Tampa Film Fan

film fan finding:premonition

If you’ve seen the preview of Premonition, you’ve pretty much seen the movie.  You’ve only missed the unsatisfying ending, which brings a halfway-decent movie to a disappointing end.

Sandra Bullock’s character is a wife and mother who suddenly begins living the days of the week out of order.  On Thursday she learns that her husband was killed in a car accident.  The next morning – Saturday — she attends a funeral already planned and talks to a stranger who knows her.  Then she wakes up on Tuesday and her husband is still alive.

After seeing this movie, I wished I could experience a couple of days out of order so I could warn myself to wait for Premonition to come out on DVD.

Film Fan Finding: C

film news:shadow puppets, sunscreen film festival, west 47th street

• Fresh from the James Marsters mailing list (yes, I’m a subscriber and proud of it): the MySpace page for the upcoming thriller/horror film Shadow Puppets (starring James Marsters, Tony Todd and Jolene Blalock) is now up: www.myspace.com/shadowpuppetsmovie
• The Sunscreen Film Festival (April 6-8) has posted its schedule and is selling tickets online.  There are some interesting short films scheduled!  Visit www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com to learn more.
• USF’s Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute is hosting producer Bill Lichtenstein and screening his documentary West 47th Street at 7 p.m. on March 29 at the Dr. Blaise F. Alfano Conference and Banquet Center (across from USF at Fowler Ave. and McKinsey Dr.).  West 47th Street is the story of four people with serious mental illness who are members of Fountain House, a New York City psychiatric rehabilitation program.  The screening “will provide an excellent springboard for discussions about accommodation, acceptance, allocation of resources, and ultimately, about how our view of people with mental illness shapes their quality of life.”  Art will be on display and for sale by Bay area artists with mental and physical disabilities. Click here for more info.

film fan finding:the host

(Screened at the Gasparilla Film Festival.)

The Host was worth staying up past my bedtime for (10 p.m. film screenings seem a lot later than in the old days).  It’s a funny film about a small girl and her quirky family: the tired shop owner grandfather, the loser nerd of a father, the over-achieving athlete aunt and the corporate sellout uncle. Oh, and a monster.  A part Alien, part T-Rex monster that has morphed into being because of all the toxic pollutants in the Han River.  It eats some people, tramples others, and takes a few back to its sewer lair for a late-night snack.

When the little girl is taken by the creature, the family members forget all their past differences and work together to rescue her.  In addition to discovering where the monster has hidden her, they have to stay one step ahead of the police, who want to return these “infected citizens” to the “safety and medical care of our hospitals.”  (Politics 101: Never admit that there’s an unknown beast running around killing people; claim it’s a deadly virus instead.) Blood, mayhem, craziness, family feuding and hilarity ensue.

Film Fan Finding: B+

film fan finding:bottom feeder

(Screened at the Gasparilla Film Festival.) 

Bottom Feeder is a scathing look at anger, racism and hatred. This short film shows one day in the R-rated life of a loan shark (played by writer/director Wayne Gurman), following him as he drives around collecting money, starting arguments, beating people up, harassing women and just generally being a major jerk.  There are some truly hysterical moments in this movie, and some deeply disturbing ones too.  The Annoying Movie Theater Audience Awards fantasy sequence was great and something anyone who’s been to a movie theater lately can relate to. (Although, thankfully I’ve never had a drug dealer sit behind me in a theater loudly making drug deals on his cell phone during the movie.)

Gurman makes some interesting points about prejudice, beginning with the fact that his character is an outspoken bigot who won’t tolerate any negative comments about his African-American wife or his bi-racial children, and ending with the life lesson his character learns the hard way at the end of the film.  Bottom Feeder is filthy and funny.

Film Fan Finding: B+

upcoming screenings of local film the ghosts of ybor:the end is blossoming

Received via email: 

1 Day Films and the Guzzo Brothers are pleased to announce TWO showings of their newest film, The Ghosts of Ybor: The End Is Blossoming:

1. The Sunscreen Film Festival on Sunday, April 8, at 12:30 p.m. at the Vinoy in St. Petersburg. Visit www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com for a complete list of all films at the fest.

2. The HCC Ybor Festival of the Moving Image on Sunday, April 22, at 2 p.m. at the Cuban Club, 2010 North Avenida Republica De Cuba (North 14th Street) in Ybor City.  Visit www.yborfilmfestival.com for their full schedule.

