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Pictured: Alan Cumming receives the 2007 Golden Apple Award and talks about Suffering Man's Charity at the film's New York premiere during the 4th Annual Big Apple Film Festival.

Last night I attended opening night of the Big Apple Film Festival at Tribeca Cinemas here in New York City. It was a good time, the place was packed for both opening night films -- Owl and the Sparrow and Suffering Man's Charity -- and actor/director Alan Cumming was on hand to receive their annual Golden Apple award. Nice guy, and one who should be commended for coming out to support a homegrown fest like this, currently in its fourth year. You'd be surprised at how many celebs feel they're too good, too important, too awesome to come mingle with the locals or attend an event without any paparazzi. And Cumming, who was also attending the premiere of his new Sci-Fi show Tin Man uptown, went out of his way to leave that event and drive clear across the city to show up and speak to a bunch of moviegoers about his film, his career and his life. No press. No media red carpet. Just a filmmaker and his fans. Bravo. If only more folks were like that. But anyway ...

I have to give a shout out to two guys who came up to me in the theater lobby afterwards. I've been writing for Cinematical for over two and a half years now, and I've never actually met one of our many many readers in person. But this guy came up to me, all giddy and whatnot, because he had found out that I wrote for Cinematical. The smile on his face -- man, I felt like I was a celebrity. He was a huge fan, and when he walked out with two other people, another guy ran back in: "Hey, sorry, but he just told me who you were and I needed to shake your hand." I felt like saying, "Dude, I write a movie blog. But when I save the world, I'll be sure to let you know." Regardless, I was really blown away by their enthusiasm for the site, for my writing and for the hard work all of us put into bringing you tons of movie news each and every single day. A week does not go by without reading at least four comments from people who either a) want me dead or b) want me to stop writing and go shovel sh*t for a living. So, I just wanted to thank those two guys (who never told me their names) for reminding me why we do what we do. Cheers!

Gallery: 2007 Big Apple Film Festival

Sure, the big festivals like Tribeca are fun to attend, but every once and a while it's nice to settle into one of the smaller fests, where the seats are cheap, the beer is free and you're guaranteed plenty of entertainment. One of the things I love about The Big Apple Film Festival (now in its third year) is its focus on short films -- in fact (and here's a rarity in festival world), Big Apple will open this Thursday with a shorts program, instead of a feature. Refreshing, ain't it?

Some of the other highlights at this year's fest are the premieres of Everything's Jake (Friday night) and Searching for Bobby D. (Saturday night). Following the screening of Jake on Friday, Ernie Hudson (remember him from Ghost Busters?) will receive a lifetime achievement award. Also, on Saturday afternoon, there's a free panel discussion on indie film distribution featuring folks like Jason Leaf (co-President, Avatar Films), David Paterson (writer, Love Ludlow) and Cleo Godsey (Director of Business Affairs, First Run Features). Oh, and don't forget about the Horrorfest Series -- this year, four shorts will be featured including Witchwise and Penny Dreadful. Yours truly is on the fest's advisory board, and I'll also be there for most of the screenings -- so feel free to say hello (just look for the hot shot in the Cinematical t-shirt). For more info on Big Apple (which will be held at Tribeca Cinemas), check out the official website.