Bust out your old Freddie Krueger mask for the second annual Sacramento Horror Film Festival, held at the Colonial Theatre at 3522 Stockton Blvd. in Sacramento. The festival will be held tomorrow until Sunday, and will include over 50 film screenings, workshops and various horror-related festivities.

Festival director and filmmaker Tim Meunier said that he saw a need for a horror film festival in Sacramento. By networking with other festival directors and filmmakers, Meunier created the festival to showcase talented individuals who are often unnoticed because of their interest in horror.

“Horror is the underdog of film genres,” he said. “I saw an opportunity to finally get people with the same interest to show their talent.“

Though the horror genre is “not taken as seriously by many critics and the general public, it’s still popular,” Meunier said. “It’s like a bad child that won’t go away.“

While the film festival is only in its second year, the weekend-long celebration of horror is already finding its place as a well-respected genre festival. Director Blake Reigle saw his film Beneath the Surface go from an underground online campaign to the shelves of Blockbuster after it took the prize of best feature in last year’s festival.

“The festival is well respected,“ Reigle said. “It’s in the top 10 of horror film festivals. Winning a genre festival is a major accolade. The Sacramento Horror Film Festival provided a solid boost in its legitimacy and helped secure its distribution.“

The film festival will feature a range of screenings, from music videos to full-length horror films. While the films have an underground following as of yet, some films have already gotten acclaim. Paper Dolls, which is to be screened on Saturday at 8 p.m., was hailed by Rotten Tomatoes as the “scariest Sasquatch/Big Foot movie that … has ever been unleashed on the general public.“

For features seeking distribution like Paper Dolls, film festivals are an important way to spread the word. In light of the potential competition and mud slinging, Paper Dolls co-director and actor Adam Pitman appreciates the Sacramento Horror Film Festival’s supportive atmosphere.

“Some festivals are in it because it’s a business,“ Pitman said. “The Sacramento Horror Film Festival stood out because it is about the art. It’s not about the buck.“

Part of the appeal for horror film festivals is the passionate fan base that a unique genre like horror attracts. Reigle was moved by the support for his winning film last year and hopes to return the support by making future films, he said.

“The fans care about the genre,“ he said. “They’re not there to tear people down.“

Pitman appreciates the festival because of the fans‘” love and affinity for horror movies.“

“Genre festivals get crazy people that are into horror,“ he said. “They come in costumes and are so into it. That’s the fun of genre festivals.“

This year’s film festival will feature special guests like the Chiodo Brothers, creators of the cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and Adrienne King, who played Alice in Friday the 13th. While costumes are not required, the festival will include a zombie beauty contest, along with live music and other events to help keep fans involved.

“Just come and have a really good time,“ Reigle said. “‘Tis the season for a horror film festival.“

CHRIS RUE can be reached at arts@californiaaggie.com 

It’s easy to put off the local music scene as a
subculture of bands that nobody’s ever heard of. Call them indie – the
all-inclusive local category that’s about as descriptive of its music
as “domestic” is to cars.

Yet despite the genre’s sheer diversity of styles, it still manages to pull the underground movement together within the local scene. And at Davis, all students will have the opportunity to get acquainted with many of these artists this weekend.

It’s all happening at the Major, Minor Festival, an all-day event of independent music held at the Old Firehouse on Saturday. The festival will feature 10 local and regional bands, starting at noon and lasting the rest of the day.

Chris Larsen, vocalist and guitarist of Sacramento- and Davis-based band Buildings Breeding, worked in conjunction with KDVS 90.3 FM to put on the show. As the lead coordinator of the event, Larsen contacted and booked each of the bands.

Among the lineup are Davis-based groups such as The Standard Tribesmen and Underground, Underwater, Sacramento artists like Two Sheds and Birds and Batteries as well as Bay Area bands such as The Mumlers and The Botticellis.

