The Tampa Film Review for November by Chris Woods and Nolan B. Canova | ||||
The Tampa Comic Con and Indie Film Fest VI by Nolan B. Canova | ||||
MOVIE REVIEW "Casino Royale" by Mike Smith | ||||
ODDSERVATIONS The Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival (M.I.F.F.) Returns to the East Coast....Holy Family Catholic School Celebrates 50 Years – A Reunion....The Florida Collectibles Show featuring Will Moriaty, Dennis LeBrun, and Charlie Carlson by Andy Lalino | ||||
MIKE'S RANT Passing On .... Thanks, Rush!... Do They Know It's Christmas? ... $60,000??? ... Juiced? ... Happy Birthday .... My Favorite Films, Part 46: "Goodfellas" by Mike Smith | ||||
LETTERS | ||||
Archives of Nolan's Pop Culture Review | ||||
Archives 2006 Archives 2005 Archives 2004 Archives 2003 Archives 2002 Archives 2001 Archives 2000 Email PCR |
Home |
The Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival (M.I.F.F.) Returns to the East Coast Sandy and I arrived at 3pm, and checked into our hotel by the Melbourne
airport. Seeking to catch some relief from a nagging migraine, Sandy
caught a few winks as I went off to the Premiere Theaters to check us
in. I soon found a busy Pat Martin in the lobby, who welcomed me to the
event. For the second year in a row I was invited to judge the Friday
night horror film competition, which I agreed to enthusiastically. A
daunting task, as there are quite a few horror films in MIFF’s lineup
worthy of the title of “Best Horror Film”.
The clock soon struck 9:30pm, which ushered in the slate of horror
films. The festival was running a tad late, so we were treated to a few
comedic shorts, the best of which was a horror-friendly campfire tale
called “Pee Shy”. After the laughs came screams, as fright films began
to rule the night. Here is a quick run-down of the films in no
particular order:
“Entombed” Directed by Stephen Shea from an original story/comic by
Terry Cronin and Bagger 43, “Entombed” is a clever voodoo tale of a
Haitian man who wakes up in a coffin. After freeing himself, he must
hunt down the voodoo priest who sent him there. The film is an
adaptation of a piece from the popular comic book Students of the
Unusual. www.abyssmal.com
“Broken” – This short horror/action film was screened on Saturday to an
enthusiastic crowd. Looking like a mini-Hollywood production, “Broken”
spins the tale of a woman who is rendered unconscious and wakes up in a
basement of horrors, tormented by a rogues gallery of venomous baddies.
Her only hope is a mysterious mercenary who’s committed to saving her.
Or is he? The twist ending is effective and paralyzing. Directed by
the talented team of Writer/Director Alex Ferrari and Producer/Writer/
Jorge F. Rodriguez. www.fortuityfilms.com
Winner: Best Short Horror Film
“Death by Engagement” – Stay Single! Screams DBE’s movie poster tag
line. Good advice, being that this neo-slasher’s premise is a cursed
engagement ring bringing grisly death to the inseparable couples who
cross its path. The killer is scary and there’s more scream queens you
can shake a stick at, including the one and only P.J. Soles from
“Halloween” and “Rock & Roll High School” playing an over-protective
mother. Producer Pennie Orcutt flew in from Los Angeles to be in
attendance, her second recent trip to Florida, the last being the
Halloween Horror Picture Show in Ybor City. www.deathbyengagement.net
Winner: Best Horror Feature (tie)
“Devil Bug” – This horror short’s reminiscent of the “Large Marge” scene
in ‘Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”, for obvious reasons when you see it. A
fun, Outer Limits-like tale of a boogeyman that hides in the unlikeliest
of places.
“Behind the Undead Music” – Impressive, stylized animation and vocal
acting bring life to Terry Cronin’s story of a rock group made up dead
rock celebrities, such as Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Liberace and Janis
Joplin. Hilarious horrors from the pages of Students of the Unusual.
“Hoodoo for Voodoo” – Directed by Stephen Shea and co-written by PCR’s
own Brandon Jones. Louisiana bayou frights and laughs are conjured up
in this fun horror thriller that’s destined to attain a cult following.
A group of contest winners embark on an all expense paid (yeah, right!)
trip to pre-Katrina Louisiana for a vacation packed with hedonism and
voodoo thrills. Features a lovemaking scene with sultry Tiffany Shepis
that’s sure to get the attention of horror fans and help in securing a
distribution deal.
