Movies

Okay… think machine + cinema… what do you get? Machinima.

Here’s a look at how movies are made in virtual worlds…

Gametrotting Eps #3 - Machiniwaaa?

I'm still on the road. We'll be heading back to Florida tomorrow morning. I've been having a nice time. We haven't done anything earth shattering, but it's been nice nonetheless.

In staying in the Pinehurst area. It's a hilly area blanketed with pine trees. It looks a lot like Florida except for the hills. There's a huge concentration of golf courses and horse ranches here. I could almost imagine myself living here, except there's no ren fest nearby, and it's too far from Busch Gardens.

Saturday evening we went to a Sweet Adelines concert. There's a large group of barbershoppers in this area and they were staging their first major concert. All went fairly well with only a few minor glitches. Most people probably didn't even notice them, but with a background in entertainment I am particularly sensitive to those little things…

The local groups did a great job. They also had a group called Southern Yankees from Charlotte visiting. This group has won many competitions and have produced two CDs. It was a real treat to see these ladies perform, and even better was getting to meet them after the performance. We all went to a party afterwards and the Southern Yankees did a few special numbers for us. One of them is a former Miss Vermont. She's such a sweetheart and knows how to give a hug.
 ;)

Sunday morning we woke up some chilly weather. The birds that usually take a bath in the birdbath out on the deck had their ice skates on and put on a real show. Axels, leaps, figure eights. No, not really, but the birdbath was frozen solid since it had dropped well below freezing.

Sunday afternoon brought excitement to the forefront with a shopping trip to Belk's and Goody's followed by a brief foray to The Fresh Market. TFM is a wonderful grocery store with a wide variety of specialty items you can't get at most stores. We have a couple TFMs in Tampa, but they're so far across town from me that they might as well be in Outer Mongolia. I wish they'd put one on my side of town. In the meantime, I guess I'll have to make an occasional trip across town to get some of the best chocolate chunk cookies I've ever tasted. Yum!

Sunday evening we went to see Music & Lyrics, a wonderful romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. There's even a Busch Gardens joke in the script.

Monday was a lazy day. I sat at the computer most of the morning. I had a burrito from Moe's Southwest Grill for lunch. It was pretty good, but I prefer Chipotle's. After noon we went shopping again. We stopped at a real estate office to get some information about a ranch for sale. Then we went for a long drive exploring the areas northwest of Pinehurst. It's mostly rural, with hardwood forests replacing the plantation pines. We got back "home" and watched a few DVDs.

Like I said, I'm having a nice time, but I'll be glad to get back home to my normal routines. It's nice to go for a visit and I feel at home here, but it's not the same. There's no place like home…

Life is good.

I've been so busy the last few days. On Thursday and Friday I went to Busch Gardens to see Herman's Hermits in concert. I saw their show six times. On Friday I sat with some Noonatics whose comments gave the show a slightly different perspective. I would have gone back Saturday and Sunday except for the fact that the ren fest is going on.

Ah, yes, the ren fest. It's my favorite time of the year. I usually try to go every day it's open. I have an extended ren fest family that keeps growing each year. Some are vendors and some are patrons. We all spend a lot of time together and have so much fun. A large group of us usually go out for dinner on Saturday nights. And, yes, we do go in costume. It makes for such an interesting time.

Yesterday was my birthday. Kristen, my ren fest "daughter", took me out for dinner and a movie. We went to Chipotle's, one of my favorite places. We spotted a used bookstore nearby and popped in for a lookabout. We found some very interesting books. It's now on my list of places to frequent. After the bookstore we went into the mall and walked around for a while until it was time for the movie. We saw Bridge to Terabithia. It's a children's fantasy movie with a bittersweet ending. We were both deeply touched by this movie. It wasn't at all what we were expecting.

Today I'm just taking it easy. Being retired is so much work… 

I had an extra day off this week. A friend asked me to go to Spring Hill to hear her play some old time music at a festival at her school on Thursday. I ended up playing guitar for the band. It's years since I've played guitar on stage. Ooh… tender fingers…

After the festival we had dinner and headed for her place near Crystal River. We got up early the next morning, fed the livestock, and headed into town for a good old-fashioned breakfast at a good old-fashioned restaurant. There's a small area of touristy shops nearby so we headed over there after breakfast. We discovered a delightful little tea bar. We sampled some Kir Mirage, a black currant tea. Heaven on earth. We made ourselves comfortable at the bar. She had a spiced chai tea and I had iced Kir Mirage.

We visited the antique store and spent a lot of time there exploring the nooks and crannies. The owner told us about The Highlander Cafe. So that was our next destination.

The Highlander Cafe features some really great sounding sandwiches. We opted for desserts. Everything in the cafe is made right there. We had a slice of lemon cheesecake and a slice of chocolate cake. This was quickly turning into an eating vacation.

We headed back to her place. She does great therapeutic massages. She worked on my feet, back, and neck. When she was done I was so relaxed that I could hardly move. When I finally did get up I was still so far out there that I was slightly disoriented.

Then it was time to eat again. We went to Rocco's Italian Restaurant. We started out with some wonderful spinach rolls. My main course was lasagna. Excellent.

We stopped over at the video store to pick up a movie. We finally settled on The Prairie Home Companion, a movie both of had wanted to see but missed in the theaters. A lot of the performers in the movie are actual performers from the radio program. It's a fictional story about the last show before the theater is to be torn down. I'll be adding this one to my collection. Towards the end of the movie we had some chocolate cake she had picked up for the occasion. More food…

I was only gone for a day and a half but it felt like a week. It wasn't really meant to be a vacation, but we did all those touristy things you do on vacation. I got a chance to unwind from the "joys" of the job.

