GIRL ON FILM

Storytelling is my passion, film is the vehicle and after graduating from UCF, I was hired by the Sundance Film Festival.  I trudged through snow to happily consume it – or have it consume me.  Currently, I am the marketing and public relations manager for the Florida Film Festival and Enzian, Central Florida’s only art house theater showcasing independent film year-round.  Everyday the good, bad and quirky of the indie film world flops on my desk and it’s in this column that I’ll spoon out my personal musing on it to you.

“Please don’t f—k my mom.” 
I guess it’d have to depend on who your mother is.  In the case of this summer’s mumblecore major studio release, Cyrus, momma is Brooklyn bombshell Marisa Tomei. Even as a hetero female, I’m hard-pressed to deny that those tragic doe eyes, everlasting taut, olive-stained skin and sophisticated smoky Jersey Shore tone, do package a cougar well worth heavy petting.
Each time my back rides against a yoga mat with every crunch, there are flashes of Tomei’s 2009 Academy Award®-nominated performance as an exotic dancer in The Wrestler, which co-starred her perfectly sculpted abs.  I hold true to that vision in hopes that the sweat and pain I endure now will pay off in the long run – my own twenty-something son, an aspiring-musician, pleading with my suitors or better yet, his friends, to not make philandering passes toward me.
Indie film darlings the Duplass brothers truly made an intelligent, hilariously off-beat romantic-comedy starring John C. Reilly (Step Brothers) and Jonah Hill (Superbad, Funny People) that’s joyfully awkward. 
How awkward? 
Two words:  Oedipus complex.
Say what?
Cyrus (Hill) has a “special” relationship with his mother (Tomei) hence his jealous deadpan outcry to her latest love interest (Reilly) to not have sex with her.
Freud is having a tea party in his grave right about now.
There’s also something a bit strange about the film, aside from the whole, “you can love my mother in a way I can’t.”  It barely reveals any information about Cyrus’ biological father.  This had me thinking about Cyrus, his gene pool and how his dad must be one fugly summamamitch if sexy Marisa Tomie is his mother. 
And through a mild liquor-induced contemplation over a plate of fish tacos, I’ve arrived at a few theories for possible donors: 
• The Goonies’ Sloth.  No, a bit too tall.
• Engelberg of The Bad News Bears (1976).  Too much social dexterity.
• Michael Moore. Yes, getting closer, but rather Moore’s long lost cousin with Aspergers.

Talk about a buzz kill, how about getting stabbed in the face? 
Welcome to this past July’s 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International (SDCC), the comic book convention on steroids where thousands of die-hard gaming geeks and hardcore cinephiles descended from across the globe to experience highly anticipated world premieres while dopily ogling hot chicks dressed as naughty characters.  Throw in an impressive mix of A-list celebrity-backed panel discussions and you’ve crash landed in a pop art, sci-fi fantasy four-day melting pot paradise.
In true nerd fashion, the shank to the face weapon of choice was a pen (lame), which barely missed the victim’s eye (daaaamn) while the attacker wore a limited edition Harry Potter t-shirt (bury me now with a book of spells as my headstone).
Half-baked Harrison Ford joined in on the assault-with-a-deadly-weapon revelry as he made his onstage Cowboys & Aliens panel appearance handcuffed by way of an escort, “cleverly” mocking the unprecedented events that had taken place earlier. 
Robert Downey, Jr. reportedly took a more subtle approach during his time at the mic with a simple quip, “Don’t stab anybody anywhere until I’m done talking.”
Downey’s appearance was part of one of the most buzzed about panels of the convention. Fanboy hysteria reportedly rose to blistering heights as the entire cast of Marvel’s upcoming The Avengers all appeared before a packed house.  This included Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), and Mark Ruffalo (Hulk) among others. Move on over Monsters of Folk, this SDCC supergroup of sorts is backed by Johansson and best yet, she won’t be singing.
- Jordana Meade

Feel free to email me any ideas or random thoughts, or invites to indulge in quality brew at the Eden Bar to:{encode="jmeade@enzian.org" title=" .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)"}