IT'S TIME FOR THE SISTER CITIES FILM FESTIVAL! YAY! >>>

The 11th annual Sister Cities Film Festival is more than a film festival. It's a cultural exploration of Tacoma's sister cities, of which there are 11 located all around the world. Each Thursday beginning Feb. 7, a film from a sister city lights up the screen of Blue Mouse Theatre - complemented by bonus activities and entertainment. Each week also has its own committee responsible for said entertainment and film selection.

The festival kicks off with Tacoma's oldest sister - Kitakyushu, Japan.

"The Kitakyushu committee will be having the Stadium High School Taiko Drumming group perform," says Debbie Bingham, Sister Cities coordinator. "This will be followed by a briefing on the latest project the committee is working on - rebuilding the Japanese Garden at Point Defiance. Metro Parks staff will talk about this project and show pictures from a recent trip to Kitakyushu to study Japanese garden design."

Festivities start at 6:15 p.m. If an awesome dose of world culture isn't your thing, then get your lame self to Blue Mouse by 7 p.m. for the Japanese film, What the Snow Brings. The plot follows formerly successful Manabu Yazaki after he has lost his remaining cash on an older racing draft horse. After this failure, Manabu seeks out his estranged brother, who agrees to let him stay if Manabu works as a stable hand. The characters - right on down to the aging draft horse Unryu - are remarkably complex and intriguing. The film has won awards left and right, including Best Director and Actor at the 18th Tokyo International Film Festival.

Tickets are $10 via Brown Paper Tickets, or $80 for the full nine-week festival.

BLUE MOUSE THEATRE, THURSDAY, FEB. 7, 6:15 P.M., $10, $80 PASS, 2611 N. PROCTOR ST., TACOMA, 253.752.9500

LINK: Tacoma Sister Cities Film Festival schedule

FUTURE THINGS ARE COMING >>>

As far as Sundays go, the next big one drops Feb. 24. Oscar day. The day all those little-golden-statue-grubbers have been losing sleep over. You want to watch, you know you do. But. You are cool. You are hip. You are in. And, in your crowd, you do not watch the Oscars. It is not done. But, oh, how you want to.

The Grand Cinema's Academy Awards Party will include a fundraiser element this year, raising funds to help the movie theater convert to digital and continue to bring first-run independent films to Tacoma. Your ticket helps keep The Grand alive, and you will get to alleviate your social conscience while maintaining your coolness, as well as enjoy tasty food, beer and wine, participate in a costume contest and win prizes for guessing winners.

We threw a couple questions at Grand Cinema's Market Director Zach Powers, a hip guy in his own right, regarding the upcoming Academy Awards Party & Fundraiser.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: Anything new at this year's Oscars Party?

ZACH POWERS: Yes, there is an entire new VIP viewing area and buffet dinner provided by our friends at Maxwell's Restaurant. We are selling two types of tickets - general admission, which is basically everything the event has always included such as snacks, open seating in the theater and access to all the event activities - and VIP tickets, which grants event goers access to the second viewing area, the full dinner buffet and two complimentary drinks.

VOLCANO: Please say there's still dessert.

POWERS: hello cupcake and Corina Bakery will be there.

VOLCANO: Is the costume contest based on characters from this year's films?

POWERS: The costume contest is always film related, and mostly has to do with the past year's films, but sometimes the costumes can be film related - folks dressing up as iconic characters or film personalities.

VOLCANO: So, 60 percent of the total films nominated for Academy Awards were screened at The Grand this past year. Can you name them?

POWERS: Amour, Bests of the Southern Wild, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, The Sessions, The Master, Anna Karenina, 5 Broken Cameras, The Gate Keepers, The Invisible War, Searching for Sugar Man, Inocente, Kings Point, Mondays at Racine, ...

VOLCANO: You're going to name them all, aren't you?

POWERS: You asked. Open Heart, Redemption, Kon-Tiki, NO, A Royal Affair, Hitchcock, Chasing Ice, Adam and Dog, Fresh Guacamole, Head Over Heels, ...

VOLCANO: You are reading this off a list.

POWERS: No, I memorized it. Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare, Paperman, Asad, Buzkashi Boys, Curfew, Dood Van Een Schaduw, Henry and Moonrise Kingdom.

