Tampa Film Fan

the tampa trib debuts its “reel people” reviews

The Tampa Trib has added a new feature to its Friday Extra section today — Reel People “street team” movie reviews.

Welcome to Reel People. It’s a place where, you guessed it, real people like yourselves spout off on new movie releases.

Or as Sticks of Fire put it recently, “Bob Ross has been replaced by you.” ** I can’t knock the Trib’s idea too much, though, because the Friday Extra editors and writers are doing the best they can with what they have to work with.  It’s not their fault that Bob Ross and others were laid off; it’s the fault of the Corporate Powers That Be.  The current Trib staff members are turning lemons into lemonade.

The other reason I can’t knock the Trib’s new idea is because … gulp …  I’m now a Reel Person.  Yep, Yours Truly is going to get to see a movie or two every month for free, fill out my assigned paperwork, and have an excerpt or two appear in the paper.  (They had me at “free movie.”)

I had my photo shoot earlier this week (sounds glamorous, doesn’t it?) and am dreading seeing my head shot.  I’m absolutely terrified.  My hair was windblown, I had bags under my eyes from staying up late the night before watching Land of the Dead for the tenth time for some unknown reason, and I think I had lipstick on my teeth.  Hmmm…free movies versus personal humiliation?  Free movies or citywide embarrassment?

What can I say?  I’m a sucker for free movies.

**And yes, the Friday Extra folks are aware of my pro-Bob Ross, anti-Trib post, which I mentioned in a comment on Sticks of Fire.  My punishment will probably consist of having a horrible My Name Is Earl-type head shot and only getting tickets to movies like Norbit, Baby Geniuses 2 and Basic Instinct 2.