HEY SISTER! >>>

The 10th anniversary of the Sister Cities International Film Festival opens Thursday with two-and-a-half months of films at Tacoma's Blue Mouse Theatre, a new film each Thursday through April 12 from one of Tacoma's many official sister cities.

This week, check out 200 Pound Beauty from Gunsan, South Korea - a sister city of Tacoma since 1978. According to promotion for 200 Pound Beauty, Hanna is a famous Korean pop singer who also suffers from poor self-esteem. In the film, Hanna "makes the decision of a lifetime to have full-body plastic surgery."

2012 Sister Cities Int'l Film Festival Schedule

Feb. 2

Gunsan, South Korea
200 Pounds Of Beauty

Feb. 9

Kitakyushu, Japan
Cast Me If You Can

Feb. 16

Kiryat-Motzkin, Israel
A Matter of Size

Feb. 23

El Jadida, Morocco
Fragments

March 1

Vladivostok, Russia
My Perestroika

March 8

Fuzhou, China
If You Are The One 2

March 15

Aalesund, Norway
Happy, Happy

March 22

Cienfuegos, Cuba
El Benny

March 29

George, South Africa
White Wedding

April 5

Davao City, Philippines
Adele

April 12

Taichung, Taiwan
Formosa Mambo

More information on the Sister Cities International Film Fest can be found at sistercityfilmfest.org.

[Blue Mouse Theatre, 200 Pound Beauty, Thursday, Feb. 2, 6 p.m. doors open, 6:15 cultural program, 7 p.m. film, $10, 2611 N. Proctor St., Tacoma, 253.752.9500, sistercityfilmfest.org]

A WIN FOR PIERCE COUNTY FAMILIES >>>

Last November the Weekly Volcano announced Emergency Food Network Executive Director Helen McGovern was a finalist for a "Harlequin: More than Words" contest. If she beat the other "real-life heroines" across the nation, she could bring thousands of dollars to needy families of Pierce County.

Well, McGovern won.

After more than 111,000 online votes and 7,800 Facebook shares, McGovern is one of three winners. The other winers are Mindy Atwood of Hilliard, Ohio - who runs Patches of Light - and Sally Spencer of Toronto, Ontario - who manages a mentoring program that rescues at-risk children.  

According to a press release, "Each of the honorees will receive $15,000 for her charity, equaling a total contribution by Harlequin of $45,000. Three of Harlequin's authors also donate their time and talent to write short stories inspired by the life and work of the recipients.  The short stories will be available in 2013 in ebook format to download at no cost."

Congratulations Helen!

LINK: Emergency Food Network

KEN CARLSON & LYQUOC VO FIND COLLABORATION IRRESISTIBLE >>>

Last year, Olympia filmmaker Ken Carlson and his team, Mutually Assured Productions, embarked on an experiment. They decided to build their very own film festival from scratch, calling it the Olympia Awesome Film Festival. This one-day event debuted in May, successfully attracting short movies and their makers from across Washington and beyond. OAFF exuded a laid-back style that showed potential to widen its fan base and stick around for years to come.

But alas, sometimes you have to shelve a great idea to make way for an even better one. With 2012 here, Carlson could either foster his fledgling fest into its second year, or quit while ahead and move on. He went with door number two.

"(OAFF) was fun to do," says Carlson, "but it was a lot of work and ... not necessarily something that we (Mutually Assured) wanted to focus our efforts in that direction. I decided that I would much rather be ... making films as opposed to hosting film festivals."

Already he's found a project to replace OAFF: writing and producing a feature-length concept with fellow Olympia resident and friend Lyquoc Vo. They haven't yet given away too many plot details of Irresistible (a working title), other than the tough heroine is loosely based on the "femme fatale" archetype of film noir. And given Mutually Assured's track record, it wouldn't surprise me to see violence make a cameo.

Carlson and Vo began collaborating over a decade ago on a sketch comedy program called Damnit, This Is Stupid. Though neither one has tackled a movie of this size before, ideas for scenes and characters have flowed quickly - a sure sign of a good partnership.

Besides working with Carlson, Vo has enjoyed watching Irresistible grow and evolve and almost take on a life of its own. "It's pretty fun actually, thinking about these characters in a different light each day," he says.

***

Watch Mutually Assured's short films at mutuallyassured.com. Hear more from Ken Carlson and Lyquoc Vo this week on Volcano Radio, which airs Thursday from 8-9 P.M. on www.nwczradio.com and is available as a podcast at weeklyvolcano.com and on iTunes directly following.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1, 2012 >>>

1. The good news is that ladies' night is no longer the sole domain of cheesy bronzed-and-bleached venues - it has infiltrated every corner of the South Sound and you can now sip discounted highballs and wine almost every night of the week. However, not all ladies' nights are created equal. At the Tempest Lounge, ladies are treated very well - thanks to bartender Larry. The friendly chap tags happy hour prices on drinks for the ladies, beginning at 7 p.m. At the other end of this hip bar, DJ Sc works his laptop and mixer stocked with old school soul ballads and new school pop.

2. Tacoma artist Mark Hoppmann's show Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crows: The Art of Mark Hoppmann opens today at the Collins Library on the University of Puget Sound campus. Inspired, (albeit) loosely by the borders and motifs found in The Book of Kells, The Madness of Crows also uses elaborate border motifs and random bits in addition to the main illustrations. The library is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

3. Ready to trip out today? The Chemical Brothers: Don't Think - considered to be one of the most mind-bendingly psychedelic live shows ever seen - was caught on film and screens at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital Mall 14 in Olympia.

4. Midwest reggae rockers Jon Wayne and The Pain join Live Wyya, Mighty High and Stay Grounded for the Bob Marley Fest at 8 p.m. inside Jazzbones.

5. Hell's Kitchen hosts a 9 p.m. rap show featuring  Philthy Rich, Rydah J Klyde, Meezilini, I-Rocc, Smigg Dirtee, Conceit and Two Against Critics.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

LINK: Local happy hours