As 2007 comes to a close, it's time for the now-obligatory 10 Best Movies of the Year listing from yours truly despite serious deficiencies in filmgoing and availability here in Central Florida. So, of the films I have seen in the past calendar year in theaters or at festivals, the following list (in no special order) represents my favorites:

1) No Country For Old Men
2) Persepolis
3) In The Shadow of The Moon
4) Once
5) The King of Kong
6) Juno
7) The Savages
8) My Winnipeg
9) Control
10) The Host

The following dozen titles (in alphabetical order) are all films I have not yet seen but suspect could have made their way onto my top ten had I done so. These titles may have never opened in Orlando, played already and I blew it by not making them a priority, are going to be opening soon, or opened recently while I've been up to my eyeballs in Florida Film Festival submissions and unable to leave the house or office screening room:

1) 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
2) The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford
3) Black Book
4) The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
5) Eastern Promises
6) The Great World of Sound
7) Into The Wild
8) Michael Clayton
9) No End in Sight
10) Sweeney Todd
11) There Will Be Blood
12) Zodiac

Looks like not such a bad year after all...Happy New Year everybody!

--Matthew

Read 'em and weep Central Florida sports fans. As previously mentioned in this forum (and surpassed perhaps by only the sheer stupidity represented by the ongoing Brighthouse Cable/FSN pissing contest causing the blackout of half of the Orlando Magic games), it's the end of the road for 740 The Team AM radio as a sports station. Saturday afternoon's broadcast of the Liberty Bowl game between UCF (Univ. of Central Florida) and Mississipi State will be the station's final sporting event, soon to be replaced by Clear Channel's Spanish language "La Preciosa" format. Isn't that just great? Can you feel the love? No more Jim Rome, Dan Patrick, JT the Brick, Andrew Siciliano, Tampa Bay Bucs games (which surely have to be moving somewhere up or down the dial, don't they?), and who knows what else.

As of tomorrow night the Orlando market, supposedly one of the top 30 in the country, will have just one 24-hour sports-talk radio station (1080 AM, WHOO). And you can't even pick up the signal at night in large portions of the Metro Orlando area. No wonder why the Magic broadcasts situation and the elimination of 740 The Team ranked # 1 & 2 in today's Orlando Sentinel listing of the top 10 sports-media stories (read: lows) of 2007. Happy new year and a giant middle finger to all local sports fans from Clear Channel and our cable provider.

--Matthew

Talk about great timing and chutzpah! I guess it was just one strike too many for even a money-grubbing publisher to ignore. With the recent revelations that 16-year-old teen queen and virginal Nickelodeon star Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant, mother Lynne's upcoming tome on raising children has been "delayed indefinitely." What's amazing is that the always classy behavior of older daughter Britney was not enough to dissuade the Tennessee publisher of religious books from a blockbuster release of "Pop Culture Mom: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World." It took the kid sister children's-TV-star getting knocked up by her church-going teenage boyfriend to stop the presses. The world will be a much poorer place without the maternal wisdom and parenting skills of Lynne Spears' being spread like the gospel--you know the "real" version could've been a fun and trashy read, admit it.

--Matthew

A recent e-mail blast related to Sundance housing offered up hotel rooms at the Yarrow for $399 a night--holy crap! If you think that's reasonable, have I got a bargain for you. Somewhat surprisingly, we're still looking for someone to share our condo at the Three Kings on Three Kings Drive off of Silver King Drive and Empire Avenue. It's less than a 10 minute walk to the Library, Albertsons, the shuttle buses, the Yarrow, and the Holiday Village Cinemas, so it's a real good location. There's two other Florida folks besides myself, and we've got the place for the first half of the festival, Jan. 17 - 22 (six nights). What's available is an upstairs loft with a king size bed, and the rate is $200 a night. Anyone interested please get in touch as soon as possible (mcurtis@enzian.org). And if I don't get another chance to say it before offices start closing for vacation, best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday to all.

--Matthew

And you better show up early if you intend to get in! Tuesday night January 18 brings one of the great comedies of our generation and a bona fide cult classic to Enzian at 9:15 PM--THIS IS SPINAL TAP. This pseudo-rockumentary about the minimal rise and career-long fall of a lame heavy metal band (with members "David St. Hubbins," "Nigel Tufnel," and "Derek Smalls") was Rob Reiner's directorial debut and still reigns supreme as one of the all-time best satires ever made about the music business.

Advance ticket sales for this Sundance Channel Film Series/Cult Classics monthly selection are the hottest we've ever had (and that's saying a lot considering the recent run of titles including DONNIE DARKO, VANISHING POINT, EL MARIACHI, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, BRAZIL, KIDS IN THE HALL: BRAIN CANDY and ARMY OF DARKNESS), so I guess this is one December movie event that doesn't need to worry about people being too busy with Christmas activities. Come on out and experience Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer working their musical magic (and perfecting their comedic craft) on such classics as "Big Bottom" and "Smell the Glove," and watch for a multitude of cameos from the likes of Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Patrick Macnee, Paul Shaffer, Anjelica Huston, Fred Willard, and many more. Wish I could be there with you...

--Matthew

What a nice week for professional sports, and recent developments in Orlando are just icing on the cake. Michael Vick gets sentenced to 23 months in prison for bankrolling a dogfighting operation on his own property and executing a few "losers" along the way. The first year coach of the Atlanta Falcons, former college reputed offensive genius Bobby Petrino, quits his NFL team with 3 games left in the season to take the head coaching job at Arkansas--was it that important that he be there for their bowl game appearance? And today former Sen. George Mitchell revealed the results of baseball's multi-million dollar investigation into steroid use over the last decade plus, naming over 80 players (which sounds like a lot but is still only 1 - 2% of all players during that time period, far below Canseco's estimates) including Bonds (of course), Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, Eric Gagne, and Paul LoDuca. Curiously Mitchell--who's on the board of the Boston Red Sox--named no currrent Red Sox players in his report. Can you say conflict of interest?