Winner: Best Horror Feature (Tie)
“Possessed” – The mastermind behind the Sarasota Film Festival takes a
moment to direct his own horror short. Neil McCurry teams with the
lovely Debbie Rochon for this vampiric chiller. Rochon is very good in
a tormented role.
“Tattoo Love Magic” – Another short based on a Students of the Unusual
comic, and one of the fest’s best shorts. After breaking up with his
girlfriend, a man is obsessed with the memories of her tattoo. Directed
by Ricardo Porven.
“Strangler” –This time, Orlando filmmaker/actress and MIFF alumni
Katherine Leis takes a turn adapting a Students… comic. More suggestive
than literal, this quick little tale conveys plenty of atmosphere and a
sense of impending danger.
“Rabbits Won’t Tell” – Directed by talented comedian/actor Patrick
Gallo. A serial murderer reveals her motives in what may be a police
interrogation…or possibly another layer of her deadly fantasy.
So ends the incredible horror line-up. The following day featured more
blocks of films of all different genres, leading up to the big VIP
reception at 6:30pm. A nice Saturday morning treat was a short film
“closet classic” from 1988: “Shattered” by filmmaker James Dwight. When
I watched it, I thought it was an incredible short, and only after
credits rolled did I realize it was made nearly two decades ago! Just
shows you how in touch I am with the great 1980’s – a great decade for
filmmaking.
At 12:30pm, Andrew Allan, Bill Grefé, Pennie Orcutt, and myself, in
addition to an army of other filmmakers, participated in a cinematic
round table and Q&A session. I found filmmaker/comedian Paul Francis
Sullivan to be quite a charismatic and hilarious personality as he
promoted his brand new feature film comedy that made its big debut at
the fest: “I’ll Believe You” (formerly “First Time Caller”) starring
Patrick Gallo, Fred Willard, Mo Rocca, David Alan Basche, Patrick
Warburton and Chris Elliott .
We weren’t able to stick around for Sullivan’s premiere, but heard great
things about it. I wish them well! We said our goodbyes at around 6pm
when Andrew and I headed back home, pumped up by the celebration of
independent film.
Holy Family Catholic School Celebrates 50 Years – A Reunion When the singing was done, everyone funneled into the school cafeteria
for cake and coffee. I met up with Holy Family librarian Virginia Fair.
She is a great lady who always made a trip to the library a lot of fun.
I next ran into Robert Greenough, my math/science teacher. It was
great reuniting with him after all these years. We used to visit him
back when Pinellas Square Mall (once in Pinellas Park) was still in
existence when he worked at a tobacco store (back then I used to think
he looked like Groucho Marx). Mr. Greenough has been teaching for over
38 years(!). Next was catching up with Pam Ferguson, who I don’t think
I ever had as a teacher, but was always a familiar presence at Holy
Family. She used to teach the younger kids, and I was entered the
school in third grade (1975) – a little too old to be taught by her. I
remember Pam always loving Simon and Garfunkel.
That morning, the school was an open house, and you could peek into each
classroom. Sure, everything seemed newer, but the memories came back in
tidal waves, especially the familiar smells! It was funny to see the
girls still wearing the same blue uniforms! Posted about the cavernous
hallways were pictures from bygone years. It was so great seeing those
old photographs from the ‘70s and early ‘80s and all the classmates I
recognized. Upstairs, I ran into my favorite teacher – Kathy Kessler.
She taught art and English, two of my favorite subjects. She still
looked as youthful as 1979. I wish I could have spent more time
chatting, but the reunion was quickly coming to a close.
The amazing thing is most of my teachers I had from 1975 to 1981 are
still teaching at Holy Family!!! I find that truly amazing and a great
testament to the quality of education at the school. I know I had a
great experience there, and now my generation is sending their kids to
Holy Family now. I hope to revisit the school soon to have more time to
reminisce.
Just a quick hello to some of the teachers and nuns who were not
present: Sister Francis Fitzpatrick, who is in Chicago, and Mrs. Pat
Hosack. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to make contact with
Abby Rudderham (her maiden name is Nold) who was in the graduating class
of ’80 and has now become a teacher at Holy Family, and Ms. McKenzie.
The Florida Collectibles Show featuring Will Moriaty, Dennis LeBrun, and Charlie Carlson I was glad to see the “Weird Florida” team well-represented, as I mainly
visited the show to see my pal and PCR contributor Will Moriaty, who was
there representing his incredible tome “Will Moriaty’s Florida”. I
already had a copy, which is perpetually dwells on my nightstand (beside
Michael Weldon’s Psychotronic Encyclopedias), but I was there to
purchase three additional copies as gifts. Will was gracious enough to
sign all three copies along with famous Blondie artist and local folk
hero Dennis LeBrun, who I met for the first time.
