Resfest Digital Film Festival

WITH film festivals sprouting like mushrooms in cities big and small, it's easy to dismiss them as indistinguishable from one another. So many of them differ only in name -- not quality or format -- which is why it's so refreshing when Resfest makes its annual swing through town.

WITH film festivals sprouting like mushrooms in cities big and small, it's easy to dismiss them as indistinguishable from one another. So many of them differ only in name -- not quality or format -- which is why it's so refreshing when Resfest makes its annual swing through town.

It's a common quandary for the founders of groundbreaking events: How do you remain relevant once the rest of the world has caught up with the original concept? For Resfest, the pioneering digital film festival born during the go-go '90s, the answer rests with ... innovation. Now that digital filmmaking has been embraced by the film establishment, it's no longer the medium but the message that's important. In 1997, when Resfest began, it was the dawn of digital filmmaking.

One highlight of Resfest is its wide array of short films and videos. The selections are wide-ranging, from Adam Smith's whimsical "What Goes Up Must Come Down," in which everyone who takes a certain London cab winds up singing, just like the driver, to Motion Theory's "Girl," which features Beck singing in the streets near MacArthur Park in a magical tribute to Al Jaffee's back-cover fold-ins for Mad magazine.

Here is where sharp meets cutting edge. The monthly screenings and receptions held in Los Angeles this year by the people behind Res magazine have been part showcase, part industry mixer and part party. And having attracted between 350 and 600 attendees, the events affirm that the pulse of the underground and digital filmmaking community is strong.

One highlight of Resfest is its wide array of short films and videos. The selections are wide-ranging, from Adam Smith's whimsical "What Goes Up Must Come Down," in which everyone who takes a certain London cab winds up singing, just like the driver, to Motion Theory's "Girl," which features Beck singing in the streets near MacArthur Park in a magical tribute to Al Jaffee's back-cover fold-ins for Mad magazine.

Don't feel like cooking your own turkey for Thanksgiving? Then Calendar Live's got something for you to be thankful for. From elegant hotel dining rooms to cozy cafes to family-style restaurants where you can go pig out without putting a hole in your wallet, Calendar Live's annual Southern California guide to Thanksgiving shows you just where to go for that all-American meal this year.

Hollywood's fascination with visual effects has flooded the big screen. In the last several years, movie moguls have tapped new high-tech tools to dazzle the public with killer tornadoes, raging dinosaurs and increasingly elaborate--and expensive--explosions. As film budgets at the studios balloon, hundreds of aspiring directors are using personal computers and other affordable digital technology to cut corners and create their art. Because of this, independent films can look great.

Quick: Name five female directors. Now name five more. If you can't think of one, let alone a handful, don't beat yourself up. Women directors are a minority, having directed only 6% of last year's 250 top-grossing films. Yeah, yeah. Whine, sob, sniffle. You've heard this one before--women just aren't taken seriously in Hollywood. Why should anyone care? Because they're getting gypped, that's why.

The eighth annual Resfest Digital Film Festival continues at the Egyptian Theatre through Sunday with a lively presentation of animated and live-action shorts and music videos. A selection of work available for preview yields some exciting and dynamic work. Mark Craste's "Jo Jo in the Stars" and John Paul Harvey's "Brand Spanking" are dazzling examples of imaginative animation.

Here is where sharp meets cutting edge. The monthly screenings and receptions held in Los Angeles this year by the people behind Res magazine have been part showcase, part industry mixer and part party. And having attracted between 350 and 600 attendees, the events affirm that the pulse of the underground and digital filmmaking community is strong.

It's a common quandary for the founders of groundbreaking events: How do you remain relevant once the rest of the world has caught up with the original concept? For Resfest, the pioneering digital film festival born during the go-go '90s, the answer rests with ... innovation. Now that digital filmmaking has been embraced by the film establishment, it's no longer the medium but the message that's important. In 1997, when Resfest began, it was the dawn of digital filmmaking.

Rose Troche, whose "Go Fish" five years ago was a breakthrough lesbian romantic comedy, returns with "Bedrooms & Hallways," which was shown at Outfest '99 and opens regular runs Friday at the Sunset 5 (8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood) and the Playhouse 7 (673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena).

To honor the late James Bridges, whose name graces the theater in UCLA's Melnitz Hall, the university's School of Film, Theater and Television and its Film and Television Archive will screen at 7:30 tonight one of Bridges' best yet most underrated films, the 1984 "Mike's Murder," which only looks better with the passing of time.