Howdy pardner! John Wayne returns to downtown Winter Park for the first time in five years with the September 13th Popcorn Flick, RIO GRANDE (1950). Programmed in conjunction with the "Placing Memory, Exploring Context: Winter Park's Colony Theater" exhibition curated by Rollins College professors Denise Cummings and Julian Chambliss, the film is the last of director John Ford's classic cavalry trilogy (following FORT APACHE and SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON).

RIO GRANDE is another compelling western from one of the masters, and a vivid look at the gentlemanly spirit of the Cavalry after the Civil War. The action centers on the difficult relationship between a lonely commander (Wayne) fighting Indians in the west and his estranged son (Claude Jarman, Jr.), whom he has not seen in 15 years. Into this rugged and dangerous landscape comes Maureen O' Hara as Wayne's ex-wife, determined to come between father and son.

Boasting a typically fine (and iconic) supporting cast, including Ben Johnson, Victor McLaglen, Harry Carey Jr., and Chill Wills, the film is also beautifully shot by Bert Glennon and Archie Stout, and features songs by Sons of the Pioneers. So mark your calendars for a week from Thursday night and don't miss this chance to see the great combination of John Wayne and John Ford in one of their most underrated efforts. What could be better than watching a classic western outdoors under the stars?

--Matthew

Is Mike Mussina done? The NY Yankees starting pitcher and one of the stars of Patrick Creadon's terrific crossword puzzle doc, WORDPLAY, got rocked on Monday night as the Bronx Bombers suffered their worst shutout road loss ever to the Detroit Tigers, 16 - 0. "The Moose," long one of the brightest pitchers in the major leagues and a class act for 17 seasons, suffered career firsts (and lows) in lasting just three innings or less for the second straight game and allowing at least six earned runs in three straight starts. In those three starts his ERA is 17.69 (!), and he's now giving up an average of over 5 1/2 runs per game for the season. It could be a slump or it could be the end. Torre has got to get him out of the starting rotation regardless.

This is not any way for the Yankees to get back in the division race--in fact, if they don't sweep the Red Sox in NYC over the next three days, their only hope will be the Wild Card. And don't bet on that the way Seattle, Cleveland, and Detroit are playing down the stretch. Will they be playing "Taps" or "New York, New York" in the house that Ruth built? It's not lookin' real good...

--Matthew

FilmSlam is hot! Held the second Sunday of every month at 1:00 PM since the beginning of the year, this program not only will provide the upcoming 16th annual Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase with eleven first place audience award winners, but it's also been a consistent draw--and the media is taking notice! In Friday's Calendar section, it got mentioned in Orlando Sentinel columnist Liz Langley's latest article, where she lists "her Top 5's." FilmSlam was listed as one of the Top 5 coolest deals in town ( http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/orl-langley2407aug24,0,1064835.column). With 90 audience members attending a couple of weeks ago, the Slam actually has outgrown it's previous home, the tragically defunct Downtown Media Arts Center (DMAC). And with Enzian and Co-Producers John Thiesen and Brian Feldman at the helm, the future of FilmSlam looks bright indeed.

In fact, if an Andy Warhol Foundation Grant just happens to come through, there's a lot of exciting plans ahead for this program--how does cash prizes, podcasts of the post-screening Q & A's , and online posting of the winning films sound? Stay tuned...

In the meantime, let's give our congratulations to August's big winners. First place went to Trey Chace's WONDERFUL,WONDERFUL, a film from Winter Park about anorexia. Second place was awarded to Nadia Sarmova's O-NE-'RIK, a film from Belleair that explores discrimination and the extraordinary ability of children to persevere. And third place went to Elizabeth Anne of Orlando and her music video for PROPERTY AND MALT LIQUOR from The Sol*illaquists of Sound, previously a Special Jury Award winner at the 2007 Florida Music Festival Indie Film Jam.

Don't forget to circle your calendar for September 9--only three more winners until Brouhaha!

--Matthew

In honor of all the buzz surrounding I'M NOT THERE, I'm posting one of my favorite moments from Scorsese's 2005 Dylan doc, NO DIRECTION HOME. (I'm not sure, but I suspect it might be footage shot by DA Pennebaker.)

