Daily Loaf

For a movie whose title references the most sinister level of encounter with an alien life form — abduction — The Fourth Kind should probably have come with a modest “buyer beware” warning.

That’s because the film is less about getting prodded and probed by little green men than it is a test of what we are willing to believe and be frightened by. As The Fourth Kind opens, actress Milla Jovovich addresses the audience directly, telling us that what we are about to watch is based on a series of strange occurrences that purportedly happened in Nome, Alaska, during the first week of October 2000.

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If Alfred Hitchcock and Edgar Allan Poe got together to do their own version of The Matrix, it would look a lot like Richard Kelly’s The Box. The Donnie Darko director returns with a morality tale that twists and turns around a complex story like barbed wire around a rose. No matter what notion you have of the film going in, you’ll have a drastically different one coming out; that I can guarantee you.

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For a big budget, Hollywood-style disaster film, 2012 probably wouldn’t come to mind as an “eco film” to most people. But not only does the movie serve as a message (or warning) of the effects of impending climate change, the director, Roland Emmerich, and producers took great strides to be as green as possible when making it.

Roland Emmerich, known for directing and producing other big budget disaster movies such as The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, has been living a green lifestyle himself – driving a Prius and using solar energy to power his home – and wanted to carry over some eco-friendly practices into his filmmaking. He stated to MNN at the Environmental Media Association Awards, “After making The Day After Tomorrow, I said to myself, ‘From now on my movies should have a green footprint’.”
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Relationship Card

It used to be that film festivals in the Tampa Bay area were a rarity. No longer. Totaling up all the fundraisers, workshops and side programming that go along with the ever-expanding number of festivals, it’s clear that fest-hopping has become a year-round sport. And that’s great, because we can all stand to broaden our horizons beyond the standard Hollywood pulp that fills the multiplex each Friday. In the next few weeks, there are two festivals of note: one with lots of local appeal, and one a bit farther south that attracts filmmakers (and filmgoers) from all over the world.

Independents’ Film Festival
Hosted by Tampa’s The Education Channel, the 16th annual Independents’ Film Festival promises an intimate look at locally produced films, including a strong program of student films out of USF. I say intimate because all screenings will be held at The Education Channel’s beautiful, newly upgraded screening room with seating for about 65 people. Festival organizers also promise ample opportunity to hob-nob with filmmakers and other fest attendees, as each themed evening begins with a food and drink reception and ends with coffee and dessert. (All included in the $15 ticket price.)

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Last week I posted a column about how I thought DirecTV had taken their ad campaign a bit too far by using a scene from Tommy Boy featured dead actor Chris Farley. In the article, I had said that while I wouldn’t stop using DirecTV if I had it (which I don’t because satellite TV sucks in Florida), I don’t particularly find the commercial to be in good taste. There were several comments on Loafing’s website, some positive and others telling me to suck it. There was also a comment released by David Spade’s crew to People Magazine saying, “That [DirecTV] would include Tommy Boy in that [ad campaign], I thought was very flattering.” Spade added, “Oh, my God if [Farley] was here, I guarantee he’d be stoked that this little movie is included,” Kevin Farley, Chris’s brother says it “shows him doing what he loved to do most, making people laugh.”

Yesterday, I found a great post on /Film about the whole mess, which includes a video that might just be next for DirecTV. The clip uses several now dead celebrities — including Heath Ledger, President Kennedy and Jesus Christ. The video is meant to be funny and illustrate a point, but I’m sure some will find it offensive. However, the point is made, and in my opinion, there’s no difference between what is done in this spoof and what is shown in the Farley ad.

Check out the Heath Ledger/Jesus Christ DirecTV ad after the jump …

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It may have been the day after Halloween, but thousands of people had plenty good reason to play dress-up this past Sunday afternoon at the St. Pete Times Forum. One didn’t have to look far to find a Yoda or Princess Leia milling about the concourses. Many congregated toward a makeshift exhibit of original Star Wars props and artifacts, including a Darth Vader costume, blasters and helmets. Nearby, children and adults alike sidled up next to Stormtroopers for photo ops. It was all a prelude to the main event inside the arena, “Star Wars: In Concert.”

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[Editor's Note: This is the first post by new CL film contributor Daphne Hernandez. For reasons unknown, Wordpress swallowed this post last week and I was only able to track it down today. But hey, it's Halloween and this is a flick you might want to see this holiday weekend. So please, check out the review and excuse our tardiness.]

Cashing in on the popularity mass hysteria of vampire lore, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant falls in line with the myth-deflaters of Twilight. Vampires don’t have to kill humans to survive, bats are just rodents that live in caves, and subspecies do exist.  They’re just like you and me, but not like you and me.

Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) lives a cookie cutter existence best conveyed in a J. Crew catalog. In an alternate universe where everyone wears pastels and drab khakis; he’s the straight-A student your mother will likely trade you in for. After his rebel-without-a-cause best friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson) convinces him to ditch class, they get caught and Darren is grounded. In an effort to prove to Steve he’s not the “Mr. Perfect” goody two shoes, they follow a flyer tossed out of an Addams Family-style Studebaker (with a Des-Tiny vanity plate) to the Cirque Du Freak, “The oldest continuing freak show in the Western Hemisphere.”

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I recently wrote a ‘five overrated movies’ post that garnered a fair amount of attention. I prefaced the piece by stating that film is largely a matter of personal preference and I was just sharing my opinion. I received so much response, both positive and negative, that many suggested a follow-up article. So, at the risk of offending even more readers, here goes….

I love women. And I love film. But far too often in movies, the role of the villain is written specifically for the male. When given the opportunity, however, some women have embraced the villainous role and ran with it, giving us chilling performances that have often defined their careers.

After watching Saturday Night Fever the other night, I was reminded how much I couldn’t stand Stephanie Modano, brilliantly portrayed by one-hit wonder Karen Lynn Gorney. Throughout the movie, Modano belittled John Travolta, transmitting the abuse she received from others all day directly onto him. I squirmed every time she was on screen. Travolta was no saint, but he certainly didn’t deserve her hatefulness.

That got me thinking about the most detested female characters in film, because for me, she definitely ranks. Accordingly, here’s a list of eight women who instilled us with everlasting images that left us with a sheer hatred, if not fear, for their characters. Where do they rank on your list?

Demi Moore – Indecent Proposal (1993)

Character: Diana Murphy

Famous Quote: “The dress is for sale. I’m not.”

I know what you’re going to say. This one’s on Woody Harrelson. He’s the one who ultimately allowed, if not encouraged, his wife to sleep with Robert Redford. He could have nixed that offer in a heartbeat or simply knocked Redford’s block off as soon as it was suggested. But he didn’t and he ultimately paid the price. The movie asked whether a couple’s self-respect and marital vows could be bought. The scene in which Harrelson shouted from the rooftop, begging his wife to return as Moore and Redford flew off in his helicopter, made even the least jealous man cringe. Despite trying to put the events of that evening behind them, in the end Moore lost respect for Harrelson and ended up with Redford. While Moore may not have been entirely in the wrong in this film, she was still contemptible, torn between two lovers and ultimately ending up with neither. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to a very special, spook-tacular edition of Kevin’s Korner. This week, as we get our costumes ready, our tricks perfected and our tolerance for candy pushed to its peak. Plus, I have some great movie news, including scary tale involving a Spider-Man villain, the newest film from the Broken Lizard crew, and so much more. So, grab some candy corn and read on. And have a great (and safe) Halloween!

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Paranormal Activity has been a huge success created on a miniscule budget. As with any from-out-of-nowhere hit, the urban legends related to the film are growing in popularity on the Net. By now you may have heard that Steven Spielberg was locked in his house for hours after watching the DVD, and was so freaked he brought the movie back to Dreamworks in a garbage bag. Well, that one turns out to be true. In addition, Spielberg offered a suggestion for tweaking the ending of the film, which P.A. director Oren Peli followed. (Duh!) Spielberg’s ending is the one you see in theaters today.

Last week, as the buzz around P.A. grew, the original ending of the film (shown at festivals earlier this year) hit the Internet. It’s obviously spoiler-ific, so if you haven’t seen the movie, skip it. You’ve been warned.

To see the original ending to Paranormal Activity, click below …

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I went into Michael Jackson’s This Is It fearing the worst. After months of breathless coverage following MJ’s demise, what could a hastily assembled documentary about the rehearsals for the King of Pop’s comeback 50-night stand at London’s O2 Arena possibly have to add to the spectacle? I feared This Is It would be little more than a crass attempt by the financial backers of the concerts to not only recoup their money but make a killing in the process. After seeing the film, I can report that greed has won the day.

Read more and check out the This Is It trailer after the jump …

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I’m embarrassed to confess that I had no idea who Gertrude Berg was before I watched You-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, an enlightening if somewhat stock documentary from director Aviva Kempner (The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg). A radio and television pioneer, Berg enjoyed a long career playing signature character Molly Goldberg, a stereotype-shattering Jewish matriarch who maintained a decades-long run in the public eye. Berg starred in and wrote every episode of the radio and TV incarnations of The Goldbergs (and we’re talking thousands of shows), in the process inventing the sitcom and many of the tropes we find commonplace today.

Read more of Joe Bardi’s review after the jump …
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Recently, DirecTV brought out its newest commercial in the campaign that has featured a scene from a famous movie, re-edited into a pitch for satellite TV. (You know, like this one …) The newest clip features the movie Tommy Boy, and has caused a bit of a stir as it features Chris Farley, who you’ll recall died of a drug overdose in December of 1997. So, are people being a bit prudish about this or did DirecTV actually commit a no-no?

Check out the DirecTV ad after the jump and vote whether you think the ad is kosher:

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And now, the article you’ve waited all month … err, all week … err, all day … well, you’ve waited long enough, it’s Kevin’s Korner (Insert applause here). This week we have all kinds of fun movie news, a trailer and a bit of a rant. So buckle up, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride; well, not really, but you get the idea.

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The opening prologue to Lars von Trier’s Antichrist is so visually and rhythmically arresting that it lures the viewer into a state of calm that will slowly be smeared over broken glass as the film progresses. The director seems to take great pleasure leading the viewer through a wilderness of both pleasure and horrific despair. He knows he’s about to leave you unsettled — and he likes it.

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Right now, I’m sitting in a dark, one-bedroom basement apartment in the uptown section of New Orleans. To my right is Catman , a 28-year-old heavy metal fan who got the nickname two decades ago from some cruel children after his Tourette syndrome caused him to lick his hands repeatably and wipe them on his shirt. (These days, he’s lost the habit but still wears the moniker proudly.) On the table next to him is a small studio: mixers, drum machines, two guitars including a Lyon series Washburn electric, a microphone — all connected to a Dell Inspiron 530 desktop. In a thick British accent, Catman describes his musical tastes, his past bands (from the Nundown to Albino Spiders) and the first album he ever danced to (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band). He briefly stands up and hits a button the drum machine filling the room with a techno remix of the old Super NES game, Battletoads.

On my left, two music fans hover over Catman with three video cameras. One of them, Phil Bardi, probes Catman with questions, slowly getting the musician to open up while operating two cameras on a tripod. The other is Terrence Duncan, who pans and tilts and zooms around the room, catching Catman’s musical history on HD. These videographers are with me.

We’re Routes Music – a documentary film acting as a roving music census, taking in the true musical passions (and disgusts) of folks like you and me, and folks like him and her, all across a place we like to call America.

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Under Mira Nair’s direction, Amelia is pretty enough to look at, but its lack of dramatic momentum and episodic nature are deficits the film’s handsome production values can’t overcome. As a biopic, Amelia falls short in two critical areas: It fails to sufficiently illuminate its protagonist, and it is unable to convey the weight of her accomplishments. For this, the script by Ronald Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan must also shoulder a considerable part of the blame. Perhaps because the writers seem to take for granted that their story has an automatically compelling subject at its center, they eschew illumination for melodrama. As a result, its title character remains a rather opaque figure dutifully hitting her marks in the story of her life — or, more accurately, its final 10 years.

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The Gasparilla International Film Festival is still months away, but it’s never too early for festival organizers to begin raising some scratch for Tampa’s biggest annual movie shindig. Tonight, GIFF and Brokenmold Entertainment are throwing one such event, a concert by Orlando singer-songwriter Matt Butcher and recent Best of the Bay multi-award winners Poetry n’ Lotion.

This being a fundraiser for a film fest, the music will of course be preceded by a film screening; in this case, the 2008 black comedy Visioneers, starring The Hangover’s Zach Galifianakis. Visioneers flew very under the radar upon its initial release, but has started to garner more attention now that The Hangover has made Galifianakis a mainstream attraction.

Set in a near future not unlike the present except that people keep spontaneously combusting, Visioneers ably skewers corporate culture and is something of a piece with Mike Judge’s cult classic Office Space. Read the rest of this entry »

If you missed it, The Cove is a documentary about the Japanese town of Taijii — the scene of a brutal, annual hunt and slaughter of dolphins. The film is much more than a collection of horrifying images; it’s also at turns beautiful, suspenseful, and even comical. (The Cove is also one of the first movies I reviewed for Creative Loafing, which means it holds a special place in my heart.) I got a chance to talk to the director Louie Psihoyos and star Rick O’Barry about the film. Their mission was simple: Stop the needless slaughter of dolphins. Today, it looks like they have been successful.

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We’ve been hearing about the plethora of environmental films and docu-dramas out today that preach about changing our ways concerning our food, climate change, pesticide use, and so on (Food Inc., The Age of Stupid, Fresh, A Chemical Reaction, etc.). But did you ever look at Mad Max as an “eco film”? Its portrayal of a dystopian future where fuel is scarce and society collapses as a result, thus leaving humanity with a ravaged Earth and living in anarchy. (The scenario now sounds more and more like a possible future of our own.)
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Are enough people waking up to make a difference? Or, maybe the scenario of The Age of Stupid, the film that’s circulating the globe, is a prediction of things to come.

The Student Environmental Awareness Society is starting their Environmental Film Series with the question, “Why didn’t we stop climate change when we had a chance?”

The film stars Pete Postlethwaite looks back from a devastated Earth in 2055, wondering who these people were in 2008/9 and what they were thinking to allow such a disaster as global warming.
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The only Disney franchise with a sequel good enough to get a theatrical releases is back, but should we care? The Toy Story 3-D Double Feature (TS3D) costs almost twice as much as a normal movie. 3-D movies have traditionally been a little blurry on screen, and those big goofy glasses can make your head throb. Plus, everyone saw Toy Story and Toy Story 2 years ago when they first came out (though they are now in “The Disney Vault,” and not the easiest movies to get a hold of).  You may also be wondering if Pixar’s early work still looks good over a decade later, given how far computer animation has come in the time since Toy Story’s release? So it’s not worth it? This 3-D double feature is a total rip-off, right?

WRONG! The Toy Story 3-D extravaganza is totally worth every penny!

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The 20th annual Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival concludes today, and if the lines outside the films and the comments from Executive Director Chuck Henson are any indication, this was one of the most successful seasons ever, with large increases in single ticket sales offsetting the drop in corporate sponsorship. The fest certainly felt like a success; last night was a case in point, with long lines and big laughs for the screening of Eating Out 3, and a crowded, convivial men’s party at Czar.

There are a few films left to see, culminating with the splashy Big Gay Musical (right) at 7, reviewed below by Ryan Jent. And if you missed Prodigal Sons or Fig Trees, both of which screened earlier today, read the reviews below and decide whether you need to add them to your Netflix queue; for my money, Sons was one of the most powerful films in the fest, so be sure to check it out if you missed today’s screening. Read the rest of this entry »

Had you told me years ago that there’d be a second installment of Eating Out, let alone a third, I’d have thanked you for the warning. The films are full of eye candy, sure, but living proof of why serious actors John Travolta their way into the closet.

But the now-franchise, the third installment in particular, knows exactly what it is: hunky guys, funny girls, ridiculous plots, a dash of heart and the potential for more. No one’s Oscar-bound, but those at the helm have found a winning formula. Read the rest of this entry »

Two rich families move to London. Girl meets girl at a tennis match. Girl, Leyla, begins to question her feelings about her boyfriend, and more so, about her sexuality. Other girl, Tala, fights the temptation that Leyla dangles in front of her because she’s engaged and she says that people just can’t live like that — as in two women can’t be together in a romantic relationship.
Girl, Leyla, is heartbroken that Tala won’t budge, but uses the inspiration that Tala provides her as fuel to find herself. Time passes and girl and girl get set up on a dinner date by their friends. Although girl, Tala, has broken things off with her fiancé, she still hasn’t come out to her parents. This disappoints Leyla. Girl and girl go their separate ways. Read the rest of this entry »

Patrik 1.5

Patrik 1.5 I can count on one hand the number of subtitled films I’ve watched — and prior to watching Patrik 1.5 I’d have wagered its place would be on my middle finger. The Swedish film showcases the perfect gay couple, their new suburban home and an adoption gone awry, saddling them with a homophobic, criminal teenager due to a typing error. No thanks. It all sounded a bit trite, ridden with tired plot devices. Then I watched it. Beautifully shot, its place wasn’t on my middle finger — but rather my thumb, pointing straight up and a bit green from the film’s symbolism. Goran loves to garden; his husband, Sven, loves to drink. It turns out that Patrik, 15 and not 1.5, loves to garden as well — and the film blossoms into something beautiful. I’ve never seen another Swedish film, but if they’re anything like Patrik 1.5, I’m getting a passport. (Or updating my Netflix queue.) Friday, Oct. 16, 9 p.m., Tampa Theatre. —Ryan Jent

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[Editor's Note: This review is by CL Atlanta's Curt Holman. You can check out more of his work here.]

Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers’ Where the Wild Things Are remembers something most adults have forgotten: A huge gulf lies between the simplicity of children’s entertainment and the complexity of actual childhood. Growing up may be a time of pure delight, but it also features stretches of agonizing boredom, sudden fright, occasional sorrow and general perplexity at the arbitrary nature of adult rules.

Most artwork aimed at children, even some of the great ones, grabs for the pleasure and maybe a pinch of terror, but seldom attempts to evoke the tangled youthful feelings that go hand-in-hand with the sense of the wonder. Where the Wild Things Are serves as a remarkable exception that grounds its visual splendors in bittersweet realism.

Being John Malkovich director Jonze and co-writer Eggers retain many images from Maurice Sendak’s archetypal picture book. Rambunctious young Max (played by a talented young actor named Max Records — really) wears an off-white wolf suit reminiscent of Ralphie’s bunny outfit from A Christmas Story and chases the family dog with a fork in an early scene. Jonze and Eggers provide the requisite feature film backstory with admirable economy. Max grows up as an imaginative, latch-key son of divorce with a working mother (Catherine Keener) and a neglectful teenage sister.

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We now take a brief break from the world of sports to discuss cinema.

Movies are a matter of personal preference. A film that I may love, someone else may think is total garbage and vice versa. For example, critics acclaim Citizen Kane as one of the greatest films of all time. Personally, I think it’s unwatchable. I guess it’s a generational thing. I’m sure years down the road, people will see modern classics like Pulp Fiction or Crash in whatever technological format they’re available in at the time and think they’re pieces of crap. Or maybe they’ll stand the test of time. Who knows?

There are, however, more recent movies that I’ve sat through and wondered how people could have dubbed them cult classics. What am I missing? Again, cinema is a matter of taste. I won’t hold it against someone who thinks Titanic is the best movie of all time (it’s not, by the way), but I certainly won’t sit with them and watch it. I think I have a pretty good feel for what’s good and what’s not, but for the five movies I’m about to mention … I just don’t get it.

Do they make your overrated list? If not, feel free to throw your hands angrily in the air and tell me I don’t know what the heck I’m talking about. Convince me to sit through them again and I promise to give them a fair shake … while wincing uncomfortably on my sofa. Also please feel free to comment on any movies I may have forgotten. I’m sure there are plenty.

Okay, here goes….

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Buzz, Woody and the gang are back.  Yes, the toys are back in town. The Disney/Pixar juggernaut hits theaters June 18, 2010 and the first theatrical trailer hit the Web today. Click the teaser poster below to check it out.

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The halls of the Wyndham convention center were overrun by the die-hard horror fans.

Thousands of horror fans from all over the country gathered this past weekend at the Orlando Wyndham Resort for Florida’s largest horror convention — Spooky Empire’s Ultimate Horror Weekend.

Featuring dozens of celebrity guests, the event is an annual three-day festival of music, movies, and just about anything horror-related.

This was the convention’s seventh year, and by far the largest yet. The gathering’s size and notoriety has grown immensely in the past few years. Starting as a relatively small horror gathering in Ft. Lauderdale, the convention (formerly dubbed Screamfest) has since relocated to the Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive. Once filling a lone ballroom, the Ultimate Horror Weekend has now taken over the Wyndham’s massive convention center.

Filmmakers such as John Landis (American Werewolf in London, The Blues Brothers) and Hershell Gordon Lewis (Blood Feast, 2000 Maniacs) joined horror legends, including Linda Blair (The Exorcist), Tippi Hedren (The Birds), and Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog), as guests for the event.

Read more and check out video of the Ultimate Horror Weekend after the jump …

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Here’s a great mini-documentary from Lance Bangs that chronicles the making of the music for Spike Jonze‘ upcoming film, Where the Wild Things Are. Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) wrote most of the songs and produced the sessions. It turns out the kid voices you here on the soundtrack (listen to it here) come from actual kids, un-trained singers at that — an idea inspired by the The Langley Schools Music Project from the 1970s.

Check it out: Read the rest of this entry »

A maddening, heartbreaking, ultimately satisfying documentary about the fight to depose Rene Portland, the celebrated women’s basketball coach at Penn State who wielded her “no lesbians” rule with brutal force. For almost 30 years Portland threatened students, threw them off the team, made insinuations about other universities’ programs, all with impunity — until a courageous former student took her to court with the help of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (and Tampa attorney Karen Doering). Read the rest of this entry »

When you’re trying to stay within a budget, you have to weigh your entertainment options. Is it worth the money? Can I afford to bring a date, or go with a group of people?

None of that is a concern tonight. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s October, and do you know what that means? OK, yes, it is the season of post-season baseball, but I was talking about Halloween. More specifically, I’m talking about a steady diet of scary movies regularly consumed by cinema fans in honor of our annual festival of the dead. After watching more than my fair share of fright flicks over the past few days, I’ve put together a list of my picks for the five scariest movies ever. Be sure to include your top 5 in the comments section, and let me know what you think of my selections. And please, if you see me out in public, keep the whole ‘Kevin screams like a girl’ thing to yourself!

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[Editor's Note: This review is by CL Atlanta's Curt Holman, part of his Hollywood Product series. To see more reviews by Curt, go here.]

GENRE: Frat-pack vacation.

THE PITCH: Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell play spouses contemplating divorce who convince three couples to join them at a tropical resort that requires a mandatory “skill-building” session. Other pairs include Vince Vaughn and Watchmen’s Malin Akerman, Jon Favreau and Sex and the City’s Kristin Davis, and Faizon Love and Kali Hawk.

MONEY SHOTS: Bateman and Bell pitch their friends the trip idea with a Power Point presentation that enumerates their marital problems. A bucket of chum splashes Vaughn in shark-infested waters. A barely clad Adonis (Carlos Ponce) practically humps the characters — male and female — during a yoga lesson. Vaughn has a video game showdown with the resort’s supercilious major domo, “Sctanley” (Peter Serafinowicz).

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