Matthew Lillard is known for roles like the killer in Scream, Stevo the punk rocker in the awesome SLC Punk, and some stranger stuff like Up A Creek. I talked with him at the Seattle International Film Festival about two projects: Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas and The Groomsmen, as well as about an upcoming slasher film he plans to produce, direct and star in.

The MPAA rating system has been locked in secrecy since its inception. There are no published guidelines or standards to tell the public how a film arrives at a particular rating. In his latest film, This Film is Not Yet Rated, documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick examines the MPAA rating process, all the way up to submitting This Film is Not Yet Rated to the ratings board. Along the way he talks with directors who had their films come back with an NC-17 rating. At SIFF 2006, I talked with Kirby Dick about the film, about how the rating system works (or doesn't) and about how he was able to use fair use to include movie clips from MPAA member companies.

I'm not a big fan of the Winter Olympics, but there's something incredibly fun about a mockumentary of one of the more popular ski events, Ski Jumping. At SIFF 2006, I talk with director Riichiro Mashima about the concept behind Ski Jumping Pairs, how he developed the idea and the methodology involved in making the movie.

And of course you can stay on top of all my Seattle International Film Festival coverage of at the Hollywood Reviews SIFF blog.

Millions of people start their day with a crossword puzzle. A very small group of passionate puzzlers compete in the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut. Director Patrick Creadon's new documentary, Wordplay tracks a small group of competitors on the road to the tournament, following them up to the championship round. Simultaneously, Merl Reagle, the mastermind behind the Sunday puzzle in papers like the San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times and LA Times is submitting a puzzle to the New York Times, which will later be completed by celebrity puzzlers like Bill Clinton, Jon Stewart and Mike Mussina. Merl Reagle was on hand at the Seattle International Film Festival 2006 to talk about Wordplay and some of the history behind the tournament.

Neil Burger directed Edward Norton, Jessica Biel and Paul Giamatti in this period story about a travelling magician who wins the heart of a princess and puts the plans of the crown prince in jeopardy. This interview takes place before the opening night gala at the Seattle International Film Festival 2006.

I recently wrote about the hand crank flashlight I picked up at Target prior to heading out for a weekend of hiking. I continue to think the hand crank concept is brilliant and offer a little history on the flashlight invention.

Taking photos in the great outdoors presents some challenges not readily addressed by automatic configuration and the typical point-and-shoot approach to snapping photos of friends indoors. Before you step out into nature for a hike, paddle a canoe down your favorite river or pack for a camping excusion, check out these tips for better outdoor photography.

I recently wrote about some frustrations with Windows Firewall where each time you attempt to start it, it returns Error 10047. This occurs after using Microsoft Anti Spyware to clean junk from your system. Fortunately there's an easy fix, which I talk about both in the article and in this latest audio post.

I recently got a question for a reader about how to secure information on a laptop running Windows XP. This audio post covers encryption, password protection techniques and removal of privacy violating files from your system.

Listen to this quick tip on watching standard definition video on an HDTV screen.