“It was an idea I had been kicking around for a while, and I presented it to KDVS and we were able to work out a date,” Larsen said. “They agreed to let me run a show.”

When asked about why he chose the bands he did, Larsen offered no specific selection criteria.

“We [Buildings Breeding] were really bummed on playing shows where we were the only band that sounded like us, and the rest were doing something totally different,” Larsen said. “I just kind of tried to get a collective of bands where it would be a really well-rounded mix, where you can watch band after band and it would all make sense. We all have the same kind of ideals, and we’re all kind of going for the same thing.”

Others see few similarities between the actual sounds of each individual band. The festival’s indie category has little in relation to the styles that will be played, according to Will Sprott, lead vocalist and guitarist of The Mumlers.

“I know personally a few of the bands that are playing on the bill,” Sprott said. “There’s not really any particular similarity. It’s a good variety of different kinds of music.”

“I’ve been playing with a lot of these bands for a couple of years now,” said UC Davis alumna Caitlin Gutenberger, lead vocalist and guitarist of Two Sheds. “They’re all really good, and they write good, honest music.”

The event’s large lineup contrasts with the typical smaller Davis venue, and audiences are expected to fill the Old Firehouse. Many bands prefer the larger setting to the intimate one or two-band show.

“I really like festivals; I think they’re incredible,” Sprott said. “It gets the whole community excited about music, and it gets people to see stuff they wouldn’t normally see.”

Both Gutenberger and Larsen listed the on-campus factor as an advantage for both themselves and audiences since the festival is open to all ages. Other venues such as Sophia’s Thai Kitchen and The G Street Pub, who have featured bands like The Mumlers and Two Sheds in the past, only permit audiences 21 years and over to their shows.

“I think it’s neat to have something like that right on the campus,” Sprott said. “I just think it’s a neat thing to be involved with – these sort of under-the-radar happenings that are going on.”

“It’s just something fun and different to do that doesn’t cost that much money,” Gutenberger said. “If you don’t like one band, the next band might totally be your thing.”

JUSTIN T. HO can be reached at arts@californiaaggie.com.

Besides pretending to be left-handed or drafting new versions of my signature, I’ve spent many boring lectures compiling a mental list of famous people that I’d like to meet. High on this list includes fascinating characters such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jenny Lewis, Slug from Atmosphere and Ann Curry from “The Today Show.“

Of course, I’ve always accepted the fact that “meet” would probably mean “be in the same vicinity,” at best. And even if it turned out to be more than simply being in the same city, how was I supposed to react to seeing someone on my list? Ask for a picture and their autograph? Gush over their fame, good looks and success, or play it cool?

On Oct. 11, I was able to cross off one important person from my list: author Haruki Murakami. Thanks to my sister, I saw Murakami give a lecture and reading at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley.

I was surprised at the full crowd the event brought in, but I should have expected it: Murakami is the best-selling non-English speaking author in the world, and his works have been translated in over 35 languages.

Even from my seat in what could be deemed the nosebleed section (row X – my sympathies go out to the suckers stuck in the two rows behind me), I felt a sense of familiarity when Murakami walked on stage, despite the fact that I’ve only seen his pictures in book sleeves by the author’s biography.

For such an internationally renowned writer, he looked slightly out of place as he took his place behind the podium. He tried to assure audiences that he was unexciting and mundane – a difficult persona to accept when you think of the characteristically complex elements and surreal, disjointed storylines present in books like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore.

After a brief introduction, he gave a reading in Japanese of his short story “The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes,” a dark parable that touched on how his works have been received in his homeland. Though some have hailed him as the “new voice of Japan,” critics in Japan have deemed him a “punk” and a “swindler” because of his individualistic, decidedly Western tendencies.

However, Murakami made his goal clear. During the discussion, he said that he doesn’t write for his country, he writes for his people. As the audience made evident, his people is a diverse group: Japanese, non-Japanese, old, young, men, women, blondes, brunettes, redheads, you name it.