M&M's Dark Chocolate has an interesting and fun game in the spirit of the Halloween season. There are 50 visual puzzles representing 50 dark movies hidden in a painting. Some of the clues are painfully obvious, some are quite clever, and some I haven't figured out yet. So far I've figured out 38 42 of them. If you're a movie fan you'll be hooked…

Sunrise Cinemas in Old Hyde Park, Tampa, has been one of my favorite movie venues. They often played off-beat, art-house type movies in addition to major releases. It was a nice place, nice atmosphere, and always kept clean. They even had a beer and wine bar, something you don’t see at most movie houses. In today’s email I got a notice that they are closing August 31. I’m really sorry to hear this. I haven’t been able to go there as often as I’d like, but always enjoyed it. I’ve seen some very memorable movies there.

Here’s what the email said:

Final Day Specials at Sunrise Cinemas at Old Hyde Park

Sunrise Cinemas is throwing a “Thank You Party” next Thursday, August 31, 2006, the last day of its operation in Hyde Park Village. Celebrating a successful run at the historic and well-loved Tampa Bay movie theatre, Sunrise Cinemas will be offering all concession items for only $1.00 each all day long while supplies last.

Guests will be able to buy any size popcorn and soft drink, hot dogs, nachos, candy, coffee, pretzels, bottle waters, iced tea, and, yes, even beer and wine for only $1.00 each.

In addition, Sunrise Cinemas Loyalty Card holders will be able to purchase a ticket to any movie showing that day for only $5.50 each. Normal ticket prices will apply for all other guests.

Sunrise Cinemas General Manager, Sonal, and staff will be on hand to say goodbye to those wishing to visit their “favorite movie theatre” one last time.

For more information, please contact the Sunrise Cinemas management office at 813-258-5640.

We went to see the animated movie Cars the other day. Loved it so much I want to see it again. I’ll probably get it when it comes out on DVD. As with other Pixar/Disney movies, the animation was excellent. There’s a good story line with lessons about true friendship. Most of the story takes place in a small town on Route 66 in a small town bypassed years ago by the interstate giving the movie a nice historical flair. And it’s always fun trying to identify the actors by their voices alone. Go see it, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

I came home from work this afternoon feeling pretty good. My dad and I needed some things from the grocery store so I took him shopping. When I got home from shopping I saw that Dr. Zhivago was going to be on Turner Classic Movies.

I still remember going to see Dr. Zhivago when it first came out in 1965. It had a tremendous impact on me. It’s always been one of my favorite movies, probably my all-time favorite drama. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen this movie since.

This movie effects me in so many ways I don’t even know where to begin. It always brings tears to my eyes. Let’s just say I can identify with having an undying love for someone that you can’t be with.

I managed to make it through all 197 minutes of the movie, only nodding off briefly a couple times. It’s kind of odd that I don’t have a copy of this movie in my collection. I guess it’s so ingrained into me that I don’t need one.

Yeah, it’s that one… the gay cowboy movie…

Well, I’m here to tell you it’s not about gay cowboys. It’s about gay sheepboys, er, sheppards. You see, there’s hardly any cows in it but there are tons of sheep in it.

This movie is a very touching love story about two men who meet in 1963 when they are hired to tend a huge flock of sheep on Brokeback Mountain. At the end of the summer they leave the mountain to resume normal lives. They both end up in disfunctional marriages.

Five years later they reunite under the guise of taking a fishing trip to Brokeback Mountain. This becomes a regular thing, and we watch their secret relationship develope. Unfortunately, the wife of one figures out what’s going on and she divorces her husband, but due to pressures of society he still won’t live with the other man.

There is some nudity, but nothing frontal, and the sex scenes are “tastefully” done. There’s nothing obscene about this movie except the prejudices of society.

Brokeback Mountain is a bittersweet story about an undying love forbidden by the prejudices of the era. The current social climate is better, but many people are still forced to live a life of denial. Why can’t people just leave other people alone and let them love each other?

I really liked this movie. See it with an open mind and you’ll be sure to enjoy it.

Baa for now…

[Note: this is a repost, the original was lost in the the database server crash.]

Over Thanksgiving weekend Ricky and I went to visit some friends for a wonderful holiday dinner. The plan was that after dinner we’d all go to the Imax theater in Tampa to see the newest installment of the Harry Potter series. Someone at the party got the bright idea that we could download a bootleg copy from the internet and watch it there. So an hour or so later we started “watching” Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The downloaded version was such bad quality that I dozed off and came to every now and then. By the end of the movie I couldn’t tell you anything that happened. So…

A couple weeks ago Ricky and I went to a real movie theater to see the movie. Shortly after it started I said, “Does any of this look familiar to you?” “Nope!” was Ricky’s reply.

The movie started out with a bang and kept a fast pace throughout. None of that boring crap at the Dursley’s house at the the beginning.

This year Hogwart’s has been selected to host the Triwizard Tournament and Harry is selected as a competitor. The wizards have to complete three extremely dangerous tasks. In the end one will be named champion.

This is a coming of age story filled with raging hormones and teenage angst. Harry seems scared more by the prospect of asking a girl to attend the ball than he is by the daunting task of competition in the tournament.

The Harry Potter movies seem to be getting better with each installment. The acting is better, the stories are better, the special effects are better.

Two thumbs up!

[Note: this is a repost, the original was lost in the the database server crash.]

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a movie based on the classic book by C. S. Lewis.

There was a bit of controversy as this film was being made. Some people were worried that since Walt Disney Pictures was making the movie that it would be Disneyfied. Well, that didn’t happen. It sticks close to the story as told in the book.

The film has a nice period feel to it, the story having taken place during WWII. Four children are sent to the country to get away from the war. When playing hide-and-seek, one of the children hides in a wardrobe and discovers it’s a portal to the world of Narnia. In Narnia it has been prophesied that four humans would help them defeat the evils of the White Witch. The children are caught up in the war to defeat her.

