So there's not a whole lot going on. The judging process is starting next weekend, and I'm way psyched about that. I'll let you know more about all the fabulous orientation activities we do and swag we get. I do love me some good swag! I have an Across the Universe paperweight, of all things.

And I'm also excited, because tomorrow I have my first job as a production assistant! Sure, it's only for the day and I don't get paid or anything, but it's my first real look into the professional world. Maybe it'll lead to a summer gig. Before I know it, I'll be the next big producer! Or editor! That'd be pretty swanky. I'll let you know how it went on Monday.

Now my friends may sometimes accuse me of being a film snob. This is true. But almost everybody has the potential to be a film snob, especially when it's a film you love. Now I'm pretty open to watching a lot of movies, especially some that are considered "great" or "classics" (all part of my "catching up" thing), but there's been a few that are apparently so flawless and precious to its fans, that by even writing this I feel like I have to go into Witness Protection.

These are some movies that are considered classics that I can't stand:

Citizen Kane: While yes, I do appreciate its importance to the film industry and the way it revolutionized filmmaking, it's a bit of a snoozefest. I feel like The Godfather does everything Kane does, while being damn entertaining at the same time.
E.T.: That little alien scares the hell out of me.
Taxi Driver: A movie for people who are Hard Core. It's a revolutionary movie, yes, but I get a little afraid when people say they can relate to Travis Bickle. I much prefer Raging Bull for the Scorsese/DeNiro collaboration
Forrest Gump: It has all the subtlty of a sledgehammer. See: Chronicles of Narnia.

College Cliches, the films you see in college that either OMG Are Your Life, Are Deep, or Are Awesome:

Fight Club: Depressing as hell. I hate the characters, I hate their lives, I hate the world they live in. I was intrigued by the concept of the "Fight Club" until it developed into a cult.
Donnie Darko: A fantastic little movie, but another that's too depressing for me. I love all of the thought that went behind it, but thanks to this movie, I now have to deal with college students who think they're Deep just because they've seen this movie 20 times. They're not Deep, they're High.
Garden State: Another good little movie. Unfortunately, everyone (at my school, at least) believes they like indie movies because they like this. And their lives are "totally like this." I don't know you, but it's probably not. I'm sure you didn't accidentally cause your family a lifetime of pain and suffering and deal with that guilt. What you feel is typical Teenage Angst.
Memento: My teachers killed this one for me. I've watched it for class so many times and written so many papers about it I can't stand it anymore. The only good this about having to see it 10 times for class was that it took me 9 times to understand the movie, and once to enjoy it.
Boondock Saints: Another one my school killed for me. Not a particularly great movie, although there is one especially cool sequence, and Willem Dafoe is awesome as the crazy guy. At my school this is strangely not so much a This is Awesome movie as a This Is My Life movie. Needless to say, it's not.

The worst:
Rent:I hate Rent as a movie largely because of Christopher Columbus, but mostly my problems with it lie with the musical itself.

I do not like these people. They seem to expect other people to pick up their slack so that they can fulfill their vision while mocking them for selling out to The Man (who will pay their rent, then, if not they?). But these people are artists, you may say. That's fantastic! You know what, though? Roger's song is crap. Mark's "film" is a home movie. If they're going to be artists, then they better be good artists. And they're not. It's all self-indulgent and contributes nothing to real art.

Plus half the music sucks anyway.

Generalizations: Anything with Johnny Depp isn't That Good, nor by David Lynch or Terry Gilliam.

What about you guys? Are there any movies you hate, but then get viciously mauled for saying so? Racist for hating Crash? Sexist for Superbad? Share, and guess this Awesome movie below:

And don't you dare say it isn't awesome!!

Clicky clicky!

I personally had a fabulous weekend, indoctrinating young minds to have good taste in movies. You see, things aren't like they were when you and I were growing up, those 15 or so years ago. I remember seeing The Lion King in the theatre, with my mother gasping and crying, and me just excited at the gigantic images and sounds engulfing me.

Kids today...If I had a cane, I'd be shaking it at them. Or their parents. They just don't seem to appreciate what they have in movie choices. Everything today is too violent, too scary - baloney! I was raised on those violent, scary movies and look at how completely Awesome I turned out! There is a serious dumbing down of kids today, so that's why I took great pleasure in rising against The Man and saying "No more!" to my 2-year-old cousin's demand for Einsteins.

I made him watch The Muppet Movie. Oh My God. It's been maybe three years since I've seen this - at least since before I became the Awesome person I am today. Do you know how many cameos there are? A million, easily! And the humor's even better than I remember. Luckily, Mr. Gabriel loved it just as much as I did, so I can't wait to take him to see the new Muppet movie, written by my new love, Jason Segel (yes, of Forgetting Sarah Marshall - he writes this hysterical puppet Dracula musical in the movie, and Disney caught wind - true story!!!)

