On the contrary, this past month's installment of our local filmmakers' showcase continued the recent trend that FilmSlam rocks and is here to stay. Over 150 people attended the event (not bad for 1 PM on a Sunday afternoon!) and got to see another diverse group of shorts vying for that coveted spot in the Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase in December. Once it's in Brouhaha of course, all of Film Slam's 1st Place Audience Award Winners from January - November, 2007, will be in contention for a slot in the 2008 Florida Film Festival.

So with only one more month to go, the pressure is on. And the winner of the 1st Place Award for October's FilmSlam was...Ali Imran Zaidi's UNTITLED PROJECT. The film is described by the filmmaker in the following blurb: "IN A LAND beset by confusion, IN A TIME just like the present, ONE MAN is presented with life, the universe and everything. And does nothing." Sounds cosmic--congratulations Ali (now maybe you can come up with a title). Kudos also to 2nd Place finisher Justin de Leon for his film about homelessness, JUST A LITTLE STOP, and 3rd Place finisher Banks Helfrich for THE FLOSSING, in which a couple discuss getting remarried while taking care of their teeth.

If October was any indication, November's FilmSlam should be a doozy, and event director John Theisen has his work cut out for him to keep the program under 80 quality minutes. So mark your calendars now and come be a part of the final FilmSlam of the year on Sunday, November 11.

--Matthew

My older brother, Jeff, and I spent one night in Denver decades ago on a cross country moving trip from Augusta, Georgia to San Francisco. It happened to be during the theatrical run of the first ALIEN film, and we saw it from the balcony of this amazing giant theater whose name I no longer remember. Needless to say, I loved the film and was really impressed by the little I got to see of the city. Just from that one experience so many years ago, or perhaps all the wonderful trips to Telluride in the 1980's, I've always had a fondness for Colorado. But jeez, this past weekend for Denver residents and Colorado sports fans had to be a particularly special brand of hell.

Saturday and Sunday the Red Sox polished off their 4-game sweep of the suddenly woeful Colorado Rockies. Once the hottest team in baseball on one of the greatest streaks in regular season and post-season history, the Rockies were as pathetic as they come. The 8-day layoff in between the NL Championship Series (where they swept Arizona) and the World Series (not to mention a far superior Boston club in every single category clicking on all cylinders) was their death knell. They hit like crap (when's the last time you saw that many strikeouts from a good-hitting team?), didn't pitch much better, and were only competitive in two of the four games. They had the lead for a total of 3 1/2 innings over four games. When they did rally to get close, the bullpen would turn right around in the next inning and give it all back. I'm not even a fan (hell, there's more ex-Twins on the Red Sox), but I was certainly rooting for them against Boston. And they were dominated from the first pitch to the last--how frustrating was that?

To add insult to injury, the Green Bay Packers played the (once-invincible-at-home) Denver Broncos (now 3-4) at Mile High Stadium on Monday Night Football. While the Broncos seemed poise to score a touchdown at the end of regulation and win the game, they instead had to settle for a game-tying field goal as the clock ran out. So of course the Packers won the coin flip to get the ball first in sudden death overtime, and all Brett Favre did was throw an 82-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage. Game over. Are you kidding me?

If you know anyone from Denver who went to all 3 of these games, be nice to them--they've suffered enough. Maybe the Nuggets or the Avalanche will be pretty good this year...

--Matthew

October is Enzian's "Membership Month" and the days have been filled with an amazing array of terrific films and events for both regular and special programming to help shine the spotlight on the Enzian Film Society and our non-profit status. From OUTSOURCED for the South Asian Film Festival to THE VIOLIN for the UCF Latin American Cultural Festival of Orlando to FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO and three others for the Gay Orlando Film Festival. Free outdoor screenings of GHOSTBUSTERS for Popcorn Flicks and a last minute THE 11th HOUR as part of the 2007 Florida Renewable Energy Expo, as well as a forthcoming Halloween Eve ARMY OF DARKNESS on 10/30 as part of the Sundance Channel Film Series. Theatrical runs of IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON into KING OF CALIFORNIA into Enzian's current presentation, Ang Lee's LUST, CAUTION. And our special Membership Month events including "Damn the Man! Save Enzian!" with its outdoor music festival, BBQ and beer, and screening of EMPIRE RECORDS, along with the "Chocolate, CHOCOLAT & Wine" happening including (you guessed it) gourmet chocolate, fine wine, and a screening of Lasse Hallstrom's multiple Oscar-nominated CHOCOLAT.

