Sure, you may think a little bit about what you eat—how many calories are in a cupcake, what exactly 24 grams of fat means for your butt, and how to fit a cheeseburger into your diet while still fitting into your swimsuit. But what if instead of pondering the food-to-figure relationship, you thought about where your food comes from and why that matters.

The Boise Urban Garden School challenges children to think about food and "choices that affect their health, the environment, the local economy and both personal and social responsibility." It provides hands-on experience with gardening, fresh-food prep and running the BUGS produce stand.

Today, you can help the school without getting any dirt under your nails. Franz Witte will present Heart and Soil, a 45-minute documentary about small-scale farming, farmers markets and farm-to-school programs. The film will be shown today at The Flicks, starting at 3 p.m. You can catch the family friendly film for $15, or $12 for your youngin', with proceeds benefitting the school.

A wine tasting and reception will precede the event at 2 p.m., and a panel discussion moderated by food guru and Boise Weekly contributor Guy Hand will follow.

Think way, way back, through endless bits of information and scintillating stories, to February. You may recall that Boise Weekly was all abuzz about the documentary Hot Coffee by Susan Saladoff. The film was shown at the Egyptian Theatre, where the lawyer-turned-filmmaker presented her work and answered questions about so-called "frivolous" lawsuits and tort reform.

The central case in Hot Coffee is the infamous McDonald's lawsuit, in which an elderly woman suffered severe burns after spilling her too-hot beverage. The showing at the Egyptian was well-attended, and audible gasps echoed throughout the theater at various points in the film.

If you missed out on Saladoff's visit, you can get caught up tonight at the Library! at Cole and Ustick. The film will be screened for FREE beginning at 6 p.m., with a moderated discussion to follow.

Boise's Alan Heathcock has been burning up the bestseller charts and earning rave reviews with his debut book, Volt. But soon, his work may be making its way through the film festival circuit, as well.

Heathcock's story "Fort Apache" is in the process of being adapted by director Addison Mehr into a short film.

The film is currently in pre-production. As of April 17, filmmakers were in the process of casting and storyboarding for the shoot, which will take place in upstate New York.

A date for the film's completion has not yet been set. But since it will serve as Mehr's senior thesis for the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, it shouldn't be too far off.

Pixar, which has had a slew of hits (three Toy Story films, Finding Nemo, Up, WALL-E), a few minor successes (Ratatouille, A Bug's Life) and only one real dud (Cars 2), has announced plans for a movie entitled Dia de los Muertos about the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday.

The director will be Lee Unkrich, the creative force behind Toy Story 3, which grossed more than $1 billion and was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award.

"There is a strong presence of skull and skeleton motifs," wrote this morning's Guardian. "Suggesting the film may be gothic in style."

Dia de los Muertos traditionally includes colorful altars to honor the deceased as family and friends celebrate the lives of their loved ones.

At a SXSW panel discussion, founder of Slacker Radio Jim Cady said that Internet radio algorithms often fail because taste in music often has more to do with an emotional memory than the sound itself. Someone may like a band because it was playing at an important moment and hate another that sounds very similar.

Cady was speaking of lucid people. But this moving video of a man in a nursing home listening to the songs of his youth that has been making its way around the 'net lately shows that the effects can be far more primal. The man in question suffers from advanced dementia, but temporarily snaps back after listening to some of his favorite tunes.

It is a clip from a new documentary called Alive Inside, which set out to investigate the connections between music and memory, and how effective music may be as therapy.

The full film will be premiering next week at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City.

After showing thousands of films for more than a quarter-century, The Flicks is going digital beginning with today's screenings.

Transitioning The Flicks' four theaters from 35-millimeter projection systems to brand-new digital equipment will position the locally owned cineplex for new releases.

"This is an industry-wide change," Josie Pusl, the Flicks' general manager, told Cobweb. "By the end of 2013, they won't be making 35-mm prints anymore. It will all be digital. I'm not saying we'll never have a need for 35-mm, but it won't be very often."

Pusl said up to six of the theater's staff are being trained to operate the new equipment.

"It's a completely different skill set," she said. "Traditional projection skills are a thing of the past. Now, you have to have more computer savvy."

Pusl said customers should notice an immediate movie-going experience.

"The picture quality is certainly better; the sound quality is better," said Pusl. "And we're never again going to have issues such as print scratches, slices or lamp-flickering."

Digital showings of Jeff Who Lives At Home, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Thin Ice, and We Need to Talk About Kevin (which we review in the current issue of BW) all have showtimes today. Viewers may see the greatest difference in the digital experience from Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, which showcases spectacular vistas of the Scottish Highlands and the canyons of Yemen.

When you hear Revenge of the Electric Car, images of Herbie the Love Bug with a chip on its shoulder—er, fender—come to mind.

That's not what Chris Paine's documentary Revenge of the Electric Car is actually about. But it still sounds pretty darn neat. The film explores the comeback of the electric car and takes a look at Nissan, General Motors and Tesla Motors, as well as an independent car converter.

You can find out what's up with electric cars today at 5:30 p.m. at the Boise State Special Events Center. The screening is FREE to attend and includes a question-and-answer session with the film's producer, Jessie Deeter.

The somewhat-forgotten genre of silent film garnered some new attention with The Artist's Best Picture, Director and Actor wins at the Oscars. If you're craving more quiet-movie action, today is your day.

