- As Christian Slater never said, “You gotta gleam this cube, dude. You gotta gleam it so hard.” This fictional quote I’ve unfairly attributed to Slater refers to how you should heed the call of the Cube Art Project. They are seeking short films for the 2019 Lincoln Short Film Festival on May 3 at the Railyard in Lincoln, which seems like the right city to hold the 2019 Lincoln Short Film Festival. Fine-cut entries in three categories (animation/experimental, documentary, narrative) are due by March 29, with final cuts due by April 15. Celebrate Tax Day by telling the IRS you entered a kick-ass film festival! They won’t care, but it may make you feel better about how Amazon paid $0 in taxes this year. Entry fees are $10 for students and $15 for all others, although you can contact colorkeymedia@gmail.com for a possible fee waiver. For more information and to submit, visit www.cubelincoln.com. Make Christian Slater proud. Gleam that GD cube!
- Although it is increasingly harder to live one these days, Film Streams is hyping Intelligent Lives. Together with the Meyer Foundation for Disabilities, they are hosting a free screening of the film, which follows three young adults with intellectual disabilities, at 7 p.m. March 12. A post-show discussion will feature Kim Bainbridge, a parent advocate; Paige Rose, program director of Evaluation & Community Integration for Nebraska Vocational Rehab; and Kristine Swain, UNO chair of Special Education & Communication Disorders. This is the sort of event that makes me profoundly thankful for Film Streams’ ongoing mission. How beneficial are these activities for our community? They’ve made me (briefly) abandon my sardonic tone in favor of sincerity. Ugh. I was sincere.
- Oh, jeez, I’m going to have to be “real” and “optimistic” and “inspired” for two consecutive blurbs … At 6 p.m. April 18, Aksarben Cinema will host a fundraiser and silent auction for SPARKPositivity. Tickets are on sale now, and proceeds will go toward SPARKPositvity’s mission of breaking the cycle of poverty by educating and empowering children. Well isn’t that just so wholesome and moving you could just vomit flowers and rainbows. For more information, head to sparkpositivity.org and then head to aksarbencinema.com to buy tickets. Unless you don’t want to spark positivity in children because you’re too busy rooting for Gmork from The Neverending Story.
- If you like watching cat videos enough to do it in public where other people can see the faces you make and hear the noises you produce, I have good news for you. Calm down, it’s not “there’s-a-cat-right-behind-you” good news. On March 10 at Alamo Drafthouse and March 11 at the Marcus Majestic, you can watch CatVideoFest 2019. If you’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching kitties do stuff at home and thought “if only other people could watch me watch this,” you probably won’t get another opportunity like this all year. Also, continuing the horrifying trend of news items that make my Grinch heart shudder, the touring fest will help secure funds for various causes, including local shelters and cat charities. Advice: If you go, refer to it as “doing charity work” and not “paying money to watch clips of cats knocking stuff over.”
Cutting Room provides breaking local and national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send any relevant information to film@thereader.com. Check out Ryan on KVNO 90.7 on Wednesdays and follow him on Twitter.