I'm glad you're blogging on the film festival, Tim. I can't get to today's movies, but am hoping to catch some tomorrow. Hope you'll give us some mini-reviews, later... I'm looking forward to another Kaleidoscope event, "Great Chefs," tonight. My husband and I will be dining at Bateaux... incidentally, with your new friend Bernie. (At least your Bernie SOUNDS like our Bernie, anyway... I'll ask him tonight.)

Looking forward to your Oscar blog, too!

Cheers,
Margaret Evans

While the crowds were respectable this morning, it looks like a lot of Film Festival-goers were waiting for the features to start. The first feature, "29 Reasons to Run," kicked off around 1 p.m. and before the lights went out a swarm of people came into the theater. That's the good news.

The bad news is, well, you ever notice on "American Idol" when Paula Abdul doesn't like a contestant instead of saying something bad about how they sound she always says, "First off, you look beautiful"? Well, first off, "29 Reasons to Run" looks beautiful.

I am kidding, sort of. The movie has its moments -- it's basically a road trip movie starring guys a little too old to be taking road trips -- and picks up steam the further the group of guys get on the road. Gary Weeks -- who wrote, directed and starred in the movie -- has a Ben Affleck thing going on. He is breezy and fun in the lead role, but his supporting cast is a collection of caricatures, not characters. And some of the dialogue is groan worthy.

My main problem with the movie is it tries too hard. It tries too hard to be witty and clever and original and never really achieves any of the four. There is a lot of potential there, but it needs a little seasoning.

Of course, the BFF is about exposing the talents of up and coming filmmakers, and as such, "29 Reasons to Run" is probably a good representation of that. It's not great. It's not horrible. But it does show promise and I could see it on some independent film channel someday. If not IFC than Sundance.

Before "29 Weeks" we had the fourth of five documentaries. "Love Honour and Disobey" is a heavy documentary about spousal abuse in England's minority communities. I commend the BFF for taking a chance with "Love." The other documentaries are either South Carolina based, or easily relatable to Beaufortonians (like "BRATS," a look at military families). "Love" is completely out of that comfort level -- a look at a society most of us know nothing about -- and it was really compelling. Good stuff.

I didn't get a chance to catch "Sacred Place," but my wife did (she bought the $20 all-you-can-see ticket, which is a good deal) and enjoyed it.

I am off now. I have to sprint back to the theater to catch "The Garage." I'm hoping to make another update around 6 p.m. and a final one tonight, after "Johnny Was," which closes the festivities tonight.

There are still a lot of movies to be seen. Tonight should be interesting.

the advertizers would be very upset with you calling it by the olde fashioned names!

the advertizers would be very upset with you calling it by the olde fashioned names!

It's always hard to go first. Looking back at my review of "29 Reasons to Run" -- which I posted just a few hours ago, but it seems like I did so in 1953 -- maybe I was too hard on the film. I can certainly see potential there. It just didn't work for me.

I've seen two more feature films since then. One, "The Garage," is easily the best movie I've seen so far and the only one that I could imagine playing in arthouse theaters in HBO. The other, "Running Deep," I feel less strongly about.

Before I get into the reviews, I'd like to say that I have been pleased to see several of the filmmakers in the audience. One of the reasons the Beaufort Film Festival committee wanted smaller films was the chance of attracting future Spielbergs to Beaufort. Having the filmmakers available -- particularly the documentary filmmakers -- has been a great touch. Director Mark Kokkorus -- of "Running Deep," the movie I am about to give a bad review to -- was present with his leading man. It was a class act.

First, back to "The Garage," a coming of age movie set in the 1970s. It's simple, a strong cast (with familiar faces, like that guy from "Jericho" and that girl from "Lost"), great script, good photography and an interesting plot will always translate well, no matter what your budget. I'll write more about the movie later, when I can get some better cast details.

I will also refrain from being too hard on "Running Deep." A movie with big aspirations to tug at your heart that never quite achieves that, and keeps going and going and going. The cast, while good, felt like they were stuck in a Lifetime Network movie from 1981. But, again, this is about future talent, and "Running Deep," while it didn't work for me, had a few bright spots.

We also saw the first short film, "AWOL." I will write more about this later as well. But first I must head back to the theater. With the Kaleidoscope in full swing downtown, traffic is picking up. Note to self: When planning to blog next year, make sure you get a Blackberry.

A few quick observations after 14 1/2 hours in a movie theater:
1. There were only two interruptions by cell phone. Both during "The Trouble With Dee Dee," one of the last two movies of the night. Not bad, I say.

2. It does not matter how soft the seat is, after sitting in a theater for 10 hours, you cannot get comfy. Cross your legs, uncross them, prop them up, fold them under -- it doesn't matter. It's impossible. By the way, I am only 31 years old. I feel like I am in my mid-60s.

3. After posting my previous blog with my review of "Running Deep" I was surprised to return to the theater and still see the director and star of the movie sitting there three rows behind me. I was happy that, a., the Beaufort Gazette blogs aren't THAT popular and, b., I doubt even if they knew there was a reporter doing a blog they would care enough to keep checking to see what I write. It's not like I'm Ebert and I just burned Steven Spielberg. Calm down Tim.

The Beaufort Film Festival ended on a bang, I am happy to say. The last two features -- "Dee Dee" and "Johnny Was" -- couldn't have been more different. But they were both really good. For starters, they were both on film stock, which makes a difference. The smaller films were DVDs projected on a big screen. I realize that has to happen, but it sure is nicer to see an old-fashioned film. It just looks better.

And, oh yeah, the movies were really good. I plan on recapping all the movies later, but a few quick hits about "Dee Dee": The lead character was really annoying, and hard to believe, but the movie worked because it was funny and quirky and featured a stellar supporting performance from Kurtwood Smith. Smith played the dad on "That '70s Show," but before that he played several Hollywood heavies in movies like "Robocop." It was good seeing him actually acting again.

Also, Lisa Ann Walter as the lead character, Dee Dee, was really good. Again, it is a little too quirky and obnoxious at times, but overall it works. I told my wife it reminded me of an Adam Sandler movie, like "Billy Madison," where you root for the main character even though in real life you'd want to push them down a flight of stairs.

"Johnny Was" was very reminiscent of other British gangster flicks, like "Layer Cake" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." If you've seen those, you kind of get "Johnny" already. Flashy villains, lots of accents, a few gun fights. But "Johnny" is extremely polished -- really visually interesting -- with a great soundtrack and a surprisingly soft turn by British heavy Vinnie Jones (X-Men 3) and an even more surprisingly strong performance by former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis.

I could imagine both films getting theatrical runs and doing well on cable and DVD. They are extremely watchable.

That's it, I'm beat. See you tomorrow morning.