This Saturday, 10/27 at 12 noon, marks the third and final shindig in honor of Membership Month, as Enzian salutes the art of guerilla filmmaking with a special panel discussion and screening of John Waters' "personal" comedy, CECIL B. DEMENTED. Panelists include John Thiesen (Interlude Films, FilmSlam), Jason Liquori (Hocus Pocus Productions), Steven Shea (Abyssmal Entertainment), and Tim Anderson (Sin-A-Rama Films), and it promises to be a lively exchange of ideas and war stories. And what could be more appropriate than following the discussion with FFF honoree John Waters' insane action-comedy about a young indie director (Stephen Dorff) and his loyal cult of film fanatics who declare war on bad cinema by kidnapping an A-list Hollywood movie queen (Melanie Griffith) and forcing her to star in their underground film. Once again, admission is free to this fantastic event for all current members of the Enzian Film Society--if you're not already part of the family (and earning tons of other benefits as well), what are you waiting for?

--Matthew

Incredible but true. This Friday, October 26, marks the arrival of the "Early Entry" postmark deadline for features (all films over 40 minutes) for the 2008 Florida Film Festival (March 28 - April 6). If that date looks familiar, Friday is also the previously mentioned deadline for the 16th annual Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase (Florida filmmakers only for that one, please). Festival bound features can be domestic or international, narrative or doc, animation, music, midnight-worthy, you name it. If it's 41 minutes or more and you want to avoid those dreaded late fees (for you procrastinators out there or those of you still in post, the official "Late Entry" deadline for features is five weeks away on November 30), your submission needs to be in transit this weekend. We eagerly await your work and can't wait to see some exciting new stuff!

As always, entry info and an application are available at floridafilmfestival.com and http://www.withoutabox.com/watch/1139.

--Matthew

Now that the dust has settled on this Joe Torre thing and Tony LaRussa will not be the next manager of the NY Yankees (he re-upped for 2 years with the Cards today), let's take a step back and look at the situation. Torre is a definite Hall of Fame skipper, having brought stability and class to a Yankees franchise that went to the playoffs 12 straight years, including 6 AL Championships and 4 World Series victories. But...he hadn't won a World Series for the last 7 years and even more damaging, had been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for 3 straight years. And for the biggest payroll in baseball by a long shot (including the highest paid manager), this simply could not go on--especially with the hated Red Sox looking like the best team in baseball.

Granted, the Yankee "braintrust" should've never let Torre twist in the wind like that for a week and a half after the season ended while they figured out how to make him an offer they knew he'd refuse. If they didn't truly want him back, they should've let him go immediately or let him bow out gracefully. That was pretty bush league, and The Boss and his sons didn't make many new friends with the way it was handled. As for the offer itself, I see no problem with it and felt it to be more than fair (though Torre's pride was clearly hurt and the "insult" of performance clauses apparently stung deep): 1 year for $5 million base pay ($2 mil less than his current salary but still the highest in baseball by a bunch), with $1 million bonuses for making the playoffs (uh, you think?), reaching the AL Championship, and reaching the World Series. So potentially he could earn $8 mil while making at least 6. Plus, if the Yanks made the Series, Torre would automatically be renewed for a second year in 2009 if he wanted to stick around.

Joe can't control how the team executes on the field, how the hitters hit, how the pitchers pitch, and what injuries occur throughout the season. But he is The Manager of the most famous franchise in sports. And ultimately the responsibility for success or failure does fall on his shoulders. Let's see if another owner will pay that kind of dough for the 67-year-old to be the skipper of their baseball team, or perhaps he'll be happier making less somewhere else with his pride intact.