Murakami also provided the audience with an abstract look into his writing process, calling his books as a product of observation as opposed to creation. Over the years, he has gained a cult following. His balance of mundane details and fantastical, dream-like sequences has struck a chord with readers from around the world. Murakami loyalists have learned to expect and embrace his idiosyncrasies, such as his love for cats, ears and running – strange inspirations that have found their ways into his books.

The discussion was followed by a Q&A session. Hoping to get some sort of shout out from the man himself, I had eagerly filled out a question card with my name on the back before I took my seat. Sadly, my question (“Are you afraid of things in your books being lost in translation from Japanese to other languages?”) wasn’t selected, and I was crushed when a similar (albeit slightly better worded) question was.

The day after his appearance in Berkeley, Murakami appeared for a book signing at Books Inc. in San Francisco. I wasn’t able to attend, but I can imagine that the encounter would have played out something like this: “Hello, Mr. Murakami. How are you? I’m a big fan, let’s be friends.“

If you also spend time creating pointless mental lists in class or would like to make a book recommendation of your own, send them to RACHEL FILIPINAS at rmfilipinas@ucdavis.edu. 

The Mumlers

Thickets & Stitches

Galaxia Record

Rating: 2

Reviewing an album like Thickets & Stitches by San Jose group The Mumlers is a conundrum. The music feels traditional in every sense – the instrumentation, the lead singer’s voice, the track names. The unexpected use of brass is about the only thing I didn’t see coming.

In terms of contemporary acts, Iron & Wine comes to mind, for the music’s quality and tone and for its complete and utter agreeability. Only the most cold-hearted dead-in-the-ears music fan could dislike The Mumlers. For the most part, Thickets & Stitches is shoulder-shrug pop. Opinions are likely to be unnecessary.

Nonetheless, there are a few standout tracks. Ironically titled, “Hush” proves to be the album’s loudest, most urgent and best moment. It’s a welcome change of pace. “Untie My Knots” is an accordion dirge also worth a listen.

The Mumlers will play the Major, Minor Music Festival on Saturday in Davis. Maybe the live setting will make The Mumlers‘ lethargic folk-pop seem a little more alive.

– Zack Frederick 

Pillars and Tongues

Protection

Contraphoni

Rating: 3

When I first got wind of Chicago experimental trio Pillars and Tongues, a few petty judgments began swirling in my head. First off, for a band to call themselves Pillars and Tongues, they’ve already set the bar too high. I mean, Pillars and Tongues? That’s a lot of bad-ass Biblical imagery to live up to. Then I thought, they’re going to sound like Spiritualized. As in, this will be music people trip out to and have playing on repeat in sweat lodges to help induce hallucinations.

So after listening to the band’s full-length release Protection, I found myself to be mostly right. The ambient tracks give way to spontaneous clamor and sparse vocals. Semblances of rhythm and melody briefly appear from behind a din of echoing percussion and drones. The loose arrangements come together in bouts of melodic cohesiveness and clarity, achieving several powerful moments on the album. But overall, the songs are too goddamn long.

With an expansive sound and tasteful bits of silence, Pillars and Tongues almost live up to their name. There is chanting. No visions, though.

Give these tracks a listen: Dead Sings, Protection (I)

Sounds like: Stars of the Lid, Low

– Chris Rue

Nick Jaina

A Narrow Way

HUSH Records

Rating: 5

To put it short and sweet, A Narrow Way is folk-pop songwriter Nick Jaina’s best work to date and an album easy to leave on repeat.

The “Jaina and friends” live performance is an adrenaline rush – always unpredictable and forever satisfying (and will be available to Davisites this Sunday at Primary Concepts). It’s not an easy task, but somehow Jaina has successfully translated this multi-sensory experience into an audible-only format.