It’s aimed at a younger audience than LOTR or HP, but this is still fantasy cinema at it’s best. I can’t wait for other books in the Chronicles of Narnia series to be brought to the screen.

I do have one slight problem, though. C. S. Lewis sub-titled the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe… that’s just wrong… first we’re introduced to the the wardrobe, then the witch, and then the lion… so it should have been called The Chronicles of Narnia: The Wardrobe, the Witch, and the Lion…

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

I made it through the holidays. I went to BG every day Shae Laurel was there except Tuesday. I really enjoyed their show. I spent way too much time on my feet. I’d get to the park early each day, catch Katonga, then head over to get lunch and see the Shae. They did four sets a day and saw saw them all. By the end of the day that I could hardly stand, but my back muscles hurt so much I could hardly sit down. Well, it’s over, and I’m a stronger person for it.

My friend, Deb, came down for a visit. Yesterday we went over to Pinellas Park to visit friends who have a New Year’s Day pot luck pick in. We had a wonderful time. The food was great, as always. We saw old friends we haven’t seen in a long time. It was nice too reconnect with old friends.

This morning Deb cooked a wonderful meal in my kitchen. I’m still so stuffed that I can hardly move. I didn’t know such good food could come out of my kitchen. There’s so much leftover that I’ll be eating good for a long time.

This afternoon we went to see The Stone Family. Sarah Jessica Parker did an incredible job. I have a new respect for her acting abilities. The story is one of those meet-the-parents type stories, but with a twist. Several twists, actually. I thought it would be a comedy and it started out that way, but in the last half of the movie there were several scenes that were so touching I left with tears in my eyes.

Deb left for home a few minutes ago. The house is once again quiet. Tomorrow I’ll take it easy and just relax. I won’t do anything more strenuous than a bit of laundry.

After getting back to Deb’s place after seeing the depressing but excellent movie The Weatherman (see previous post), we decided we needed to do something to take our minds off of it.

First Deb made some wonderful fudge brownie sundaes. Start out with a a scoop or two of Dove Toffee and Caramel ice cream on top of a few excellent two-bite brownies from Publix. Then drizzle on some dark chocolate sauce. Top it all off with some whipped cream and cherries. I’d hate to guess how many calories we consumed, but there’s nothing like a huge dose of chocolate to help you feel better after seeing a depressing movie.

We got settled and popped National Treasure into the DVD player. National Treasure is a highly implausible story of a treasure hunt. It’s loaded with action. Nicholas Cage plays a man whose family was privy to information about a treasure hidden back when the Declaration of Independence was written. A clue to the treasure has been passed down through the generations of his family. Nicholas gets bitten by the treasure bug and sets out to see if he can solve the riddles and find the treasure.

If you’re a fan of action flicks you’d probably like this movie. There’s a lot of history involved. The story is kind of like The DaVinci Code. I’m not a big fan of action flicks but I do like this movie enough to give it one thumb up.

Yesterday I went to visit my friend, Deb, up in Crystal River. She made a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. OK, so it’s not Thanksgiving yet, but yesterday was when I could go for a visit so that’s when we had our Thanksgiving dinner. She had a new fiddle student, Laura, coming over for her first lesson. We were just ready to run into town for some veggies and stuff when the Laura arrived. We all hopped in the car and went to town together. We hit it off with Laura and invited her to join us for dinner.

After hearing the trials and tribulations that Laura’s been experiencing lately we decided maybe we should go see a movie, something light-hearted and feel-good. Deb suggested The Weatherman, starring Nicholas Cage and Michael Caine. So… off to the theater.

The movie was not what we expected. Nicholas Cage plays a TV weatherman in Chicago whose life is falling apart. He’s seperated from his wife, his kids are getting into trouble, and his father is dying. He pins all his hopes on getting a gig on TV in New York city. He fantasizes that it would be a new start for the entire family.

Moving from one tragedy to another, the film becomes darker and darker. It was not a light-hearted feel-good movie, but it was an excellent film nonetheless. The acting was superb. Nicholas Cage just keeps getting better and better and Michael Caine does his typical low-key acting. 

I’ll give it two thumbs up! 

Edward R. Murrow closed his broadcasts of See it Now on CBS with the phrase "Good night, and good luck."

In the early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy headed up  the House Un-American Activities Committee. The purpose of this committee was to expose communists that were trying to infiltrate our country. People brought before the committee were considered guilty until proven innocent. People could be blacklisted by innuendo alone, destroying lives and careers. The effects of McCarthyism still haunt the lives of many people half of a century later.

During the McCarthy era few people would stand up and say publicly that what was happening in this country was wrong. Edward R. Murrow was one of those people. After exposing McCarthy, McCarthy countered by claiming Murrow was a communist. McCarthy was eventually censured by the Senate, but allowed to remain in office.

Last night I saw Good Night, and Good Luck. Directed by George Clooney, the film is shot in black-and-white. It really captures the feeling of the era. Most of the film takes place in the smoke-filled newsroom at CBS. Actual news footage and old commercials are woven into the story. You leave the theater asking yourself how anything like this could ever happen in our country, but then you look at what is happening today and you realize just how difficult it is to stop abuse by a government that we elected to watch out for us.

David Strathairn does a remarkable job portraying Murrow. The film also features wonderful cast of other well known actors playing actual people from that era.

A bit of trivia: George Clooney said that when the movie underwent test screenings, audience members felt that the McCarthy character was overacting. They didn’t realize that the McCarthy character they saw on screen was actually McCarthy himself in archive footage.

I’ll give this movie two thumbs up! 

Over the years I have read many books. Some were memorable, most were forgettable. When In Cold Blood was published in 1965 it sent shock waves through the nation. Truman Capote became America’s best-known author. Sometime toward the end of the 60s I read it. It’s a book that can change you in fundamental ways. Pieces of this book have been with me ever since and continue to shape my thinking.

