This is not your typical Scrabble game. This game is for cheaters! And you can help Overall Wash cheat their way to the top by making a donation, which funds the 826NYC organization’s creative & educational programs. Help Peter & Jonathan “invent a word” on the spot, add points to any tile, and even “Surf the ‘Net” to knock the opposing team out of the tournament using the cash you donate.

From 826NYC:
“On April 21st, join Peter Dinklage, John Hodgman, Jonathan Marc Sherman, and Michael Showalter for Scrabble for Cheaters 2012, an elimination scrabble tournament, where you and a teammate play against other teams to compete for the coveted Cheater’s Cup.”

The 5th Annual Scrabble for Cheaters will be held at 12PM Saturday, April 21st
at 826NYC HQ: 372 5th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, NYC.

I’m going to start cheating right now. Here’s a link to some of the best Scrabble word lists on the Internet. If Overall Wash gets stuck, they should use ScrabbleCheat.

George R R Martin will be writing an episode once more, tentatively titled “Autumn Storms”, the seventh episode of the season.

Let me recap the experience before I unleash a series of micro-reviews on each event. 28 events is a lot to critique! Friday through Sunday were marathon days, 8-15 hours each day. Monday through Thursday was less intense, but it still seemed like a job – an enjoyable one, no doubt. But alas, it’s over now and it’s back to the grind of a real job and now… the writeups. It is a bit daunting, but I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.

Harkins Scottsdale 101 was the location, and it was really a great venue. I ended up buying a Loyalty Shirt, entitling me to a free popcorn at each movie. Popcorn became a meal replacement every day. The flavored powders helped… The Cine Capri hosted several feature films and seeing movies on the big screen never disappoints. Lots of local sponsors gave out swag and hosted events. Chipotle represented with recycle bags made from billboards – pretty sweet. They also handed out free burrito vouchers during the screening of “Fresh”. Independent Feature Project: Phoenix (aka IFP Phoenix) hosted a bunch of educational features for kids and teens as well as wrangled some film makers & their crew into doing some seminars. The biggest impact on me was hearing everyone discuss their experiences in working with their teams. Teamwork is essential, and assembling a great crew is no easy task. However, more people are involved in indie film work, with skilled and talented folks popping up everywhere. Don’t overlook the next film geniuses!

And now, the winners.

Shorts Winners

Secret Identity – Best Sci-Fi Short Film
Brutal Relax – Best Horror Short Film
La Media Pena – World Cinema Short Film
Trolley – Best Grade/HS Short Film
The Life Smugglers – Best College Short Film
Parallax – Best Arizona Short Film
Sacred Poison – Best Documentary Short Film
Play By Play – Best Live Action Short Film
Masks – Best Animated Short Film

Feature Film Winners

Pig – Best Sci-Fi Feature Film
It’s In The Blood – Best Horror Feature Film
Wolves Unleashed – World Cinema Documentary
Ruggero Dipaola, Apartment in Athens – World Cinema Director
Apartment in Athens – World Cinema Best Picture
Lidice – World Cinema Audience Award Winner

And the Phoenix Film Festival special awards, handed out Sunday night with the winners above, which determined what films were shown during the rest of the week. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see all the winners, but expect a review of most in the coming weeks.

PFF 2012 Film Awards

Gary King, How Do You Write A Joe Schermann Song – Dan Harkins Breakthrough Filmmaker Award
We Run Sh*t – Best Documentary
Searching for Sonny – Best Ensemble
Kurt Kuenne, Shuffle – Best Director
Andrew Disney, Searching for Sonny – Best Screenwriting
How Do You Write A Joe Schermann Song – Cox Audience Award
Shuffle – Best Picture

Foundation Awards

Diane Dresback (of Mindclover Productions, whom we wrote about at Comicon last year) – Arizona Filmmaker of the Year
Tiffany Hutson – PFF Volunteer of the Year
Lori Alderfer – PFF Board Member of the Year

Congratulations to all the winners and everyone else who make and support independent films!

The Documentary Shorts features four powerful narratives showcasing the lives of real people and places. The 2012 lineup includes: Kaziah the Goat Woman, Sacred Poison, Randy Parsons: American Luthier, and My Caddy Won’t Let Me, four very professionally done short documentaries.

Kaziah the Goat Woman

2008. Directed by Amy Duzinski Janes. 40 minutes.

Kaziah the Goat Woman features artist and polygamy escapee Kaziah Hancock. Born on the prairie, she owes her life to the goat that nursed her when her mother could not, and has spent her life being a caretaker and protector of these ruminants on her Utah ranch. Her heart goes out not only to the goats and chickens in her life, but also her fellow humans, especially the families of fallen soldiers. Kaziah paints the portraits, for free, of service members killed in action as a show of support to their loved ones. Her organization, Project Compassion has painted over 3,500 portraits, over 950 painted by Kaziah herself.

The documentary features interviews of Kaziah telling her story of life, love and death in Utah, and tags along in her daily life. Throughout the film, we see her paint, start to finish, a portrait of a fallen soldier based off a photograph sent by the family.

Kaziah the Goat Woman is a moving piece that gets into the mind and motivation of a very strong and spirited artist.

Sacred Poison

2011. Directed by Yvonne Latty. 30 minutes.

Sacred Poison is a documentary outlining the problems of uranium mining and the lack of awareness about unsafe drinking water within the lands of the Navajo (Dine’) people. Uranium was mined until the 80s and 90s with no concern about contamination or health risks. Sadly, many families lost children to uranium poisoning, as they collected the “pretty rocks” for display in their homes. Arsenic is another contaminant in the water (natural and via mining, coal burning and other human activities), and likely contributed to the ill health of one of the people filmed who suffered from thyroid tumors and other complications.

