Little Rock Film Fest 2008: Day Three

Our screenwriters included Ray McKinnon ("Deadwood", The Accountant, Chrystal, Randy and the Mob), Graham Gordy (War Eagle, Arkansas, The Love Guru), Brendan Foley (The Riddle, Johnny Was), Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories) and Steve Marshall ("Live Shot", "Growing Pains", "WKRP in Cincinnati").

One thing I learned from moderating this panel at the Clinton Library is that people are passionate about film in this state. While some of the questions were related to screenwriting many in the crowd wanted to talk about how to attract more filmmakers and how tax breaks to the studios work. And the screenwriters we had proved that you need to know a lot more about the business of film than just putting words to paper.

I saw this film at SXSW, but it was received more enthusiastically in Little Rock, winning the "Best Narrative Feature Film Award". John C. Reilly is the whipped cream of comedies. He makes everything taste better, and his appearance here is no exception. Director Steve Conrad who also wrote The Pursuit of Happyness and The Weather Man, brings a fresh and humorous screenplay with a wonderful cast. But Reilly's performance as an assistant grocery manager competing with another employee (Seann William Scott) for a top management position is sweet indeed. In one scene Reilly's character simply stares back at his boss for 30 hilarious seconds. Fred Armisen of "Saturday Night Live" and Jenna Fischer of "The Office" also star in this surprisingly good film.

Capitalizing on the attraction over the past few years of "anti-Bush, anti-war" documentaries Crawford takes a look at the small town the president has adopted as his home away from Washington. The stories told by the town's residents are interesting, but only a few are new to anyone who's followed the nightly news. But it was enlightening to see what lies past the rustic old farmhouse/barn we're used to seeing as a backdrop for reporters. Pan the camera a few yards to the side and you see the high school track and modern buildings beyond, even though the media has consistently positioned the president's property as someplace more remote. The film implies that Bush chose Crawford to create a Texas country boy image, especially since he was born in Connecticut, but it fails to mention that Bush was raised in Midland, Texas (not exactly a metropolis) and returned there to raise his own family before running for governor. Though hardly objective, Crawford does reveal the impact and damage an international spotlight can do to a community of only 700 residents.

A year before Cloverfield and two years before George Romero's Diary of the Dead this extremely low budget film was made in England with hand held camcorders. Yes, the production quality is below standard. And the acting is in line with The Blair Witch Project. But the story of a plague infecting Europe and transforming many of its citizens into the walking dead is fun and suspenseful nonetheless. Actor Hiram Bleetman answered questions afterward and says the two filmmakers are working on something new. Can't wait to see what's next.