VOLCANO: Nice work Zach. What film does the Grand staff think will win best picture?

POWERS: Thanks. That's a tough question. We root for films that screened at The Grand against the rest of the field. The two films that most are predicting to win are Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln - both of which are currently playing at The Grand.

THEATRE ON THE SQUARE, SUNDAY, FEB. 24, 5 P.M., DOORS AT 4 P.M., $30-$80 ADVANCE, 915 BROADWAY, TACOMA, 253.593.4474

SUNDAY, FEB. 3 2013 >>>

1. Unlike other parties, which regularly occur in gathering places of all shapes and sizes, Super Bowl parties happen almost exclusively in the home. The television as a necessary party apparatus partially explains this phenomenon, though there’s never enough couch space, and Aunt Mary's Mexican layer dip always makes you feel strange later. Plus, no one has a television large enough to see around Phil’s fat head. Therefore, we suggest you leave it up to the professionals and ante up to a bar where testosterone swirls in the air, hoots and hollers fill the room and someone else makes the barbecue ribs and cocktails. Here's a list of some South Sound digs serving up specials during the big game.

2. The exhibition Andy Warhol's Flowers for Tacoma at Tacoma Art Museum will end next Sunday. Have you seen it? You should. Weekly Volcano arts critic Alec Clayton says if you thought you knew Warhol you may be in for a big surprise. There are many pieces in this show that I had never before seen, not even in reproduction. Read Clayton's full review of Andy Warhol's Flowers for Tacoma in the Visual Arts section at weeklyvolcano.com.

3. America’s Largest Antique & Collectibles Show will cram the Puyallup Fair & Events Center with 300 booths featuring antiques and collectibles up to 1970 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

4. Willian Hellman's The Children's Hour's daring, few-holds-barred script was a Broadway sensation in 1934 - so much so, in fact, that New York state authorities were willing to forgo a ban on one of its key themes. Two headmistresses who own and operate a private boarding school are accused of having "unlawful sexual conduct," with, as you might expect, disastrous effects on their lives. The catch is they're accused by a student, Mary Tilford, known to have a shaky regard for the truth. There's every reason to believe Mary's lying, and her rich, influential grandmother overreacting, until another student, Rosalie Wells, corroborates her story. The Lakewood Playhouse stages the last production of this show today at 2 p.m. Read Christian Carvajal's review of The Children's Hour in the Weekly Volcano's Arts Section.

5. Steve Cooley & The Dangerfields will fill Johnny's Dock Restaurant and Marina with rockin' blues beginning at 5 p.m.

LINK: Sunday, Feb. 3 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

South Sound Sidekick series offers advice from experts living in the, well, South Sound. It posts every Friday. Today, local filmmaker Matt Jaissle has advice on how to make awesome film special effects on a low budget. Jaissle knows. He is the director of Back from Hell, The Necro Files, Legion of the Night (aka Dead City), 300 Killers and the upcoming Revolution 666.

Matt Jaissle writes,

Here are a few tips aimed at aspiring film/video makers. You know who you are. Just about anyone who's bought a video camera at Best Buy in the last five years has probably tossed around the idea of shooting a zombie movie with their buddies. Why not? Everyone is doing it. Horror seems like the obvious choice, too. It can be done cheap.  Well, I've done it cheaper than most. Even though I had to shoot my first couple of pictures on 16mm; they were still dirt-cheap.

One of the production areas I've had the privilege to explore with great detail is special makeup effects.  Part of the youthful appeal of low-budget horror is all that splashy blood and gore. Makeup is one of the few departments where quantity is just as good as quality. If you can't afford Tom Savini, you can still channel his essence.

Rule No. 1: Blood, blood and more blood! Fake blood is la filmmaker's whiteout. You can cover up your mistakes with it. Does that rubber arm look like crap?  Pour a pint of fake blood over it. Is that facial prosthetic the wrong flesh tone? Pour a gallon of fake blood over it. You get the picture.

Plus, fake blood looks cool, and easy to make. My recipe is one ounce of red food color to one-quart karo syrup. If you want to get fancy, you can add a few drops of blue and a couple teaspoons of instant coffee grinds to make it darker (dissolve the coffee grinds in a small amount of hot water first).

