Here's a new one: A television show inspires a band! In Easthampton, Mass., the ABC series “;Lost”; prompted a few musical folks to form a band called The Others. Episodes along the way galvanized the songwriters to create a double-CD set for release next month. Entitled “;Seasons 3 & 4,”; the songs illuminate the characters' hourlong story arcs in three-minute pop songs (with a sometime country flair). “;Flash forward now, these pills are my friend. Guess I should have listened to Ben ... ,”; goes one set of lyrics about Jack. “;I'm sad and lonely ever since I got home. Tell John Locke he was right. I was wrong.”; While the music doesn't show a ton of range, some of the lyrics are entertaining. Listen to samples at http://theothers.thethungs.com/mp3s.php....

  It's film festival season again (did it ever end?), and Honolulu is definitely in the mix. Actually, for a little island in the Pacific, we do extremely well on this front. The Cinema Italiano launched yesterday with a welcome reception featuring Daniel Dae Kim and Jason Scott Lee, who are part of the jury. The six selections play at the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Tickets are $7. Check out the Star-Bulletin's rundown on the films at https://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/09/19/features/story05.html.

Pre-sale tickets for the 28th annual Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival go on sale today ($10) for a program that includes more than 150 films from 36 different countries - and plenty of representation from local filmmakers.

“;The Divine Weapon,”; a Korean action epic film, will open the festival at 8 p.m. on Oct. 9. Korean cinema is definitely a highlight this year, as another film from South Korea will close the festival at 7 p.m. on Oct. 18. “;The Good, the Bad, The Weird”; is set in the 1930s, when the Korean peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule, and many Koreans sought refuge in the wilderness of Manchuria. Director Ji-woon Kim tips a 10-gallon hat to spaghetti westerns with mega-star Woo-sung Jung, who is slated to attend part of the festival.

All films will be screened at Regal Dole Cannery Stadium 18 from Oct. 9 to 19. Buy tickets there, by phone (550-8457) or at http://www.hiff.org, where you can also find a detailed schedule of movies. ...

...

Speaking of HIFF, more student films than ever - 12 from the University of Hawaii's Academy for Creative Media - made the cut this year. This includes the first collaboration between the U.S. and students from Shanghai University's School of Film and Television Art & Technology. Written, directed and produced by the teams and shot on location in Shanghai, the shorts focus on the theme “;Better City, Better Life,”; Shanghai's slogan for the World Expo in 2010.

ACM's films will show at 6 p.m. Oct. 14 at Dole, following a free screening of student films from Shanghai University at 4 p.m.

Featured filmmakers include Yayoi Ikezaki, Thomas Takemoto-Chock, Monet Sadural, Nasser Marghalani, Dana Ledoux Miller, Ark Fang Ran Mu and Jacob Holcomb.