A Narrow Way includes many songs that Jaina’s performed with much response in tours past. Take when the band plays “Battleground,” and violinist Nathan Langston gets rowdy. He cues the crowd to echo Jaina yelling, “It’s a battleground!” and in a matter of seconds the venue becomes an eerie ‘20s saloon.

The explosive energy of the record is attributed to Jaina’s clever instrumentation: the use of the xylophones, slide guitar, violin, trumpets and the occasional whistle. From these tools he transitions in and out of heart-wrenching and lyrically perfect tunes like “Planter’s Field” into high-spirited songs like “I Forget My Name” and “Burning House.“ Though moody from song to song, overall the album is balanced and composed.

He speaks of love in both regretful and euphoric tones; he battles life’s obstacles and takes the devil by the horns; he “needs to play music with [his] friends in the street” (from “Singing the Devil’s Tune“). A Narrow Way is the kind of album that demands a read-along until every lyric is on the tip of the tongue, ready to be sung.

Some artists go through stylistic phases while others work long and hard to develop the right “sound.” Jaina’s work has always been top notch – but in his discography, the third time is the charm – Narrow Stairs‘ ten tracks signify the peak of Jaina’s songwriting career.

Listen to: “Burning House,” “I Know I’m Your Man“

–Nicole L. Browner

Beginning today, over 100 teams – comprised of nearly 1,000 students – will head out into Davis to make their own films with only a week to finish. The movie-making rush is all part of Campus MovieFest, a college film competition that gives university students across the country an opportunity to showcase their creativity. Founded in 2001 by Emory University students, CMF returns to Davis for the second time this year.

Because AT&T and Apple Computer sponsor the festival, CMF provides students with free digital video cameras, laptops and other equipment along with technical support for the duration of the weeklong festival.

David Roemer, co-founder of CMF, said that the partnership with Apple allows all students to participate “even if they don’t have the tools or any previous filmmaking experience.“

Andrea Manners, a senior technocultural studies and film studies double major who worked on a film for the competition last year, said CMF is a great fit for Davis.

“Judging from last year’s event, students on both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between are interested in telling their stories,” she said in an e-mail, pointing out that her group last year included students registered as exercise biology, design and engineering majors.

Students are free to make movies about anything they like, Roemer said. A panel of students and staff from UC Davis will judge the movies. The top movies will then be showcased at the CMF finale on Oct. 27 in Freeborn Hall. Awards will be given to the top films for Best Picture, Best Drama, Best Comedy and other categories.

“The UC Davis winners then move onto our regional and international Campus MovieFest showcases, competing against 50,000 students around the world, as part of what’s now the world’s largest student film festival,” Roemer said.

For the last two years, CMF and UCD Campus Unions have been working together to bring the festival to Davis, said Campus Unions program manager Lexer Chou in an e-mail.

Chou said CMF fits into Campus Unions‘ goal of bringing educational and enjoyable programs to Davis.

“CMF allows students to work together, be creative and have fun with a project that is outside of their academic workload,” she said. “Students want to participate in something that they can take ownership of, and it was shown through the quality of work that was submitted last year.“

Lexer explained that Campus Unions handles the logistics of the event: coordinating the finale in Freeborn, housing the CMF staff for their 10-day stay in Davis, finding judges and advertising the festival on campus. CMF, on the other hand, provides the equipment, technical support and most of the prizes.

“As a result of Campus MovieFest, student participants have changed their majors and their lives, sparked national debates and appeared on all the major news networks, focused on powerful social justice issues, won hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes and truly proven that everyone has a story to tell,” Roemer said.

Today is the last day to sign up. Interested students should stop by Griffin Lounge between noon and 5 p.m. to register their teams.

Zack Frederick can be reached at arts@californiaaggie.com. 

MUSIC

The East Portal Express, Family

Today, 9 p.m., $3

Old Ironsides in Sacramento

The East Portal Express provides a smooth ride of easy-listening – dare I say adult contemporary? – funk rock. My parents would wholeheartedly approve.

