UCF Film Grads on the Festival Circuit
The 2011 film festival circuit was unofficially kicked off in February with Sundance and Slamdance and continues to chug along as Austin’s SXSW festival ended last week, and the Florida Film Festival will be upon us shortly. A couple of UCF students will have their films screening this year, so here is a heads up…
Florida Film Festival: Bots High Trailer
Here is an early bit of Florida Film Festival coverage coming your way. You check out the new trailer for Bots High, Joey Daoud’s feature length documentary about a bunch of high school kids down in Miami designing, building and competing with their own battle bots during the 2009-10 school year. Here’s the link: Bots…
Today, the SAT; tomorrow, Paranormal State
I’m always amused by the argument that watching TV is unhealthy for kids. For half a century, I’ve heard supposed experts claim that children need to be pursuing more salutary activities — like sports, which get them out in the nice, fresh air to nab some vital exercise while they learn to bond with their…
Criterion Donating $2 to Japan for Each DVD/Blu Sold
Criterion announced today that the company will donate $2 to the Japan Society’s fun to aid earthquake victims for each Bluray or DVD sold through their online mail order catalog at criterion.com. We suggest Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Okamoto, Naruse and, of course, Ozu. The Japan Society also accepts personal donations of any size, and has raised…
Pit bull rescue organization to hold chili cook-off fundraiser on Sunday
Mike’s Dog House, a dog rescue and adoption agency that focuses exclusively on “bully” breeds (pitbull, bulldog, bull terrier etc.), will be hosting a chili cook-off this Sunday from 3-7pm to raise money for their day-to-day operations. The cost is $7 at the door, but the chili won’t be your neighbor’s half-assed, token contribution: chefs…
Launch party for Bill Belleville’s latest book of essays
“If Bill Belleville were a quilt maker, this book would be his finest spread.” So says a quote from conservationist Archie Car III in the University Press of Florida’s preview page about the Sanford author’s latest offering, “Salvaging the Real Florida: Lost and Found in the State of Dreams.” The book, a collection of nature…
Local pizzeria willing to shell out $20,000 to watch you suffer
OK, gluttons and stoners, imagine this for a second: a 30 inch, 12 pound, 13,000 calorie pizza, topped with meatballs, ground beef, pepperoni, bacon, grilled chicken, chorizo, flank steak, onions,bell peppers and garlic. Sounds glorious, doesn’t it? But what if you and only one other person had to finish the whole thing — within 30…
Join us and Burt Reynolds in Tampa, won’t you? We have tix!
Remember way back when we told you that For Reels was sponsoring its first-ever event and it was a screening of Smokey and the Bandit with special guests Burt MF’in Reynolds and TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz? Apparently Turner Classic Movies, the presenter, has actually corralled the mustached one, and we have your FREE TICKETS! The event…
Um, you know Thin Lizzy is Irish too, right?
Sons and daughters of Ireland, I have nothing but respect for you. Seriously, some of my best friends are Irish. Some of my best girlfriends were Irish. That’s why, this St. Patrick’s Day, I will not have a hand in anything that caricatures your noble people. I will not drink green beer. I will not attempt…
Sandwiches are stellar but service needs tweaking to put Shipyard Emporium in ship-shape
Sandwiches are outstanding but service needs tweaking to put this ’emporium’ in ship-shape
Rotation: What local artists are listening to
This week: Edgar Gonzalez Jr.
Happytown
The state of the city is fake, the state of the state is harrowing, state of the art cameras are watching you steal flowers and state Dems seek an altered state.
Culture 2 Go
There’s still more than a week left to catch The Edge of Vision: Abstraction in Contemporary Photography at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum. The show, which closes on March 27, is a fascinating exploration of modern abstract photography that challenges the very definition of what a photograph is. The subject matter can be tough to…
This Little Underground
Hope and courage, Japan. The beat Good thing this oldies vibe is lighting up the indie scene right now, since our radio-retarded city hasn’t had an oldies station in eons. Besides feeding that fix, the fresh revivalist lineup (Mar. 12, the Social) headlined by Cali buzz band Dum Dum Girls is one of the most…
Thanks to the Geek Easy, A Comic Shop reinvents itself as a coed lounge
Inside the newest hotspot for geeks and girls alike
Savage Love
I am a 36-year-old straight man
Afashee Theatre misses deadline
Loss of grant puts Renaissance at Carver Square Project further from reality
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Like Bob Dylan in his 1962 song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” you’ve done a lot of rough and tumble living lately. You’ve “stumbled on the side of 12 misty mountains.” You’ve “stepped in the middle of seven sad forests.” You’ve “been out in front of a dozen dead oceans.” Maybe…
The Lincoln Lawyer
Matthew McConaughey acquits himself nicely as an attorney at the breaking point
God vs. man
Mad Cow’s latest debut pits Freud against C.S. Lewis
DVDs Nuts!
Lesser-seen OW approved titles
Former Men at Work singer Colin Hay on reinvention and optimism
“My fans are getting younger and it gives me life”
Kiss me, I’m a stereotype
Places to get your Irish up this St. Patrick’s Day
I Saw the Devil
A twisted, marvelous killer-thriller from South Korean master Kim Jee-woon
Tiny Furniture
Writer-director-star Lena Dunham shows big promise with small movie
Live Active Cultures
Seth Kubersky compares the legacies of William Randoph Hearst and Walt Disney
Jury nullification advocate fails at First Amendment martyrdom
Throughout January, the 50-something rogue activist and solar roofer Mark Schmidter handed out pamphlets to summoned jurors outside the downtown Orange County courthouse. The pamphlets, which bore the logo of the Fully Informed Jury Association, urged jurors to “nullify” unjust laws by intentionally voting for acquittal. This irked Ninth Circuit Court Judge Belvin Perry, who…
Universal Jettisons Jimmy Neutron
On Monday, March 14, Universal Orlando announced the imminent extinction of an attraction that’s been around for almost a decade. Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast, a family-friendly motion simulator ride located in the Universal Studios Florida theme park, will cease regular operations on April 1st, and after a period of intermittent openings, will close permanently…
Big Wheel Mobile food truck opens for business today
Chefs Tony Adams and Tim Lovero bring local, lovely lunch to downtown Orlando today! Visit the Big Wheel truck at the corner of Orange Avenue and Washington Street — starting Wednesday, March 16, they’ll be there from 11:30 to 2:30 weekdays. If you can’t make it downtown for lunch, they’re planning late-night hours Thursday and…
Iwai Shunji: The Man From Sendai
Everything about the Japanese earthquake outside of Sendai is terrifying. The casualty numbers are so high, or at least expected to eventually be so high, that it’s numbing. So what do I do? I think of it in terms of film. I’m not alone. Bill Nye, for instance, referenced The China Syndrome during his time…