Anyway, we've gotten in a bunch more screenplays for our Screenwriting competition that I just can't wait to read, but we need even more!!! Should I beg you? Should I bribe...forget that - beg you? Please, please, please enter! There's an entrance fee, yes, but the prize is $2000 - That is, if I don't run off with it first. Muahaha.

And what else is new in the life of the most Awesome Intern Ever? Not much - it's been pretty quiet here today. No films to check in (where are all you creative types?), not much movie news, not even much of the other interns! They're all on Spring Break now, too. In Europe and Florida and such nonsense like that. I'm here shivering while they're in the sun...not fair!

Anyway, before I die a slow and painful death, here's your image...nobody got the last one! The Graduate!

Second, Spring Break also rules my life, as in that's where I was. Finally! Some time to relax, avoid doing homework, watch some movies...and panic about being homeless next year! Oh no!

But, after a week and a half away from the office, am I happy to be back. And today was a pretty good day! It's great to see how a film festival is really coming together. We had a meeting today, and we're already starting to plan for the festival this September - it sounds great! Fancy parties, simultaneous screenings...It's going to be amazing. We're starting to get in touch with the volunteer judges - including yours truly - to have an ice-breaker coming up. I've taken a look at a few of the films, and they're so good! I can't wait to see what makes it in.

We also talked about the new electronic judging system, which hopefully won't be anything like the Florida or Michigan primaries. Ooh, I'm so topical! It sounds so great, though. The judging system is really going to allow films to be judged based on their own merit and potential, and not just how they compare to other films. I can't wait to check out the software, when it comes in.

We're going to have so many films - more and more come in every day - but we don't have a lot of screenplays yet. What a shame! As a budding screenwriting (and cinematographer and all-around Awesome Being Person), I think there's so much opportunity here. The prizes are great: $2000, your screenplay produced, and some great feedback. You don't have to write the next Crash (please, don't!), just something 15 pages or less. You can do that in a week! I did that in a week! I'm so cool.

With all of this cool stuff starting to happen, I'm glad that I was able to get my vacation out of the way. Now I can dedicate myself to being awesome and helping out with the fest. Also, finding a place to live next year. Otherwise every day might be a vacation.

Okay, yay Kurt, for again guessing the film. Not that anybody else really enters. I will perservere! I will not give up! I will give you your next shot! And it's not so easy, for all you youngin's.

No, no. I promise I'm not going to even go there. I'm sorry, to my dozens and dozens of readers. Who am I kidding? Right now my only readers are my two ex-boyfriends, my boss, and my roommate. It was midterm week, and honestly, I'm lucky to even still be standing here. I'm taking a neuropsychology class, which, according to everybody (and they would know!), is absolutely insane for someone not majoring in psychology, and with with absolutely no science background. But I'm here. Luckily I haven't seem to have missed much, just checking in a dozen or so films...and a little thing known as the Oscars.

I'll save my breath. Go Coens!, No Julie?, and Falling Slowly for the win! That about sums it up for me.

One of my biggest troubles with midterms was having to start my screenplay, which I want to write as a pretty classic noir, just set in a more modern time. None of this neo-noir garbage, pfft! Get out of here, Kevin Spacey!!! I'm kidding. I love neo noir. It's the classic noir I'm actually having trouble with. It's a very recent development for me. I've seen a few. Double Indemity. In A Lonely Place. *coughBrickcough*. But since I haven't seen that many, I'm having a bit of trouble developing my story, my characters, and especially my ending.

Pretty much everything that matters.

So I have two questions for you:

1. Reccommend me a good noir, please.

2. Tell me your favorite twist ending. I saw Witness for the Prosecution about a year ago, and that might be at the top of my list. What a fantastic movie! Not just a compelling courtroom drama, but also hysterical! What fantastic characters, and, of course, my God, that ending. So you're watching this fantastic movie, then BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! All in the last 2 minutes. And let's watch out for spoilers, people!

As for the last screencap, yes, it was Raging Bull. Congrats, Kurt. Yes, he's one of those readers...ahem. Anyway. You don't get a prize or anything. Just a virtual pat on the back and the satisfaction of a job well done. Well done!!!

This week, I'll....make it easy again. Come on, people!

Wait - this is a film blog, right?

Okay, so I have a TV problem. But I do realize that the strike had an adverse effect on the film industry. I was sad to see Angels and Demons pushed back (the better of two tales of High Adventure and Heresy). And Johnny D's new movie, whatever it's called. But, unlike with TV, the effects of the strike on film won't be seen for a year or two yet. Still, it gives me something to worry about.