In 1942, a Sicilian mobster from New York City moves to Ybor City to take control of the illegal lottery, bolita, from Ybor gangster Charlie Wall. The Sicilian mobster brings his beautiful indentured servant with him. A local bartender falls in love with the indentured servant and promises to do all he can to free her from the mobster’s grasp. 

This Romeo and Juliet-themed film has thus far been accepted into six film festivals around the world and has been nominated for two awards.  In this film, 1 Day Films and the Guzzo Brothers, along with fellow producer Chris Rish, have recreated old Ybor City while showcasing such beautiful locations as the Cuban Club and the Centro Asturiano.

Chris Rish, a professor at the International Academy of Design and Technology (IADT), brought IADT’s very BEST students with him, which made such a complicated project possible.  Rex Willis, a faculty member at Manatee Community College, where he teaches guitar, composition and music theory, provided an original “classical” score for the film, hand picking some of Central Florida’s finest classical musicians for the orchestra.

This is the first of a series of films to be produced on the “Era of Blood,” the mob wars that took place in Tampa during the 1940s. Currently, the Guzzos are producing a documentary about these mob wars, with a feature film on Ybor City’s mob era in the works for 2008.

Visit www.yborghosts.com to view a trailer of the Guzzos’ newest spectacular film.

Pete and Paul Guzzo’s latest film credits include The Dance and 99, which won numerous awards at film festivals throughout the world. The Guzzos are founders of The Tampa Film Review, a monthly showcasing of local independent films. In 2005 the Weekly Planet named the Guzzos The Best Reasons to Believe the Local Film Scene is Alive. They are also on the Gasparilla Film Festival’s Board of Directors.

Congratulations, guys!

do all film bloggers have sexy voices or is it just me?

At the recent Tampa Bay Blogger Meetup, I was forced drafted volunteered encouraged to participate in a podcast interview with Ryan Price from www.FloridaCreatives.com.  Ryan is a great guy who helped me figure out how to do my first podcast (which ended up not happening, because interviewee writer/director Mark Fergus was running behind schedule on interview day, so I ended up interviewing Fergus on my cell phone at 11:30 a.m. hiding in an empty office at my Real Job, which means I couldn’t record our conversation to post as a podcast).  Ryan interviewed me, Ryan X. from www.Groover.net and Derrick Daye from www.BrandingStrategyInsider.com.

Here’s the link.  The interview turned out way better than I expected.  The good news is that I don’t sound nearly as goofy as I thought I did.  The bad news is that living in Tampa for 10 years seems to have wiped away pretty much all of my charming Southern accent.

local documentary ten at the top in tampa bay is top-notch

After months of anticipation, I finally had a chance to see the local documentary Ten at the Top in Tampa Bay last night.  It was worth the wait.  Tampa native Renee Warmack noticed that the Tampa Bay area has ten women currently heading governmental institutions:

• Pat Bean, County Administrator, Hillsborough County
• MaryEllen Elia, Superintendent, School District of Hillsborough County
• Pat Frank, Clerk of the Circuit Court, 13th Judicial Circuit
• Nancy Fryrear, Postmaster, Tampa — United States Postal Service
• Julianne Holt, Public Defender, 13th Judicial Circuit
• Pam Iorio, Mayor, City of Tampa
• Dr. Luanne Panacek, Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Board of Hillsborough County
• Dr. Gwendolyn Stephenson, President, Hillsborough Community College
• Dr. Judy Genshaft, President, University of South Florida
• Colonel Margaret Woodward, Commander, MacDill Air Force Base

Warmack did more than merely notice; she decided to become a documentary filmmaker, to interview these remarkable women, to embody the spirit of the Ophelia Project, to encourage children to dream big and to inspire everyone, especially women.  Warmack was able to interview eight of the ten women (Dr. Genshaft and Col. Woodward weren’t available) and get them to open up about their education, childhoods, dreams, goals, challenges and mentors.   Dr. Stephenson spoke about her original goal of becoming a doctor, the career challenges she has faced as an African-American woman and the advice her mother gave her (”read everything”).  Ms. Frank quoted her father’s advice (”go to college, take care of your teeth and buy expensive shoes”) and talked about the hideous bow-tie fashions that career women adopted in the 80s to try to fit into the male suit-and-tie world.  All of the women shared funny, touching, poignant stories from their own lives.