Underneath the river of blood you can use all kinds of things in your refrigerator to simulate guts and brains. For my film 300 Killers, I had a scene where a guy gets shot point blank in the face. I originally had no effect for the scene. Then, one night I was cutting open a frozen burrito that I'd microwaved way too long. I looked disgusting. See an opportunity, I quickly drew a pupil and retina on a ping-pong ball, stuck it in the middle, covered the whole thing with barbecue sauce (fake blood wasn't even in the budget that night), filmed a close-up of the whole mess and the shot's in the movie.

For my first film, Back from Hell, I had an effects guy who created somewhat elaborate latex wounds for our zombie actors. We even real pig guts, which can be purchase from any local slaughterhouse. They sell them in five gallon buckets.  The drawbacks are the guts are expensive, they stink to high heaven and the stomach acids will burn the hell out of your hands. I shit you not.

For my new picture, Revolution 666, I have no budget at all.  Instead of using latex appliances, I decided to make a zombie mask out of paper maché. I simply applied the dipped newspaper strips to a head-sized balloon, popped the balloon after the mask dried, then spray-painted the whole thing. For guts, I went to my local grocery store and asked the butcher if I could buy trim from his bone barrel. I eventually got what I needed for free, took it home and mixed it up with fake blood (natch). I also threw in some leftovers my mom gave me and BAM! Tom Savini would be proud.

There you go. You're ready to make picture. Head to Best Buy for equipment and get to it. Good lighting, camerawork and editing don't cost anything if you learn how to do it yourself. Your picture can even look like an effects showcase! Only you, me, and your grocer will know.

LINK: Parenting advice for punk rockers

LINK: How to improve your photography skills

LINK: Get fit the Dungeons and Dragons way

LINK: Roommate advice

LINK: Marijuana smoking advice

LINK: How to harvest geoducks

LINK: Music business advice

LINK: First tattoo advice

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TUESDAY, JAN. 29 2013 >>>

1. At its core, Chinese Take-Away is a familiar story - lonely people forced into a situation forge connections and reignite their suppressed humanity. The Argentine film riffs off of a character sketch of Roberto, an oddball hardware store-owning loner in Buenos Aires who encounters a hopelessly lost Chinese migrant while he's out planespotting. Throw in a language barrier, allusions to the Falklands War, and one death by falling cow, and off we go. Chinese Take-Away is part of The Grand Cinema's Tuesday Film Series, screening at 2:25 and 8:15 p.m.

2. The best bars are named after ex-wives. Or defunct rock bands. Or candy. Yep, candy. That's why we knew The Red Hot in Tacoma was destined to be a classic. How could a place known for its beer and hot dog selection not bring the noise? Especially on Tuesday's, when The Red Hot serves $3 pints all damn day. Yes, sir, The Red Hot is up there for sweetest joint in the area. That is until the Skittles moves into town.

3. Not much can be said about 1022 South that hasn't already been said. Everyone has sung the bar's praises. We mean, even a writer from New York called 1022, "home to some of the most fascinating apothecary cocktail work on the West Coast." And we agree. The cocktails are really, really good — and discounted from 4-8 p.m.

4. At 7 p.m. inside the Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch you can hear the titilating semi-fictional account of one mountaineer's epic journey to the summit of North America's tallest peak - 20,320-foot Mt. McKinley, aka, Denali. That man is 55-year-old Nick O'Connell, a Seattle native whose harrowing account detailed in his new novel, The Storms of Denali. The book, while technically fictional, brings in elements from O'Connell's personal life and the experiences of his peers in the climbing world.

5. Guitarist Randy Linder brings his Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute show to The Red Wind Casino at 6:30 p.m.

LINK: Tuesday, Jan. 29 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

YAY SOUNDGARDEN! >>>

Leaked a few days ago, Soundgarden's music video for "By Crooked Steps" has officially hit the Internets. Directed by Dave Grohl, the video depicts the band riding Segways to stop a techno show and play live. The cops barge into the packed club forcing the band to escape on their Segways only to be arrested by. ...

REVIEWING A TV SHOW SCREENED IN A MOVIE THEATER >>>

Around 300 people packed Capitol Theater in Olympia Monday night to view the premiere of Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives episode "Hometown Haunts," featuring Oly favorite Darby's Café.