--Matthew

Celebrating its 16th anniversary, Enzian's Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase is an annual event spotlighting the work of Florida's finest independent short filmmakers. From its humble beginnings, this event has quietly grown to become one of the premier outlets for locally produced films and videos, the best work from film schools statewide, and a fun-filled gathering for lovers of independent film. Audiences are made up of filmmakers, film educators, local production representatives, industry organization members, and the general public, all fascinated by the scope and creativity of films screened each year representing the entire spectrum of Florida's immense talent pool.

The 2007 Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase will take place on the afternoons of December 8 & 9. Films will be judged by a panel of local industry professionals for a chance to win a spot in the "Best 0f Brouhaha - Emerging Filmmakers Showcase" in the 2008 Florida Film Festival (March 28 - April 6). While some of the four programs at this year's Brouhaha will come from the monthly FilmSlam winners, and some more will be curated by schools invited to submit their best 20 minutes of work, there will still be plenty of room for the cream of the crop of independent submissions to crack the lineup. But time is running out...the entry deadline for postmark is next Friday, 10/26 (coincidentally the first "features" deadline for the Florida Film Festival as well), so it should be a busy time in the old Enzian mailroom. Brouhaha entry info can be found here

If you are a Florida filmmaker and have something no longer than 25 minutes you'd like the world to see, now is the time to get on the goodfoot and send it our way. Good luck!

--Matthew

Just how good are these guys? A mere month ago the Colorado Rockies were buried in last place in their mediocre division, barely hovering over the .500 mark. Since then they have been unstoppable, putting together one of the greatest and most unbelievable winning streaks in the history of baseball. After being just one pitch away from being eliminated from the playoffs late in the season, the team has reeled off a mind-boggling 21 wins in the last 22 games. This includes a Wild Card tiebreaker play-in game against the Padres, and series sweeps against both the Phillies and the Diamondbacks. They are the first NL team to go 7 - 0 to open the playoffs since The Big Red Machine, the 1976 Cincinatti Reds team that had one Hall of Famer after another and is considered one of the greatest teams of all time.

They're doing it with one potential MVP candidate (Matt Holliday), timely hitting, great defense, excellent pitching, and a bunch of guys most sports fans have never heard of (besides Todd Helton, who's been there forever and finally gets a shot at the World Series). Every game there seems to be a different hero, and this team doesn't beat themselves. They now have a record 8 days off until the Series begins, and whether it's the Tribe or the Bosox, you've got to be nuts if you consider Colorado the underdog--which of course they will be since the AL team has the extra home game and is always the favorite lately. But I wouldn't bet against them...these guys have some scary mojo workin' overtime.

--Matthew

Winner of 17 international film festival awards including "Un Certain Regard - Best Actor" at Cannes 2006, Francisco Vargas' EL VIOLIN finally comes to Orlando with a one-time showing on Tuesday night, 10/16, at 6:45 PM. Screening at Enzian as part of the 3rd annual UCF Latin American Cultural Festival of Orlando, this stark Mexican drama was expanded from a prize-winning short and is a masterful combination of social realism, character study, and suspenseful cat-and-mouse game. Brutally violent at the very start, the film quickly settles in to its riveting story of an elderly musician and farmer (Don Angel Tavira and his magnificently weathered face) who is secretly part of a peasant revolt against the local government militia that has occupied their land. With its lyrical black-and-white cinematography, seamless cast of non-actors and professionals, and thoroughly absorbing portraits in dignity and courage, it's easy to see why Guillermo del Toro called EL VIOLIN "One of the most amazing Mexican films in many a year." Don't miss the one chance to see it on the big screen in Central Florida.

--Matthew

This past July Enzian decided to help out a couple of old friends while showing two great doc shorts as a double feature in a qualifying theatrical run for this year's Academy Awards. Well, excellent news has surfaced regarding their status. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just announced that Alice Elliott's BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY and Cynthia Wade's FREEHELD have made the "Short List" as the field has narrowed from 23 possible films to 8 in the Documentary Short Subject category. The final selection of between 3 and 5 titles will be announced with the rest of the nominations on January 22nd. So congratulations to Alice and Cynthia for : 1) fulfilling those insane requirements to even qualify, and 2) for making it this far (though we were confident). We'll be pulling for you to get those Oscar nominations the films so richly deserve.