We went to see Capote last night at the Tampa Theatre. What a movie! It chronicles the five year process Truman Capote went through to research and publish In Cold Blood. The process had such a tremendous impact on him that he was never able to finish another novel and he died of alcoholism related problems in 1984.

Truman had a very distinctive voice. If you’ve ever heard him speak you never forget that sound. Philip Seymour Hoffmann’s portrayal of Truman begins with the voice and mannerisms. He nails it. His appearance in this movie is vaguely similar to Truman’s but when he speaks you overlook that discrepancy and he becomes Truman.

This movie is definitely a must-see if you are a Truman Capote fan, or just a fan of good cinema. (5 stars)

A friend of mine recently remarked that I give a lot of movies 5 star ratings. I am usually very selective in what movies I am willing to pay to see. I research them before spending my hard-earned money. I try to see a variety of types of movies. The movies that don’t get good ratings are usually someone else’s pick, but I’m not perfect and occasionally pick a stinker.

At the recent film festival we had passes that allowed us to see any and all movies. For the most part we picked movies we thought we’d like, but the pass gave us the opportunity to experiment with possible/probable duds at no extra cost. Sometimes it paid off, sometimes it didn’t. 

I finally got to see the movie Everything is Illuminated. Elijah Wood stars as Jonathan Safran Foer, young man who travels to the Ukraine to attempt to find a woman who saved his grandfather years ago. He hires a guide and interpreter to help locate the town his grandfather was from. The first half of the movie is quite funny, the last half is quite serious. We discover how the past of all the characters is intertwined with the story of the holocaust.

The story starts in the United States but quickly moves to the Ukraine. The guide and interpreter pick Jonathan up at the airport and they set off on their trip. In one very brief scene they pass the infamous Odessa steps, shelled by the battleship Potemkin in the failed 1905 uprising. In another scene they pass an old Russian apartment complex now in ruins. They finally find someone who knew of the village and the people in the photo Jonathan is carrying.

The visual imagery is stunning. The story is deeply touching. You start out laughing and end up crying.

I must get this movie when the DVD come out. Definitely 5 stars.

This is the last installment of my reviews of the 2005 Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Yesterday was the last day of the festival so there won’t be anything more to review…

We got downtown about 12:30 PM. We sat at a table across in TECO Plaza strategically located for some of the best people watching. People watching is still one of my favorite pasttimes. It’s one of the reasons I like to hang out at Busch Gardens so much.

The first film of the day was Fish Can’t Fly. This documentary shows the struggle people go through reconciling their homosexuality with their spiritual needs. A lot of emphasis was placed on the dismal failure of so called "ex-gay programs". People from all over the country were interviewed for this film. Many scenes were shot here in Tampa at Potter’s House Fellowship, a church ministering mainly to gay people. I wish all people would see this film, especially Christians. (5 stars)

Next on the shcedule were a couple films we decided to skip so we headed back out to the tables across the street. We got dinner from Pipo’s booth and sat down to a wonderful roast pork meal. We met up with a few friends and had a grand time chatting. Bill and Tony weren’t familiar with downtown Tampa so I led them on a brief walking tour. Shortly after returning to the theater area the dinner buffet was ready to open. There were appetizers from Chipotle and pizza from Pappa John’s. Jim had been complaining all day he really wanted pizza… wish granted!

Before the final feature was a short called The Sadness of Johnson Joe Jangles, probably the most bizarre film I’ve ever seen. If not the most bizarre, then certainly in the top five. The film has the feeling of one of those Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns. It starts out with a scene on a train in the old west. One of the male characters is pregnant and gives birth to a donkey. Then it really starts getting bizarre…

Festival organizers saved one of the aboslutely best films of the festival for the grand finale. Adam & Steve is a comedic love story filmed in lower Manhattan. That’s enough for me to like it. Two guys meet, fall in love, and they are tragically separated. Seventeen years later the meet again, fall in love again, then discover that they knew each other before. The movie is filled with sight gags and one-liners that keep you laughing almost nonstop. (5 stars)

After the movie we headed out into the street again to say good bye to friends old and new. One of my most precious memories of the festival will be the fellowship. It was an incredible experience to be in a 1446 seat theater filled to capacity with members of the gay community. I met a lot of people. People that I felt instant connections with like festival volunteers Brian and Clicky. I regret that I never learned Clicky’s real name. He had a clicker counter and clicked it each time we entered the theater. His warm smile and friendliness was something I looked forward to each day. I’m sure I’ll run into him again, I hope real soon, and then I’ll be sure to find out his real name.

Plans are already underway for next year’s festival. Planning is also afoot for monthly screenings of gay interest films. Kind of like mini-festivals all year long!

So many movies… so little time… 

We skipped the early afternoon movies, but got there in time for a block of shorts.

Feltch Sanders is kind of a gay Starsky & Hutch. Very corny, very funny.

Remember those old documentary shorts that usually had something to do with public health matters or wartime security? Billy’s Dad Is A Fudgepacker is made to look like one of those movies. Shot in black and white, slightly out of focus at times, cheery music in the background. It really captures that 1950’s feel. This movie is loaded with double entendres starting with the title. In this case Billy’s dad is a fudgepacker… working at a chocolate factory… in the packing department… Every other line is some kind of gag. It had the entire audience ROFL.

La Fidanzata was a cute little Italian movie. Grandma comes to visit Lolo unexpectedly just as Lolo and his lover are getting ready for a romantic movie. Very predictable, but nicely made. 

On The Low explored how a young black male deals with his secret. 

Running Without Sound is from the viewpoint of a young deaf runner. A feel-good kind of movie. 

Night Swimming is about two friends whose truck breaks down miles from anywhere. They have to spend the night in the woods and they cross the lines between friendship and lovers. Their relationship is forever altered. One is in denial and the other is heart broken.

