There's this great little horror film called Make Out with Violence. I wrote a little about the film in my wrap-up of the Oxford Film Festival earlier this year, where it scored the Best Feature Award. I know, I know, you've seen lots of zombie movies, why do you want to see another? I hear you. But trust me on this one. It's not your ordinary zombie film -- it's more of a twisted tale of love, lust, possession and objectification with the zombie bit as the wrapping.

This an awesomely shot and produced film, particularly given what had to be a shoestring budget (hell, maybe only half a shoestring), and moreover, the Deagol Brothers, the guys who comprise the writing/producing/directing team behind the film, have worked their collective asses off to promote it. It's hard out there for an indie filmmaker, bu these guys have been nose-to-the-grindstone doing some excellent publicity work on behalf of their baby, and I believe that smartness and savvy deserve to be rewarded.

So. Make Out with Violence has a FREE (yes, that's FREE) screening in the LA area. This is a once-and-only-once event, so even though it's in Alhambra, you should get a group of your best horror movie-loving pals together and carpool out there to support these guys and see a great little film. Also, the soundtrack rocks, so even if you hate the film you'll probably like the music. Screening details are after the jump; help spread the word for these great guys, and best of luck to the whole Make Out with Violence team.

And if all that hasn't convinced you to go out of your way to see and support this film, check out this video interview I did with them at SXSW this year. Don't you just want to hug them and give them a lucrative distribution deal?

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The Othersiders is a kids' reality show about a group of teenagers who investigate places reported to have paranormal activity. I actually really like this show -- not just because of the paranormal stuff, which is occasionally kind of cool, but more for the way in which it presents the teens on the show.

As a mom of a pack of kids, one of whom has already navigated her teen years, and the other four who are heading that way, I feel like teenagers often get a bum rap. Yes, they can be loud and annoying, particularly when they run in packs. They can me mouthy and rebellious and slam doors and roll their eyes spectactularly. Guess what? So did we when we were teens. I don't know about you, but when I was a teenager, I was a real pain in the ass. I know, it's hard to imagine, but it's true. Just ask my mother.

On The Othersiders, though, the teens are presented not as irritating creatures to avoid, but as intelligent beings who have smart things to say. The teens have "jobs" on the show -- webmaster, technical manager, etc. They go into creepy, dark places -- haunted camp grounds, haunted houses, Alcatraz -- in search of proof that ghosts and such exist. Honestly, some of the places they go creep me out just watching them on TV. I don't think I would be as calm and rational as some of these kids are.

At the end of each episode, the whole team gathers back at their headquarters and reviews all the evidence they gathered, and then votes as a team on whether they think the place they've investigated might actually be haunted. This is my favorite part of the show, because I like seeing how carefully these teens peruse their evidence. Zack,the nerdy-but-cute technical manager, and team leader Riley are always the hardest to convince. They don't actually agree as a group very often that a place really is haunted.

On a recent episode at a haunted campground, though, the team gathered evidence ranging from unexplained thermal "hot spots" to ghostly voices recorded on their high tech recorders. In that case, when the team analyzed all the evidence, they voted unanimously that the camp was haunted - rarely do they all agree that way.

On the Alcatraz episode, KC and Riley just clearly heard banjo music from the shower ... that's the place where for years there have been rumors that one-time Alcatraz guest Al Capone, who reportedly went insane in the prison, used to play his banjo. Creeeeeeepy. Is Alcatraz haunted? Jury's still out, we have to watch the rest of the episode to find out.

These are smart kids who will later be able to apply their gig on The Outsiders for grown-up jobs. Imagine a future job interview: "What's the hardest thing you've ever done?" "Well, I was in Alcatraz and heard Al Capone's ghost playing his banjo ...." Groovy.

Mixed news at today's surgeon appt: GOOD = no visible metastases on scan, so a BIG yay on that as that means long-term prognosis is much better than if the tumor had spread. This particular scan is not 100% accurate, misses tumor cells about 15% of the time, so they may want a PET scan too as a back-up.

NOT SO GOOD = The surgeon's not convinced lymphoma or pancreatic lymphoma are ruled out, in spite of the pathology results, because of enlarged lymph nodes she finds concerning. She also wants to rule out that this isn't a more aggressive carcinoid tumor, as opposed to the less aggressive types of endocrine tumors. So another scan, much more blood work, and review by the tumor board in the next two weeks to determine what the surgical plan is. She also said we need to figure out whether the issue with my liver is related to the tumor or something else entirely.

Tomorrow, appt with the oncologist at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance to get a second opinion, which the surgeon thinks is a smart idea given the complexity of my case. Apparently I'm perplexing and not "textbook.". Which should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me ... when have I ever been normal? :-)

And lastly, much thanks for the many kind emails, IMs, phone calls and well-wishes, and a shout-out to Lynda for sending me cards all the time, especially the last one with the sexy, half-nekkid man on the front. That'll cheer a girl up.

... read the rest of this review.

... read the rest of this column.

An Education became one of the big buzz films of this year's Sundance, and with good reason.I'm not going to tell here what it's about, you can go over here and read my review from Sundance. But I will emphasize again that Carey Mulligan, the young actress who stars as the teenage girl seduced by a smooth-but-oh-so-creepy Peter Sarsgaard with the complicity of her parents, is simply fantastic in this film. This girl has the goods, and if she keeps making smart film choices she will have a very promising career ahead of her. It's a smart, entertaining film, directed by a woman, and starring a young actress with remarkable talent and promise. What more do you want?

