Shootout on Central Avenue—This summer, Albuquerque's Flicks on 66 Film Festival will be entering its third incarnation. Currently known as DigiFest Southwest, the festival will be renamed the Duke City Shootout and will fall under the wing of independent filmmaker Christopher Coppola (nephew of Francis Ford Coppola and director of such low-budget efforts as Deadfall and G-Men from Hell). As in previous years, the festival committee will select seven short film scripts. The writers of the winning scripts will be flown to Albuquerque where they will be given a budget, cast, camera, lighting equipment, production crew, post-production facilities and even a professional mentor to help bring their pages to life. The only catch? Would-be filmmakers have only one week in which to complete their mini-masterpieces.

Suburban tragedy tries too hard, but has its moments

In the wake of his “welcome to the big time” promotion writing the script for X2: X-Men United, twentysomething hipster scripter Dan Harris suddenly became Hollywood's go-to guy, penning screenplays for a string of upcoming blockbusters like Superman Returns, Ender's Game and Logan's Run. Last year, he made the ultimate shortcut to A-list status, writing and directing his own indie vanity project staffed with all the name actors money could buy.

Animated feature dazzles audience with all the gew-gaws money can buy

At this point, everyone in the animation biz (whether working in the 2-D or 3-D realm) is toiling away in the towering shadow of Pixar. With an unbroken string of box office hits (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles) and yet another Academy Award on the shelf (the company's second Best Animated Feature Oscar in a row for The Incredibles), Pixar is the unqualified king of cartoons.

The Return of Baby Bob

There are moments in life that make you question how the hell people can believe in a higher power--much less one that is kind and benevolent. We've got giant tsunamis in Asia, war in the Middle East, ethnic cleansing in Africa and a Walgreen's on every street corner. Is this the work of a beneficent creator? I think not.

Week in Sloth

The Week in Sloth