“On the Road Film Fest (OTR)” puts a new spin on an old idea. The founders, all young artists themselves, decided to take their program of films out of the traditional single-city locale and tour them across the country to 12 major cities over 36 nights in the fall of 2007. Using portable outdoor movie screens and relying on cooperation from cities and universities nationwide, OTR is resurrecting the outdoor movie experience – for free.

“We're each out in Hollywood trying to do things in a way they haven't been done before,” explains Festival Programmer and Artistic Director, Andrew Moorman. “And not just for the sake of breaking the mold, but for the sake of creating a new one that emphasizes the art. Some films are made to make money, and with that comes limitations to make art that is commercially viable. We're not interested in that, or rather we don't have to be, that's the luxury of being a rolling gallery.”

Not only is OTR offering national exposure for independent films, they'll be holding a regional shorts competition via their Web site, www.otrfilmfest.com. The regional winners, chosen by the viewers, will open the fest in their respective cities.

Campus Circle readers who enter “Campus Circle” in the University Code section on the submission form will receive a $10 discount on the submission fee. Deadline is June 1, with a late cut-off of   June 15.

FIGHT CLUB RETURNS

The Pasadena Weekly presents Saturday Midnight Movies at the Rialto. It's madness on March 31 as Fight Club starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton returns to the silver screen.

Though it was nominated for a 2000 Oscar for Best Sound Effects Editing, Helena Bonham Carter was the real winner: She scored an Empire Award (UK) for Best British Actress. My favorite nomination: Ed Norton's MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Fight (against himself).

This movie is incredibly violent. So much so, I couldn't sit through it. Yet many reviewers loved it.

Rolling Stone raved, “Pulls you in, challenges your prejudices, rocks your world and leaves you laughing in the face of an abyss. It's alive, all right. It's also an uncompromising American classic.” And LA Weekly wrote, “On a purely visual level, it's the most powerful and viscerally exciting movie to come out of Hollywood this year.”

But there were some, who, like me, were put off by the blood and gore overload. The L.A. Times was just a little harsh in their criticism: “What's most troubling about this witless mishmash of whiny, infantile philosophizing and bone-crunching violence is the increasing realization that it actually thinks it's saying something of significance.”

This Saturday, sit in for the flick – I recommend on an empty stomach – and decide for yourself.

The Rialto is located at 1023 Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 388-2122 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com