Remember when I was all mad at Eddie Murphy at the Maui Film Festival? I was so busy writing about that that I forgot to tell you about the films. I only saw three (well, two and a half. I fell asleep during Cash Crop). Splinterheads was one of them, and it was the only one that I actually really liked. It was a quirky romantic comedy that reminded me of a more indie Garden State and had me thinking that I scored the film-picking jackpot that night. Until Cash Crop at least. Skip ahead to now and I’m talking to the producers, Anisa Qureshi and Taylor Phillips, at their exclusive DVD release launch party at Bar 35. I was surprised to learn that some filmmakers from Hollywood actually live in Hawaii. Turns out there’s no reason for them not to–most projects have them spending six months here or there, anyway. So why not be based in beautiful Honolulu instead of so-so Los Angeles? Makes sense to me. Just send us the friendly ones only, please. With all the film industry business that’s bustling here now, don’t be surprised if you bump in to George Clooney at Whole Foods or Johnny Depp getting a drink somewhere. Their two films are already getting underway, as is Hawaii Five-O. This is getting exciting if you ask me. Car chases down Vineyard Blvd., sea battles off Makaha and Scott Caan, that hot blonde guy from Ocean’s Eleven. Sounds like a really neat summer.

It would be nice if Jake Miyasato from genuineHI was based in Honolulu, but I totally understand why he’s not. Boeing pays their engineers tons of money and Seattle is a pretty cool city if you like to see live shows and wear plaid. I was his biggest groupie when he did shows at Nextdoor. It’s not like he did anything too out of the ordinary–bringing together live music with live art and fashion shows isn’t exactly groundbreaking anymore. Back then it kind of was, but he also managed to fill the room with people that were happy to be there. You know, not walking in the door with attitude on their face or whatever. It was a welcoming atmosphere of creative people or people who like creative people and you noticed it right off the bat. That right there shows dedication, he wasn’t the kind of promoter to just drown people in fliers. He was actually taking time to have a conversation with someone about the show and his vision and it showed with the vibe. I pretty much lived for his events, and I’m thrilled to report that our Jake is back in Honolulu this weekend to take the Next Movement to the next level with Future Paradise. He’s got a tough act to follow after this past weekend, where Nextdoor was packed in tight both Friday and Saturday nights for hip-hop shows. It’s really good to see that place back in action; they even accept credit cards now. It was also really good to see our very own Prolific Unknowns completely steal the show at Myka9 on Friday night. K-Luv and Big Mox are lyrical geniuses and now that they have a band together they are easily going to become a local favorite. I beat them over to Fresh Café for Rocky Rivera to find another room completely full of hip-hop stylies. It was cool to see that there’s more of that genre than we thought, with two huge hip-hop shows able to be successful in one night. It’s almost like we’re a real metropolis. Actually, no it’s not. That’s why I love it.