Our sister publications LA Weekly and Village Voice just published their annual, massive film critics' poll for 2007, which includes 102 of the nation's critics, some of whom you know and some you don't, though all of the critics you regularly read in our paper are included. (My own page in the poll is HERE.)

Topping the list are the usual faves: THERE WILL BE BLOOD, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, etc. But further down the list you get to more eccentric choices -- NORBIT? Comedy is highly subjective, I suppose; I put HOT ROD on my list, after all. And I have to give mad props to whoever voted for "Meatwad" as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie (were there an award for best poster, that would have to take it too). SOUTHLAND TALES is loved and hated, but it's interesting to note that most of its strongest supporters don't actually live in the Southland.

The Worst list is where things get interesting. I hate when readers impugn motives without evidence, so I don't want to do it too much here, but it's notable that almost every highly acclaimed movie of '07 is on the Worst list somewhere. I understand visceral reactions to polemics like REDACTED (though I liked it) or even the "cranky critic" reaction against FX-heavy flicks like 300 and TRANSFORMERS. But when titles like JUNO and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN make the list, it feels like the choice is simply to spite one's peers, a reactive move prompted by them being chosen as #1 elsewhere -- I confess, I was tempted to vote for THERE WILL BE BLOOD just because I'm tired of it winning everything and being excessively compared to Welles and Kubrick (oh, how it wants to be them, but it ain't), but it has a lot of merits despite its flaws.

But really, there are things one can reasonably dislike about a movie like JUNO; but...worse than EPIC MOVIE? Worse than BRATZ? THE MESSENGERS? There may be an element here of critics with a certain degree of power choosing not to have seen those movies in the first place. Or the idea that such films aren't even worthy of bashing.

What do I know, though. I liked SHOOT 'EM UP.

ZOMBIE FARM, directed by SoCal Independent Film Fest organizer Brian Barsuglia, will be coming out on DVD December 17th, and is currently available for preorder. However, Brian and friends aren't done making the thing yet -- and they'd like YOU to be a part of it.

They'll be screening it this Sunday at 7pm at the Spotlight Theater in Bakersfield, and will be recording the audience for a special alternate audio track on the disc. All are encouraged to "laugh, shout, scream, say what you want, drink and be merry!"

Here's what I wrote originally for this very blog about ZOMBIE FARM:

After the first ten minutes I feel like leaving: awfully acted “inbred hillbillies” chow down on a rubber rat, and I fear nothing good can come of this. It’s a knowingly bad movie, but that’s not a plus more often than not. Still, despite this, I stick around, and it grows on me. Not exactly a “good” movie in any sense, it is strangely endearing, and appears to have been made purely for the sake of showcasing hilariously bad “zombie walks” by inexperienced actors, and a whole lot of ridiculously over-the-top gore effects. Any pointers on making it “better” would be useless, save perhaps one...it does take too long to figure out who its protagonists are, but once they’re all put together, the story is muchly improved by it.

Barsuglia's full press release follows below...

The drinks weren't free at the closing night party for FAIF/Indiefest, but they were a good deal: cocktails came in big party-sized cups, and the bartender, though not the fastest in the world, made 'em right, with a 50/50 booze/mixer ratio. All for normal bar prices.

The food was free – chicken empanadas, greasy spring rolls with filling I didn't identify and didn't need to, glazed meatballs, crackers 'n' cheese, and a veggie plate with hummus that had some dangerously concealed hot pepper flakes in it.

With 70 awards to be handed out, it seemed like maybe everyone would get one. Surprisingly, that wasn't the case. Stan Harrington walked off with multiple awards, competing head-to-head with features in many categories with his short EL PERCANSE PERFECTO. It seemed silly to have two different awards for best animated feature, since as far as I'm aware there only were two animated features in the fest, and hey, they both won!

Not every day at a film fest yields winners. On the contrary, some reveal their auteurs as wieners.

Okay, that’s unnecessarily flip. Normally, I try to give some credit to struggling directors, and find the good even in the bad. I also felt a bit bad at having walked out on some of the previous programs – a practice I find unforgivable if reviewing a single film for assignment, but more acceptable if the article being worked on is a multi-film piece, like a festival wrap-up.

I was sorely tested, however, by SPIRIT. Good God, I wanted to walk out almost immediately, when it opened with a title card on black that was held way too long while some truly awful music played. The music in this thing sounds like it was composed on a late-‘80s Casio keyboard that is occasionally attempting to approximate nursery rhymes, superhero themes, and karaoke backing music for the worst kind of Asian pop music.

I bet you think Downtown Disney’s a rip-off, don’cha?

You’re not wrong. The Diet Coke I had at the Rainforest Café cost $2.69. For that kind of coin, I don’t expect the waitresses to be wearing shirts.

But I have found one decent deal during my time at Indiefest. Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen – the New Orleans-style place – serves six oyster shooters for $7.95. If that’s too steep, you can get one for a buck fifty, which I believe is the cheapest item available for sale in the entire D.D. experience. Ask for horseradish on the side – it’s the most ass-kicking variety of the ground root I’ve ever encountered. They’re American style shooters, as opposed to the kind a sushi chef would do – basically just an oyster and some cocktail sauce in a shot glass. But they’re big ol’ mollusks, these.