I know Cate Blanchett is getting a lot of attention for her turn as Dylan. "I may be jumping the gun," Mr. Weinstein has said, "but if Cate Blanchett doesn't get nominated, I'll shoot myself." Should we hold him to it?

As a Dylan fanatic, I'm really excited to see if she pulls it off. But, until then, eat your heart out, Cate. . .

(An interesting, somewhat related article.)

-- Betsy

Went to a screening of MY KID COULD PAINT THAT today. It's quite an intriguing look into modern art and what qualifies something as art. Inspired by the film, I challenged my coworkers to create their own masterpieces in Photoshop.

MY KID COULD PAINT THAT opens October 5 in New York and Los Angeles.

Butterscotch Feels inspired by Across the Universe by Lucas Draper

I've Just Seen Michael Cera's Face by Annalyn Belle

A Shitload of Windmills by Betsy Dye

Fellow bloggers, show us your masterpieces!

Bored at work? Be Jackson Pollock!

-- Betsy

P.S. Michael Cera, if you're out there, Annalyn loves you.

If you missed Kamp Katrina during the Florida Film Festival (or if you saw it and want to see it again) AND you are in New York City in the next week, be sure to check it out. Kamp Katrina screens tonight (6:15pm) at MoMA, with a filmmaker Q&A after the screening, and starting tomorrow it has a one-week run at the Pioneer Theater.

Their website gives information about other cities where you can catch the film. It will be back in Central Florida on March 20th, 2008 at the Duncan Theater in Lake Worth.

-Annalyn

Since Gabe and I may have been the only ones in the country to even care (besides the filmmakers and their families of course), it's time to put this disaster of a reality show to bed for good. Despite the preening and idiotic banter of hostess/spokesmodel/Gary Marshall lust-object Adrianna Costa, and typical technical snafu of internet votes not getting counted due to a systems crash or some nonsense after Part 1 of the season finale aired last Tuesday (was this show cursed or what?), they somehow still managed to receive "a record number" of votes via telephone and text messages to determine a winner of the $1 million production deal at Dreamworks--and at least they got that right!

Congratulations to FSU Film School grad and Florida Film Festival veteran Will Bigham! To emerge from this 12,000 submissions competition with a considerable production deal, an office at Dreamworks, and Steven Spielberg as you new boss is a terrific achievement. From his very first film (LUCKY PENNY) to his last (THE YES MEN), with stops for a brain surgery comedy, a dog swallowing it's owner's glass eye film noir, and a touching romance between two office lamps (an homage to Pixar?) among others, Will's work was consistently imaginative, charming, clever, and often very, very funny with a silent film comedy sensibility. He is clearly a talented man with a lot of stories to tell--I'm excited for his future as a filmmaker, and not at all embarrassed to say I was rooting for him all the way.

Now can someone explain why they went through all the trouble and expense of creating one-sheets for every film in the final weeks, yet hardly ever showed them to the TV audience? I sure hope the studio audience got a good look cause I didn't--one of the many things that got progresively more annoying as the show went on. But at least Fox didn't pull it before they finished...

--Matthew

For those of you on the East Coast who go to bed at a reasonable hour and don't wait up for late baseball finals, Wednesday morning ESPN brought highlights of some historic doings in the LA Angels 18-9 (!) thrashing of the NY Yankees (who play particularly bad in Anaheim and have a losing record against the Halos in the Joe Torre era). Garret Anderson, the Angels' 34-year-old outfielder supposedly on the downside of a nice career, went 4 for 6 with 2 HRs and 2 doubles for a club-record total of 10 RBIs in the first six innings. Though it had been done 12 times before in MLB history (and coincidentally, 12 is the one game RBI record--accomplished twice in the NL), no one had ever achieved the feat against the Yankees.

Perhaps lost in the shuffle of remarkable accomplishments, Alex Rodriguez also hit 2 HRs (giving him 42) and drove in 3 runs (giving him 121 RBIs). This makes A-Rod the only other player in MLB history besides Babe Ruth with six seasons of 40+ homers and 120+ RBIs. And there's still six weeks left in the season! We may just be watching the greatest baseball player who ever lived.