Coincidentally (but not necessarily surprisingly), both films were also recently nominated for the prestigious International Documentary Association (IDA) Awards, along with Richard E. Robbins' exceptional OPERATION HOMECOMING: WRITING THE WARTIME EXPERIENCE. Robbins' feature, which had its Southeast Premiere at the 2007 Florida Film Festival in March and won a Special Jury Award for Innovative Documentary Storytelling, is one of the more remarkable films about war I've ever seen. Besides the Best Feature Film category, OPERATION HOMECOMING is also in the running for the Pare Larentz Award, given to the film that best represents the activist spirit and lyrical vision of its namesake. Winners will be announced at the IDA Awards Gala Benefit on December 7--good luck to all of you.

--Matthew

That's a lot of "F"s. Yes it's true film fans--the weeks are flying by and the early entry deadline for shorts for the 2008 Florida Film Festival (March 28 - April 6) is actually upon us. The first of four deadlines to rear their ugly heads is October 12, and shorts (films under 41 minutes) need to be postmarked or at least in transit this weekend to avoid the dreaded $20 late fee. Just so you know, early entry deadline for features is a couple of weeks from now (Oct. 26), and late deadline for shorts is Nov. 16 while late entry for features is November 30.

So, the time to act is NOW!! Stop the dawdling and send in your latest cinematic creations right away. Don't despair over final sound mixes, end credits, or color corrections if your perfect final cut isn't quite ready. We are used to previewing rough cuts and works-in-progress, and my selection committees are chomping at the bit to look at some really good stuff. Information and entry forms are available at Without a Box or FloridaFilmFestival.com

--Matthew

Answer: When the team hasn't won a title in the past seven years. The Yankees are officially done, having been put out to pasture by a more talented, balanced, and overall superior Cleveland Indians club. Cleveland dominated the 4-game series in virtually every department--they hit nearly 100 points higher, their bullpen was much better, and the advantage in run-scoring hits with 2 outs was overwhelming (14 - 2) and a sure sign of the Tribe's consistently clutch hitting (and NY's lack of it). New York's heart of the lineup (2 -6, Jeter through Matsui) on the other hand, couldn't even hit .200. Meanwhile, the Yankees #1 starter, Chien-Ming Wang, was atrocious, lasting only an inning and a third in a must-win Game 4 contest after getting knocked around in the opener and taking the loss in Game 1. The 2006 Cy Young runner-up's ERA for this year's playoffs: 19.06! Ouch.

So George's team has now lost 13 of their last 17 playoff games. Their starting pitchers are 2 - 8 in those games with an ERA close to 7.00, and have lasted an average of less than five innings. You're not gonna win shit that way--no wonder they've had early exits to the Angels, Tigers, and now Indians in the last three years since they had that legendary collapse against the Red Sox in 2004. But does Joe Torre deserve to be fired? I don't think so.

Torre has had an amazing 12-year run as Manager of the Yankees. Every season he's taken them to the playoffs, six times to the World Series while winning four championships. Twice he's been voted Manager of the Year, and it's possible he'll even get it again this year after guiding the team to the Wild Card (and almost catching Boston) after an horrendous 21 - 29 start to the season. He cannot make the pitches and he cannot get the clutch hits any more. What he can do is use his wisdom and experience and calm to blend their promising young players with the veterans that deserve to stick around. A-Rod, Giambi, Clemens, Mussina, maybe even Jorge and Mariano may be retired or elsewhere next year--Joe should be in the dugout guiding the Yankees or he should step away and not give Steinbrenner the satisfaction of making good on his threat. And if that happens, will we be looking at Tony LaRussa in pinstripes?

