We've been feeling the love lately. The readers of Florida Monthly Magazine (circ. 220,000 mo.) have selected Enzian Theater as the "Best Cinema and Cafe in Florida," scheduled to appear in their September issue. This is the first time Enzian has been the recipient of a spot in Florida Monthly's "Best of Florida" edition. And that's pretty damn nice--it's always gratifying to feel appreciated.

--Matthew

This weekend sadly marked the passing of yet another legend of jazz who chose to live overseas more than four decades ago. Chicago native Johnny Griffin, a small man and one of the great tenor saxophonists of all time (which earned him the moniker, "The Little Giant") passed away in France hours before a gig on Friday night. He was 80 years old. At the age of 17 he was already establishing himself in Lionel Hampton's Big Band, which he eventually left to lead his own quartet. During the 1950s he also earned world-wide fame as a member of both Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and the Thelonious Monk Quartet. And up to his final day, Griffin continued to tour all over Europe where his artistry was fully appreciated.

Perhaps not as famous or well-known in the States as saxophone giants and jazz innovators such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, or even Lester Young and Dexter Gordon, Griffin was one of the great be-bop players without question--a "Little Giant" who could really swing and picked his sidemen (including the sublime pianist Wynton Kelly) with impeccable care and taste. If you haven't heard any good jazz lately, I highly recommend you seek out any of the following: "Introducing Johnny Griffin" (Blue Note 46536, 1956, w/ Griffin, Kelly, Curly Russell, and Max Roach); the legendary "A Blowing Session" (Blue Note 81559, 1957, w/ Griffin, Coltrane and Hank Mobley all jamming together plus Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Art Blakey); and "The Little Giant" by the Johnny Griffin Sextet (Riverside Japanese import, maybe domestic by now, 1959, w/ Blue Mitchell, Julian Priester, Kelly, Sam Jones, and Albert Heath).

--Matthew

Before I head out for a much anticipated week's vacation of hanging out with my kids, hitting some water parks, seeing some flicks, and finally finishing the most recent season of SMALLVILLE (don't ask), I have to put in a plug to all moviegoers in the Central Florida area. Like you, I can't wait to see the new Batman (by all reports incredible!), but wait I shall until it's convenient (and less insane) to check it out on the IMAX screen. In the meantime, you can't say that Enzian isn't doing its part providing counter-programming to the blockbusters this summer.

Check out this smorgasbord of cinematic and musical highlights gracing our screen (and elsewhere) beginning Friday the 18th: for Enzian's "regular" programming, we've got the Oscar-nominated Russian-Chinese epic about Genghis Khan, MONGOL, entering its 4th and final week. We also have Brett ("The Kid Stays in the Picture") Morgen's 2007 Sundance opener and brilliant 1968 time capsule, CHICAGO 10, playing at 9:30 for one week only. These two have to depart on the 24th because Werner Herzog's stunning Antarctica doc, ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, opens next Friday the 25th.

In the special programming department this week, there's so much going on it's ridiculous. The KidFest Film Series officially begins tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 11 AM with Charlie Chaplin's MODERN TIMES (also repeated on Tuesday the 22nd at 12:30 PM). That will be followed by Richard Lester's 1964 Beatle classic, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, on Saturday the 19th at 1:30 PM and Thursday the 24th at 12:30. Rounding out the KidFest lineup is the 1938 THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD on Wednesday at 12:30 and Frank Oz and Jim Henson's THE DARK CRYSTAL on Friday the 25th at 12:30 and Saturday the 26th at 1:30. All films will be in 35mm and the majority of the prints should be beautiful.

More family fun can be had at the Target 2nd Annual Family Theater Festival in Loch Haven Park on Saturday night (the 19th) at 8:30 PM when Enzian presents a free screening of the "Sing-a-long" HAIRSPRAY. That's right--lyrics will be right there on the screen so you can harmonize with John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, and the rest of the cast in this fun-filled musical remake and Broadway adaptation of the John Waters classic about integration and dance shows in early 60s Baltimore.

Sunday afternoon at 12 noon brings the second of of four films in Enzian's summer La Scala Opera series, LA TRAVIATA. The pedigree for this one is sensational: it was directed by Liliana Cavani (THE NIGHT PORTER), designed by the great film production designer, Dante Ferretti (SWEENEY TODD, GANGS OF NEW YORK), and conducted by the one and only Lorin Maazel. You may want to get in the stand-by line early for this one.