Get your fix at the Egyptian Theatre at 2 p.m., when the Boise Philharmonic presents Musical Movies. What does an orchestra have to do with silent film, you ask? Well, traditionally, silent movies weren't so silent—they were accompanied by an organ or small ensemble. The Phil will give you that old-school experience when it plays alongside the films Felix in Pedigreedy, starring Felix the Cat; One Week, starring Buster Keaton; and The Adventurer, starring silent-film-and-mustache legend Charlie Chaplin.

Catch these historic films at the historic theater for $18, or $10 for students and children. Tickets are available at the Philharmonic's website.

Maybe you've somehow managed to escape the alluring clutches of central downtown, never venturing further west than Bown Crossing.

Whatever your reason for staying away, shelve it. Today. Head down to Grove Street and you'll discover an intriguing fact about the City of Trees—there's a substantial Basque epicenter, including a museum, a market and some tasty restaurants. Get a feel for it, then head to Boise State, where a special screening of Zuretzako will take place in the Student Union Building's Simplot Ballroom at 7 p.m.

The screening is part of International Mother Language Day, and director Javi Zubizarreta will be available to answer questions and give insight into his film about his grandfather. Joseba Gabilondo from Michigan State University will offer a cinema-scholar perspective as well. Call 208-447-8975 for more info.

Feb. 5, opening day of the Banff Mountain Film Festival at the Egyptian Theatre, was filled with the short, but rich and entertaining films All.I.Can: The Short Cut; The Trail Collector; The Man and the Mammoth; Solitaire; and Reel Rock: Origins—Obe & Ashima, in addition to the two longer films Kadoma and Chasing Water.

Kadoma starts hard and fast, like the roaring waves doubling over the heads of single-man kayaks that look like specks against the landscape. It ends at the bottom of the human experience, the tragedy and sorrow of loss. The pace of the 42-minute film slows and surges like the waters it takes place on. The kayaker's journey of descent—from the highest highs to the lowest lows—is both metaphor and storyline for Kadoma. A beautiful tribute to South-African kayaker and explorer Hendri Coetzee, Kadoma inspires viewers to live like Coetzee—fully, despite the risks.

The other long-ish film that ran on opening day of Banff also follows the trail of a river. Chasing Water is a film about Peter McBride's surprising discovery that the Colorado River doesn't reach the sea anymore. A National Geographic photojournalist, McBride draws attention to the need for water conservation through mostly aerial photographs which reveal the many "straws" sucking water from the Colorado. The ravenous thirst for the river is causing it to dry up. In a tour that features many films shot in exotic foreign locales, Chasing Water makes a compelling case for the stories yet to be told in the American West.

All.I.Can is refreshing in its take on snow films. Rather than showing direct shots of a skier making his or her way down the side of a giant mountain, the short lets viewers journey through the seasons with superimposed images of winter, summer, spring and fall. The creativity of All.I.Can feels a bit like an animated film. It gets creative with marketing, as well. The full-length-version of the film is available through iTunes and the film closes with a nudge to go check out the whole thing.

Feb. 6, the second day of Banff, ended in surprise with the film Cold. It was surprising in that it removed the idealism from adventure and instead focused intensely on the raw emotion of facing death. Cold follows alpinist Cory Richards' ascent and descent on a Himalayan peak in 50-below freezing weather. Frostbitten and dark, with bits of humor thrown in, Cold is worth the watch.

Another highlight from the second day of the fest was On the Trail of Genghis Khan: The Last Frontier. The film turned out to be less of a historical docudrama and more about a young man's personal journey. Somewhere in his three-year trek from Mongolia to Hungary, Tim Cope taps into his nomadic spirit by finding joy in solitude and becoming attached to his only companions: three horses and a dog named Tigon. The second day of Boise's Banff fest featured the last episode of a four-part series.

Rock- and ice-climbing enthusiasts were treated to Reel Rock: Ice Revolution and Grand Libre au Grand Cap. Both films amazed audiences with unbelievable footage of climbing pioneers. In Grand Libre, Arnaud Petit and Stephanie Bodet inch their way up a giant granite wall that looks like it barely has any holds until they reach a 3,900-meter pinnacle at Chamonix-Mont Blanc. The pair starts before sunrise and finishes around sunset.

Two four-minute films shown at Banff are also worth tracking down. Seasons: Fall, a short made by Boiseans Ryan Bailey and Skip Armstrong, is a pure and simple statement on the joy of kayaking. Ski Bums Never Die follows a band of 70-plus-year-old skiers who still pine for powder. Each season, the group packs into the back of a rinky-dink truck to ride its backyard. And the group does it with all the style and grace of any young ski bum.

Another short film, The Freedom Chair, reminds us all that life is what you make of it. Winner of Banff's Best Film—Mountain Sports, Freedom Chair is Josh Dueck's personal essay about returning to skiing after an accident that leaves him paralyzed from the waist down. In short, Dueck returns and thrives in his favorite sport.

Tonight is closing night for the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Films include On Assignment: Jimmy Chin; Reel Rock: Sketchy Andy; SPOIL; Towers of the Ennedi; Hanuman Airlines; Seasons: Winter; and C.A.R.C.A.

Tickets are $20 and doors open at 6 p.m., the show starts at 7 p.m.