The first short film I saw today was about a guy with boobs. Do I have your attention yet?

Hello cinephiles.

You know how you guys are always complaining about what junk Hollywood puts out, and proclaiming your love for independent films?

I have one question in response: Where are you? With three screens of constantly running films that are as independent as it gets, the AMC at Downtown Disney ought to be your destination of choice this week. Instead, I frequently find myself alone in a large auditorium, watching something that even the director couldn’t show up for. Granted, sometimes the movies aren’t great, but sometimes they are. How will you know if you don’t show up?

Indiefest could certainly use a fulltime publicist. As I meet filmmakers here, the most common thing they tell me is that they had no idea they could have sent me a copy of their film to get some advance coverage. A publicist would be on the ball about that, but you can’t count on such things, would-be Spielbergs. So here are some serious pointers for those of you who might get a film entered in a festival one day:

To say that Indiefest/FAIF suffered from a few opening day jitters might be understating it a bit. The main Downtown Disney parking lot was barricaded off, the theater personal didn’t let anything start on time until Disney brass showed up and laid down some laws, and there were just a few projection errors – poor Chris Harrington saw his excellent Spanish language short “El Perfecto Percanse” projected without English subtitles. Running a film festival on three screens simultaneously is a lot of work, and from what I could see, festival organizer Ray Gibb and his partner Don (whose surname I cannot find anywhere in my press materials – sorry Don!) were having to run the whole thing by themselves. Get these men some volunteers, stat! They did a heroic job of getting things back on track, and we can probably expect smoother sailing in the next few days.

One thing I’ll say about the Disney AMC – its auditoriums are DARK. At most fests, I can take notes in the darkness, no problem, but here I couldn’t always tell if my pen was making a mark or not. Maybe my eyesight’s fading in my pre-middle-age. But I do eat carrots.

The award winners have just been announced, and they are:

Best-in-the-Fest and Best Feature both deservedly went to the dysfunctional-American-brothers-in-Thailand drama The Elephant King, which I picked as best and gave a film pick to, so I hope some of you readers saw it. This probably boosts its chances of getting a wider audience.

Best Short was "Validation," one of the few I didn't see. Go figure.

Best Director was Calvin Simmons for his fun preproduction satire Float; I'd say Elephant King's Seth Grossman did a better job, but in the spirit of spreading the wealth, Simmons is worthy.

Best Actor: Frank Harper for Permanent Vacation. Iffy call there; yes, he was good in it, and arguably great relative to his costars, but only because everything else about the movie was so overdone and underthought. If the job of a costar is to make the star look great, though, we can say that the cast did their job well, but maybe not in the way one might hope. Bodybagman was robbed.

Best Actress and Best Screenplay went to The Garage. I'm sensing maybe that they wanted to give every dramatic feature a prize, because once again, The Elephant King way outclasses this film, both in story and lead female performance.

Best Cinematography: "China." Dammit, I put in some 14 hours of short-watching, and the ones that win are the wons I missed!

Best Documentary: I Wanna Be Like Mike. No, no no. It isn't bad, but the Wanda Jackson doc and the Moroccan hip-hop doc were both (1) better movies and (2) enlightened me. Is it really news to anyone that basketball recruiting is corrupt?

Best Animated Film: Slum Noir. Look, I understand not giving it to Don Hertzfeldt, since he'll probably win an Oscar for his. But Slum Noir, while well drawn, is an incoherent mess of a story. If that's what you like, the Ghost in the Shell homage was more beautiful in its incoherence.

Check out the rest HERE

Pictured: Best actor Frank Harper (center). More photos here.

Nothing like a little suspense to kickstart one's Saturday.

I'm not just talking about the festival's first program of shorts, either, but the suspense over whether an actual parking spot would be had. It'd be great to say that the festival was just so popular due to our press coverage that fans packed the place, but that isn't exactly what happened -- rather, a jazz festival was going on on the adjacent grounds, and that brought in the masses like I wouldn't have thought jazz can.

Later in the day, though, word is that the festival centerpiece Permanent Vacation actually sold out. Good for the fest -- none of the shorts programs I sat in on seemed to come close, but features are an easier sell. I fully admit that I usually skip shorts programs at festivals if something else is playing opposite, but here nothing was.

When people think that being a film critic would be fun, they aren’t necessarily thinking of the days when they might be sitting in a library for nine straight hours, as I did yesterday for the SoCal Independent Film Fest.

Don’t get me wrong: I chose to do it. And I’d do it on a regular basis if the opportunity arose. But would you? A few others were that hardcore – mainly director Calvin Simmons’ parents-in-law, and festival cofounder Brian Barsuglia’s parents as well. My mom and dad would have trouble with the duration, for sure.

2:08 p.m.: There are 10 people in the library auditorium, including me. The comedy shorts program is up first.

The library certainly isn't quiet tonight.

There's a red carpet outside, though nobody's walking on it. There are some surprisingly nice T-shirts for sale. And everyone here is totally approachable – can this really be a film festival?

Indeed. It's the opening night of the SoCal Independent Film Festival at the Huntington Beach Library, but it feels like a bunch of your friends just happened to get together in a totally awesome screening room to show off a few flicks some of them just happened to make and star in, and which are better than you'd expect. All that's missing is a keg, but you can't have everything.