Case in point: Movies preview: 8 awaited titles for the 2008 viewing season. That's just this year's pre-strike material. Yikes. Mind you, I love a good blockbuster, but it seems like the trilogies and series really dried up in 2007. Some in there I definitely don't mind. I had never heard of Iron Man (don't blame me, I'm a girly girl who wears pink!) until I saw the trailer, but Robert Downey Jr. being a snarky and cynical yet utterly badass superhero? Sign me up! Speed Racer, besides having a sweet cast and dazzling visuals, leaves me cold. I do have a deep, deep love for Edward Norton, though. I would marry the man. So I'm looking forward to his interpretation of The Incredible Hulk, but only because it's Ed. My man. I'm really looking forward to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but because I love the books, not the movies. Doesn't count!

But as far as the big eight on that list go, I'm only really looking forward to two of them, and I hope you know which ones they are: The Dark Knight and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But then again, who isn't? Again, more movies filled with bad-assery all around. Because I was brought up by a Trekkie, and I'm addicted to LOST, I am looking forward to Star Trek, but it's just been pushed back to 2009. So again, doesn't count. And as much as I love Mamma Mia, I really don't want to see Meryl Streep hit on Colin Firth. He's mine! Him and Eddie Norton.

I'm so picky, I know! And I'm turning into a snob more and more every single day. And working at the DC Shorts Film Festival isn't exactly helping. So many of the entries that are coming in are so good - and I've just read the summaries! More and more I'm understanding the art of the short film - how it accomplishes in 20 minutes (or less!) what a feature-length film does. A short film has to not only tell a full story, but it has to have developed characters that you care about. Let me tell you, this is hard. A lot of these films are less than 10 minutes long - that's 10 minutes to get you to care about a person. I'm taking a screenwriting class, and let me tell you, I don't think I can do it! And my "short film" is 40-pages long, not five! So applaud these people, because they do good stuff. And, fun fact (let's have fun with them, people!): Wes Anderson got his start on the short film circuit. And Rushmore was awesome. So there.

Okay! Your image of the week:

And throw me a bone here, people. Take a guess, have fun! I made it easy.

So Friday night was the Best of the Fest, and it was Awesome. I - er, the fest - was so amazingly popular that we sold out completely. But don't you worry! We're tentatively planning another one for this spring. Aren't you excited. Buy your tickets now, while you can! Well, they're not on sale or anything, but you get the picture. We're hot stuff. Right off the presses. Actually, we got a bunch of press, which was really cool. A bunch of local blogs, like DCist and Penn Quarter Living, newspapers like the Washington Post, and even WAMU. I'm so popular, I can barely stand it!

Okay, so there's not much news on the film festival circuit today, so instead I'll bring up a top five list of mine. This is my Top Five Transcendental Moments - the moments in movies that make me love movies. It's an extremely nostalgic list.

For me, not in any particular order:

1. Vertigo: Scene D'Amour. The perfect scene in a movie ever, in my opinion. Between Hermann's magnificent score, the acting, the mystery....what isn't perfect about this scene? The look on Jimmy Stewart's face when he finally sees his love "returned" to him brings tears to my eyes - and knowing how perverted it is brings chills to my spine.

2. The Nightmare Before Christmas: Jack's Lament. An unconventional choice, but seeing Jack against the moon, with Danny Elfman singing. It's strangely romantic, hauntingly beautiful, and the image of Jack against that huge moon strikes me every time I see this movie. An iconic image.

3. The Godfather: The Baptism/4 Families hit. A perfect movie moment, a perfect film moment. Super dramatic, tense, and perfectly executed. It can be enjoyed as a pure movie moment, and there's plenty to study there as well. By the way, this was the film in the previous post.

4. Reservoir Dogs: The Ear Scene. A purely nostalgic pick for me. It's funny and brutal, and damn memorable. It's also extremely clever because you never actually see the ear being cut off - although you do see the aftermath, of course. It was at this very moment, watching this movie for the first time in 12th grade, that I decided, OHMYGODMOVIESAREAMAZING. Because of Reservoir Dogs, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life watching, making, and living for movies.

5. The Great Dictator: The Barber's Speech. It is an absolutely chilling moment for me, having grown up and knowing Chaplin as the Little Tramp and seeing him speak to the crowd - to us, to the WORLD, really - about the importance of love over violence. Knowing when this movie was made, knowing what was going on in the world. My God, it's absolutely breathtaking.

And for a limited time only, a bonus number six! Complete with SPOILERS! BEWARE!

6. There Will Be Blood: The Final Scene. It's controversial and radically different from the rest of the film, but you know what? I think it fits. I could write an entire paper about this film, and maybe one day, when I have nothing else to do, I will, but in the meantime I'll leave you with this one bit. I love this because not only is it amazingly quotable and ridonkulous, knowing what PT Anderson was going for (and succeeded at) makes this even more amazing. At an interview, Anderson remarked that with this scene, he was trying to manipulate the audience's reaction, going from laughter to stark silence with one fell swoop. At least in my theater, he succeeded. As one of my academic interests is audience theory, this is AWESOME.

