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Under The Stars And With The Stars At The Mill Valley Film Festival Gala

Film fest fans followed the searchlights to the Mill Valley Community Center for last evening's Gala Opening Night party for the 31st annual Mill Valley Film Festival!

It was a mix of cultures, ages and tastes as the coiffed and jeweled mingled with the bearded and denim set.  The jazzy strains of the Stompy Jones sextet boomed out of the main hall as guests gathered to feast on chicken piccata, pasta salad and french cheeses provided by Pizza Antica, Marin Cheese Company and Ristorante Mezzo Mezzo.  MVFF volunteers circulated constantly through the crowd handing out more nibbles.  Cupcakes by Sift: A Cupcakery were in towering displays on the side.  No one went thirsty either; Raymond Vineyards was the official beverage sponsor.  These people know how to put on a party!

Opening night festivities were kicked off by earlier screenings of two movies; Religulous starring Bill Maher and The Secret Life of Bees with an all-star cast of Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys and Dakotah Fanning.

We ran into Bay Area talk show host Susan Sikora, and asked her how she liked Religulous-

"I thought it was funny and very thought provoking.  I love Bill Maher, so he can probably do no wrong."

Sikora said Maher's attempt to find out why people believe the things they believe, was "an honest quest on his part."   She said she was especially impressed by how well prepared Maher was for his interviews-

"In some scenes, he knew more about their religions than they did!"

Sikora also appreciated the equal opportunity 'offender' in Maher, in that he takes on Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.  But she said the humor came through-

"I think if Jesus watched this film, he would find it funny."

In the outside tent area, a large group of people were crowded around the two huge chocolate fountains that "Take A Dip" Fondue Fountains had placed on a large square table loaded with cookies, fruit and other tidbits for dunking.  This was a very popular table and we were barely able to squeeze in to try it ourselves. There we ran into Kevin Robinson, the executive producer of Medium Rare, a TV and film review and interview website.  He pointed across the room and suggested we might want to talk to Danny Glover.

Mr. Glover was surrounded by guests and as soon as there was a space, we stepped in.  He told us he had just seen The Secret Life Of Bees-

"I thought it was really lovely, very well done.  The ensemble acting was great."

We chatted a bit more about the film's director, Gina Prince-Bythewood, who was seen earlier circulating in the crowd.  Then someone else wanted to talk to him, so we stepped away.  Glover's latest role is in the just released thriller, Blindness.

We had wondered if the highly publicized Vice-Presidential debate which aired earlier that evening, would  provide competition for the movie screenings, but then suddenly we ran into Sarah Palin!

Well, actually she was Susan Ellingson from Mill Valley who was a dead ringer for Palin in her glasses and updo.  She said she had just watched the debate with her teenage daughter but she didn't want to miss the party so she dressed up for the event.  MoreMarin thinks Sarah Palin lookalikes will be the hot Halloween costume this year.

The MVFF runs through October 12.  Go see a film!

Mill Valley Film Festival ticket & schedule information here.

The Lark Theater Gets Sexy: Author Candace Bushnell Comes to Larkspur

By Megan Richcreek-

Last Friday, Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City and the new book One Fifth Avenue, strode onto the stage of the Lark Theater to bring her brand of fantasy, fun and fashion to Marin, courtesy of Book Passage and the Lark Theater.

Women in their 30s and 40s made up most of the audience, and some even dragged their spouses along. The women were dressed fashionably, yet no one topped the woman of the hour as she strutted up the stage to read from her newest novel, One Fifth Avenue. The tall blonde sported sky-high black Valentino heels with white polka-dots, which- she joked- “always get more applause than I do”. She was dressed in a jewel-toned blue knee length dress with a beige sweater. And she claimed she’s “not a big shopper”.

Bushnell began the event by reading the first few pages of her newest novel. She read with gusto, as her glasses slid down her nose, acting out each of the characters in varying tones.  As she read, the words from the page become a performance, and the scene of New York City came alive with each detail.  After her reading, Bushnell sat down to a glass of champagne with interviewer Jennifer Solo, another author. They started off with a small tangent on the importance of a good glass of champagne or wine, and then got down to business.

