The Village Barbershop, another great little American indie film

More and more I'm enjoying watching little American films that take place in other towns than what many of us are used to seeing on the screen. This film takes place in Reno, Nevada, a town that's not used as often as a film location like big, sparkly, showy Las Vegas.

Art is a seemingly grumpy guy who has a barber shop. But he's due for big changes since his business partner Enzo has died and there's a lot of rent due on his shop.

Gloria finds out she's pregnant by a boyfriend who dumps for another woman. She needs a job and this brings her to Art's barber shop when he advertises for a barber to work in his shop. Right from the start, there's disagreement between them when Art says a barber should be a man. But Gloria takes a stand and he hires her to help with the books. From then on, Gloria works to prove herself to Art.

It's an amusing and touching little film with a great cast of characters. Art, the barber is played by John Ratzenberger who first became know as the Cliff the mailman on Cheers. Shelly Cole who's known for having a recurring role on Gilmore Girls plays Gloria.

Art is an character who's much more than a grumpy guy. He has a soft side and a wicked sense of mischief as you'll see in the film. Cindy Pickett is the sexy older woman who's interested in Art. It's a sweet little indie film with humor, drama and touching moments that will warm your heart.

Here are a few scenes from The Village Barbershop:

Gloria learns she's pregnant.

One of the applicants for the barber job.

Art the barber takes a break and has a beer.

Art's landlord talks to Gloria.

A Little Extra Article: Smoking in Films

Art's neighbor Gladys, the smoker.

Finally, The Village Barbershop is another film that shows a smoking character in negative light.This has become a pet peeve of mine: So many films now promote smoking. By the way, it's called promoting when there are no negative consequences or the person is a character that indulges in the habit of smoking.  There's a website that rates films for smoking content.  If you check this website regularly, you might be shocked to see that sometimes a large number of current box-office releases promote smoking!
Research has shown that young people (the ones that the industry wants to get hooked) are more likely to take up the habit if they regularly see characters smoking in film and television shows.

Big Dreams Little Tokyo -a tri-lingual indie film!

Boyd Wilson (Dave Boyle who is also the writer and director of this film!) is an American who is trying to be a Japanese businessman. Jerome is an American of Japanese descent who dreams of becoming a Sumo Wrestler. This quirky and amusing little film is about two men trying to make their dreams come true while they’re straddling two cultures. 

What really made it special for me was the fact the dialogue used three different languages: English, Japanese and Spanish. I just love films that have multiple languages!

Dave Boyle not only starred in it. He also wrote and directed it. Rachel Morihiro is cute and funny as Boyd’s romantic interest.  Jayson Watabe plays Jerome who is often seen wearing a Sumo “diaper.”

By the way, Boyd speaks excellent Japanese in the opening scene of the film. Pepe Serna plays the role of a Mexican businessman who’s trying to negotiate with some Japanese businessmen.

It's a very funny movie. There's a great scene where Boyd interacts with some Japanese businessmen and they are really pulling his leg!

Here’s a collection of scenes from this film:

 

 

You could watch the trailer for Big Dreams Little Tokyo.

SIFF in Seattle

Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF for short) is on. Of course, it's in Seattle, naturally!

For those who like to get printed copies of the schedule, one of these is included in the latest issue of The Stranger, which is a free weekly paper that serves the Seattle area. 

To the left is an image showing what the cover of the issue looks like. 

To the right is an image showing what the cover of the SIFF schedule included in the issue looks like. 

Barring that you could always do a search on the SIFF website . If you go to the View Details link you can browse films by program, genre, director, country and venue. I think it's kind of a cool feature, especially if you are interested in films by certain directors or from certain countries. Or maybe you only want to go to one or two venues. SIFF has a number of venues, including some on the Eastside too!

According to Amy Lillard, executive director of Washington Filmworks there are 11 regional films being shown at this year's SIFF. Washington Filmworks in a non-profit organization which offers some support and incentives for filmmakers in the state of Washington. There are a number of resources for anyone interested in film-related opportunities in Washington. These include information about incentives, networking opportunities, filmmakersworkshops and other info. People can even list their property as a possible film location. I encourage anyone interested to visit this website to check out all their resources.