I’m woefully behind in doing a deadCENTER recap post – I suppose because it’s taken me this long to recover. I usually crash pretty hard when a long-anticipated event is over, and this was no exception. So, now that I’m finally emerging from my little cocoon of depression, let’s recap.

Dwight’s pretty much hit all the high points on his Filmcake blog, but I have to throw in a few words, as well.

Favorite Film: There were so many I liked this year. I suppose my favorite short was the wonderfully weird Gustav Braustache and the Auto-Debilitator, while my favorite feature-length was Disfigured. I was so looking forward to this particular film, and I wasn’t disappointed. (Click here for more thoughts on these two movies.)

Favorite Party: The kick-off party at Historic Film Row, the opening night party at the OKC Museum of Art, and the Friday night party at the XO Lounge were all pretty cool (and had lots and lots of free Stella Artois), but my favorite was the Friday Night Frolic at the IAO Gallery. I can’t really pinpoint why exactly this was my favorite – maybe because I was already pleasantly drunk by the time we arrived, maybe because they had lots of good food, or maybe because I just kind of like hanging out in art galleries and never really get the chance to. At any rate, this party featured plenty of cool art, great appetizers (I can’t wait to check out The Prohibition Room when it opens; their white bean, parmesan and truffle oil bruschetta = awesome), and yes, more Stella to drink.

Favorite Meal: This is tough, because we ate a lot of really good food during deadCENTER – at festival parties, as well as on our own. Even though Sunday brunch at Soleil was outstanding (the poached eggs with braised endive are absolutely delicious, by the way), I’m going to have to go with our Friday night dinner at Gaijin Sushi (downtown, in the Park Harvey building).

I broke out of my vegetarianism long enough to devour half of a “Psycha-D” roll, as well as a plate of melt-in-your-mouth yellowtail sashimi. I’m big on presentation, and the presentation here was insane. As our waiter brought the plates to our table, he warned us that the sushi chef apparently “had way too much fun” with our food. So, I don’t know if Gaijin’s presentations are normally so elaborate, but ours certainly was. Fried cellophane noodles were piled on top of the artfully arranged sushi, with squiggles of roasted red pepper sauce, crushed peanuts and green onions along the sides of the plate. Colorful, creative, almost too pretty to eat – I’m pissed we didn’t take a picture of it.

Besides the food, which was presented beautifully and tasted amazing, it was just a really pleasant experience. We sat at a table by the window, lingering over a couple of cold Sapporos and watching people walk by.

Favorite Single Moment of the Festival: Christmas on Mars.

It was a little after 1:00am as Dwight and I sloshed through the mud towards the Rocktown Gym. It had been a fun little challenge just trying to find the place, making our way slowly down dark little streets that I never knew existed. I felt like I was 19 again, going to a rave in rural Arkansas (yes, they had raves in rural Arkansas). 

Oh – and I was really, really wasted. This added a little extra layer of surreality to the situation.

The mud coated my flip-flops (which fortunately, only cost me about $3) and splashed up on my legs. It squished between my toes as we walked over to the popcorn stand and picked up a box of popcorn. I squinted at the box. There was some writing in what appeared to be Russian, a picture of Wayne Coyne in full alien regalia, and the instructions to “Eat Your Own Spaceship.” Dwight jabbed me in the side and asked me if I’d noticed I’d been standing next to Wayne.

I was apparently too drunk to notice the dude in the bright yellow rain jacket.

After grabbing a couple of (guess what?) Stellas, Dwight and I trekked over to the big, red-and-yellow circus tent, pausing every so often so I could reclaim one of my flip-flops from the mud. Passing between a giant portrait of Wayne and a giant portrait of Steven Drozd, we slipped inside the tent. The film had already begun, and there were no seats left on the benches. We stood along the side, munching stale popcorn and drinking beer. A guy to my right lit up a joint. It smelled fantastic. I slipped out of one of my cheapo flip-flops, and sunk my foot down into the mud, squishing it happily between my toes.

I smiled in the darkness, thinking about how this was one of the weirdest and most wonderful experiences I’ve ever had. It seemed as though every little detail worked together to create perfection. The long, long-awaited Christmas on Mars movie. In the middle of the night. Inside a circus tent. Drunk on Stella Artois. A popcorn box with Russian writing on it. Wayne running around in a bright yellow rain coat. Mud covering most of the lower half of my body. Trendily-dressed scenester girls, tiptoeing miserably through the muck in their heels.

My smile grew even wider. Sometimes it pays to wear $3 flip-flops.

