Off-Topic Thursday- Palm Springs International Film Festival!

This past weekend I ventured out to the Palm Springs International Film Festival (www.psfilmfest.org) with my NRLP (Non-Romantic Life Partner- see Will & Grace). We saw some amazing films.

On Saturday he dragged me to "Under the Bombs"- a docu-film about the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. That's really a poor explanation, though, which is probably why it didn't make my initial list of 48 (!) films I wanted to see at the festival. In actuality, the film is a beautiful, heart wrenching, funny, sweet, dark tale of love in it's many forms. This film was remarkable and it pains me to know not many people will see it, since it's in Arabic and therefore will probably not be widely distributed. If it does come out on dvd, I highly recommend you see it. It's absolutely the best film I've seen in a very long time.

In the evening we went to see "Alien Trespass"- a 50's style sci-fi alien flick that stops just short of spoof. This one starred none other than Eric McCormick of Will & Grace fame. The movie was cute and silly but nothing to write home about. Eric was there, along with the director, and seemed very nice and funny. Apparently his son came to the show and got scared by the alien in the movie and had to go back to the hotel. So cute.

On Sunday we were back in Palm Springs. First, we hit Hamburger Mary's for lunch. I love the Mary's in Palm Springs. It has a full bar but no dancefloor, so it has a much more family-friendly feel. It's kind of cool to see families of all sorts gather to chow down.

Then it was off to see Milk. This wasn't a festival screening- we hit a little movie theater in the mall. NRLP had never seen it, but this was my second time, and I cried even more than the first, I think. Sean Penn is incredible in this movie and the chemistry between him and James Franco really brings the movie to life. If you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you do.

Finally, we head off to the festival again to see "Skin". Yowzer! What a story! It is the life story of Sandra Laign, a black woman born to very white Afrikaners in apartheid South Africa. This is an incredible movie and has some real star power. Sandra is played by Academy Award winner Sophia Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda, Secret Life of Bees) who does a beautiful portrayal of the pain and confusion that this woman lived through. The children in the movie are also incredible. I hope with the stars in the film and the awesome story that this is a film that you'll be able to see in your local theater soon.

I'm off to the festival again this weekend! Hope you enjoy yours.