And of course, let's not forget next weekend, the 25th and 26th, when the MovieJoint late night series comes back to Enzian for 11:30 PM screenings of Oliver Stone's NATURAL BORN KILLERS, followed by the July 29 screening at 9:30 of Danny Boyle's TRAINSPOTTING for Cult Classics.

So for a little something different at the movies in the coming days, there's plenty of worthwhile options as you can see.

--Matthew

"This time it counts." Ever since Major League Baseball decided that the winning league in the All-Star Game would have home field advantage in the World Series, that promotional hook has been repeated ad nauseum. And ever since it's counted, the American League has yet to lose and Tuesday night's epic was no different. In the fourth and final All-Star Game at the original Yankee Stadium (they're moving into a new ballpark next year), the AL prevailed once again 4-3 in a 15-inning contest (the longest since 1967) that was quite glorious to behold. And when Home Run Derby-winner and Twins' First Baseman Justin Morneau barely beat the throw home on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 15th (after what felt like dozens of wasted opportunities to end the game), the 4 hour 50 minute running time set a record for longest All-Star game ever. Wasn't that the duration of the Wimbledon final between Nadal and Federer? These 5-hour sporting events are killing me!

Proving once again that good pitching beats good hitting, there were 34 strike-outs in the game and 28 runners left on base, a master class in futility by the greatest players in the world. There was also 3 errors by one player, lots of stolen bases, a couple of home runs, a bunch of plays at the plate, and a based loaded-no out jam where nobody scored--basically, this game had a little of everything which is why it was so damn good and a Midsummer Classic of the highest order.

All 63 All-Stars that were available saw action (unusual in itself), and it was fascinating to consider what would've happened next if the score had remained tied. Both the AL and NL were on their last available pitcher, and Tampa Bay starter Scott Kazmir (who threw over 100 pitches just two days prior and wasn't supposed to pitch at all) and the Phillies' closer Brad Lidge (who usually only pitches one inning) could've gone out there maybe one more time and that's it. Rumor has it that Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew and Mets third baseman David Wright would've been next up on the hill, but thank God it didn't come to that. Maybe they should consider inter-league play records (also dominated by the AL however) or regular season win-loss records of the teams in the World Series to determine who gets the four home games (first two and last two) and who gets the middle three--or does that make too much sense?

--Matthew

This past weekend's edition of FilmSlam, Enzian's monthly showcase for local filmmakers competing for an automatic bye into December's Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase, got a nice boost from an article in Saturday's Orlando Sentinel. Movie Critic Roger Moore wrote favorably about the program's second year in residence at Enzian after getting its start at the now-defunct Downtown Media Arts Center (DMAC), and FilmSlam founder John Theisen was able to make some valid points about its virtues and place in our community. The man even got an accompanying color mug shot--nice job, John!

All this attention translated into a very nice crowd of more than 115 filmmakers, friends, family, cinema lovers, and the merely curious on a hot and steamy July afternoon in sunny Orlando. The big winner for lucky FilmSlam # 7 was Kevin Provost's OVIEDO CHICKENS, an amusing doc short about the large population of free roaming chickens that have managed to become part of the fabric of downtown Oviedo life. 2nd place went to THE MONSTER UNDER MY BED, Todd Thompson's comic thriller follow-up to last year's MR. BUBBS--poor little Samantha...And finally, 3rd place went to Sean Heyboer's FEBRUARY STARS, in which a young deaf man must deal with the impending death of his grandmother. Congratulations to all the winners and filmmakers who participated, and we'll see you at Slam # 8 on August 10 for a whole new batch of short films from Central Floridians.

--Matthew

David Redmon's excellent 2005 documentary, MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA, will finally see a home video release on July 29. Winner of the Florida Film Festival Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature, the film remarkably was the first of three straight by the filmmaker to play in competition at the FFF over a 4-year period--KAMP KATRINA (2007) and INTIMIDAD (2008), co-directed by partner Ashley Sabin, are equally fine docs in their own right. Hopefully, they too will get a DVD release in the coming months.

MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA folows the curious, sometimes humorous path of Mardi Gras beads from the naked streets of New Orleans during Carnival--where revelers party and exchange beads for women flashing their boobs--to the disciplined factories in Fuzhou, China, where teenage girls live and sew beads together around the clock for a pittance. With its skillful blend of verite footage and revealing interviews, this is one story about one product that begs larger questions about globalization and the glaring discrepancies between the haves and the have-nots. And with its substantial bonus features including deleted scenes, clips from upcoming films, and a worker's diary, this is a DVD that should appeal to many and is worth seeking out from the usual sources. Congratulations to David, Ashley, and Carnivalesque Films for their first exciting release.