The first feature we saw was Freshman Orientation. The main character pretends to be gay to get a girl. His roommate is actually gay and falls in love with him. It was a funny movie if you find college humor funny. A bright point in the movie was the casting of John Goodman as a gay bartender. (3 stars) 

Gay Sex In The 70s is not about old guys having sex… it’s a documentary about gays in 1970’s New York. Everyone came out of the closet during that time period. Gay sex became a public event. Promiscuity became the norm. From lower Manhattan to the Brambles in Central Park people were having sex everywhere, with everyone, usually without protection. Not a pretty picture, but valuable information that helps put today’s events into perspective. (4 stars)

The evening wrapped up with Carçon Stupide, a Swiss film in French. It plodded along rather slowly. A lot of audience members left before the movie was over. Those of us who stuck it out were rewarded with a wonderful ending. The main character is a twenty year old male prostitute who is very naive about the way the world works. To him having sex with everybody means you don’t have to love anybody. He meets a a forty something man who is actually more interested in him as a person than as a sex object. After a series of tragic events he re-examines his life. He makes a complete turn around and in the end we see him meet the man who may become the love of his life. I’ll probabaly add this one to my DVD collection. (4 stars)

By the time we got out of the theater is was after 1:30 AM. We spent over eight hours in the theater. My knees, legs, back, and butt were so sore I could hardly walk out of the theater. This morning I feel amazingly well. We’ll be heading downtown early this afternoon for the closing day festivities.

I’m still hanging in there. I’ve decided that the only way to survive the film festival is to take a nap during a boring movie instead of struggling to stay awake. I had started taking involuntary naps and decided that I’d rather decide when to sleep than having the fatigue decide. It’s paying off, this morning I woke up feeling pretty good.

We skipped the first movie yesterday and had dinner at Sumo Thai. I had Ginger Marianne with Crispy Tofu. I like the name of this dish, makes me kind of want to take a three hour cruise. It was absolutely delicious. The owner of the restaurant said something about probably not seeing us again until next year’s festival. I assured him we’d be back every now and then during the year because I really like his restaurant.

Song of the Lesbian Pirates was the first movie we saw. A short fluff piece about a couple of guys who write an operetta about lesbian pirates. Trust me, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. It was actually quite entertaining. Of course, Gilbert & Sullivan are probably rolling in their graves. (3 stars)

Next up was another short called Getting to Know You. A nice little movie about love won and love lost. When it was over I was wishing it was feature length. I didn’t want it to end so soon. (4 stars)

The next feature film was A Year Without Love, about a lonely man in Buenos Aires. He struggles with decisions about drug therapies for HIV. In his loneliness he seeks a dominant leather bondage master to satisfy his S&M desires. This is a depressing and powerful film. A bit too depressing for me. I wouldn’t recommend it for every one. (3 stars)

We missed Guys & Balls, about an all gay soccer team. It was playing over at Sunrise Cinemas. Everyone we talked to said it was one of the funniest movies of the festival. I guess we’ll have to rent it when it comes out on DVD. 

Only two more days of the festival, then my routine returns back to normal. I’m going to feel a bit lost for a few days.

Last night we skipped the first movie. The second movie was supposed to be Butterfly, Chinese movie that sounded wonderful but was still in transit from Vancouver so they substitued El Favor. A lot of people were disappointed by the switch, but I think if they stayed they were glad they did. El Favor is an Argentinian movie in Spanish with English subtitles. Subtitles can be fun when there’s an occasional typo or mistranslation like in this movie. At any rate, it’s a comedy about a lesbian couple, Roberta and Mora, that decides they want to start a family. They concoct a plan in which Roberta will seduce and have sex with Filipe, Mora’s brother. This movie was lots of fun, and the happy ending left everyone feeling good. (4 stars)

We watched a delightful little animated cartoon called Bikini. It’s about a young man who likes to wear his mother’s bikini to the beach.  The background music is an updated version of Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. Cute… really cute. (5 stars)

Then on to Ice Men for the final movie of the day. In reading the movie description in the program guide we decided we really wanted to see this movie because it sounded so good. I should know better than to believe everything I read. The movie was about five dysfunctional friends who get together during winter at an isolated cabin to celebrate one friend’s 3oth birthday. There was a lot of yelling and screaming and an occasional fist-fight between these so-called friends. I wouldn’t call these guys friends at all. I could not imagine myself being friends with any of the characters.  The movie dragged on for 108 minutes. I glad when it was over. (1 star)

I’m starting to get just a wee bit burnt out on movies so maybe I’m getting a bit more critical.

Tonight we’re going to Sumo Thai for dinner again… YUM! 

The result of my chronic fatigue is that I’m tired almost all the time. On top of that I’m still battling this head cold thing, and I’ve been pushing myself this past week by attending the film festival every night. I’m having a riot but it’s starting to catch up to me. The first movie last night was The Lady In Question Is Charles Busch. It’s a documentary about Charles Busch. Who would have guessed? Anyway, I was too tired to enjoy it so I decided to take a nap. Not the most polite thing to do at a film festival screening, but it was beyond my ability to stay awake. Charles was at the screening and did a question and answer period following the film. I was awake for that and it was very interesting. He’s had quite a varied career. I wish I could have stayed awake for the movie.

Leading into the last movie was a ten minute short called Damage about the harassment that some students face in public schools. I don’t know why people just can’t learn to get along and leave other people alone. 

The last movie of the evening was WTC View. A young man in lower Manhattan needs to find a roommate. On 9/10/01 he places an ad in The Village Voice listing WTC View as one of the features of the apartment. Of course the next day all hell breaks loose when the towers fall. The story follows how this man deals with emotional aftermath. Each person who comes to look at the room has a different story to tell about the WTC. It’s based on a stage play of the same name by Brian Sloan. I really liked this movie. (5 stars)

I’m having a lot of fun at the festival. I’m running into quite a few people I know. Some I would expect to see, some I’m surprised to see. There’s a few I wish I’d see…

We’ve now passed day six at Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Also known as day six of the popcorn diet, because sometimes you don’t have time to leave the theater to get dinner.