--Matthew

One of three things is going on:
- Elijah Wood has a great sense of humor. (Marry me.)
- Elijah Wood owed someone bigtime.
- Elijah Wood needs a new movie role. Badly.

xoxo (Call me, Elijah.)
Betsy

Overheard during the broadcast of the Vikings/Jets NFL preseason game this past weekend (in reference to a botched, low snap from Center to QB in the shotgun formation that led to a defensive TD):

Troy Aikman: "Hard to get it up when you're looking between your legs."
Joe Buck(suppressing a spit take): "Elbows down, ball goes up--we need to move on."

(Cow)boys will be boys...who says the exhibition season is worthless?

--Matthew

Well, the official I'M NOT THERE trailer is out.

Truth is, I've been a little on edge about this film since hearing about it in early 2006. My nervousness wasn't assuaged when the producer, Christine Vachon, talked about the film at Enzian Theater's HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Meet the Filmmaker event in June of last year. Bob Dylan is being played by HOW MANY people? Of course, at the time, Beyonce was on the list of supposed potential Dylans. Umm, DO NOT WANT.

After watching the trailer, I still don't know how I feel about this. Opinions are mixed on the Bob Dylan LiveJournal Community as well. Morbid curiosity will likely drive me to see it opening night. I''ll let you know if it's a disaster.

-- Betsy

So in the week I was out of the office playing daddy-shuttle for the kids and their various cross-country training/rock-climbing camp/junk movie activities, I did manage to have a bit of fun while absurdities abounded. My week was bookended by trips to Weeki Wachee Springs to check out the mermaids show for the first time ever in my combined 30 years living in this state, and the beautiful, soft white (shell-less) beaches of St. Augustine. All I can say is that a Weeki Wachee visit (less than 2 hours from Orlando!) should be mandatory for all Florida residents at least once in a lifetime--having just celebrated their 60th anniversary, the park has some serious debt problems and can use your help. Otherwise, another classic bit of old Florida and peerless kitsch will be going bye-bye--and then what will the Mer-boy(previously seen in Leah Wolchok's CITY OF MERMAIDS doc short in the 2006 Florida Film Festival) do? By the way, the Gypsy Cab Company, a restaurant on A1A in St. Augustine I've been frequenting for many, many years, is as good (and as good a value) as ever.

In the meantime, did you happen to hear MLB Commissioner Bud Selig talk about his "Herculean effort" following Barry Bonds around for 11 games as he tried to break Hank Aaron's home run record? Yeah, I'm sure that was incredibly tough--maybe Bud needs to go on vacation...permanently. And his (non) reaction to Bonds record-tying HR # 755 was one for the ages. He sat there without knowing what to do, was apparently told to get up, and then stood there with his hands in his pockets and an expression on his face that looked like he crapped his pants. Just pathetic. He then sent an underling to San Francisco to watch the record breaker because he couldn't be bothered since he was meeting with steroid investigator George Mitchell. Way to go, Hercules. I'm no fan of Bonds, but you sir, are an embarrassment to the game. Haven't they picked your successor yet?

And the glow of the Orlando Magic sticking around because of the new arena vote was short lived when they recently announced they were switching broadcast of their road games from UPN-65 on basic cable to FSN Florida. Unfortunately, right now Bright House Networks doesn't carry FSN Florida due to a years-long argument over whether the channel should be part of a basic cable package or a premium sports tier. So the majority of Central Florida would be shut out from 35 Magic games if the season were to start now. Luckily, they've got a couple of more months to work it out, and whether it's free or a couple of more bucks to get the broadcasts, they better get it done...or it's gonna get ugly.

Lastly, I am what you'd call a creature of habit, and one of those habits is dinners made up of cheese and crackers, fresh fruit, and nuts. I've never liked salty foods, so most of the time the crackers tended to be Low Sodium Triscuits, which are the right size and sturdy enough to make mini-sandwiches with cheese, cold cuts, or whatever. These suckers have been a staple of my diet for years if not decades. Well, a couple of weekends ago I stopped being able to find them on the shelves of my local supermarket(s). You can find probably 8 - 10 other varieties of Triscuits out there (you name it, they got it), but not a box of low salt anywhere. I finally called Kraft foods (who manufactures the Nabisco product) and got the bad news--they've discontinued the item. Are you kidding me!? In this day and age, where everyone is so health conscious, this is the one you cut out? Unbelievable.