The director Yvonne Latty was in attendance at the screening and was asked how things were doing currently, as the documentary was filmed over several years. She mentioned that not much has changed for the people there.

Please visit The Forgotten People for more information on how you can help the Dine’ people secure safe drinking water.

Sacred Poison won Best Documentary Short Film at the Phoenix Film Festival!

Randy Parsons: American Luthier

2011. Directed by David Aldrich. 8 minutes.

Randy Parsons: American Luthier is a great short documentary focusing on the craftsmanship and skills of guitar maker Randy Parsons as he works on some unique yet functioning instruments. A luthier is someone who creates lutes and other stringed instruments, and this guy does so with traditional wood, glue and… skulls. Inside each guitar he builds are animal skulls to add an artistic and bizarre touch to his work.

The director David Aldrich was in attendance and we spoke to him for a bit. The scorpion embedded in the guitar was packaged for human consumption, so Parsons did not buy a live one for his work. He mentioned that the guitars aren’t all outrageously expensive for hand-crafted instruments. Check out Randy Parsons’ works of art. The skulls aren’t visible on the outside, more like a joke on guitair repairmen, his fellow luthiers.

My Caddy Won’t Let Me

2011. Directed by David Urbanic. 34 minutes.

A novel approach to a rock documentary includes musician, Noah Engh, touring his one-man-band show in a 1972 Cadillac. When the ride unsurprisingly breaks down 2 hours into the trek, Noah continues, doggedly, in more reliable transport. However, it is a sign of things to come as he travels to each booking: broke, but with enough booze to get him through each night. The film is funny yet full of the realities of being a “DIY” independent musician/agent/promoter/event planner/chauffeur.

Noah Engh is a talented individual who understands the risks involved with his profession. He makes a great film subject and My Caddy Won’t Let Me is a must-see for anyone interested in the anticlimactic glamour of a musician’s life on the road.

Director David Urbanic was in attendance and said that Noah Engh has since moved on to other projects outside of the one-man-band tour. Check out the trailer below to get a taste of what Urbanic’s rockumentary has to offer.

“My Caddy Won’t Let Me” film trailer from David Urbanic on Vimeo.

Especially since Game of Thrones returns THIS SUNDAY NIGHT.

Back to the latest breaking Dinklage news…

A Little Bit of Heaven, a film we’ve been waiting on for forever here in the US, will finally be released in theaters on May 4th, after bouncing around Europe, Asia, South America, the Middle East… everywhere but here since early 2011. Want to see it at home before then? You can buy it from iTunes on April 3rd – next week!

Not gonna lie – I’m no fan of the rom-com, and am only going to see this for A Little Bit of Dinklage.

But wait – there’s more!

Remember Penelope? And how Dinklage nailed the role of Lemon? Well, Mark Palansky is taking two from that show’s cast and making a new movie, starring Peter Dinklage and Catherine O’Hara (Penelope, SCTV) titled Rememory. Not much has been released on the sci-fi like plot, but stuff happens and there will be a thing, I’m sure. Filming for Rememory starts in May. So prepare yourselves for another neat movie from these folks.

Lucky old me scored some passes to the Phoenix Film Festival – all thanks to Bookmans Entertainment Exchange! I won a contest they held as part of their Ticket Tuesday series of rewarding loyal fans and customers. Actually, there were pretty high odds of winning – less than 20 entries with only 10 winners so it was more than 50-50. So be sure to keep an eye on Bookmans!

What this means for you is that I will be kicking ass and taking names… make that just writing up some reviews for the films if my ferret-like memory will allow me to remember anything about whatever. I am, however, an expert note-jotter which got me through decades of schooling.

The Phoenix Film Festival is celebrating its 12th year in 2012. My math wizardry tells me this event is as old as the 21st century! So yeah, it’s something to be proud of. Showing over 150 films a year, the Phoenix Film Fest goes on for 8 days and truly requires a trooper such as I to experience every minute. This year, they have returned to Harkins Scottsdale 101 to spread the madness and hedonism…as well as art and culture for the more refined folk.

I won’t be attending tonight as I’m not a platinum or VIP member, so no opening night gala nor any Robot & Frank, which looks super awesome and I’m kinda bummed.

Here is a short selection of what I am planning to see (subject to ticket availability):

Hollywood to Dollywood
Connected
Shuffle
Bully
It’s In The Blood
Monster Brawl

…and that’s just on Friday!!!

Also going on Friday at the Phoenix Film Festival is Industry Night, with the entire evening devoted to networking with local filmmakers and industry professionals. If you have a chance, I highly recommend it. I’ll be watching movies and shorts until midnight.

Saturday and Sunday will also feature some educational seminars, some for the general public and some for middle & high school students interested in the industry.

Somehow my little birds fell asleep on the job and neglected to inform me that Peter Dinklage is voicing the character of Captain Gutt in the animated movie, Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. I had to find out in Variety like a commoner, and IMDb also beat me to it.

Captain Gutt is the simian pirate leader who does baddie things, giving Dinklage a chance to play the villain once again, as in his roles as Dr. Simon Barsinister in Underdog and on stage as Richard III. Dinklage also voices Gutt in the animated short, Scrat’s Continental Crack-up Part 2, shown in theatres as a trailer during Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked back in November, 2011. As you can see, Gutt is clearly a Gigantopithecus with bad teeth.

The full-length Ice Age movie starring Peter Dinklage as Captain Gutt will be released on July 13, 2012.

No character assignments have been announced, but the story revolves around impressing a girl online and requires a string of lies to keep up appearances. You know, purely a fictional storyline that could only happen in a movie.

The wait is nearly over! Tune in on Sunday, April 1, 2012 for the second season of award-winning show Game of Thrones on HBO.