Say Uncle, directed by and starring Peter Paige, is a comedy about a single gay man who desperately wants children in his life. His god son has just moved to Japan leaving him with no outlet for his love of children. He decides to go to the playground to be with kids. After a while one of the mothers starts becoming suspicious because he "fits the profile" that she saw in a news bite warning parents of the dangers of pedophiles. She goes on a self-directed campaign to get him arrested and removed from society. I liked this movie, but the overall quality could have been better. It seemed almost like a "made for tv" movie. Perhaps it would have been better as a drama rather than a comedy. (3 stars)

A Day in the Life of Miss Sammy was a 32 minute mockumentary "documenting" a day in the life of a drag queen when drag wasn’t cool. It was shot in Orlando so many of the scenes were familiar to the audience. Visual imagery was clever with a retro feeling. (5 stars)

Kiki & Herb: On the Rocks sucked. The most boring dialogue I’ve ever tried to ignore. I finally went to sleep to escape. When my friend decided he had enough he woke me up. Apparently most of the audience also had enough because the theater was almost empty even though the movie was only about half over. Kiki & Herb are real life performers. I’ve never seen their act, but I hope it’s a lot better than this movie was. Can I give this movie a negative rating? I’ll be kind… (0 stars)

First up was a panel discussion featuring five of the directors of movies selected for the festival. Things started out slowly but picked up steam quickly. The hour went by way too fast. Maybe next year they’ll expand the time allowed to two hours.

The Aggressives was a film my friend didn’t want to see. "It’s a lesbian film." So what? I wanted to see it. I liked it. It’s a coming-of-age documentary about  that gray area of gender/sexuality. These women go to great lengths to pass as men. I always felt that the more I know about these issues the better I’ll understand them… and the better I’ll understand myself. (3 stars)

More Than Hair Care Products was a 13 minute movie about the "bear" subculture. Mildly interesting, it seemed to lack substance. (2 stars)

Do I Look Fat? explores the lives of seven gay men with eating disorders. These men are at various stages of the healing process. The causes of eating disorders are so complex it can takes years of extensive therapy to overcome them. (3 stars)

Life In a Box is a documentary following Y’all, a country folk duo that travels the country in a camper, essentially a twenty foot box. Partners in music and life, they meet up with another young man. He joins them, the relationship becomes a triad and the movie becomes a study of poly-amorism. These guys are great musicians. (4 stars)

By Sunday I had calmed down a bit. I was still slightly upset about that animal cruelty movie. Jim would probably say I was still very upset, but he doesn’t realize just how upset I was. Anyway, we headed downtown for another day of fun and frolic.

First we checked out the Business Guild Expo 2005. Lots of booths from gay owned/gay friendly businesses. We discovered Great Harvest Bread Company. They were giving out free samples of some of their breads. I tried Breakfast Blast. Incredible! We slipped back in later and I tried their seed bread. Outstanding! Since moving to Florida it’s been very difficult for me to find what I consider good bread. Well, I’ve ended my search. This bread is GOOD!

We met an assistant movie director and got into a conversation about that movie again. He started giving all these high-falutin’ explanations about why the movie was made the way it was, but in the end he admitted that the animal cruelty really should have been implied rather than shown in all it’s blood-splattered goriness. That actually made me fell better. 

We popped over to the theater to see Left Lane, a documentary about performing poet Alix Olson. I’m not a fan of poetry, but Alix is making a believer out of me.

At this point we took a dinner break and header over to Sumo Thai for an early dinner. Green curry chicken… spicy but not too spicy for me… with Thai Tea. I like Thai Tea. Their version is absolutely delicious. I like to drink Thai Tea. I like to say Thai Tea. It’s fun! Try saying it out loud. THAI TEA! THAI TEA! THAI TEA! See? I told you it was fun to say…

Next up on the schedule was Taco Chick and Salsa Girl, a hilarious short about two Mexican drag queen super heroes living in L. A. and battling evil. I almost fell out of my seat laughing, good thing it was only 15 minutes long. 

Following TC & SG was Surge of Power, a super hero farce about a gay comic book super hero brought to life through the imagination of a reader. Corny, campy, full of sterotypes, but lots of fun. That’s what you’d expect from a farce and that’s what you get. Surge was played by a handsome young man named Vincent J. Roth who was there Saturday and Sunday promoting the movie. It was nice meeting him. A highlight of this movie were several cameo appearances by Neol Neill who played Lois Lane in The Adventures of Superman TV series. (3 stars)

Next up was Cote D’Azur (French title Crustacés et Coquillages). The trailers for this movie led me to believe this would be a good movie. It was better than good. It was great! I really loved this one. It’s a romantic, light-hearted movie centered around a French family on holiday. You think you know where this movie is headed but you’re wrong. The story line twists and turn. Just before the final scene all the main cast members spontaneously burst into song and dance ala Broadway musicals. I really loved this movie. It made me feel good. The fact that the lead character, Charly, is a dead-ringer for my all time favorite ex may have slightly influenced my experience, but I give this one 5 stars and can’t wait til it comes out on DVD.

The last movie of the evening was a somber film called Good Boys. The director intended to make a documentary about Israeli rent boys but ended up turning it into a powerful and moving love story about Tal and Meni. There was some violence, but that’s part of this underworld. (4 stars)

Another short worth mentioning is The Homolulu Show. This is a 2 minute movie from Norway.

Henry and Martin live in Homolulu. They have been married for many years. Henry finds the idea of heterosexual marriages disgusting, while Martin cannot understand why straight couple cannot enjoy the same right as they have. After all, "love is love."