I've tried switching to Low Sodium Wheat Thins (which they still make--assholes!), but they're a poor and flimsy substitute. I know I have your sympathy...anyone have any pull at Kraft?

--Matthew

Sad news from the world of baseball on Tuesday--NY Yankees mainstay Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto, the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame, passed away in his sleep after a lengthy illness at the age of 89. Growing up in New York and New Jersey in the sixties, Rizzuto's voice was baseball to me--in much the same way that Marv Albert was basketball and hockey as the broadcast voice of the Knicks and Rangers. I must have spent more time listening to his witticisms, hokey jokes, anecdotes, trademark "Holy Cow" exclamation, and (of course) those ubiquitous "Money Store" lending company commercials on WPIX - Channel 11 and radio than I'd care to calculate.

The diminutive shortstop (5' 6")--who had been told by his hometown Brooklyn Dodgers that he was too small to play for their team--had an amazing run as a New York Yankee on the field and in the booth for over 50 years. In his 13-year playing career (interrupted by a 3-year stint in the armed forces during WW II), he was a five-time All Star, won the World Series a remarkable seven times, and was the American League MVP in 1950 after finishing second in the voting to Ted Williams the year before. Number 10 followed his playing days with 40 years in the broadcast booth covering the Yankees, and in the process put a smile on everyone's face who was listening. Who knows how many people like myself fell in love with the sport as a child by hearing it filtered through the wit and wisdom of "The Scooter."

Rest in Peace Phil Rizzuto (1917 - 2007).

--Matthew

Now approaching its seventeenth exciting year, the Florida Film Festival seeks film submissions from filmmakers worldwide. The Festival, which will take place March 28 through April 6, 2008, is an annual event dedicated to showcasing the best American Independent and Foreign Films. It is also a qualifying festival for the Oscars in the category of live action short films. Produced by Enzian Theater, the Florida Film Festival has become one of the most respected regional film events in the country.

To submit a film, visit the Festival website at FloridaFilmFestival.com. There are two ways to enter: 1.) register online through WithoutABox, or 2.) print and mail the official entry form. Members of WithoutABox receive a $5 discount when entering online.

The postmarked early deadline for Feature Film entries is October 26, 2007, and the late entry deadline for Features is November 30. The entry fee for Feature Length Films (41 minutes or longer) is $40.00. The postmarked early deadline for Short Film entries is October 12, 2007, and the late entry deadline for Shorts is November 16. The entry fee for Short Films is $25.00. Early submission to the Florida Film Festival is encouraged! There is a $20.00 late fee for films submitted after October 12th (shorts) and 26th (features). Films will not be accepted after November 30, 2007.

-- Betsy

I know the "Chocolate Rain" joke is getting old, but Annalyn and I can't get enough of John Mayer's version. . .

-- Betsy

Hint: Watching the first two Bourne movies before seeing THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM is probably a good idea. Though, based on experience, I suspect it isn't entirely necessary.

If you haven't seen this video, well, then you must not spend as much time on OhNoTheyDidn't as I do. . .

-- Betsy

Summer may be winding down, but Enzian's series of outdoor films in downtown Winter Park, otherwise known as "Popcorn Flicks," continues to rock'n' roll. I'll be on vacation hanging out with the kids for the week of August 6 - 10 (camps are done but school doesn't start for another couple of weeks here in Central F-L-A), but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to remind everybody about Thursday, August 9, and the long awaited return of the Marx Bros. to Central Park. The curtain goes up on A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935), perhaps their greatest comedy next to DUCK SOUP, at sunset, and you won't want to miss this priceless classic--even thinking about "the Party of the First Part" contract still cracks me up. Orlando Weekly Music & Film Editor Jason Ferguson will be doing the intro honors and gracing the crowd with some interesting historical trivia and perspective on the film and its stars, so don't be late.

After last month's record turnout for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, you may even want to lay your blanket down early and grab a good spot. Now let's hope Mother Nature behaves...it is the summer after all.

--Matthew