Regulars of the café, neighbors, family and friends whooped and hollered as the familiar friendly faces of owners Sara and Nate Reilly as well as Chef Johanna Vasseur filled the big screen.

Three dishes were featured while Vasseur and celebrity chef and DD&D host Guy Fieri joked about ingredients - she called the breading on the oysters "crustafarian" in true Olympia fashion - gave high fives and goofed around.  Fieri complimented Vasseur's Oysters Creole, the Blueberry Crunch Roller and the Winter Squash and Apple Hash.

"I'd come back to Olympia for that," Fieri said about the Oysters Creole, to which Vasseur replied, "We'll take you."

"It was like working with employees," said Vasseur on filming with Fieri and his crew. "It was just fun."

After the screening, Sara jumped up on Capitol Theater stage to announce the night's event brought in more than $1,500 for the Thurston County Food Bank, and to express gratitude to everyone who supports Darby's.  

"We want to thank our entire crew ... they really, really helped us out and lots of our friends and family too," said Sara. "It's actually a lot of work ... just thank you."

It's been a wild six months since the Reillys received news they'd be on the show, and the couple is grateful they can get back on track with the restaurant.

But, they admit, the 15-minutes of fame may turn into something bigger. After talking to other restaurant owners who have been on the show, the Reillys expect to see an influx of regulars, and to serve fans of the show that will come in to order exactly what they saw on television.

As for Vasseur, she's already prepping her video auditions for culinary TV shows Chopped and The Next Food Network Star.

"She's an incredibly talented cook," said Sara.

Darby's Cafe and the "Hometown Haunts" episode will replay on the Food Network at 9 p.m. and midnight Feb. 1 and 4 p.m. Feb. 2.

DARBY'S CAFÉ, 211 FIFTH AVE., OLYMPIA, 360.357.6229

LINK: Guy Fieri visted the South Sound

LEARNING IN THE DARK >>>

In the most remote regions of world, where ice caps the size of large cities are rapidly changing, sloughing off chunks, creating rippling avalanches of snow and ice, and ultimately changing life as we know it, National Geographic's James Balog was in the thick of it, risking his life to document the breathtaking landscape shifting before his eyes - and his 25 camera lenses - creating a time-lapse of three year's worth of devastation.

Wish you were there to see it?

A close runner-up to actually being there would to see the spectacle surrounded by warmth with a bag of kick ass popcorn. Balog's Chasing Ice, the film that Huffington Post declares "hauntingly beautiful," will screen at 5 p.m. Saturday during the 9th Annual Olympia Documentary Film Festival at the Capitol Theater.

The weekend long festival screens seven other documentaries including Reel Injun, a look at the evolution of the depiction of First Nations people; Crazy Wisdom, about the bad boy of Buddhism; Detropia, about the woes of Detroit; Bones Brigade, documenting the lives of six skateboarders in the '80s followed by special musical guests Big Business; The Invisible War, about the rape of soldiers within the U.S. military; The Waiting Room, that goes behind the doors of American hospitals and Samsara, a non-verbal guided meditation that will transform viewers.

True to Olympia and the nature of the festival, each handpicked film is compelling, controversial, eye opening and adventurous.

For more information and a complete list of show times, click here.

CAPITOL THEATER, FRIDAY, JAN 25-SUNDAY, JAN 27, TIMES VARY, $8.50, $5.50 OLYMPIA FILM SOCIETY MEMBER, $25-$35 FILM PASSES, 206 FIFTH AVE. SE, OLYMPIA, 360.754.6670

TUESDAY, JAN. 22 2013 >>>

1. It's Tuesday, which means another bonus film will be screened at The Grand Cinema. Today's film is The Other Son, the story of 18-year-old Joseph, of Tel Aviv, who signs up for his Israeli army service, he's given a blood test — and some shocking news: He's not his parents' biological child. In the chaos of being born the night in 1991 when the Iraqis lobbed Scud missiles at Israel, baby Joseph was accidentally switched with baby Yacine, an Arab boy. Yacine grows up in the occupied West Bank, the successful son of proud working-class parents. Discover what happens next at1:30 and 8:15 p.m.

