![]()
![]() Established A.D. 2000, March 19. Now in our seventh calendar year! ![]()
By Nolan B. Canova
Within minutes, Paul Guzzo bounded out the door to greet me. A few more arrived, gathering on the sidewalk to chat. Will Moriaty and Gus Perez walked up, followed by the finally-parked Terence Nuzum. Was Damien Kincannon inside or outside? Can't remember now. One figure I didn't recognize turned out to be (I learned later) a representative from the Tampa-based comedy group, Damage Control, an outfit I have wanted to meet personally for years. Unfortunately, the gentlemen was very stand-offish and did not seem interested in socializing, nor did he stick around long. Too bad, because their entry was quite a hit! More on that in a bit...
With the core PCR group of William Moriaty, Terence Nuzum, frequent filmgoer Gus Perez, and, of course, myself in tow, I felt confident we were well-represented for a night on the town, starting at this month's Tampa Film Review.
We entered the sacred sanctuary close to 8:00pm and found our way back to the Review seating area. Emerald Gowers and Tim Griffin (Griffowers Productions) were already present and seated in the row just in front of St. Pete Times arts & entertainment wonder-reporter Rick Gershman. Always great to see Rick. Robert Elfstrom (The Dance, 99, The End is Blossoming) was also already there and I introduced him to Terence, who's considering him for a part (woohoo!). If memory serves, I believe Marivamax's Larry Buchovey & Sheri were also seated close by. Terence and I sat in this area, while Gus and Will stayed closer to the aisle's end. A few other filmmakers I'd see after the show.
And speaking of the show....let's rock!
Failure by Chris Suchorsky. Approx 30 minutes. A life-long dream of making a feature film turns into a comedic disaster for a New Jersey filmmaker. This out-of-state entry is a favorite of TFR ringmaster Paul Guzzo whose opinion I respect intensely (it did win multiple festival awards), and while I can't exactly fault the production or execution, I'm afraid I found the film to be a bit tedious. Showdown at Billy Goat Tavern by Bryan Leighty: A short, action-figure animation where two worlds collide. Only one can be victorious. Approx 4 minutes. Entertaining and very brief experimental video featuring two action figures battling it out, high-noon style (except it's at night), downtown. I recognize one of the figures as The Max from MTV's early days. I would call this "animation" only in the loosest of terms as the figures are obviously hand-held. Action is executed by bouncing them up and down and rotating them in front of the camera, all to a heavy metal soundtrack. I believe I remember the filmmaker, who announced the short personally, said something about extensive use of greenscreen, which would explain the real-life exterior stills used as backgrounds. Close-ups are sharp and clear and he gets an amusing amount of "emotion" out of these toys (well, they're sculpted to look pissed off anyway, that's half the battle, haha). Recommended as 4-minute fun with action-figures.
Farewell, Frieda by Griffowers Productions (Emerald Gowers and Tim Griffin): Shot in non-conventional methods, a creepy silent film about a girl, her doll, and her unemployed uncle's plunge into alcohol-driven insanity. Approx 20 minutes. I'm greedily calling Em & Tim my discovery because their first appearance in our universe was via the Crazed Fanboy Message Board about 6 weeks or so ago. Emerald, going by the handle "raining_jade", posted some links to her You Tube videos there. She got instant support from fellow film fans, and was encouraged to participate in the TFR. They came out last month to check it all out, but tonight would be her and Tim's "maiden voyage" into actual exhibition. No Show by the Damage Control Comedy Crew: Approx. 20 minutes. A TV comedy satire of TV done in the style of Groove Tube and Amazon Women on The Moon. Sketch, parody and shorts wrapped around a fake 1950's sci-fi movie. I might also add Kentucky Fried Movie. And like Amazon Women on the Moon the station announcer can't seem to remember if Space Balls From Outer Space (today's feature!) was released in 1931, 1937, or 1942! (Paul and I thought it looked more early '50s.) So the announcer alternates. The following three shorts are by experimental filmmaker Chris Giuffré. Chris is notorious for explaining to the audience in excruciating depth and detail what he's going for before his films start. This time, I believe he finally managed to talk longer than his films actually take to view. The following descriptions give some idea. The only repeat is Tokyo Shoes that I reviewed last month, take another gander if you want. These are all very short, no dialogue, and very technical.
Palimpsest by Chris Giuffré, as its name suggests, is about a world within worlds. An alternate reality that exists among our own. Perhaps the denizens of this world would be aware of ours. Would they react? Ignore? Or would they only be aware of unknowable possibilities? A numinous presence that often feels close, but remains just out of reach.
Tokyo Shoes by Chris Giuffré and Galileo Studios. 4 minutes. A fast-moving montage of images of Japanese commuters, workers, and the general population walking non-stop through the city, often through a fish-eye lens, all to the music of techno-industrial band Enotide. There's kind of a choreography to this and it basically functions as a music video, but it's probably classed more appropriately as experimental/avante-garde.
Concrete Discussion by Chris Giuffré: presents an other-world of steel and glass. Concrete and asphalt. Nearly immovable constructs infused with energy by a frenetic society. Speed up the glacial life cycle of these objects and what might you see? Man-made structures chatting away; unwittingly brought to life by modern day Prometheans.
About all I can say is I wish I had Chris's frequent flyer miles, he seems to get scenery from all over the world. Lots of time-dilation effects pepper the movies. I like the animation on Concrete Discussion -- the windows in the skyscrapers turn colors as they "talk to one another". It's worth noting that some or all of these projects were produced in conjunction with the Pinellas County Arts Council.
The Magic Wand Series by Sean Michael Davis: Two independent shorts revolving around the concept of a magic wand and what normal people would really do once they have one. Both together not more than about 10 minutes.
The first episode, "Three Wishes", follow three beach buddies who, upon finding a bottle washed up on the shoreline, discover a magic wand inside with a note attached saying they'll each get one wish granted! And it works....but what if one of the wishes was to defeat the other two? Stars Tom Ryan, Joey Reinert, and Todd Watson. Excellent, simple production, likable cast, single gag told vignette-style. Nice Guys Entertainment fans may remember these guys as the main players from Autographs for French Fries. "The End is Blossoming" -- one-minute trailer. Peter Guzzo. Encore appearance of this trailer, likely because the actual premiere is less than a month away. Long-time readers may remember I attended an evening's shoot of this feature a few weeks back. The results are stunning, at least as far as the trailer goes! An extremely atmospheric harkening to 1940s Tampa, specifically Ybor City, when it was controlled by underworld elements. This should be great.
Karaoke Kid 1 & 2 by Pete and Paul Guzzo, an older film announced as showing tonight was postponed over technical problems (wrong cable adapter -- woops!). It will be shown next month.
Gaspar's Grotto By this time, actress Jennifer Moore (The End is Blossoming, Angora) and her date had joined us.
Once at the Grotto, I had a delighful (if expensive) marguarita, then joined the TFR crowd out on the courtyard for free meatballs and chicken wings.
At one point our "power-corner" sported Em & Tim, Robert Elfstrom, Damien Kincannon, Will Moriaty, Rick Gershman, Gus Perez (thanks for the extra beer), Jennifer Moore, The Guzzo Brothers, and yours truly. We didn't leave until after 1:00am. Good times!
All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2006 by Nolan B. Canova.
|