Short cuts

A quick look at other Film Arts Festival highlights.
By Johnny Ray Huston

Blood, Sweat and Glitter Sasha Aickin's look at last year's Miss Trannyshack competition spans from early rehearsals to the big night. Will Diva Dan walk away with the honors after an orgy that would make Caligula – though maybe not Catherine the Great – blush? Will Kiddie's brand of lip sync hypnotize one and all? Or will Anna Conda seduce the judges with a fat-suit tribute to American gluttony? The answer arrives, leaving some competitors as touchy as JonBenet Ramsey's mom after a pageant loss. Get ready: The 2005 event is set for Nov. 19. Fri/4, 11:30 p.m., Roxie Cinema.

In This Short Life Delicate yet powerful, Britta Sjogren's black-and-white drama entwines a series of characters and stories, and it does so with a subtlety completely lacking in big-budget films that try for a similar effect, such as Magnolia. A beautiful older woman who enjoys her solitude, a slow-witted drifter tormented by the police, a young couple faced with a possible child, and an actor who has to pay the bills: These are the five main characters here. Their dilemmas – set to a fine score by Mark Eitzel and American Music Club – aren't easy, but they are surely recognizable. Sat/5, 3:30 p.m., Roxie Cinema.

Romantico Mark Becker's breathtakingly shot mariachi film would make for a great double bill with To the Other Side, Natalia Almada's recent look at corridos. Standing alone, it, like Almada's movie, is one of the best American docs this year, a languid, soulful, and deep portrait of traveling musician Carmelo Muñiz Sánchez. A border-crossing tale in reverse, Romantico follows Sánchez as he returns home to Salvatierra, Mexico after years spent earning money for his family by playing songs in the Mission District. Sun/6, 2 p.m., Roxie Cinema.

Scared New World Though a Cassavetes influence remains, Chris Brown's dramatic scenarios have become looser since he switched over to digital video. This free-form look at an East Bay household ranges from weed-smoke comedy to morbid tragedy – you could say the shifting momentum (or lack of it) reflects the substance of choice. The colorful Oakland here occupies a different planet than the bleak black-and-white Bayview of 1999's Metal. Tues/8, 7 p.m., Parkway Theater.

Shorts: Collections This program is an interesting one simply because of its theme – collectors and their mentality – and the multifold ways it is represented. Erin Stamos's and Ryan Beebe's Graceland Too is as critical as it is admiring of its Elvis-obsessed subject. Stefan Gruenwedel's Miss Flighty in Orbit captures the unique personality and aesthetic of an Orbit Room bartender, while in contrast, Ellen Lake's Trina's Collections keeps Trina herself just outside of the picture while showcasing the objects she's amassed. Sun/6, noon, Roxie Cinema.

Shorts: Love The Film Arts Fest isn't the shorts showcase it once was, but there are at least three standouts here. Jay Rosenblatt's Phantom Limb (see this week's Script Doctor) hones his suitelike emotional excavation work. John Harden's La Vie d'un Chien owes a playful debt to Chris Marker in telling – through striking still images – the story of a doctor who becomes a dog. Lastly, Michael Wallin's tale of love sprouting in the Central Y locker room, To Hold a Heart, is better than its title (and better than the similar-but-diffuse Wallin '90s short Black Sheep Boy); Taro Masushio rewards the camera's gaze, and Nick Dorsky's editing brings a subtle touch to what could have been a heavy-handed tale. Fri/4, 6 p.m., Roxie Cinema.