It takes a lot of hard work and energy to make a film no matter how small the budget. 

I am pleased that AFI Dallas has picked some incredible movies to show this year.  Not that last year was bad.  But I enjoyed the shorts Friday night.  I especially liked Rip and the Preacher (from the UK), Grande Drip, Short Term 12, and Small Collection.  The shorts are fun because the filmmakers seem to have more freedom.  Because there is a time restriction, they are allowed to be more creative.  For instance, Small Collection did not have any actors. The director shot locations but allowed us to hear conversations that had taken place at those locations.  You could never do that in a feature film because the audience would lose interest after ten minutes.  But this was perfect for a short.

On Saturday I saw two movies that starred up-and-coming actor Jeremy Renner.  You've seen him in a lot of films but he's usually a secondary character.  But in Lightbulb and The Hurt Locker he has significant roles.

Lightbulb was a wonderful story based on the life of the inventor of the talking bottle opener.  Don't laugh, but it wasn't the opener, it was the journey that was fascinating.  The quirky, little, low-budget comedy could be one of the it movies of 2009.  

Speaking of "it' movies, you have to see The Hurt Locker when it  comes to theaters in June.  The war movie about Iraq is the story of a guy who disarms bombs.  This movie leaves all politics and BS behind.  Legendary filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow gives us the facts of war and we the audience, deal with the emotion.

Stay tuned kids.  If you want to know what great movies are in store this year, keep reading the blog.

Liz

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