Salt City Girl

Raves and rants about the Salty City's food, film and alcohol.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Casting Call!

This Saturday bring your 10 to 12 year olds to audition for an adorable short.

Who:
Children ages 10 to 12

When:
Saturday, Jan. 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where:
Howa Board Room
Shaw Student Center
Westminster College
1840 South 1300 East
Salt Lake City, UT

Copies of the script will be available at the audition. The short student film will be entered into a fundraiser for the Rape Recovery Center on Jan. 20. Make an appointment by contacting me at kristamaesmith@gmail.com or stop by.

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Film review: "And I thought could it be? A four man wolf pack?"

Hey, "The Hangover" is finally at the dollar theatre. You have no excuse to not watchi it now.



So basically, this movie is just awesome. I have never laughed so hard during a film in my life.

There are way too many funny lines for starters. From, "Dude, there's a tiger in the bathroom!" to "When's the next Haley's comet?" to keep anyone from cracking up. I especially love, "I think he looks like a Carols, too." But it just keeps going, every line is funny.


The actors did a superb job of making you believe the craziness of their Las Vegas visit. Not to mention, some of the best cameos I have ever seen in a film. Mike Tyson as himself is about the funniest thing in this comedy. And I cannot get over Bradley Cooper. I love this man! I'm going to meet his gorgeousness in real life and giggle madly.

The funny film manages to have a story line that is interesting although, like most comedies it is a thin attempt to hang a number of hysterical scenes together. Luckily, the way the director, cinematographer, writer and/or producer (there are way too many people making a single film to give only one of them credit) decided to show the story make the story line less necessary than most films and they begin right where they end so the audience is left with a sense of closure.

But finally where this film really blew me away was the camera work. When it comes to comedy, I'm a cynical disbeliever. I expect to see basic camera work, obvious jokes and obnoxious characters. Not with "The Hangover." The crew did an exquisite job of putting together interesting shots on a well-lit set with an amazing set design. The opening and closing shots visually tie the story line together while both are well-executed and artistically interesting. Pretty amazing for a summer blockbuster film.

The day this is on DVD it's in my movie collection. I still crack up every time someone mentions wolves because they are now a "four man wolf pack."

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Saturday, September 19, 2009

Film: I'm writing, again.

It's an invitation for all of you.

Everyone's invited to...

Reel Grififns-Westminster College Productions
premiere of
"On the Other Side"
A Harry Cross, Jr. Film

Thursday, September 24
7 p.m. Reception
8 p.m. Screening

Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
Westminster College
1840 South 1300 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105


This is a formal, fund raising event so please dress your best.

I hope to see you there. It will be a fabulous night with great people, conversation, food and film.

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Sunday, August 16, 2009

Life: I was a firestorm


of blogging before August. (Yep, that picture was me in the blogosphere-you never knew I was so hot. Heehee!) Then I went home or more precisely I was away from the internet for a few days and I discovered *gasp* I could live without updating my blog or twitter everyday. Amazingly, it's lasted this long.

In the land of blogs I'm one of the many who fails to update regularly. That being said with the inevitable advent of school I will be much busier and hence less likely to blog regularly. But I will try to update you about my food adventures.

In slightly related news, I start a new job tomorrow. (Yay! Finally!) Which I guess means the biggest changes will be in my bank account and my wardrobe. I'm seriously considering wearing heels again. And maybe even pants.

I've also started working at the school paper, The Forum. In the way of college student newspapers, I'm already managing to piss off student government. I suppose I should be more upset, but every time I receive an email I think they desperately need a public relations lesson. The flaw of having an editor trained in PR, I guess.

In film news, the premiere of my film "On the Other Side" is inching closer. Everyone's invited to come Thursday, September 24 at 7 p.m. at the Jewett Center for Performing Arts on Westminster College's campus. It's been a crazy bit of planning and again working out how to pay for everything when I have no money.

Actually, that's pretty much the story of my life.

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Review: "The Date" as seen post-Vegas

I've been away to Sin City for a few days and now I'm ridiculously far behind. I have a lot of food stories to share about my visit, but for now I'm leaving you with a link to my review of Kelsey Landry's "The Date." I hope I'll be able to catch you up before I head to Southern Utah. Have a wonderful Utah holiday! And for you non-Utahns, have an amazing weekend!

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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Beer and movies

At least, I imagine those are the words behind the name of local beer pub Brewvies the only movie theater in Utah where you can drink while you take in a film.

I was there for the premiere of Kelsey Landry's directorial debut "The Date." A short film about classic mishaps of miscommunication. The film was well executed and a great script. Kelsey did a fantastic job. The Salt Lake film community was incredibly supportive with the best filmmakers volunteering their time and talent to this film.

Brewviews could use a little filmmaker magic. I have a theory that every so often a table becomes the bad luck table for the night. Last night, that was me.

Erin and I sat down and waited for a few minutes. No waiter showed up. I looked at the drink menu on the table. "Oh there isn't food on this," I said.

"The menu's over there," Erin answered and pointed to a stack of menus on the bar. I walked over and grabbed a couple menus. We looked over the menus and talked about what to order. I looked around. No waiter showed up.