--Matthew

Enzian bids a fond farewell and lots of good luck wishes to longtime friend and supporter Charles("Chas") Martin and his wife Heather as they leave Central Florida this week to move to the wilds of British Columbia, Canada. Chas is a local writer and freelance film critic (and reportedly once was a child actor as well) whose work has been published at OrlandoCitybeat.com, FilmThreat.com, BoxOffice, MovieMaker, and other magazines in the US and England. He has served on both the Student Works jury and the Shorts jury for the Florida Film Festival, and his love of classic films, cult films, and silents was always an inspiration. Even though the KidFest Film Series screenings took place at 12:30 in the afternoon during the summer, I somehow knew that Chas would make the time to come check out the Buster Keaton program of STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. and COPS, and of course, THE 5000 FINGERS OF DR. T. And with everything going on with packing up to relocate, Chas and Heather still were in attendance at both BRAZIL and the Manhattan Short Film Festival on consecutive nights last week. It was this kind of devotion to cinema and appreciation of what Enzian does that will be missed.

The best of luck to you guys. Don't forget to drop us a postcard every now and then. Remember--you're welcome back anytime, especially during the Festival.

--Matthew

The 10th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival, a rousing success at its Enzian engagement a week ago, has announced a winner for the Best Film Award after its week of screenings across three continents that concluded on Sunday night. Audiences in North, Central, South America and Europe voted for their favorite film in the 12-film competition, and the winner is...Susan Jacobson's powerful photojournalist drama, ONE HUNDREDTH OF A SECOND, from the UK. Congratulations Susan!

Enzian's audience was pretty much in line with others world-wide, as the film came in a close 3rd place behind Diego Quemada-Diez' I WANT TO BE A PILOT (a film from Kenya that took "Best Documentary") and Simon Ellis' SOFT (my personal favorite, another British effort that won the "Best Edited Short" award). These three were the only films to receive over 20 votes after the Enzian screening. Going backwards in popularity at our screening, 4th place went to BORIS' COMPLETE BOOK OF RULES from Israel (winner of the "Best Student Film" award), 5th was Florida Film Festival veteran THE TRAINEE from Singapore, CLOONEY from Germany and CHERRIES from the UK tied for 6th and 7th, I MET THE WALRUS from Canada was 8th (and won a "Best Animation" award), KING PONCE from the UK was 9th, LINES from USA was 10th, THE PRESTIDIGITATOR from Spain was 11th, and FEELING_LONELY? from Australia was 12th and the least popular title in the program.

Since the audience was instructed to vote for one film only to win this year's Manhattan Short Film Festival, I'm a little surprised to see that four other awards were given out. I'm not exactly sure what the criteria was or who made the decisions beyond the one Audience Award for Best Film, but all of the films that won something were deserving of their honors. This was a fun event and well worth the price of admission. If you missed it this time, be sure to check it out in the future.

--Matthew

I must state right off the bat that while I root for the Mets in the National League, I probably wouldn't qualify as a true fan. Yes, I'd cheer them on in the playoffs against anyone besides the Twins or the Yankees (although I might be a bit torn if they were facing the Cubbies with a World Series berth at stake considering Chicago's track record), but do I get emotionally involved in their trials and tribulations--not so much. Especially when they've been sitting comfortably in first place for the majority of the last two years and have the best collection of talent in the NL. Still, my Oregon-based younger sister bleeds orange and blue and is the biggest Met fan I know, not to mention I picked the Mets and Phillies to finish 1 & 2 (in that order) in my annual baseball pool.

So I cannot believe what has transpired in the last couple of weeks. Simply (and sadly) put, one of the worst collapses and choke jobs in Major League history. The Mets blew a 7 game lead with 17 games to go by losing 12 and managing to win only 5. They actually hit OK (except when Pedro pitched well), but their starting pitching and bullpen sucked. Of all people, Tom Glavine, a sure Hall-of-Famer when he retires and one of the greatest starting pitchers of our generation, gave up 7 runs in 1/3 of an inning in the top of the first to the Florida Marlins at Shea Stadium in the most important (and final regular season) game of the year. The Mets needed a win to guarantee at least a play-in game against the resurgent Phillies, or if Philly lost, they could've won the division outright. Instead they'll be sitting at home during the post-season, scratching their heads and wondering what could've (and should've) been.

Sorry Jolie--your team is finally better than the Braves and now you have to go through this disappointment. There's only one thing left to do...Go Cubs and Go Yankees!

--Matthew