It’s almost embarrassing to take stock of how many of the year’s most acclaimed films I haven’t seen yet, but for the most part I do have a legitimate excuse—with Florida Film Festival entry deadlines hitting in late November and mid-December, it’s enough just to keep my head above water let alone take the time to go out and see important, end-of-the-year “commercial” releases. But with Christmas just a couple of days away and the new year approaching, I feel compelled as always to take a shot at listing my 10 favorite films of the past 12 months. Granted, the pool I am choosing from is a smaller one than most, but for posterity’s sake here they are in no particular order other than alphabetical (keep in mind that films sometimes take a while to get down to Central Florida):
ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL
CORALINE (3-D)
DEPARTURES
DISTRICT 9
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
A SERIOUS MAN
STILL WALKING
UP (3-D)
UP IN THE AIR
A favorite “seen” list also inspires a favorite “must-see” list of titles I hope to catch up with sooner or later (hopefully sooner, with as many in 35mm in a theater as possible):
AVATAR
THE BEACHES OF AGNES
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
GOMORRAH
THE HURT LOCKER
THE MESSENGER
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
THE ROAD
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
ZOMBIELAND
I’m sure had I taken the opportunity to see any of these, my first list may have ended up quite different…but so it goes. Happy Holidays everyone!
—Matthew
Heads up Without a Box members! For the first time in its history, the Florida Film Festival, whose late entry deadline for Features passed last Friday, December 11, is offering an exclusive extended final deadline just for you. If you’re a WAB member and are still interested in submitting to the upcoming 19th edition of the festival April 9 - 18, you get the benefit of an extra week but must get your submission in transit by this Friday, December 18. Narrative, documentary, animation, experimental, domestic, international—if it’s a new feature, we want to see it, but it’s definitely now or never to get it to us for consideration.
As always, entry info is available (as always) at the festival website, www.floridafilmfestival.com
We look forward to seeing your work.
—Matthew
Hard to believe, but the 2010 Florida Film Festival late deadline for Features is already here. Friday, December 11, is the final submisssion deadline for Features (films over 40 minutes) for the upcoming 19th edition of the festival April 9 - 18. While our brand spanking new late-late extended deadline for all you Without a Box-ers out there allows for yet one more week of tweaking and polishing until December 18 (for an additional fee of course), for the rest of you it is time to send in your feature film even if it’s only in rough cut form. The December 11 date is actually a postmark deadline so we can receive the bulk of submissions by the middle of next week, so just go ahead and get your entry in transit this weekend and you’ll be fine. Narrative, documentary, animation, experimental, domestic, international—if it’s a new feature, we want to see it, and it’s now or never to get it to us for consideration.
Entry info is available (as always) at the festival website, www.floridafilmfestival.com
We look forward to seeing your work.
—Matthew
The following titles were selected from the 18th annual Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase, held December 5 & 6 at Enzian, to comprise the 88 minute “Best of Brouhaha” program in the Florida Sidebar of the 2010 Florida Film Festival (April 9 – 18). The local industry jury making the selections consisted of Radha Mehta, actress/singer and Vice President of Helios Entertainment; Justin Strout, Film Editor of the Orlando Weekly; and Robin K. Wright, President of Storyteller Entertainment and Women in Film & Television, Florida.
