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Oxford Film Festival

'Make-Out with Violence' For Free in L.A.!

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:48:00 EST

Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Independent, SXSW, Distribution, Exhibition, DIY/Filmmaking, Cinematical Indie, Oxford Film Festival

Indie movie lovers of the greater Los Angeles area, take note of a wonderful gem from this year's SXSW festival that's coming your way. Make-Out with Violence is an angsty teenage zombie horror comedy that I caught last year at the Oxford Film Festival, and tonight - November 12 - it screens in Los Angeles. For free!

Ok, technically it's screening in Alhambra. But this one-night only engagement will likely be your only chance to see the underappreciated indie film that our own Scott Weinberg called "pretty damn good" - and if I may add my own endorsement, Make-Out with Violence is original and gorgeously shot, a great alternative to mainstream (i.e. made with way more money) films about either teenage life or zombies. The best part? Make-Out with Violence is about both of those things. (It's also got the most attractive zombie hottie of the year, with apologies to Zombieland's Amber Heard.)

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Oxford Film Festival 2009: The Important Stuff

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:33:00 EST

Filed under: Oxford Film Festival

Let's start with the easy one: The people. I know the phrase "Southern Hospitality" gets thrown around a lot, but experiencing it first-hand from the Oxford Film Festival team was just lovely. My colleagues and I were treated like VIPs all weekend, which is both weird (I'm low maintenance) and very flattering, from the opening party at the lovely Donna Ruth Robert's house to the final get-together at ... someone's house that had beer, I was greeted with open arms, open bottles, and lots of adorable women who were way too young for me but way too pretty to ignore. Celeb-wise, this might not be Sundance or Toronto, but I wouldn't trade my laid-back conversations with Jason Ritter or Giancarlo Esposito for a dozen Jennifer Connelly interviews. (Well, not really. I'm not insane.)

And a special mention is due to the dozens of organizers, programmers, and volunteers who sure ACTED like their local film festival was Sundance. I don't mean to sound condescending, but I was honestly surprised at how efficiently this little ship was run. I've been to several well-intentioned and entertaining regional festivals before, and this is easily one of the most organized, enthusiastic, and sincere I've ever seen. (The Oxford squad will probably chuckle when they read that, but it's true.) There's that indomitable "we're putting on a show!" spirit that comes with a festival like this one, and it's something I never get tired of seeing. Especially when good movies are afoot.

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Watch This: Two Kids Re-Create a 'Pulp Fiction' Diner Scene

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:32:00 EST

Filed under: Festival Reports, Quentin Tarantino, Oxford Film Festival

Watch This: Two Kids Re-Create a 'Pulp Fiction' Diner Scene

Cinematical's Scott Weinberg and I were invited to attend the Oxford Film Festival as panelists this weekend, and while Weinberg will have a more thorough recap of our time in Mississippi later on, I wanted to share this delicious morsel from Saturday night's awards ceremony.

As one of the prepared comedy bits interspersed between the awards, they had clips of local people re-enacting diner scenes from movies. Two were basically just straightforward re-creations of scenes from Back to the Future and Five Easy Pieces, but one was from Pulp Fiction, and it was performed by two little kids. Enjoy.