Bushnell says One Fifth Avenue is about “how young people replace the old”.  The novel is also about neighbors and friends. In Bushnell’s writing, there is a clear theme of the importance of girlfriends. She said in her own life, girlfriends have her back during emotional times and also in business.

On the city she loves to write about- New York- Bushnell says it is a true landmark-

        “When people come to New York, they’re coming to a place where people were 100 years ago.”

Not just to gain favor with the audience, she proclaimed her love for San Francisco as well, calling it a “fantasy city”.  In Bushnell's eyes, New York and San Francisco are both “sophisticated cities”.  Surprisingly, Bushnell does not hail from New York, but from a farm town in Connecticut.

Bushnell has had many influences in her writing, but from a young age, she says she was influenced by the children’s book Eloise at the Plaza.  She called it the “bee’s knees,” and got a nostalgic laugh from the audience.  Bushnell recalled ever since she was a child, she wanted to live in New York City.  She finally moved to Big Apple at 19 with $200 in her pocket, determined to make it.  In her own writing, Bushnell admits there is a “voyeuristic aspect” to her work, but there is also a “storytelling aspect.”   She says that “in New York, you have to stand out…because there’s so many people”.  And stand out she does, especially in the Lark Theater, with her outrageous high heels and bright blue dress.

Bushnell recently signed a deal with Harper Collins to do a young adult book about Carrie Bradshaw’s teenage years.  Bushnell, now nearly 50, talked about her 20s and the writing process during those years. The beginnings of a novel she was writing at the time, landed her a job at the New York Observer.  Admits Bushnell, when you’re in your 20s, it’s “you against the world.”  She also challenged all young writers, exhorting them to be ambitious; to try and change the world.  Her big break did not come until later, when she was 34 years old with the “Sex and the City” column, which she called one of the best moments of her life.  This year, Bushnell is executive producer for the NBC television series Lipstick Jungle.

“You have to be happy where you are in life at that moment…make the most of your life wherever you are.”

That is Bushnell describing her writing process.  First she develops her characters.  The beginning of each book is “rewritten again and again and again.”  Bushnell writes alone and says, "you really have to sit down and put in on a page."

Working with young writers brings out the editor in her.  For young women writers trying to make it, she gives plenty of advice, urging writers to make it a priority as it was for her-

"Writing was number one in my life."

Bushnell also added something that aspiring writers may not want to hear-

“Writing is not something to do if you think you’re gonna make money at it.” 

And it must be a priority.  “Writing was number one in my life," she said.

As a child, she was not encouraged by her parents to be a novelist, but she was ambitious. Though she encountered many nay-sayers and “huge amounts of self-doubt and fear”, she encourages other writers to persevere-

  "If someone has that kind of passion, they really don’t need any advice."
 

Bushnell’s passion has led her to great success with her writing. 

The Lark Theater just got a little sexier.

Fun + Food + "4H" ers = Fair (Marin County Style)

It's either a case of pure genius or incredible good luck. 

Fair planners had no idea that a gallon of gas would be nearly $5, and the environment on everyone's mind, a year-and-a-half ago when they came up with the 'green' theme for this years fair.  Marin is at the forefront of sustainable consciousness (if not living), and what better place to showcase the ways one can drive, live and consume in a green fashion. 

And green it is; from the moment you enter and stroll through the alternate fuel vehicles display, pass the sustainable living booths and into the main exhibition hall where all manner of carbonless living ethos threads its way through the more traditional exhibits of baked goods, textiles and fine arts displays. 

When we first heard about this year's theme, we wondered how fair planners would successfully knit together their green goal with the more traditional fair attractions of farm animals, ferris wheels and funnel cakes.   We needn't have worried.  Everyone- even the kids- were enthralled with the truck that ran on alcohol ("Powered by moonshine" read the bumper sticker), the prettier-than-they-sound glass earrings that used recycled beer and champagne bottles and the punk-style, shiny black handbag made entirely of reclaimed tire inner tubes.