1) PICTURE DAY
Co-written/Directed by Ken J. Adachi, Co-written by David Saint, Produced by Stephen Bell, Florida State University, 17 min 20 sec
2) WORLD ON FIRE
Written/Produced/Directed by Chris Greider, Matt Hutchens & Matt Tinley, 3 min 30 sec, Winner – August FilmSlam
3) SPACE TOWN, USA
Co-written/Directed by Ryan Kindel, Co-written by Thomas Semple, Aaron Marinel, Aaron Chewning, Chris Haines, Adam Dorris & Tyler Walser, Produced by Tyler Billingsley, 7 min 56 sec
4) DIM SUM
Written/Produced/Directed by Jin Sop Kum, Ringling College of Art + Design, 2 min 33 sec
5) OXYGEN
Written/Produced/Directed by Christopher Hendryx, Ringling College of Art + Design, 2 min 18 sec
6) FRANK-N-BRAINS
Written/Produced/Directed by Mike Hollander, Ringling College of Art + Design, 2 min 23 sec
7) HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS
Written/Produced/Directed by Stanley Pomianowski, 4 min 23 sec, Winner – April FilmSlam
8) THE COST
Written by John Hoffler, Produced by Mitch Long, Directed by Michael Hamill, Full Sail University, 15 min 41 sec
9) KEEP YOUR HEAD UP
Written/Produced/Directed by Michael Patti, Dr. Phillips High School, 2 min 30 sec
10) THE EXPOSITION REPORT
Co-written/Co-produced by David Sigurani, Directed/Co-written/Co-produced by Jesse Chapman, University of Central Florida, 9 min 35 sec
11) HEAVENLY APPEALS
Written/Produced/Directed by David Lisbe, Ringling College of Art + Design, 2 min 20 sec
12) NURI
Written/Produced/Directed by Kendra Vander Vliet, Ringling College of Art + Design, 2 min 9 sec
13) THE MONSTER
Written/Produced/Directed by Andreas Theodorou, Ringling College of Art + Design, 2 min 18 sec
14) SUSPENSIONS
Directed by Natasha Narkiewicz & Madeline Eberhard, Florida State University, 13 min
***Note – Should any of the above titles also be accepted into the American Independent Competition section of the Florida Film Festival, they will be replaced in the non-competitive “Best of Brouhaha” program by an alternate.
Congratulations to all of the filmmakers who will be part of what appears to be a very strong Florida Shorts program in the upcoming FFF. And just a reminder that the cycle begins anew with the first monthly FilmSlam of 2010 at 1:00 PM on Sunday, January 10.
—Matthew
If short films are your cup of tea, then the next few days at Enzian should be like an early Christmas. Saturday and Sunday, December 5 & 6, the theater plays host to the 18th annual Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase, our area’s premier event spotlighting short works (films under 20 minutes) created exclusively by in-state filmmakers. 48 films made by 66 filmmakers (from 9 film schools and elsewhere) spread out over 4 unique 85 - 90 minute programs playing at 11:00 AM and 1:30 PM each day. And an industry jury will pick the cream of the crop to create an 80 - 90 minute “Best of Brouhaha” compilation for this April’s Florida Film Festival. Pretty exciting stuff for a $5 ticket! More info about Brouhaha can be found at http://www.enzian.org/festivals/brouhaha
Once you’ve had your fill of Florida shorts over the weekend, you won’t want to miss the Sundance Art House Project Shorts program on Wednesday, December 9, at 6:30 PM. This will be the only showing of a truly outstanding international selection of 10 shorts from the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, 3 of which also played the Florida Film Festival last Spring. The lineup is as follows:
Denis Villeneuve’s NEXT FLOOR (Canada); Matthew Walker’s JOHN AND KAREN (UK); Chema Garcia Ibarra’s ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS FROM NEBULA-5 (Spain); Sam Taylor-Wood’s LOVE YOU MORE (UK, a sexually charged, Buzzcocks-inspired charmer—by the director of the forthcoming teenage John Lennon bio-pic, NOWHERE BOY—that also played FFF’s International Shorts program); Nadejda Koseva’s OMELETTE (Bulgaria); Don Hetzfeldt’s I AM SO PROUD OF YOU (USA, FFF Grand Jury Award - Best Animated Short); Eva Weber’s STEEL HOMES (UK); Madeleine Oinek’s COUNTERTRANSFERENCE (USA); PES’s WESTERN SPAGHETTI (USA, FFF Opening Night); and Destin Daniel Cretton’s SHORT TERM 12 (USA, Sundance Jury Prize in U.S. Short Filmmaking and one of the ten films shortlisted for this year’s Best Live Action Short Oscar).
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better 2-hour collection of films anywhere, and Enzian is one of only a handful of theaters nationwide to have the opportunity to present this program. More info can be found at http://www.enzian.org/film/2009_art_house_project_shorts/
—Matthew
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