"Do you want to move to the bar so we can get some service?" I asked Erin. Yes, I said it loudly and on purpose. Really, I'm five inside.

*Poof* Inexperienced waiter appeared. Blond-haired Emo-kid asked what we wanted I ordered a pitcher of Uinta Cutthroat Pale Ale. It's a nice local beer that is always good. I also asked for an appetizer of sweet potato fries.

Erin decided she wanted more time to choose an entree. So I sat back and waited for our beer and fries. While I was waiting, Esther showed up and asked if we wanted to order anything. I said we had ordered and we were waiting for our server to come back before ordering more. She said it was okay that they share tables. So I went ahead and ordered the nachos and Erin ordered the Pub Club sandwich with chips and salsa.

A different person (I'm guessing bus boy) stopped by with our beer and sweet potato fries. The fries were different. This was my first and last experience with sweet potato fries and I like normal fries better. The smoother, creamier texture of sweet potato isn't conducive to my taste buds for deep-fried starches. Although the bottled aioli at Brewvies much improved the fry, I won't order them again.

Esther brought the nachos and pub club. The sandwich looked delicious. The nachos looked sad. I was nervous about the pile of jalapenos and chicken atop crusty looking cheese. I should've been. I went for a chip on the edge avoiding the jalapenos I had asked to have removed from the nachos. It was stuck. The cheese had been microwaved on top of the chips then left to get cold. Leaving a hardened mess of goo on top of the now soggy chips covered with dry flavorless chicken.

I asked Esther if I could send the nachos back and try again. Luckily, she saw the chicken and jalapenos and said there was a mix up. She took the nachos back. In a few minutes she brought out a second order of much better looking nachos. In the meantime, Harry's order for a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries came out with regular french fries. So Emo-kid waiter took the order back.

Finally, we ended up with a pub club done right, edible nachos and a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. The cost of beer, sweet potato fries and nachos was about $25. Making beer the best part of the night's food.

When I'm at Brewvies for another premiere, I'll stick with the beer and movies.

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Film 101

In case you've ever wondered, just what the Utah Film Commission does with your tax dollars.

This isn't everything they do, but a brief overview of their goals.

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Film News: A chat with Marshall

A profile piece on Marshall Moore, Director of the Utah Film Commission for Examiner.com

Article

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Film Notes: Harry Potterness actually worth buying


Where were you at midnight? Sitting in a dark theater waiting for the previews to start before the magic of "Harry Potter" began. Me, too. And just to clutter up the online world of Harry Potter, I'm going to give you my two cents.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is a showcase of the best work in British filmmaking. David Yates is a God-send who has made the fifth and sixth films far better than any of the previous films by initimately understanding British culture, getting spectacular performance from his actors and envisioning a film with a specific look.

The attention to detail in this film was outstanding-the art department outdid themselves. The director of photography deserves huge accolade for his use of color and the frame. There are few big budget films with this much artistry in them. Finally, the music in the film was absolutely incredible it was never overwhelming nor underwhelming. Watching the fim, it is clear that everyone working on this film loved their job and put everything they could into it.

Now on to the actors. Oh. my. God. Tom Felton is amazing! All the kids have really started to come into their own, but I was blown away by Tom's depiction of a struggling kid who just wants to prove himself. Absolutely fantastic! All the actors playing Weasley's were again brillant and funny. Emma Watson brought a strength to Hermione the books didn't communicate to me.

So yeah, I'm pretty happy with awesomeness of Harry Potter and I'm looking forward to an early bedtime tonight.

Like I said last night, "This might be the only Harry Potter film worth buying on DVD."

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Monday, July 13, 2009

Low-budget films earn incentives

In Monday's film news, Utah is now offering incentives to films with a budget under one million dollars. For more info, go to my article. Warning: It's newsy, but great information if you ever want to dabble in filmmaking.

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Thursday, July 9, 2009

Sundance Reviewed

Here we go kidlets! Another review for your viewing pleasure. All about my nine favorite Sundance Festival films.

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Monday, July 6, 2009

Because I share

A gig finally came to Salt Lake looking for PAs and guess what? It's with "So You Think You Can Dance" over July 24, 25 and 26.

I'm already committed to a family reunion and going to Atlanta for an editor's conference. So anyone else who is available and interested should apply. Here's the link to their Craigslist ad.

You can thank me later.

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Review Time

Here's my review of "Me and You and Everyone We Know" I'm about the only person I can find who doesn't love this film. But it still makes for decent reading and I even included a video. So get yourself over there.

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Boy will you cry

My review of "Boys Don't Cry."Be a dear and read all about a film from the Sundance Institute Directors Lab in 1999.

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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Kelsey Landry

My piece about Kelsey Landry, a local filmmaker who started off as a film student and personal assistant who now owns her own production company and directs her own films.

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Saturday, June 27, 2009

Wine, Dinner and Film

Diva's Cupcakes is hosting a film night and everyone's invited for the price of a $30 ticket. The films will be great.

Here's the full article.

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-14955-Salt-Lake-City-Indie-Movie-Examiner~y2009m6d26-Divas-free-film-festival

Enjoy!


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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

I'm published

My first article for Examiner.com about Salt Lake City's independent film scene. Please be a doll and read it. Go here!

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