I’m so ready to kick off deadCENTER 2008! Tonight offers an unofficial kick-off party (i.e. Dwight and I only) at Trattoria Il Centro (hello, arugula pizza!), followed by the official kick-off party at the Historic Film Row. I can’t wait to pick up my All-Access pass and have a few drinks.

I’m not going to be blogging the festival like I attempted to last year – I found it a little too burdensome. Dwight’s going to give it a shot, though, so be sure to check out his Filmcake blog for updates. (You will also find a new widget over on the sidebar with links to his five most recent deadCENTER-related posts.)

With deadCENTER 2008 but a week away, I’m growing more and more excited by the minute. This year, Dwight and I are adding a little something extra to what is typically our most fun four days of the year – we’ve arranged to board the dogs for the weekend, and we’ve booked ourselves a room at the Colcord. Besides finally getting to check out this glorious hotel, we’ll be within walking distance of most of the deadCENTER venues, and a mere elevator ride away from Sunday brunch at Soleil.

Mini-vacation!

As I scan the deadCENTER lineup for this year, several films catch my eye – and I already see a few conflicts setting up. There are going to be some hard decisions to make, when two (or more) movies I want to see are playing at the same time. But I’ll worry about that later.

Here are a few of this year’s films that I’m going to try and see if I can:

Rainbow Around the Sun

One of two films this year from Oklahoma City bands; this one is brought to us courtesy of the Fellowship Students.

American Teen

It’s been awhile, but I swear I heard good things about this one from my Filmspotting guys, who I believe saw it at the Sarasota Film Festival earlier this year. The film’s poster kind of makes it look like a documentary version of The Breakfast Club – you have the same exact stock characters. The artsy girl, the popular girl, the jock, the nerd, etc. But, I’m a sucker for teenage melodramas, especially if they’re real-life melodramas.

disFIGURED

Of all the movies I want to see, I want to see this one most of all. Anyone who is a regular reader of this blog will know why, after reading the description:

Lydia is a fat, graceful woman struggling to maintain her identity in fashionable Venice Beach, California. She’s a member of a militant Fat Acceptance group, but doesn’t quite fit in there.

When she meets Darcy, a real estate agent struggling with anorexia, it seems no one could possibly have less in common. But once they start to share confidences about Lydia’s blossoming romance with a sweet overweight guy named Bob, they find themselves admitting things to each other that they’ve never told anyone else.

Then Lydia asks Darcy for anorexia lessons…and nothing will ever be the same, for either one.

I have some concerns as to what the message of the movie is going to be – hopefully it won’t be one more of those fat-chick-is-unhappy-until-she-loses-the-weight kind of things. And I certainly hope it’s not pro-anorexia. But, the director’s statement on the disFIGURED website alleviated my concerns somewhat.

Half-Empty

I like musicals. I like quirky. And like many people, I hate motivational speakers.

Christmas on Mars

The Flaming Lips. ‘Nuff said.

Nerdcore Rising

This one just sounds fun, and maybe I can see a little more of MC Chris than I did at last year’s D-fest:

The documentary “Nerdcore Rising” investigates the newest wave of hip-hop, Nerdcore, as it follows the godfather of the genre, MC Frontalot, on his first national tour. Throughout the film, music industry notables provide insight into nerdcore. Old school trailblazers like Prince Paul and contemporary hip hop aficionados like J-Live examine the legitimacy of nerdcore as a subgenre of hip hop. Music-nerd celebrities like Weird Al Yankovic and Jello Biafra discuss the origins of nerdcore while gaming-geek celebs Gabe and Tycho expound on the digital revolution that is enabling the nerdcore movement.

Damn, this is going to be a long-ass week.

Need something to do next Saturday? Joel David has an excellent suggestion:

On Saturday May 17th at Lyric at the Plaza in OKC at 7pm Matthew Alvin Brown, rock group The Fellowship Students and the cast of the film will perform a live reading of an incarnation of the film [Rainbow Around the Sun] written by writer/director Kevin Ely and Matthew Brown. This performance is a one night only special event featuring the original cast as well as performances of the songs from the soundtrack. This promises to be a wonderful night of music from a wonderful movie by wonderful people.

The tickets are free and can be reserved by calling the Lyric Theatre Ticket Office at 405-524-9312.

The film will also kick off the 8th annual deadCENTER Film Festival. It just so happens that Sarah and I just purchased our All-Access passes for this year’s festival. This year students and early birds can receive a discount on passes (we saved $35). This will be our 5th deadCENTER and we’re as excited as ever for it to get underway.

I don’t know if anything can really top last year’s premiere of Estaban Don Von McDonaldson’s film L’Hell, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.