Righteous Movement, The C.U.F., Sonic Bloom

Friday, 8 p.m., $3

Delta of Venus

For socially conscious hip-hop that’s more chill than preachy, look no further than Righteous Movement. The Sactown rappers have shared the stage with other hip-hop hotshots such as The Pharcyde and KRS One. Proceeds from the show go toward the Obama-Biden campaign.

The Cowboy Killers, Christopher Fairman, The Parties, The High Dials

Friday, 9 p.m., $7

Old Ironsides in Sacramento

I can predict exactly what sort of social event the music of San Francisco-based band, The Parties, would deliver: a swinging psychedelic shindig complete with tunes reminiscent of ‘60s bands like the Kinks and The Velvet Underground.

Major, Minor Festival

Saturday, 7 p.m., $8 in advance, $10 at the door

Old Firehouse

All the splendors of indie-pop one could ever ask for, and in the comforts of one on-campus location! For more information, check out page __.

Half Light

Saturday, 10 p.m., $3-5

The G St. Pub

With midterm season upon us, Seattle group Half Light creates the kind of downtempo electric soundscape that can help relieve my test anxieties. Think a slightly happier, more offbeat cousin of Mazzy Star.

Nick Jaina, Alana Sveta

Sunday, 8 p.m., $5

Primary Concepts

I’ve found a new musical soul mate in San Francisco folk singer Alana Sveta, who draws influence from some of my own favorites like Portishead and Rilo Kiley. For a short but sweet take on Nick Jaina’s latest release, check out page __.

Screaming Females, Boron and the Grebes

Sunday, 8 p.m., $3

Old Firehouse

They may hail from the Garden State, but with a mix of garage-psych-punk, Screaming Females belie their Jersey roots.

Mammatus, San Francisco Water Cooler, Wildildlife

Monday, 9:30 p.m., $PRICE

Primary Concepts

If the word Mammatus refers to “bumpy clouds,” then the band’s take on the definition adds up to a complex composition of sweeping sonics and thick riffs. They’ll share studio space with San Francisco Water Cooler, who most recently made a splash (har har) at last week’s Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom.

The Matches, Zion I, San Quinn

Tuesday, 5 p.m.

Freeborn Hall

Maybe you caught The Matches at last year’s Warped Tour, or perhaps you remember them when they were still known as The Locals. And if you haven’t heard of this pop-punk outfit at all, now’s your chance – the show’s free!

AT THE MOVIES

Religulous

Open now at the Varsity Theatre on Second Street

Bill Maher is bound to amuse and offend in this documentary that explores the concept of religion.

Sacramento Horror Film Festival

Starts Friday at the Colonial Theatre in Sacramento

For an in-depth look at some of the tricks and treats of the festival, check out page __.

Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival

Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Veteran’s Memorial Theatre

Looking to enlighten viewers on environmentalism is this festival, which will screen award-winning short films highlighting different green issues. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Armadillo Music and the Davis Food Co-op or at the door the day of.

ART / GALLERY

Skuja Braden: Ceramics

Open now at the Pence Gallery on D Street

Artists Inguna Skuja and Melissa Braden collaborated to form the ceramics behind Skuja Braden, creating hand-made pieces that play with pop culture and images in art history.

Haiti’s Hope: Lavalas and the Preferential Option for the Poor

Opens today at the Hart Hall Atrium

Through her camera’s lens, Leisa Faulkner provides rich images of the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, illustrating issues explored in Tracy Kidder’s book Mountains Beyond Mountains.

THEATRE / MONDAVI

Twelfth Night

Monday, 6:30 p.m., $5 with a student i.d., $10 general admission

Studio Theatre at the Mondavi Center

Twins, cross-dressing and mistaken identity – some things never tire to be funny. This screening is part of Mondavi’s “Shakespeare in the Cinema” program.

RACHEL FILIPINAS can be reached at arts@californiaaggie.com