Now that the blizzard known as the holiday movie season has passed us by, moviegoers are left to sit through and endure the leftover sludge of films that didn't make last year's grade. Fortunately, the Marquette Journal has just the remedy for our cinematic malaise.

The Journal is hosting its second annual Student Film Festival tonight at the Varsity Theatre.

The event will showcase student films ranging from music videos to cartoon animation and everything in between. Filmmakers Mike Schank and Mark Borchardt ("American Movie") will be on hand for the event, which will also feature stand up comedy from College of Health Sciences senior Conor Sterbenz.

The festival began last year as a brainchild of Journal Editor in Chief Erin Brethauer and Literary Editor Kyle Carritt. The decision to go forward with the festival, they say, was spurred by a feeling of necessity.

"Things like these don't happen enough on campus," said Carritt, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences. "We started this event because we feel that there needs to be more creative outlets for the university and its students. It's something we're really proud of, and we hope it continues on after we leave."

Ten films will make their debut at the event, each tackling a wide variety of formats and topics. According to Carritt, the sense of diversity and lack of strict criteria gives the festival its edge.

"We didn't set any real criteria or guidelines for the films," he said. "They don't exist. You'll see work that runs the gauntlet from highbrow to lowbrow, where really anything goes."

Admission to the show costs five dollars, and all proceeds go to the Journal. The cost also covers popcorn, a raffle ticket and a potential date with a certain Journal copy editor.

"It's a night worth of entertainment on a variety of levels," said Brethauer, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences. "Last year we had a raffle pony and a raffle shark. This year we want to auction off (College of Communication senior) Matt Nash as Marquette's most eligible bachelor, or maybe do 'Win a Date with Matt Nash,' or something like that. It'll be an evening full of surprises."

If that's not enough to whet your appetite, we haven't begun to talk about the music, which, while still tentative and up in the air, Brethauer promises would be a fun addition to the already eclectic lineup.

"There's these two guys who play down at Miss Katie's Diner a lot called the 'Premiere Duo,' Brethauer said. "They dress in these white satin suits and cover songs from the 60's and 70's, everything from Frank Sinatra to Gloria Gaynor. We're still trying to get them, but they'd be great to have onstage."

"We really want to up the ante from last year," Carrit said. "We're going for the equivalent of a Flaming Lips show, and in the end we might end up destroying ourselves."

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 10 2005.