2. The work of longtime Tacoma artist and educator Bill Colby is featured in a new exhibition at the Tacoma Public Library's Handforth Gallery at the downtown Main Library. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

3. Forty-five years ago John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised black-gloved fist in the air and the whole world took note. That image remains indelible even today. The event was the Olympics in Mexico City. Smith had won the gold medal in the 200 meter race and Carlos had won bronze. They mounted the victory stand and raised their fists in a black power salute as a statement about how far the United States still had to go in its struggle for full civil rights. It was one of the most overtly political statements ever made in the Olympics. Carlos and Smith were called heroes by some, traitors by others. at 7 p.m., in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day John Carlos will give a free talk at University of Puget Sound Schneebeck Concert Hall. The evening will include comments by local and campus leaders and music by Navele Davis and Friends. A reception and a book signing by Carlos, author of The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World, will follow. Tickets are not required. Read Alec Clayton's interview with John Carlos in the Weekly Volcano's Arts section.

4. Located in the heart of Tacoma's Sixth Avenue, Metronome's open mic is where you will see old Sears/Roebuck guitars and tight corduroy pants. A very dynamic open mic, you will hear a wide variety of music, and will be among an attentive audience of listeners. Hosted every Tuesday from 7 p.m. until closing, Metronome Coffee is a great place to spend your midweek night out and enjoy some great coffee.

5. Tacoma Cabana tiki bar will host the Geeks Who Drinks trivia game at 8 p.m. The game consists of eight rounds of eight questions and is played in teams of up to six people. Questions are read aloud by the quizmaster; teams write their answers on provided sheets and turn them in at the end of each round. The team with the most points after eight rounds is the winner. Read Pappi Swarner's interview with Quizmaster Holland Hume on the Weekly Volcano's blog, Spew.

LINK: Tuesday, Jan. 22 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

MONDAY, JAN. 21 2013 >>>

1. Back in November, Weekly Volcano reported Guy Fieri was cruising his red convertible through the South Sound, filming his Food Network show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and making stops in Tacoma, Puyallup and Olympia. Passersby on the day filming went down at Darby's Cafe in Olympia barely grabbed peeks of Fieri's spikey hair through Darby's window. Tonight you may grab a full view of his hair and that day's action when the Capitol Theater hosts the televised premiere of "Hometown Haunts" — the epsiode that includes Fieri's visit to Darby's Cafe. The night kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with a screening of the documentary I Like Killing Flies about a famous New York diner. A raffle will also take place, including gift certificates to local restaurants. "Hometown Haunts" airs at 10 p.m. on the West Coast. The Capitol Theater will show the 7 p.m. East Coast feed on its big screen. Admission is $5 or two cans of food. All proceeds benefit the Thurston County Food Bank.

2. Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Find out what's going on in our Martin Luther King Jr. Day Command Center. Of note: The city of Tacoma's 11 a.m. MLK Day celebration at the Tacoma Convention Center will also feature a photography exhibit from Bernard Kliena, a "Walk Through History" exhibit from Mark Anthony Smith and an opportunity to interact with more than 20 city departments and city funded community service providers.  Also, Tacoma Public Library's StoryLab will be on-site interviewing celebration attendees about how Dr. King's legacy has impacted them.

3.The Mailhot Quartet will perform at 8 p.m. at The Royal Lounge in Olympia. The quartet is Ariel Calabria and Joe Mailhot on guitar/bass, Drew Gibbs on piano and Steven Bentley on drums. They will play primarily original material from Calabria and Mailjot.

4. Steve Cooley & The Dangerfields will fill The Swiss with rockin' blues beginning at 8 p.m. The band features Johnny Burgess on keyboards, Rich Nesbitt on bass, Glenn Hummel on drums and, of course, Steve Cooley on guitar.

5. Every Monday at 9 p.m. Jazzbones is packed to the brim with college kids. Party types. The type that wear tight shirts and trucker hats. Throngs of Chad Fratguys and Sarah Sororitysisters swarm the bar, line up for the bathroom and dance to the Rockaraoke - live band karaoke. The Rockaraoke band is skilled, too. Expect $2 PBR drafts, $3 Sinfire shots, $4 Smirnoff flavor vodka bombs.

LINK: Monday, Jan. 21 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area