I hadn’t seen Will for some time, and it was nice to catch up. Dennis
and I chatted a bit later, having much in common in terms of art. We
were so busy talking Macs, PC’s and Wacom tablets that I neglected to
mention that back in the early ‘90s I was an aspiring comic strip
artist. Back then I was basically pitching two strips: a humor/fantasy
called “Iknisnine” and a humor/paranormal work called “Hal” (about a
clan of Bigfoot people). Dennis is one heck of a guy – we could have
chatted for hours.
Wandering around, I ventured upstairs to where ancient Florida tourist
filmstrips were being projected. They were really cool, but difficult
to watch due to their age and muddy transfer. I should mention that I
have an old 8mm film of Cypress Gardens from back in the day, in the box
and everything – probably from their gift shop.
Another exciting meet up was with popular and oft-mentioned Florida folk
hero Charlie Carlson. I mentioned that Will and I were friends, and we
proceeded to chat it up for quite a while, talking things Florida, the
paranormal, and horror movies in general. Charlie’s a fascinating guy,
and well versed in everything Floriweird. He had some fun magical gags
at his table that reminded me of Spook Show tricks and Dr. Paul Bearer
puns, namely a convincing decapitated head, Florida “Bees” and a rubber
chicken. I received a first-hand account of the Sanford Summit and
magician Harry Wise from Charlie, and also learned of his involvement in
the Blair Witch documentaries, which in my opinion were better than the
actual movie.
Finally, while strolling down the aisles, I ran into local broadcasting
legend Jack Harris, incognito in a T-shirt and shorts. I introduced
myself and we talked briefly, with fellow legend and PCR fan Tedd Webb
being a frequent topic. Turns out that Jack’s family and mine moved to
Florida the same year (1970); the Harris’s from West Virginia and mine
from New York. I also mentioned Dr. Paul Bearer/Dick Bennick, who
Harris worked with many times both on air and at live events, such as
our local Muscular Dystrophy Telethons. We’ve been watching and
listening to Jack Harris for decades, and as kids even have a picture
taken with him, I believe from a Jerry Lewis telethon. My father also
has some ties to Jack Harris; he worked as a musician during the time
when “The Jack Harris Show” was taped at Busch Gardens.
I learned the next day that both Jack and Tedd mentioned my name on 970
WFLA’s AM Tampa Bay as attending The Florida Show. I appreciate it, guys!
My incredibly busy November weekend kicked off with a cinematic big
bang, as my wife Sandy and I made our third annual pilgrimage to the
Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival, organized by Terry Cronin,
Pat Martin and Jeff Hall of 3 Boys Productions. MIFF has the deserved
reputation as being one of the very finest festivals in the state (and
probably the U.S.), largely due to the consistently excellent Premiere
Theaters venue, the red carpet treatment given to filmmakers in
attendance, and the gracious hosts. MIFF never fails to disappoint,
proven again by the warm reception of this year.
With precious little time to recover from yesterday’s MIFF festival,
Sunday morning brought with it another commitment. I attended my
elementary/middle school’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. Along with my
mom, we arrived at Holy Family at 10:30am, a little late for a
dedication ceremony where a plaque was placed in the entranceway to the
school. The crowd, made up of both older alumni and current school kids
were giddy and excited. Post-dedication, everyone erupted in song, led
by my 8th grade teacher Marty Brinsko (a brunette back in the late ‘70s,
now a blonde!). Ms. Brinsko was quick with a comeback, being that my
hair is now grey!
Immediately after the Holy Family reunion, I dropped my mom off and
dashed over to downtown St. Petersburg to attend the big Florida Show at
the grand Coliseum. Now, ever since 1978 (I know you have me beat,
Nole) I’ve been attending sci-fi, horror, and fantasy cons, but this was
my first “kitsch” (I’m getting to hate that word) show. I found the
experience pretty fascinating, being that I am a Florida buff, and enjoy
seeing souvenirs, collectibles, and knick-knacks from bygone days.
Vendors had everything from postcards to Kapok Tree hurricane glasses (I
have one of those!) to Tiki statues. Didn’t see many rubber ‘gators, to
my surprise.
"Oddservations" is ©2006 by Andy Lalino. The Oddservations banner is a creation of Andy Lalino. All other graphics are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2006 by Nolan B. Canova.