I found Ten at the Top in Tampa Bay not only inspirational, but honest.  The interviewees were very open in discussing the ups and downs of their careers: the prejudice and sexism, and the mentoring, encouragement and support. I was glad to see the women identified almost every time they were on screen, which kept the viewer from getting confused about who was speaking.  Also, I enjoyed the photos of the women as children, teenagers and young women at the beginning of their careers.  However, I wish that Warmack had mentioned Dr. Genshaft and Col. Woodward more than just the one time at the very beginning of the film.  Very brief bios and a mention that those two were unavailable for interviews would have filled in the very small gap (for me, anyway) of featuring only eight women in a film called Ten at the Top in Tampa Bay.

Before filming, Warmack made a commitment not to sell DVDs of her film.  She said last night that she plans to honor this promise, but is sharing her film with schools and other organizations since her motto is “go forth and mentor.”  I hope others discover this remarkable and inspirational mentoring tool that Warmack has given the Bay area.

Visit www.tenatthetop.com for more info or to view a trailer of this film.  Ten and the Top in Tampa Bay will make its broadcast premiere at 4 p.m. on March 25 on WEDU.  The film will also screen at the Ybor Festival of the Moving Image on April 22.

(cross-posted at www.sticksoffire.com)

i’ve got tickets to the advance screening of new movie first snow

 I’ve got some tickets to the advance screening of Oscar-nominated screenwriter (Children of Men) Mark Fergus’ directorial debut First Snow, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. April 4 at AMC Westshore. (First Snow opens in Florida on April 6.)  Here’s a description of the movie:

Wound tight and cocky, Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce) is a smooth-talking salesman certain he’s on the verge of a big break. Even when his car stalls in the middle of nowhere, a roadside soothsayer (J.K. Simmons) assures him a windfall is on its way. But although Jimmy should be happy when his boss suddenly agrees to financially back his business venture, he starts to become paranoid instead.

As his girlfriend Deirdre (Piper Perabo) and his best friend/ business partner Ed (William Fichtner) watch him slowly come unwound, Jimmy wonders if a past betrayal of his friend, newly paroled Vince (Shea Whigham), could be catching up to him. And, as the weather turns cold, Jimmy can’t help but fear the mysterious seer’s other prediction . . . that they’ll be no tomorrow after the first snow.

Running Time: 101 minutes
MPAA Rating: “R” for Language, Some Violence, and Sexuality

(To learn more about the film, visit http://www.firstsnowthemovie.com/.)

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to see First Snow and interview writer/director Mark Fergus over the phone (review and interview will be posted soon).  He’s incredibly gifted and super nice to nervous bloggers doing their first phone interviews, and I enjoyed the movie.

If you would like a pass for two to the April 4 advance screening, email me your mailing address at tampafilmfan(at)aol.com.  Passes are limited and are available on a first come, first served basis.

vidcon coming to tampa july 20-22

The fan fiction convention Vidcon is returning to Tampa July 20-22.  What is Vidcon, you ask?

Vidcon is a growing group of fan fiction fans who gather each year, here in Florida, to spend a couple days discussing all aspects of fan fiction. We have discussion panels, videos, contests, gaming, and, of course, food! We’re friendly and respectful of all viewpoints (slash, gen, het, and so on) and it doesn’t matter if you write, read, or are just a fan (or even a friend of a fan), there is something for everyone.

If you purchase your ticket before July 1, it’s $40.  After July 1, it’s $45.  Visit www.stonehill.org/vidfaq.htm for more info.

I’ve got a very dear friend, S., who is into fan fiction and has taught me a lot of the terminology and introduced me to some interesting websites and writers. She’s into slash, which I’m not (two men gettin’ it on is of NO interest to me).  What I find fascinating is the amazing creativity of some of these writers.  S. called me last weekend to read me part of a story she’d just discovered about Mac and PC, the two guys from the Apple commercials.  It was hysterical! The crossover storylines are fascinating…Xena meets Buffy, Stargate meets J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Smallville meets House, the Powerpuff Girls meet Spongebob Squarepants…how do they come up with this stuff?  I tried writing a crossover fan fic story for my friend about Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Jack Bristow from Alias being college roommates who fought over a girl and went their separate ways.  My story is all of three paragraphs long and will never be submitted to any fan fic website, EVER.

Hey, S., do you wanna go to Vidcon with me?

director stuart rosenberg has died

Director Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke, The Amityville Horror) has died.  Read the full obit here.

Cool Hand Luke is one of my all-time favorite movies.  If you haven’t seen it, get thee to a videostore now!