A pre-dawn dusting of snow fell on southern Oregon, wrapping Ashland like a gift.  Morning’s bright sun melted white back to green to reveal the start of the 10th Ashland Independent Film Festival.  By midday, the endless crisp, blue sky instead hung low, grey, and ominous.  A freakish snow squall swirled around the queue in front of the Varsity waiting for the first slate of films, then the clouds lifted and the world shone bright again. Those changes - from cheery to dreary and b...

I didn't think it would be possible for anything to upstage the last few days of the fest, but yes if there is one man whose indie credentials upstage them all it has to be the legendary Roger Corman walking in with none other than Peter Fonda: more in my blog coming soon about his awe-inspiring panel "School of Corman", and the power-packed films that have kept me alive for the last few days on more than just the sponsor's energy bars.     But first, th...