyber-shocking-blood gushing freaks. It’s beyond perverse. It’s more than brutal. It’s also funny. Tokyo Gore Police is absolute madness!

-Mike Skurko

So, if you haven’t already checked the schedule that’s your midnight movies this Friday and Saturday night! You won’t want to miss either of these films and I am greatly looking forward to seeing them both again myself. Absolute gems! See you kids at the movies.

Oh, and if this is *news* to you then you better get on it! Films will sell out. Hit the site and make it happen! You will kick yourself if you miss either of these films and that’s just the start. This year the selection of films is amazing. Want to pick five excellent films? Take a program guide and tack it to the wall. Toss five darts into the guide. You will have selected five unusually excellent films. Am I biased? Actually no. I am not biased! I am right! I am her to represent excellent taste in film and can assure you, this festival is going to rock! See you there. For schedule and details:

http://www.idahofilmfestival.com