Hank writes with humor, warmth and great insight about real people and places, and he has a remarkable talent for finding the extraordinary in what seems, on the surface, to be commonplace. He posted a heartfelt, frustrated and, at times, angry piece on his blog, Tonsil, about the issues authors face in getting their books seen and sold.

Even if you're lucky enough to have a publisher and a book deal, he writes, an author still has to get out there and push and promote his baby in the cold, hard world if he hopes to not have it whither away into obscurity. Although Hank's publisher has arranged his book tour, he's still largely responsible himself for getting to the tour stops and promoting himself and his book to get people to come out for his readings. And this is a guy with a book being published by a reputable publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Honestly, I had no idea. But it sure reminds me of what indie filmmakers face in trying to get their babies seen and reviewed after pouring their heart, soul and limited bank accounts into making their films. So many talented people I know are creating amazing art -- films, music, books -- and just struggle and struggle to ever have it go anywhere. Society needs art and philosophy and films and books and music, but does so little to support those who have the creativity and talent to bring such things to life. It makes me sad.

As a regular reader of Hank's excellent writing at the Post, and having read and absolutely loved Off Ramp, I can highly recommend Tinsel to anyone looking for a good book to give a friend or family member (or yourself, for that matter) for Christmas. (And for the record, Hank did not ask me to write about his book. I just believe in his writing and think he's a marvelous author whose work very much deserves support and readership.) We who work in fields related to the arts need to support each other as much as we can ... but just the same, I wouldn't recommend Hank's book if I wasn't quite certain that it will be every bit as good as everything else he writes.

Best of luck with your new baby, Hank.

In this piece, the author both defends the film and enumerates the reasons she feels it's been inappropriately attacked by some critics (in particular, she takes issue with critics she feels are bashing the film as an extension of the ever-popular post-Juno Diablo Cody bashing).

I was led to the piece by Mary Ann Johanson, writing a weekly roundup for Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Johanson's take on the Girldrive piece was very different from mine; she concludes her writeup with this: "And for me, or any feminist, to suggest that I must support any movie, no matter how good or bad it is, merely because women made it, is ridiculous."

I don't believe that was the point of the author at Girldrive at all. In fact, she explicitly says, "And I’m not implying that women should get off easy–just that they shouldn’t be written off after 31 years on earth and a meager two screenplays. Maybe Cody just wanted to have some campy, squeal-inducing fun. I’d argue that she succeeded, without exploiting young women or killing them off in rapid succession. Considering the sizeable chick carnage of other recent teen girl horror movies, that’s actually pretty radical."

I haven't seen Jennifer's Body yet, so can't weigh in one way or the other on whether I think it rocks or sucks, but I'd love to hear some input from those of you who have seen it. Radical feminist horror manifesto, or just more annoyingly trendy, overly Diablospeak wrapped around a not-so-great attempt to deconstruct the horror genre?

Weigh in, film freaks.

We did see some cool trailers the kids got excited about. Surprisingly, they all want to see the Michael Jackson rehearsal footage movie. Perhaps less surprisingly, since I came of age during Michael Jackson's Thriller era, I want to see it too.

All the kids in the theater oohed, ahhed and laughed out loud over the trailer for A Christmas Carol, and my brood wasn't alone in reaching out to grab snowflakes. Response was a bit more muted from the kiddie set for Alice in Wonderland, but the adults in the crowd seemed excited about that one. I thought it looked awesome, myself.

Today's the first day of screenings, and already my schedule is packed. I'm the primary person reviewing films at the fest for MCN, and I've been charged with seeing and writing about as many films as humanly possible over the next 8 1/2 or so days before I head back to Seattle and real life. This fest can be brutal -- a fellow fest junkie always reminds me that "it's a marathon, not a sprint," to which I inevitably reply, "No, it's a marathon in which you have to spring from start to finish."

This year, I'll be covering a different slate of films than I'm used to covering at this fest; my other times here I was expected to cover as many of the "big name" films as possible, and if I was lucky, I could maybe sneak in a few obscure foreigns here and there. This time around, I'll be covering a lot more of the obscure stuff that I'm not likely to get a chance to see elsewhere -- the great little films without distribution (yet).

In my experience, sifting through the lesser-known films like these tends to yield a higher ratio of interesting films, so I'm excited to delve deep into foreign cinema to my heart's content. I'm figuring I can see and review roughly 32 films in this time frame, of which I expect a small percentage to be bigger films or films that had buzz coming out of Cannes, and most to be films you likely haven't even heard about. It's going to be a cinematic adventure, and I hope you enjoy going along for the ride with me.

Today's slate: Hotel Atlantico, Dogtooth, Vision ... and (hopefully I'll still have the energy for it) City of Life and Death, followed by nibbling some protein while writing until my vision blurs and I'm falling asleep at the keyboard. Tomorrow's schedule kicks off earlier, so I need to knock off by at least 2AM so I can hopefully squeeze in a full six hours sleep to see me through another busy day.

If you're here at TIFF, I hope to run into you at a screening, and if you're not, I hope you enjoy reading about the films and the fest.