In the near future, relationship upgrades are standard procedure. The short film “High Maintenance” plays with Shorts Program Two at the “Vine Theatre,” (Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall) at 6:00 p.m. both Friday April 11 and Saturday April 12.
Submitted photo
What’s red, white and animated? Movie tasting at Hollywood and Vine.
With more than 65 compelling films playing at this week’s Sonoma Valley Film Fest, seeing all of them would be next to impossible. Even with multiple screenings playing over the course of five days and five nights, catching, say, 18 feature flicks is probably the best a festival fanatic could do.
Fortunately, this year’s festival has an amazing selection of shorts and I’m not talking about Daisy Dukes’. Down at Hollywood and Vine (known as the Veterans Memorial Hall the other 51 weeks of the year), you can treat yourself to 32 delicious tastings of the finest varietals of short film. While others are enjoying a full-length feature, you could sample five or six uniquely blended shorts in about 80 minutes. Essentially, it’s “see more for less.”
The following films will all be screened on Friday, April 11. Start your weekend in the morning, with the Bay Area Spotlight program. Among the offerings are “My Olympic Summer,” “Ed Meets His Maker,” “State of Grace,” “Estranged” and my favorite, “A Day’s Work” – a great little movie that made me think I might be having a bad day for a good reason.
Also showing Friday morning is the Lounge Shorts program in the Ravenswood Lounge at the Sonoma Community Center, starting at 9:30 a.m. Wake up with “These Boots are Made for Walken,” in which a guy thinks he’s the inimitable Christopher Walken, and “ESP,” about a man who finds his own fun in the desert. “Speed Dating” brings new meaning to the still relatively new term, and I actually laughed as a man tried to commit suicide in “I’m Pretty, Too.” “Just a Slice” and “The Great Wall of Texas” complete this off-beat, entertaining collection the Lounge is infamous for showing.
At noon, have a fun lunch with the Animated Shorts program – eleven clever films, each from two to 35 minutes long. Of the three I reviewed, “Flatland: The Movie” was my favorite. It’s a smart and creative story about the controversial idea of a third dimension in a two-dimensional world.
The “Rosé” program begins at 3 p.m. Among the selections is “Morning Fall,” the remembered joy of waiting for snail-mail in “The Postman,” and the way “The Homecoming” perfectly captured that weird readjustment period after one returns home from abroad.
At 6 p.m., the “White” program commences. The slate includes “Un Certain Regard,” “Wednesday,” “Dear Lemon Lima,” “Driftwood” and “High Maintenance,” all of which touch on the love nerve. Their program descriptions include such lines as “mysterious woman,” “destiny,” “seeds of love,” “pain of longing” and “monotonous marriage.” I’ll definitely be tasting the “white” this weekend. Anybody need a date?
At 9 p.m. Friday, the “Red” features the “The War Prayer,” based on a short story by Mark Twain. In the film, a homeless man rains on a church revival with the realities of war, resulting in contemporary resonance.
Tickets to all of these programs are $10 at the door on a space-available basis. Day passes get you in the door first and are good for all films and panels all day long at $60. For movies times and venue locations, visit SonomaFilmFest.org.