Anyway, Central Florida seems to be doing its part to add to these frustrating developments (besides the Magic's horrendous play of late and the fact that half their games are still not televised to over 850,000 Brighthouse cable customers in Orlando). It was recently revealed that one of our two sports-talk radio stations, WQTM 740 "The Team," will be changing to a Spanish format beginning next month. A couple of their programs, Dan Sileo and "The Finish Line" with Jerry O'Neill and The Shot Doctor, will be moving down the AM dial to 540 WFLA. But 540 won't be offering a 24-hour sorts talk format which means this market will no longer get nationally syndicated hosts like Dan Patrick, Jim Rome, and J.T. The Brick. It also means that the only sports-talk station in town will be ESPN radio on WHOO 1080 AM, which has such a weak signal that I can't even pick it up at night in my car or at home. Clear Channel Communications strikes again--way to go!

--Matthew

The verdict is in! The 16th annual Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase--Central Florida's premier event celebrating the Sunshine State's homegrown filmmaking talent--entertained over 300 indie film supporters this past weekend and the jury has made their decisions. The nearly 6 hours of programming has been whittled down to a tight 88 minute selection (including 4 FilmSlam winners!) for the "Best of Brouhaha--Emerging Florida Filmmakers" sidebar in the upcoming 2008 Florida Film Festival (March 28 - April 6). Congratulations to the following films and filmmakers--we'll see you in the Spring:

Katharine Leis' FOOBIE JESUS, Todd Thompson's MR. BUBBS, Danny Daneau's music video for THE HEATHENS - "DIRTY JEANS," Ali Imran Zaidi's A MAN IN THE ATTIC, Gwynne Olson-Wheeler's THE KITE, Hannah Sherman's ESCAR GO!, Chris Nabholz's RESPIRE, MON AMI, Patrick Algermissen's PUPSOCK & WENDELL IN THE GALLERY OF DOOM, Christi Doucet's BORROWED CAMERA, Trey Chace's WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, Tony Cabrera's TAKEN, Bevin Carnes' A LEG UP, Robert Huth's DUPLEGGCATED, Dave Metzger's PENGUIN: THE MUSICAL and Fredrick Snyder's PROMBIES!

--Matthew

16 years. 46 films. 11 FilmSlam winners. 8 schools. The 16th annual Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase takes up residence at Enzian this weekend with four different programs scheduled for Saturday, 12/8, and Sunday, 12/9 at 11:00 AM and 1:15 PM. This event clearly focuses its spotlight on Florida filmmaking and continues to be Central Florida's premier celebration of the sunshine state's filmmakers. The nearly six hours of films spread out over four programs are made up in equal parts from the 11 monthly FilmSlam 2007 Audience Award winners, independent submissions, and curated work (up to 20 minutes) from Florida schools. All in all, eight educational institutions will be represented: Florida State University, University of Central Florida, University of Miami, Valencia Community College, Ringling School of Art & Design, Full Sail Real World Education, Daytona Beach Community College and Lake Brantley High School.

What's exciting for these young filmmakers is that not only will they get to see their work presented on the big screen in front of an audience, but a distinguished local jury consisting of former Orlando Sentinel Arts & Entertainment Editor Linda DiBattista, pop culture writer Liz Langley, and Enzian Development Coordinator Lucas Draper will be selecting a cream-of-the-crop, "Best of Brouhaha" program for the 2008 Florida Film Festival in late March. So come out and root your favorites on and support Florida filmmaking and your local indie filmmakers--you can go Christmas shopping another time, and admission is only $5 a program. See you there!

--Matthew

By the time you read this, Johan Santana could be a member of the Boston Red Sox. I can't believe it's gotten to this point, but I guess it's inevitable when a superstar finds himself on a "smaller market" team with an expiring contract. The Minnesota Twins did offer their two-time Cy Young Award-winning ace pitcher a 4-year extension after 2008 worth $80 million (making it $93 mill for the next 5 years in other words), but perhaps the best starting pitcher in baseball knows he can probably get up to $25 million for 5 or 6 years from Boston, NY, or California.

Perhaps the fact that free agent All-Star centerfielder Torii Hunter--a 7-time Gold Glove winner and the face of the franchise for over a decade--left over Thanksgiving to sign with the Angels for more years and more bucks didn't help any. But you would think with a brand new stadium on the way and Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and Rookie of the Year runner-up Delmon Young (who just came over in a trade with Tampa for promising young pitcher Matt Garza) on the team, that would be enough for Santana to stay put.

But not signing the extension is a clear sign that he's not interested in staying in Minnesota, so the Twins have no choice but to get something in return for him now. I'd much rather have him go to the Yankees so the Twins could get Philip Hughes and Melky Cabrera in return (and other than New Englanders and "Red Sox Nation," who the hell wants Boston to have a one-two punch of Santana and Beckett?), but the Boss' idiotic son, Hank, talked tough and tried to give the Twins a Monday midnight deadline to make a deal--what a moron! So now Minnesota will probably end up sending him to the Yankees' arch rival, who have already won two World Series in the last four years. Can you say dynasty?

All I can hope is that the Twins better get a young starter (Lester or Bucholz), Jacob Ellsbury and not Coco Crisp (he of the great name and pathetic bat), and another hot prospect in the deal. Whether or not they can still compete in the tough AL Central without Torii, Johan, and maybe ace closer Joe Nathan (also in the final year of his contract) remains to be seen. I hate the word "rebuilding."

--Matthew