Sometimes, when you change an argument just slightly you realize just how ridiculous it is… 

This weekend was very busy at the festival. For us things started out at 12:45 Saturday afternoon with a wonderful documentary called little man. This movie will move even the hardest hearted person to tears. Little Man is a micro-preemie born 100 days before his due date. It’s difficult to conceive of a baby as small as he. If you were to place a nickel in the palm of his hand it would hang over the edges. His entire leg is smaller than an adults pinkie finger. Anyone who thinks that gay marriage would destroy traditional family values should see this movie. This movie shows what true family values are. I’ll give it 5 stars.

Next up was Queer Briefs: Gay Pioneers, a series of short documentaries; some memorable, some forgettable. Included was Paul Wegman: A Tribute. Paul was well known in the gay community as an outrageously talented drag queen who performed in Orlando. After leaving the drag scene he became well known as an outrageously talented actor, performer, and drama teacher in the Orlando  theater scene.

We decided to take a break and have dinner at Sumo Thai. (See separate blog entry for a review.) It’s actually smaller than I thought. It has only eight tables.

Back over to the theater to see When I’m 64. A very touching love story about a couple of old lonely men who find true love for the first time in their lives. (5 stars)

Next up was a French film titled Le Clan (English title Three Dancing Slaves) that I was really looking forward to seeing. The trailers and written description of this movie led me to believe it would be another 5 star movie. WRONG! It could have been a great movie, and many critics will say so, but this is my world and I hate to use the word hate but I hated this movie. I probably would have given it one or two stars, but there was a scene of graphic animal cruelty that completey turned me off. I’ve never walked out of a movie before but if I hadn’t been there with friends I would have stormed out in protest. Looking back I probably should have anyway. At any rate, it was about three disadvantaged young men, their father, and their disfunctional relationships. (NO stars)

By this time it was after 11:00 PM, I was tired and I was disgusted so we cut out before the last movie of the evening.

Interspersed between feature films they show short films. A couple that we saw were Mormor’s Visit and Gay Volleyball Saved My Life. Some are funny, some are sad, some are animated. Almost all of them are interesting at some level.

The biggest problem I have with the festival is you’ve often got to choose between two great sounding films because some are shown at the Tampa Theatre and some are shown at Sunrise Cinemas at the same time. So many movies and so little time…

Last night was the Festival Gala. It started out with The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green. This movie is based on a comic strip titled, if you’re ready for this, The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green by Eric Orner. Director George Bamber was in atendance. This movie was so funny that it was difficult to hear the soundtrack over the laughter in the audience. It was truly a comic strip brought to life with punch lines every minute or so. The casting was good, with some familiar faces like Meredith Baxter and Richard Riehle. Ethan was portrayed by Daniel Letterly. My favorite was the adorable Dean Shelton as the adorable Punch Epstein.

After a brief intermission The Kinsey Sicks, America’s favorite dragatella beautyshop quartet, was introduced. How can I describe them? Bizarre? Yes. Talented? To the nth degree. Entertaining? The most. You can see and hear them via their website here. It’s one of the most professional shows I’ve seen in a long time. They come out on stage and take total control of the audience with The Kinsey Sicks Theme Song. Their parody songs are familiar sounding, but bitingly satirical. Don’t Be Happy… Worry! was one of my favorites. After laughing so hard you’re holding your sides, they slow it down with a hauntingly beautiful ballad (can’t remember the name) that brings tears to your eyes. Remember this: Dragatella… it’s better than salmonella!

Street Party! After the movie we all spilled out onto Franklin Street and into TECO Plaza. There was finger food provided by local restaurants. After filling our stomachs we sat and watched people. As usual, the people put on the best show. I saw some familiar faces and some faces I wish were familiar. ;-)

TIGLFF is an event aimed at gay people, well duh! But it’s also a good way for straight people to show support or learn about the gay community. This afternoon things get started at 12:45 PM with little man, about a micro-preemie born 100 days too soon.

Life partners strong for seven years, Nicole, Gwen and their two-year-old dauaghter, Gabrielle, have it all. They’re on top of the world until their surrogate becomes pregnant with their son. What do you do when a pregnancy goes bad? When a partnership is torn apart by opposing belief systems? When a small infant lives in the surreal world of the Neonatology Intensive Care Unit for 158 days?

This one promises to be a real tear jerker.

Time to get moving, I’ve got a full schedule for the day and on into the night. 

Last night was the opening kickoff for the 16th annual Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. It runs through October 16th. Most of the films will be screened at the historic Tampa Theatre, but some will be shown at Sunrise Cinemas in Old Hyde Park Village. There will be a total of 88 films from 17 countries screened. This is one of the largest GLBT film festivals in the country.

My friend and I arrived downtown about 5:30. Just as we arrived it started sprinkling. Then it started raining. Then it started pouring. This could have really put a damper on the outdoor festivities, but just before 6:00 the rain stopped just in time for music, refreshments, and entertainment in TECO plaza. As the crowd gathered it became a people watchers paradise. We got shredded roast pork with black beans and yellow rice from a vendor and dined al fresco. A DJ was spinning tunes and there was a performance by a rifle twirling group dressed in army fatigues. An interesting way to start the evening.

About 7:00 they called for all Crown Pass holders to get in line for early entry into the theater. A Crown Pass is kind of like a Busch Gardens Platinum Pass. It includes priority admission to all the festivities and movies. While waiting to enter the theater we were all given a nice Sundance Channel tote bag filled with various booklets and flyers. After entering the theater we went up to the second floor for our complimentary drinks.

By 7:30 most people were seated. It was a full house. There were a number of speakers who gave short introductory speaches. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the sound system wasn’t optimized properly and we couldn’t understand what some of the speakers were saying. This was followed by a performance of a combined chorus of several gay and lesbian choirs.

