Tampa Film Fan

napoleon dynamite is…dynamite

I know I’m one of the ten people in the world who didn’t see Napoleon Dynamite when it came out. I watched it last night and absolutely loved it. It’s bizarre, strange, weird, odd, yet somehow likeable.

Napoleon is a high-school geek with crazy afro-like hair who comes from a weird family. The movie is basically his story. How he gets beaten up at school. How he befriends Pedro, the only student with a mustache. How he tries to go back in time using a time-travel machine his uncle bought off the internet. How he keeps tater tots from lunch to eat as an afternoon snack. How he finds a “dance grooves” video in a thrift shop and teaches himself to dance (with hilarious results).

Quirky yet wonderful.

Film Fan Finding: A-

calling rescue 911…william shatner’s dvd club

My boss and I share a love for all things Star Trek, although he’s a bigger fan of the original series (that TOS to the Trekkers) and I’m more of a DS9 and Voyager gal myself. He sent me a link to William Shatner’s DVD Club. Yes, you read that correctly. Good ole Captain Kirk himself has selected the top sci-fi, fantasy and horror titles that you can “own for less than the cost of a rental.”

Interesting idea, I suppose, for those film fans who collect particular genres of DVDs. I usually only buy DVDs of movies that I love and plan to watch more than once. Although I suppose that if you were sent a movie that you hated, you could always “re-gift” it to someone after watching it.

Is anyone Out There a member of this DVD club? I’m curious. Not quite ready to sign up, but curious.

my christmas loot

My fridge is full of leftovers, my cupboard is full of homemade cookies, fudge, and other wonders (none of it made by me, thankfully) and my dining room table is covered with presents. Ahhh, the Christmas loot.

In addition to the ton of non-movie-related gifts I received (like my Hello Kitty toaster!), I received two AMC gift cards, a biography of Cary Grant, a book about Harrison Ford’s movies, a book about the top 100 TV stars, the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD, the third season of Little House on the Prarie on DVD, and the wonderful book The 100 Greatest American Films:A Quiz Book by Andrew J. Rausch. Even The Husband, who has seen Star Wars hundreds of times, didn’t get all the answers to the Star Wars quiz correct. The Sister-In-Law did fairly well on the Singin’ in the Rain quiz and I did all right on the Gone With The Wind quiz. 97 quizzes to go!

The Husband received a portable DVD player from his sister. After listening to my stern warning against taking it along in the car while driving and my demand that he get headphones to use around the house, he disappeared to watch DVDs and may never been seen again.

light posting over the holidays

I’ll be traveling a bit over the next week and won’t always have easy computer access. (Note to Santa: please bring me a laptop with a wireless card this year. Pretty please.) So the posts will be lighter than usual for the next week or so.

With that, I wish you a …please choose the appropriate greeting based on your religion, beliefs, political affiliation, and/or ability to be offended:

Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
Happy Holiday
Pleasant Winter Solstice
Happy December 25th
Happy Regular Day With No Religious or Commercial Significance

Now go watch some movies!

january’s coffeehouse film reviews screening list

As faithful TFF readers (all ten of you) know, the date and location for the monthly Coffeehouse Film Review have changed. CFR will now be held the second Friday of the month at International Bazaar in the Centro Ybor Complex. The time is still 8 pm. and the price is still free.

The films being screened January 13th include:

Scenes from Icon Film Studios’ feature film in progress, POP: Four outcast teenage girls kidnap a female pop star. Feeling ignored by society and sickened by pop culture, the teens plot a plan that will gain them attention by holding hostage the world’s famous pop princess.

Chip by Jeffrey Bowers: A sexual predator released from prison is implanted with a tracking chip. For the detective following him, it becomes personal. The doctor who invented the chip joins chase, culminating in a deadly finale.

Hooligans Valley by Other Side Cinema: In the world of Hooligans Valley, our two heroes Itchy and Lobo will have to save the day again. In the process, they will prove that not every duo is dynamic.

The Libertines by Jon Wolding: Candles, flowers, romance…everything a girl would expect the night of her “first time.” What’s so terrifying about that?

For information on film submissions for future Coffeehouse Film Review events, email tooprod@hotmail.com or paulguzzo@hotmail.com.

(cross-posted at Sticks of Fire)

holiday shopping

If you’re still trying to buy holiday presents for the film fan in your life, here are some ideas:

*horror film Death Plots merchandise (shirts, caps, etc.)

*Monty Python toys from Signals

*Darth Vader mug from the Wireless catalog

*a Gold Pass to the Tampa International Film Festival

*a “leg lamp” just like in A Christmas Story from the Wireless catalog

*shirts, hats, mousepads, mugs and more from Icon Film Studio

*Office Space shirts from the Wireless catalog

*Disney Christmas ornaments, Warner Bros. Christmas ornaments, Star Trek and Star Wars ornaments, or Christmas ornaments from Lord of the Rings or Shrek – from Hallmark

*annual membership to the Tampa Theatre

*gift card to any local movie theater

*Sherlock Holmes DVD sets from Pretty Good Goods

*DVDs, books, notecards and more from Turner Classic Movies

Happy shopping!

local short film news

Here are three local short films I found out about recently:

This week’s Creative Tampa Bay newsletter mentions producer Megan Brown’s 5-minute film Persuasion, filmed locally over the Thanksgiving weekend. Brown created the film to submit to the www.eincubator.org contest. Click here for the newsletter article.

Jason, a Tampa filmmaker, has posted a link to his short film A Man’s Prerogative.

Tampa Bay Muse proudly presents its first original short film Katie Bird is My Girlfriend.

pizza is king in film and in local restaurant

On December 28, Chef Santo Bruno will bring the producers and writers of The Pizza King to his Tampa restaurant Bellisimo Ristorante to train them in the nuances of the pizza industry. According to Pizza Marketing Quarterly, The Pizza King is “a feature film about two Brooklyn pizzerias battling not only over the pizza business, but over who is the King of Pizza and who makes the best pie.”

In addition to learning about pizza that day, the filmmaking staff will be giving out promotional items for the film. When you buy a pizza that day, you’ll get a lottery ticket for a chance to be an extra in the last scene of the film.

So stop by Bellisimo Ristorante on December 28th and have some pizza, watch The Pizza King filmmakers attempt to toss pizza dough in the air (and more importantly, catch it!), and pick up a promotional picture, T-shirt or hat. Who knows — you could get the winning ticket and be an extra in the movie.

Hmmm, I’m suddenly craving pizza for some reason…

(cross-posted at Sticks of Fire)

ybor festival of the moving image sets 2006 dates

Mark your calendars — the fourth annual Ybor Festival of the Moving Image will be April 4-9, 2006. In addition to documentaries, shorts, feature films and live performances, the fourth annual YFMI will have a retrospective on Tampa-born filmmaker Les Blank and will show two of his new works. Blank will attend the festival and discuss his films.

local woman creating gun safety film

The St. Pete Times had a story over the weekend about a Largo woman, Jeanne Caroline, who is creating a film about her son’s accidental shooting death. She hopes to get her message about gun safety out to Hillsborough county students and others through this film.

A guy I knew growing up was killed at age 17 by his brother, who was playing around with a gun. My husband once witnessed a friend being shot in the face by another friend playing “quick draw” with the safety accidentally off. I applaud Caroline for finding a bit of good in her personal tragedy by making this film.