Tampa Film Fan

sarasota film festival starts today

If I were independently wealthy and had unlimited vacation time at work, I would spend the next ten days in Sarasota. Sigh….

The Sarasota Film Festival has some great films lined up and some amazing guests scheduled. According to the Tampa Tribune, they’ve got a good reputation also.

This weekend, as I’m either at work or at home in my jammies watching DVDs, I’ll just keep telling myself that I’m not missing anything special…I’m not missing anything special…

Still wish I were in Sarasota at the film festival.

ironweed film club tomorrow night

Received via email:

We are happy to announce our second Ironweed Film Club gathering at the Studio(at)620 on Thursday, March 30, at 8 p.m.

Film 1 - Seoul Train - 2005 (55 min) — Seoul Train is an emotionally wrenching look at a heroic Underground Railroad, an international band of activists who risk their own lives to lead North Korean refugees out of China and into countries that will give them asylum.

Film 2 - North Korea - 2004 (48 min) — If the cityscapes and patriotic anthems of this film seem a far cry from the bleak landscape of Seoul Train, that’s no accident. Dutch filmmaker Pieter Fleury, with the full permission and cooperation of the North Korean government, created this propaganda film that gives us a glimpse of a day in the life of one of the world’s most enigmatic societies.

As usual, our doors will open at 7:30 p.m. and a suggested donation of $3 is appreciated. Beer and wine will be available for purchase and popcorn will be free!

For more info, visit https://www.ironweedfilms.com/

oh snap!

(Yes, I’ve recently been watching My Name Is Earl and have adopted “oh snap” as my new phrase with which to annoy The Husband.)

The Husband and I went to the movies last night for the first time in what feels like forever. It was bliss…we had an AMC gift card so we didn’t have to pay admission; we had a coupon for free popcorn and drinks so we didn’t have to sign over our mortgage to buy something to eat; there were only about five other people in the theater, none of whom answered their cell phone, brought their crying baby or kicked my seat; and I loved the movie (V for Vendetta).

Oh snap!

cinema italiano

Festa Italiana is offering an Italian film festival — Cinema Italiano – on April 8 and 9 at the Italian Club. On April 8 they’re screening Salvatore Giuliano at 3 p.m. and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. On April 9 they’re showing Facing Windows at 1 p.m. All screenings are free and will be followed by a discussion led by a local film expert.

Mamma Mia! What a great film fest!
(ok, so I don’t speak any Italian, but The Husband is half-Italian if that counts for anything.)

is moviebeam worth beaming about?

Two Wall Street Journal reporters recently wrote a detailed and thorough review of MovieBeam, a new video-on-demand service. MovieBeam, developed by Walt Disney Co., involves three items: the MovieBeam box (about the size of a DVD player), an antenna and a remote. After paying $250 for these items (there is a $50 rebate you can get) and a one-time $30 activation fee, you have 100 movies available to rent — $1.99 for older titles, $3.99 for newer films.

100 movies are stored in the MovieBeam box; 10 leave and 10 arrive each week. The menu options include a “leaving soon” section so you can find out which 10 movies will be soon be deleted off the system. The main box must be attached to a phone line so that once every two weeks it can automatically call MovieBeam to update its records of movies viewed (charges will be billed to your credit card).

The journalists said they generally liked MovieBeam, but considered the limited selection its major flaw. “Under Hollywood’s release policies, MovieBeam can’t get most films until 30 or 45 days after they appear on DVD.” Sony is the one major studio who hasn’t agreed to allow MovieBeam to show its films, so any Sony titles are currently unavailable.

MovieBeam is currently available in 29 U.S. cities, one of which is Tampa. www.moviebeam.com has an FAQ section and the list of movies currently available. I scrolled through the first couple of pages of the list. It looks very similar to what I have available through Bright House.

Most of my Netflix rentals are TV shows, so MovieBeam isn’t the solution that will allow me to quit Netflix in a huff (I’m on a crusade against Netflix these days). I do rent a lot of movies, however. Hmmm… The MovieBeam website said that they offer lots of extras (deleted scenes, etc.), but the Wall Street Journal article said that they only offered a few extras for very few films. Deleted scenes, outtakes and other extras are sometimes worth the drive to the videostore.

Has anyone tried MovieBeam? I’d love to know what you think of it.

silverberg international film festival

I just found out about the Silverberg International Film Festival, which runs March 20-25 at the three campuses of St. Petersburg College. According to their website, this festival “highlights cultural and ethnic diversity which is manifested in world cinema.” Their guest of honor is producer and director Christopher Sheppard. There is no charge for the festival’s screenings. Click here for the schedule.

found footage festival at tampa theatre

On April 9, the Found Footage Festival can be found at Tampa Theatre (pun intended, ha ha). This is how their website describes it:

The Found Footage Festival is a live comedy event and screening featuring odd and hilarious clips from videotapes found at thrift stores and garage sales and in warehouses and Dumpsters throughout the country. Curators Geoff Haas, Joe Pickett and/or Nick Prueher host each screening and provide their unique observations and commentary on these found video obscurities. From the curiously-produced industrial training video to the forsaken home movie donated to Goodwill, the Found Footage Festival resurrects these forgotten treasures and serves them up in an entertaining 90-minute celebration of all things found.

Visit the Tampa Theatre’s website for more information or for links to the trailer.

quote of the day

A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it. — Alfred Hitchcock

free movie posters

Thanks to the wonderful Jan, I have some small posters of the upcoming film The Notorious Bettie Page to give away. If you would like a poster, please email me your mailing address (tampafilmfan (at) aol.com). First come, first served.

Wondering what the movie’s about? Read on:

From Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho), The Notorious Bettie Page is a provocative exploration of sexuality, religion and pop culture as she takes us into the 1950s and the fascinating world of famous pin-up girl Bettie Page. In an incandescent performance, Gretchen Mol stars as Bettie Page, who grew up in a conservative religious family in Tennessee and became a photo model sensation in 1950s New York. Bettie’s legendary fetish poses made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography, and transformed her into an erotic icon who continues to enthrall fans to this day.

Visit www.picturehouse.com to learn more about this film.

have you been throttled by netflix?

I’m officially annoyed at Netflix. For the longest time, I used to joke that I was an unpaid, unofficial spokesperson for Netflix, because any time that name came up in conversation, I would mention how I loved Netflix and recommend it to anyone. Not anymore.

Netflix uses a “fairness algorithm” to give priority to those members who rent fewer DVDs. In other words, if you watch and return movies quickly, you are subject to shipping delays and not given priority on newer and in-demand titles. You’re throttled.

I don’t rent nearly as many DVDs from Netflix as the guy profiled in the CNN article, but I noticed a big change in delivery time about a year ago. It takes longer for returned DVDs to be acknowledged and for others to be mailed to me. After years of promising unlimited rentals, Netflix recently updated its rental policy to reflect this practice.

One disgruntled customer posted his statistics online. Another site, www.hackingnetflix.com, offers alternatives and posts Netflix-related news.

Like one renter mentioned in the article, I’m not going to cancel my subscription, because it’s still a good deal. But it could be better. Shame on you, Netflix.