We’re screening a full-length feature called “Dynamite Swine” (facebook) by Mark Poisella, a rollicking action movie/buddy flick/poker movie that defies description but just works. This is the second year in a row we’ve opened with a feature film, and you seriously won’t see anything like this anywhere else.

We are preceding it with one of the best shorts I’ve ever seen (and I don’t say that lightly), “With Anchovies… Without Mamma” (facebook, trailer, website) an amazing mockumentary (by Brooklyn’s Thomas Justino) about pizza and revenge.

The moviemakers describe it as “an investigative look at love, loss, pizza and the depth of circumstance.” Whatever that means, it is incredibly tight — the acting and script are terrific, it’s hilariously funny, and it keeps you entertained until the only thing left in the box is a grease stain and that little plastic table. Want mustaches? It’s got mustaches, and people who sound like they’re from Jersey.

Anyway, I’m just babbling now, but you’ll really enjoy Saturday, August 7th’s opening night. Don’t forget, it’s the Brainwash *Drive-in Bike-in Walk-in* Movie Festival, so you can come in on two wheels or four — or, just use the very convenient West Oakland BART station (less than a block away).

Buy tickets at TicketWeb and RSVP on Facebook.

The show will be August 7th, 13th, and 14th at the Mandela Village Arts Center, 1357 5th St., in Oakland, 9 pm each night, $10 each. Find out more about the festival!

Only 3 1/2 months to the 16th Annual Brainwash Movie Festival, you say? My, how time has flown.

I’m sure you’ve all got your independent short movies and features all lined up to submit to Brainwash. (You can submit your movies at any time using Withoutabox, but if you want to be truly, madly, stubbornly indie, you’ll have to wait until we fix our credit card authorization form — either that or you can scrawl your entry in crayon on the inside of an empty cereal box. On second thought…)

UPDATE! You can now use the secure credit-card-friendly entry form on our site again, if you don’t want to sign up for Withoutabox.

Our enthusiasm is starting to build for this year’s festival, and we hope yours is too!

Stay tuned on Facebook (now with our own URL, thanks to 100 nice people), and join our very low-volume mailing list — you wouldn’t want to miss anything, would you?

1st Prize: “MXD MSG” by Jeffrey Durkin
2nd GRAND Prize: “Mister Coffey” by Mark Thimijan
3rd Prize: “EXIT:ALLEY” by Robin Smyth
4th Prize: “The Collection” by Keren Albala
5th Prize: “Gypsy Crepes” by Count Lear Bunda
Brainwash First Feature: “Dr. S Battles the Sex-Crazed Reefer Zombies: The Movie” by Bryan Ortiz
Audience Choice Award: “Stalk Much?” by Bill Baykan

The last was finally tabulated from the thousands and thousands of paper ballots (chads hanging all over the place) so that you, the loyal reader, would finally know the truth about the 2009 Brainwash Movie Festival.

The truth is, it’s all over, so watch this space for our call for entries! Become a fan on Facebook (not that we’ve done much with that in a while) to keep up. Soon we’ll relaunch our email list as well.

We are proud to announce the 2009 winning movies, and the Audience Choice Survey! Take it if you came to the show…

For the festival proper on July 31st and August 1st (check out the program), our new venue is the really cool American Steel building on 18th and Mandela in Oakland.

One great way to get there would be to take BART to West Oakland and bike straight up Mandela (4/5 of a mile) to the Steel building, which is hard to miss. We will also have a free shuttle from the West Oakland BART station; we’ll pick you up and take you back when you’re ready to go. You’ll want to grab a lawn chair or other kind of portable folding chair for each member of your party.

More details to come. Thanks to everyone who enjoyed “Doctor S” at its West Coast Premiere last night!

We are proud to announce a terrific line-up of short independent movies at this year’s 15th Annual Brainwash Drive-in Bike-in Walk-in Movie Festival, to be held in Oakland on Friday, July 31st and Saturday, August 1st, 2009. [Buy advance tickets on TicketWeb.]

Congratulations to our moviemakers and a sincere thanks to all who submitted their movies! We plan to “hold over” certain other movies submitted this year, including a couple of Very Brainwash Features^TM, for further shows, so stay tuned!

In other words, if your movie did not make the main festival, it may still screen later in the year.

And now the program:

This Saturday, July 18th, at 1357 5th Street in Oakland, the Brainwash Movie Festival kicks off the 2009 season with Brainwash Zombie Night!

Featuring:

• Feature Presentation Doctor S. Battles the Sex-Crazed Reefer Zombies: The Movie
• Shorts Dead Sucks and Dead in the Water

Buy tickets either online or at the gate… and RSVP on Facebook. $9, 9 pm! Fun will be had by all.

If you buy a Brainwash Movie Festival Three Day Pass in advance on TicketWeb, two people can attend the 7/18, 7/31, & 8/1 shows for a total of $30 (that’s almost half off).

Breaking news: Filmmaker Bryan Ortiz will be at the Premiere Party tonight to say a few words about his movie — it’ll be a great opportunity to meet an up and coming young moviemaker!

So, if you’re on Facebook, become a fan! It’ll be worth your while. We’ll offer Facebook fans exclusive first access to discounts and announcements about the festival. (It might barely be first, but it’ll still be first.)