--Matthew

I was surprised by two items in the newspaper this past weekend that brought up distant memories from my childhood. Unbelievably, goateed bandleader Mitch Miller, who I think once had his own TV show in the Lawrence Welk mode, was celebrating his 97th birthday--who knew he was still kicking? While my parents once enjoyed his easy listening/big band sounds, my most vivid memory of the man was that we called the aliens from the "Zantee Misfits" episode of The Outer Limits the "Mitch Miller ants." I have no idea why this has stuck with me for so many years, but anyone who's seen that classic episode and is familiar with the hip-in-his-day bandleader will get the connection.

The sad news was that Larry Harmon, the man credited with making Bozo the Clown "the world's most famous clown," died at the age of 83 of congestive heart failure. Harmon wasn't the original Bozo (the character was launched as a Capitol Records recording artist in 1946), but from the early 50's on he bought the rights to the name, developed it into the children's icon we all knew and loved, and licensed it to television stations around the country. He cloned and trained over 200 local Bozo Show hosts the world over, and supposedly there was as many 183 individual live shows on the air at the same time in the U.S. Incredibly, the live Bozo Show was on the air without interruption for 47 years, making it the longest running family program in television history.

Growing up in the pre-Sesame Street era of the late 50's and early 60's, Romper Room, Captain Kangaroo, Shari Lewis, and Bozo the Clown all helped shape our very impressionable minds while educating and entertaining. It was a great time to be a kid, and Larry Harmon helped make it that way. R.I.P. to the man who was called "truly the goodwill ambassador of the world" -- you've earned it.

--Matthew

Enzian's got plenty of them to brighten your cultural calendar beginning this 4th of July weekend and continuing through next week. Despite our single screen status, we never stop trying to make our programming as diverse as possible. Beginning its second smash week is MONGOL, Sergei Bodrov's Oscar-nominated, thrilling epic on the rise of Genghis Khan, is turning out to be one of the arthouse blockbusters of the year. This is one film you definitely want to see on the big screen--forget about waiting for the home video release, no matter how great your TV setup is.

Sunday the 6th at 12 noon is the first of our opera presentations from La Scala, and what a debut! Screening in stunning digital format with Dolby 5.1 surround sound, Verdi's AIDA should blow even the most-seasoned opera lover away. The fact that it's directed and designed by the great Franco Zeffirelli (ROMEO AND JULIET, Domingo's LA TRAVIATA and OTELLO, the Mel Gibson/Glenn Close HAMLET), is just icing on the cake.

Tuesday the 8th at 9:30 PM is Cult Classics time, and you won't want to miss this. At long last, Quentin Tarantino's hilarious, violent masterpiece of bizarre criminal behavior from 1994 hits the Enzian screen. That's right--PULP FICTION is here for one show only, and has there ever been a better cast in an indie fim, or any film for that matter? Check out this list of names: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Rosanna Arquette, Ving Rhames, and Eric Stoltz, just to name a few. If you've never seen it you owe it to yourself to catch it in 35mm; if you've seen it already, you know you'll be there.

And last but certainly not least, July's Popcorn Flick takes place in Central Park, Winter Park at sunset on Thursday the 10th (weather permitting), and it's none other than Wolfgang ("Das Boot") Petersen's classic children's fantasy from 1984, THE NEVERENDING STORY. A mysterious book that leads to a world of imagination, flying puppet creatures, free popcorn, and a free movie under the stars--how can you beat that? Don't forget the Citronella candles though.

--Matthew

Years ago the Florida Film Festival set up the next ten years of Spring festival dates based on avoiding any conflicts with both Easter Sunday and the incredibly popular (and established) Winter Park Art Festival. So I got a huge chuckle out of this item in the Sports section of Tuesday's Orlando Sentinel:

Soccer bigger than porn? Apparently so. Over the weekend, something called the International Erotic Film Festival of Barcelona was held in, uh, Madrid. It had drawn as many as 50,000 in previous years but only attracted about 15,000 this time. And the director blamed the poor turnout on Spain's victories in Euro 2008, saying, "Football is one of the few things that can compete with sex."

We've all heard that expression before: "(blank) is better than sex"--now there's proof. Or maybe it's because it was only a film festival and not the act itself. But if you ever needed evidence of how important soccer is in other parts of the world, this tells it like it is. Congrats to Spain for their first title in over four decades (loved the winning goal that beat Germany!), and my condolences to the festival director.

--Matthew