Okay, so those are mine. What are yours? I'm dying to know. Anything from Casablanca is good, so is Wilder and Capra.

SWEET MUSTACHE!

I forgot another important one. It's really, really close to my heart, so I HAVE to cheat on this. I'm so naught!

7. It's a Wonderful Life: George Baily's prayer. Jimmy Stewart is a favorite actor of mine, having already made an appearance on this list, but this is another moment where the room gets kind of dusty. Especially knowing the context - this scene, in which George desperately prays for help in Martini's bar, was supposed to be done straight, with a medium shot. However, Jimmy Stewart, who had just finished serving in World War Two, was so overcome by emotion he sobbed. The performance was so moving that the shot was re-framed. It makes me tear up, that's for sure. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a clip, so I can't share the love.

Okay, now tell me yours.

And here's your screencap:

Checking in films? Lots of fun. There'll be a stack of envelopes just waiting for me by the computer, like presents on a Christmas morn. I rip them open mercilessly, and inside will be a little DVD with a code on it. I type in the code, the end. Your film is now submitted for the festival! But there are some films that come with a little more than a DVD. A few have entire press kits. It's absolutely fabulous that your film was screened at the Windsor Street Shake 'n Bake (a joint Dance-a-Thon and Pie Bake-Off), but I don't have room on my shelf for all that information. I have to say, though, the pictures are pretty. I can't wait to watch these movies. It's really early yet, and Jon said things should pick up in a few months when we get closer to the festival, which is in September.

Another thing that I get to do is gather all of the press for the film festival and for our event tonight, the Best of the Fest. Mostly this is just organizing all of the amazing and sophisticated publicity we get from the web, newspapers, and even magazines! Wow! We make this gigantic press packet, and, unless I misheard, there's scrapbooking involved!

Sweet mustache! I forgot to mention this earlier. The Best of the Fest is tonight. It's a special screening of the best films from last year's DCSFF, and I'm way excited. It's my first real event, and I can't wait to see these shorts. It's at the Goethe-Institut in Chinatown, which I have never been to before, so that's even more exciting. We're almost completely sold out, so get the last few tickets while you can! The Best of the Fest will be a great way to preview what this year's festival might be like, for all you newcomers like me. I'll be at the ticket booth, the precocious one in the DC Shorts tee!

Ooh, ooh! There's some more exciting things going on here today. Jon and Hayley, another intern, are working on producing a weekly newscast about all of the film-related events going on in the DC area. It's amazing, because when you think of big film towns, you think of New York and LA. Well, DC's got a bunch going on as well. There's always some new screening or lecture, and about a million different festivals. Jon's trying to get the information about all of these things so that everyone knows just how amazing a film town DC really is. Go us!

Nobody answered my screen cap quiz from last week, which isn't much of a surprise because I don't think there's a link up yet. Oops! So instead of giving you the answer now, I'll wait a bit for some actually guesses. But I'll still give you a new one, and it's from my favorite movie of all time.

I feel like every image from this film is an iconic one, so this is probably way easy. Too bad, I have to do it. It's my favorite movie and it's my blog! I have the power!

It's because more than I love New York City, or anything else in the world for that matter, I love movies. Just ask any of my friends. I could go into the whole big thing about how cinema is today's truest art form (making Scorsese like Michaelangelo?) and how it's a reflection on society, but I'll save my preaching for another time. I'm a bit of a film snob, but I also spend a lot of time talking about the newest controversy in Hollywood, or the Oscar nods, or why my roommates' favorite movie sucks. Don't feel too bad for my friends, though, because with my movie obsession also comes a DVD addiction. Yeah, baby. I'm better than Netflix. So here I am, a precocious and adorable college junior on her way to living the dream: getting into grad school and eventually getting my PhD in Cinema Studies. You gotta dream big! Is there anything more exciting, in your opinion? ...Please don't answer that. But I can't help it! I love movies. I can't help it if I'm more Cinema Paradiso than The Devil Wears Prada.

That's why I'm working at the DC Shorts Film Festival, which exclusively shows films under 20 minutes - films that would otherwise go virtually unnoticed in the film industry. I myself have been guilty of ignoring the noble short film - the only short film I look forward to is the one before a Pixar feature! But now I'm finally getting the chance to work up close and personal with people who love film almost as much as I do. The filmmakers who enter the festival are almost always completely independent, which is really amazing because it takes a lot of time and money to make a film - even a short one!

It's more than 7 months until the DC Shorts Film Festival this September, but I can already tell that there's plenty that goes into making this thing happen. This season, on DC Shorts Intern, we'll be pursuing Academy accreditation, a wider audience, and a place among the world's major film festivals! What-dance? I'll keep you posted. And, naturally, try to justify my obsession with the movies by pointing out everything that's really really cool about them.

Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night!

Guess the movie: