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Creative Loafing Half-Hour Variety Hour: Episode #34 (Part 1)

Creative Loafing Half-Hour Variety Hour: Episode #34 (Part 2)

It’s that time again, folks! Time again for more of the best banter on the Suncoast!

I take a break from the proceedings this week, and leave things in the hands of the mildly capable and trustworthy hands of Brian Ries and Tim Sukits. What are they chatting about? Well, for one, how we turned over this week’s Food & Drink section to hotshot food blogger and new cookbook author Jaden Hair, and for another, how excited we are about this weekend’s big film festival fiesta, Cine-World.

Listen up!

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Michael Jackson is loving and suffering in the documentary This Is It. Loving because he’s adoring his fans and giving us 100 percent of himself onstage. And suffering because the many hours of singing and dancing are grueling for a 50-year-old man who has suffered more than many of us.

During one duet he sings and dances with a female performer who continues riffing at the end of the song, pleasing the director Kenny Ortega, the large group of musicians and the admiring dancers who watch from the floor below the stage and encourage her and Michael to keep singing. He protests meekly, telling them he needs to save his voice, but he continues singing too. They love it, but he’s tiring from the effort. I sat and hoped for more, too, but sensed Jackson’s vulnerability and loneliness even when amid sympathetic fellow artists. I observed his very thin, agile body moving effortlessly in his characteristic syncopated dance moves across the floor. His body was clothed head-to-toe, making his pale hands grotesquely exaggerated. He sang sexy lyrics to the lovely woman with him onstage, yet he appeared androgynous and child-like, the ageless King of Pop.

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COVER STORY

— The Sarasota Film Society’s 20th Cine-World kicks off this Friday. Tim Sukits profiles three films you need to see.

NEWS & VIEWS

— Best of the Suncoast 2009 fallout: We compile all the best comments you posted on our website (and a couple corrections, too).

— As the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Federation celebrates its 50th birthday, some of the organization’s most influential figures reflect on Sarasota’s Jewish history.

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Can you believe Little Movie Review skipped Halloween? Well, it was for good reason: Tragedy struck during the last week of VHS Month. As happens from time to time with this arcane method of home entertainment, we were the sad victims of the infamous “technical difficulties.” The slated film, often referred to as the “grossest movie ever,” Street Trash, refused to rewind and was handed off only halfway rewound (or maybe, rather, half-watched by someone with a weak constitution). So instead we’re making it up with a double review: the finally released and promised-to-be-classic Trick ‘R Treat and the definite classic Hellraiser, VHS month cohort Jessie Archambault’s favorite movie (I think), which I watched on… Blu-ray! Oy!

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A still from Delta Rising, which will be screened at Burns Court Cinemas at 5:45 p.m. Sun., Nov. 8

Cine-World Film Festival
Burns Court Cinemas: 506 Burns Lane, Sarasota, 1-10 p.m. Nov. 6-12; Lakewood Ranch Cinemas, 10715 Rodeo Drive, Lakewood Ranch, 7:45-10 p.m. Nov. 7-12; 955-3456 or filmsociety.org.

The Sarasota Film Festival has become a sizable event in the movie-making industry and our city loves its brief time in the spotlight each spring. But in the off-season, another festival has been entertaining our film-feinding citizenry for the past two decades: Cine-World.

This year’s edition features an impressive list of domestic, foreign and documentary films, screened at Sarasota Film Society’s Burns Court and Lakewood Ranch Cinemas. The Film Society continues its tradition of bringing in top-notch independent movies filled with big-name actors from countries all over the world, and mixing in local flicks and smaller projects that made it happen without the Hollywood budget. This year’s Cine-World selections reveal the many tiers of film production, and prove that no matter what kind of money, talent or location you’re working with, it all comes down to passion. We spoke with the directors from three of the festival’s films to get a glimpse into their process. (And don’t forget, we’re giving away to “Black Passes” to the festival.)

Special O’Laughics
Burns Court: 3:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 7

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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels opens at Venice Theatre Nov. 10

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Danielle Favreau.

VISUAL ARTS: OPENING

4TH BI-ANNUAL ESTERO FINE ART SHOW Miromar Outlets, 10801 Corkscrew Road, Estero (755-3088 or hotworks.org). This massive event will feature a juried art show and sale of works by professional artists as well as food and live entertainment. Please see this week’s See & Do for more information. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov 7-8. Free.

ART UPTOWN 1367 Main St., Sarasota (955-5409 or artuptown.com). Jacquie Clark’s still life and dog portrait watercolors will be displayed along with Jon Greeley’s oil on canvas portraits. Exhibit runs Nov.7-13. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. Free.

THE DANCING CRANE GALLERY 1019 10th Ave. W., Bradenton (744-1333 or dancing-crane.com). The gallery will have their three-year anniversary celebration with an art giveaway and a showcase of the gallery’s featured artists. 6-9 p.m. Nov. 6. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Free.

S/ART/Q INAUGURAL EXHIBITION 1549 State St., Sarasota (330-4838 or sARTq.com). This local group of professional artists will hold their Inaugural Exhibition of multimedia, painting, photography and more. Please see this week’s See & Do for more information. 5-10 p.m. Nov. 6 and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 7. Free.

SELBY GALLERY Ringling College of Art and Design, 2700 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (359-7563 or ringling.edu/selbygallery). The People and Places Juried Photography Exhibition will be on display as well as the Annual Ringling College Faculty Exhibition and the College Staff and Instructor Exhibition. Regular hours are Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Tues. until 7 p.m. Free.

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We’ve got two free “Black Passes” to this weekend’s 20th Cine-World Film Festival, and we want to bestow them on two cinema-loving Creative Loafing readers: Each pass gets you into 10 flicks during the run of the festival!

Here’s how the contest works: Comment below on why you deserve these motion-picture miracle-passes, then email me (cooper@creativeloafing.com) with your contact info so I can inform you if you win! We’ll announce two winners on Thurs., Nov. 5!

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I’ve often heard people say “the camera adds 10 pounds” when they’re photographed. Is that just an excuse or is there any truth to it? —Emma

No question there’s an element of denial here. Since you’re not looking at yourself most of the time, it’s easy to maintain a self-image reflecting the svelte physique you had 10 years ago, as opposed to the corpulent wreck you’ve become. But that’s not the whole story. For reasons having to do with optics and the way your brain works, the camera can in fact make you look heavier than you are.

The main difference between a camera’s view of the world and yours is that the camera has a single “eye” whereas you have two. That subtly changes the way things look. Here’s an experiment. Pose a round object in front of a varied background — a coffee cup in front of the computer monitor worked well enough for me. From a distance of two or three feet, look at the object alternately with both eyes, then one. You’ll notice that, seen with one eye, the object looms larger in your field of vision, and obscures more of what’s behind it. It seems bigger and bulgier. In other words, it looks fat.

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Like a bag full of sugary goodies this Halloween weekend is upon us. I have decided to provide you slathering ghouls with a bag full of snacks myself. This week I give you enough creepy goodness that you may choke on it, or at least have a sore tummy in the morning:

1. If you’re in the mood for some old-school spooky films to get you in that Halloween spirit, Classic Cinema Online has gathered together hundreds of films. This week it’s classic spooky, scary, and supernatural movies in honor of Halloween’s approach. Even if you’re somewhere where you can’t sit down and watch a film from yesteryear, browsing the awesome movie posters is well worth the price of free.

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COVER STORY

— Driven mad: Our pseudonymous limousine chauffeur blogger gives you the inside scoop on ferrying around Sarasota’s elite.

NEWS & VIEWS

— Steroids fallout: A letter to the editor, and a correction.

— Don’t panic! Your war questions answered: Who won Afghanistan’s presidential election?

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