Virginville, Awards, Boogey, The Dark Knight and Me.

Hey Gang,

Been a pretty solid few days....so let me just jump in, as the great "Tribe Called Quest" would say "can I kick it? yes you can...."

Friday night I checked out the big screen version of "All Along" which was directed by Robert Masciantonio (who just now, I'm reading a lot of press that he's been getting these days). "All Along" had been playing all over the place last week, and it was a great time to take in a show...not to mention I got the chance to catch up with so many great folks....a lot from the "13th Grade" cast who wanted to come out and support Big Bad Bill Page's transition from "scene stealing co star" to leading man who holds a movie on his own. The place was packed wall to wall....and the movie just played HUGE to this crowd, afterward Bill didn't pull any of that Hollywood stuffy crap (which I hate) he spent time with the entire audience and well wishers, missing his VIP party just to shake hands and show how grateful he was for his opportunity...I'm proud of him, that's how to do it. Parties come and go, but people coming out to support your hard work? You just throw your arms around that opportunity...and don't let go.

That screening got me good and inspired to jump in the car and go for a road trip into the middle of nowhere for "The Virginville Film Fest". It was really off the beaten path.....a huge movie screen in the middle of this huge organic field and near a lake. The place was packed....200-300 people....which I was grateful for....being that my little obscure film "A Deeper Shade of Soul" was closing out the festival. The great brethren from "Down With The Boogey", Jack and Jen, the "Posh and Becks" of "Boogey" came out to throw some luck and support my way .....we caught some great little gems...stuff to look out for like "Peeled Grapes" and "The Coprophagia Kitchen", and then around 1am...it was my turn to do my thing...."Deeper Shade" came on....and it played really well to the crowd (special thanks to the lady behind me who was enjoying the film so much she was quoting it...that was a nice late night ego boost)....

Speaking of Jack and Jen,  check out BOOGEY hitting a huge Philly screening on July 19th...yeah yeah I know the new Batman film is out...but we're doing an 11pm show....so check out THE DARK KNIGHT first and then come join us late night....by the way, I'm hearing Heath Ledger's performance in "The Dark Knight"  is absolutely mind blowing.

So it looks like if "The Screen Actors Guild" goes on strike, (which barring any last minute negotiations...seems a realistic possibility) I'll have a little down time (which is great, because now I'll have the opportunity to work on my grill skills...my goal is to be TOP CHEF by labor day), however, there are TONS of screenings of stuff coming up....aside from "Down With the Boogey" in Philly, LEAF is playing a few select nights at the NEWARK FILM FESTIVAL (where, we're sharing that bill with ALL ALONG....), we're lucky to have won this thing.... an Accolade Award last week from Southern California for the film....

 ...but lost our 3 acting nominations...we lost to the late Brad Renfro. Brad's final film, he played a mentally disabled man, I'm fine with losing to Renfro, I always thought that during his tragically short career...he was underrated as an actor, his "headlines" always seemed to overshadow his solid work in films like "Bully", "Sleepers", "Ghost World" and "Apt Pupil". But LEAF is back on the East Coast for at least 3 or 4 screenings....before hitting the West Coast for 3 or 4 screenings....and stopping in middle america for a screening as well. Stay tuned for all of those details...as soon as I know the exact dates and times....you know, I'll share them. The best thing about Newark, is, that they already know that I'm going to want to get in the mix, tell stories, shake some hands and answer every question the crowd asks...so they're actually setting up times where we can all sit around and talk about anything and everything, like we've been doing at all the screenings. I'm going to try and get a few surprises up on that big screen for you all as well.

So with that...enjoy the long holiday weekend, the best part of these holiday weekends? All the "best of...." countdowns they do. Just last night I watched VH1's "best songs of the 90's" and I swore that Dre's "Nothing But A G Thang" was taking 1 and Nirvana's "Teen Spirit" at 2. I was wrong...."G Thang" was number 13, with Nirvana taking the top spot instead. Way to go Kurt.

take care, be good and stay lucky,
TIM