Back To Phoenix I Go :)

Well I'm back in the great state of Phoenix, Arizona (yes I know what I just said). Part of me is happy, part of me wanted to stay, and part of me just wants to sleep right now because I'm sick again..of course. My luck.



My first night in Long Beach (Friday), I was ready to go to the festival, but a sharp pain in my stomach restricted me from doing so. As it subsided, my family and I went home, blasted Salsa music, and cooked pasta. I attempted to dance, but to no avail. After that whole ordeal, I stayed home in bed, well, on the couch, and went to sleep, writhing around trying to find a comfortable position where I wouldn't be hurting.



Saturday, bright and early, and 76% Pain-Free, I was ready to go to the festival. My first film, American Bully started at 1 PM.

American Bully is a film about four teenagers, who, after 9/11, believe everyone brown to be a terrorist. One of them sends a video of a terrorist being beheaded to an Indian student. The student gets our main character suspended, so him and his friends skip school for a day, get drunk, stoned, and hang out in an abandoned house bashing all people that aren't white. As they're driving home, they see the boy walking home from work, jump and kidnap him, and bring him back to the abandoned house where they stayed. There, they tie him up, and tell him that they're going to kill him. Events spiral out of control, and things go from bad to worse.

American Bully is an exercise in bad writing, bad acting, and bad directing all in one. I didn't really see the appeal of this film, but I did see the message. 9/11 has affected the youth all over the nation, and made them fear all Muslims, Indians, Arabs, etc.

But the quality of the film really disappointed me. I felt like with a little shape-up, it could've been a LOT better. Overall, I give American Bully a D+.

After the American Bully screening, they had a Q&A with the director, but I didn't really want to stay.



The 2nd film I saw that day was the fantastic, A Lonely Place For Dying, a $200,000 action film that has hints of Quentin Tarantino, Guy Richie, and Clint Eastwood in it. Expertly directed by newcomer Justin Eugene Evans (whom I met after the film, he ended up being the guy next to me), A Lonely Place For Dying restored my faith in the low budget action film. Ross Marquand and Michael Scovotti, playing Nikolai and Robert respectively were both flawless, and their chemistry on-screen was great (it had to be, they were the movie). But it was really Marquand that stood out to me, reminding me of Christoph Waltz's genius performance in Inglourious Basterds. Overall, I really hope this film gets a wide release. I give it an A-.

Afterwards there was a Q&A with the director. There were some great questions asked about the film process, and afterwards I went up to him, shook his hand and said, "That. Was a great film." He seemed really touched, thanked me, and I left.



As soon as I walked out, there was a BMX show happening, with these guys named Team Soil. They were awesome. I love BMX and this didn't disappoint. Even Mat Hoffman was there, and I went up to him and said hello.



When I was done with that, I went out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse with my dad, Mel, Jia, and Max. Soon after, I returned to the festival and saw a collection of horror short films. They were all very good, except for the first, Alice Jacobs Is Dead, which fell flat for me. There was an excellent Spanish short called The Twin Girls of Sunset Street, and a great Mexican film called Culebra. Also, a small film called Off Season, a 13-Minute film that scared the living hell out of me.



I left at 11:30, went home, and fell asleep almost immediately.



Sunday, I didn't do much, except get a haircut, and see Jackass 3D!!

Jackass 3D is the reason that America is the greatest country on the planet. Where else can you see men defacing their testicles for 86 minutes...in 3D?! Jackass 3D definitely met my expectations. I give it a B+.



Monday, seriously all I did was see Life As We Know It.

Life As We Know It is a super cute, very funny, romantic comedy that's sure to please anyone who's looking for a little fun. This one actually exceeded my very low expectations. I give it a B.

I flew back to Phoenix at around 5:30, on Southwest Airlines with a flight attendant who cracked us up the entire way. I arrived home at 6:45 sick again. Why me?!