The film portion of the program started out with a short called Prom-troversy. It was a pseudo-documentary about two girls who decided to go to the prom together. Everyone seemed supportive until the actually went to the prom and were turned away. The film did have a happy ending, though.

The main feature of the evening was Loggerheads, a touching story about a couple young men. One is the preacher’s son who ran away from home to get away from his adopted parents because his father couldn’t accept him. The other young man runs a motel in Kure Beach, NC. This film touches on issues such as love, adoption, intolerance, and AIDS in a very delicate way. It’s a very slow paced movie but it really says a lot. I’d recommend this film to anyone. It’ll be in my collection as soon as the DVD comes out.

Friday night the festival kicks into high gear. It starts out with the premiere screening of The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green. Next will be a performance by Kinsey Sicks. The evening ends with a party in TECO Plaza with music, food, and dancing.

Now you know where I’ll be for the next ten days.

Broken Flowers is a puzzling movie. We went, we saw, we left bewildered.

The movie stars Bill Murray as a man who receives a mysterious letter in the mail that leads him on a journey of discovery about himself.

The letter is supposedly from an ex-lover. It says he fathered a son some twenty years earlier. He goes on a search to find who sent the letter and who his son is. As his journey progresses we see him changing as he learns about himself. When he returns home he is a different person.

We never find out who sent the letter or who his son is. Actually, we never find out if there really is a son. There is no closure for that aspect of the movie. A lot of people will leave the movie frustrated thinking that’s what the movie was about. I know we did.

After a week to think about the movie, I’ve decided those parts of the movie didn’t really matter. What really mattered was this man’s journey of self-discovery and how it changed him. I like the movie a lot more this week than I did last week. Had I written this last week I probably would have said to pass on this one, but now I think I can recommend seeing it, unless you don’t want to have to think about it after you leave the theater.

I went to see Mysterious Skin a couple weeks ago. It’s the story of two young men who were sexually abused by their baseball coach when they were eight years old and how their lives were affected by it. One becomes a gay hustler, the other is convinced he was abducted by aliens. That much you know from the trailers.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt does an incredible job in this movie as the gay hustler. There’s some nudity and we see JGL’s butt a couple times. It’s not pornographic, but there is some violence. This movie is quite intense.

I went to a late afternoon screening and there were only three other people in the audience with me. One was a middle-aged man who sat a couple seats away from me. The other two were a pair of gay teen-agers. At the start of the movie they were making a lot of noise, as the movie continued they got quieter and quieter. This movie exerts a powerful affect over the audience.

This is definitely not a movie for everyone but I give it two thumbs up.

Went to Panera’s for dinner with my friend Jim. As we were eating our dinner we watched a storm brewing over towards downtown Tampa. Lots of black clouds and lightning. We could occasionally hear thunder.

After dinner we decided to go to the Hyde Park Cinemas to see if there was anything playing that we might like to see. We chose Happy Endings. It’s a difficult movie to describe, but we really enjoyed it. It had a good cast including Lisa Kudrow, Tom Arnold, and Laura Dern. There are a lot of stories being told in this movie and at times I didn’t know where it was heading. In the end, most of the stories had happy endings. When it comes out on DVD I think I’ll probably buy it. I give it two thumbs up.

Here’s a breakdown of what I did on Sunday:

- Got up puttered around on internet
- Took shower and got dressed
- Talked to Chris (Sharon’s mom is doing very poorly) :cry:
- Went to Busch Gardens
- Talked to Josh’s dad Terry
- Rode Sheikra :shock:
- Rode the skyride
- Rode Montu
- Went to see Katonga
- Talked to Joyce
- Went to see Hospitality House Trio
- Met up with my friend Jim
- Went to eat see American Beat at the Desert Grill
- Went to see Moroccan Roll
- Went home to change clothes
- Went to see Penguin March at the Tampa Theatre with Jim
- Got message from Chris (Sharon’s mom is improving) :-)
- Went home puttered around on internet
- Went to bed

Not all that exciting, huh?

My babies will be happy because I will TEACH them to be happy…

Bella Kurnwitz
“Lost in Yonkers”

This is a great remake of the Willy Wonka movie. The special effects are… well… special. It’s far superior to the original. The movie is a bit offbeat in typical Tim Burton fashion.

Johnny Depp is such an incredible talent. He’s a delight to see. I’ll watch just about anything with him in it. His portrayal of Willy Wonka was most excellent. Combining Johnny with Tim Burton has to be a winning combination.

Freddie Highmore is such a perfect choice for playing Charlie Bucket. He broke my heart playing the young boy in Finding Neverland with Johnny Depp, and he did another number on me in this movie. I’ll keep my eye out for more movies with this boy.

I give this movie two thumbs up!

Went to see Beyond the Sea tonight. It was incredible. I’m a big Kevin Spacey fan. He did a wonderful job. I’m really glad he finally got to make this movie for his mother. His singing was great and his dancing wasn’t too shabby, either. The boy who played young Bobby Darin did an outstanding job. He has hauntingly beautiful eyes. I took to him immediately. I would adopt him in a second. I tend to get a bit weepy in sentimental movies. I was true to form in this one and got weepy a couple of times.

Another recent movie that really touched me was Finding Neverland, starring Johnny Depp. It caught me completely off guard. I went to see it last week and was weepy through most of it. How could the story about the man behind Peter Pan have such an effect on me? Well, he met a family in a park. Over a period of time he formed a warm and loving relationship with them. This is something that I’ve done many times. I have no children of my own so I “adopt” other people’s kids. It really touches me when I see people making that same kind of connection. The ending of the movie hit me hard. That’s when I almost lost it completely.

Johnny Depp has to be one of the best actors I’ve ever seen. I’ll watch just about anything that he’s in. The characters he plays are always interesting. MacCauley Culkin recently said that even though he’s straight he’d sleep with Johnny Depp. Well, I’ll agree with the last part…