I don't have much time but I wanted to point everyone in the direction of the following cinematic events going down this weekend...

-- Do not miss your chance to see AJ Schnack's beautiful KURT COBAIN: ABOUT A SON on the big screen. It's been playing at the IFC Center in New York since Wednesday, but it opens today in Los Angeles as well.

-- Another must-see documentary that opens in NYC and LA is Amir Bar-Lev's fascinating MY KID COULD PAINT THAT. For my money, it's this year's CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS or 51 BIRCH STREET. This thing has stuck with me for weeks, and I highly recommend that anyone and everyone check it out. I hope to write about it more later, but suffice to say, I think it's phenomenal.

-- The Lower East Side and East Village are being taken over by the Evil City Film Fest, which features such notable titles as Alex Orr's genuinely shocking--and genuinely hilarious!--BLOOD CAR, as well as Cullen Hoback's MONSTER CAMP (can this city handle the presence of Mr. Hoback? only time will tell!). If you're feeling like a complete nerd, be sure to attend Sunday's "Blog Till You Bleed" panel (4pm at Fontana's; 105 Eldridge). I'll be there alongside Stu Van Airsdale, Karina Longworth, Pamela Cohn, and our host, Mark Rabinowitz, to talk about... um, I guess blogging? To spice things up a bit, I'm planning on shotgunning a can of PBR every time someone says the word "blog." So get ready for that.

-- And, of course, there's still the NYFF. While I don't really understand what everyone's talking about with regards to GO GO TALES--it plays to me like one of Altman's misfires; not awful, but not terribly good either, and inarguably d-u-m-b--I'm sure the post-film Q&A will be worth the price of admission alone. And since I won't be seeing THE LAST MISTRESS, MARGOT AT THE WEDDING, or NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN until today and tomorrow, the only film I can outright recommend is Hou Hsiao-hsien's hypnotic and lovely FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON.

That's all I got. Off to the Walter Reade for more festival goodness...