Those of you who know me know that I love popcorn. What can I say? I just do. I also love chocolate. Whaddya gonna do? For the past many years, I've silently wondered about what a combination of the two would taste like, but I never spoke this thought aloud for fear that I would be mocked. Cut to last night's opening night party of this year's Jacksonville Film Festival, where my dream finally came true. The company is Peterbrooke, and the chocolate-covered popcorn is everything I imagined it would be. Yummier, in fact. A great start to the weekend!

There aren't many filmmakers here, which is a shame, because this appears to be a really well run festival that is going to be a lot of fun. Each of us has our very own host, which is another slightly revelatory concept. My host picked me up from the airport yesterday, and when I opened the door to put my bags in the back seat, a TANGLEWOOD NUMBERS CD was staring up at me. Wuh-POW!

I finally get to see THE CASSIDY KIDS at 5:30 today, which is very good news. But I was also hoping to watch ONCE again, which I finally saw on Wednesday at the Sunshine. This film has been highly anticipated by me for many, many months, an almost certain recipe for disappointment. But somehow it managed to exceed my incredibly high expectations. ONCE is one of the finest films of the year, in which the low-budget and overall modesty only add to its undeniable charm. I dare you not to love this movie. I can't wait to see it again!