One nice thing that struck us while we perused the exhibits of ecologically oriented products; going green can involve many consumer choices.  In the vehicle exhibit, for instance, you could find electric bikes for those who don't mind going a bit slower (20mph), sitting alongside electric motorcycles capable of going 110 mph for the speedier set.  Prius' are common in Marin, but the fine-art painted, plug-in one we saw, was a beauty.  A stylish, classic 1966 Ford Mustang convertible that has been converted entirely to electrical power was right next to the truck that runs on biodiesel (soybeans).  One car is even plugged into a bunch of solar panels in a next-door exhibit, making it the ultimate green car; runs on electricity provide by the sun.  You don't get much greener than that.

Fair organizers have thoughtfully managed to incorporate the green theme in the food court too.  All vendor food is served in recycled and biodegradable containers and utensils.  And there are signs ("Healthy options available") out in front of each food vendor listing a low-fat, sustainable or organic variation of what they are serving, although most of the families we see in the umbrella-shaded eating patio, are enjoying the more typical fair food like hot-dogs, burgers and grilled corn.

After a decidedly un-green lunch of barbecue and potato salad, we paid a visit to the main exhibition hall that houses the household arts (quilts, preserves and baked goods) featured at every county fair.  Dot Miller, a small, elderly woman is sitting next the cookie display and just a few feet away from the pies.  We ask her if she's there to thwart anyone trying to sneak a sample.  She is, she says, and so far no one has dared try!  We can however, take a moment to stop and smell the roses (our favorite- the mauve hybrid tea).  Award winners are standing proudly in their vases across from the baked goods. 

Around the corner from the preserves (traditional) and water bottles decorated with recyclables (green) are the quilts where the vintage "log-cabin" creations mix nicely with the free-form "going green" designs.  At the end of the hall is the "The Green Life" exhibit featuring furniture built with sustainably forested wood and organic cotton bedsheets. There is also an extremely large earth globe spinning away in the middle of it all, just in case you've forgotten the theme.  We're tired, but we can't sit in most of the chairs on display; they are the art chairs, another competitive exhibit. 

Over in the corner, Chef Eric Gower, the Breakaway Cook, is cooking away in his demonstration kitchen.  People crowd around as he hands out samples.  It's a blend of vegies, herbs and flowers all sauteed together in olive oil.  A young girl pronounces it good, if a bit salty.  She likes the idea of eating flowers.  Meredith McCarty, another chef (Healing Cuisine) and exhibitor, is taking a break from her booth and samples it too.  She agrees with the girl; good, but salty.

Outside, the fair is in full swing; families, couples, teens and seniors try their luck at the games and take a whirl on the rides in between visits to the hemp and bamboo clothing booths in the green exhibit aisle.  Fernwood Cemetery even has a booth here, which suggests being green doesn't need to end at death.  A Johnny Cash tune drifts out from the animal barnyard where the usual suspects (chickens, goats, cows, horses and the aforementioned Wilbur) lay around waiting to be petted.  Not usual, are the llamas.  Inside the barn, 10 year-old Jenna Wagner from San Rafael is presenting her chicken to the judge in the showmanship competition.  The animal contingent seems smaller than the county fair of memory.  Maybe methane-producing cows aren't really PC here at the "Greenest County Fair On Earth".

In the concert hall, singer and Marin native, Lara Johnston (who sounds like Bonnie Raitt and looks like your kid sister) is belting out a soul standard.  The crowd is appreciative, for the music and the shade.  Everyone is enjoying the musical vibe.  Themes come and go, but some things- like good music- never change.

Details:

The Marin County Fair runs through Sunday, July 6. 

Hours: 11a to 11p

Prices: Adults $14, Kids (4-12) and Seniors are $12 and Kids under 4 are Free.

Marin County Fair website.

See more photos in our MoreMarin Slide Show.
See all the photos in the MoreMarin Photo Album.