TACOMA FILM TAKES OVER RIALTO >>>

Iron Man 2, Shmiron Man 2. Who needs another Hollywood superhero when local moviemaking can save your Friday night?

On May 7, The Grand Cinema invaded the Rialto Theater for its annual screening of shorts from the 72 Hour Film Festival. Twenty-three teams had only a weekend to produce a work with these caveats: the phrase "Should I know what that means?", a map, and an act of breaking. Even the scripts felt a time crunch - Grand Executive Director Philip Cowan raised the stakes higher this year by asking all films to include a bag containing "something important" within the first minute.

But don't think such pressures faze a pro like director Rick Gratzer, whose quirky comedies have made it to the screen since 2006. His Obituaries of '07 remains one of the most well written and entertaining entries I've seen. "This year I think is our best [film] yet," he told me outside a packed lobby pungent with wine and anticipation. "The [story] idea kind of came instantly, which is not usually the case."

Clichéd as it may sound, the case with many of these returning participants is a simple love of the moviemaking game. Gratzer shrugs away the possibility of gaining accolades for his current effort: "I always say that if we win an award, then we did something wrong," he laughs.

Sadly his crew managed to do something right this year; Zen Arcade, about a boy's Wonderland-like journey inside a mysterious bag he finds, walked away with Best Scene and finally ended Gratzer's Susan Lucci streak.

The Grand has a knack for kicking off the festivities with just the right film. Dylan Parry's The Device loosened up the crowd with its self-conscious send-up of every storytelling convention it could cram into five minutes. The heroes' relentless rule breaking helped win this winning short Best Action.

Device also set the evening's tone. Past years have seen filmmakers preoccupied with experimenting in newer formats like HD, or telling darker-themed tales (zombie and crime flicks had their heyday). Besides a few well-meaning dramas, the overall vibe this time stayed relaxed and unabashedly silly.

Friday night we saw bags stuffed with weed, doorways to parallel universes, and the occasional man-baby. Friday we traveled all over - on and under Commencement Bay, hundreds of feet above the city, even as far as Reno for a little Hangover-like mayhem. Tonight we imagined TV's beloved Bob Ross as substance abuser and Julia Childs as sadistic tomato torturer.

And yet, the most exhilarating moment in our cinematic sojourn came with a bunch of talking vegetables careening down Bridgeport in a red van.

Should you know what that means?

If not, wait until all these movies appear on Click! On Demand. If you can hardly contain yourself (and I don't think you can), pick up a $15 DVD at The Grand immediately. I promise more fun than sex with a prosecutor and two undomesticated raccoons.

Ah, memories...

For the full list of contest winners, click here.