Screening of The Trip to Italy and an impressive opening night party. Winter in the Blood, Dom Hemingway, and Druid Peak are early “MUST SEE” films.
By Jacob Engels
Tonight marks the start of the 23rd Florida Film Festival at the beautiful Enzian Theater in Maitland. The festival boasts an impressive lineup and an equally exciting celebrity guest list that includes Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito and Susan Sarandon.
Opening night will begin with a screening of The Trip To Italy, which follows the 2010 film The Trip stars comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.
They play semi-fictionilized versions of themselves as they explore Italy. The screening will be held at the Winter Park Village Regal Cinema A and starts at 7PM.
The opening night party, will be held at the Enzian and the famed Eden Bar, will also start at 7PM – but carries on until 2AM. According to the Florida Film Festival website, the food and drinks will be provided by over 21 restaurants, bars, etc.
Some of the names that stand out – Etho’s Vegan Kitchen, Cask & Larder, Smiling Bison, Sushi Pop, and Whole Foods. Etho’s AND Cask & Larder…..I CAN’T WAIT.
Our Early “MUST SEE” films –
Druid Peak – Saturday April 5th from 130PM to 320PM at Enzian
OUR TAKE – Druid Peak has a wonderful script, was filmed in some of the most beautiful parts of the United States, and has ACTUAL wolves – not those huskies that most films pass off as the real deal.
Synopsis –
Set against the backdrop of the wolf reintroduction program in Yellowstone National Park, Druid Peak is a coming of age story about a troubled teenage boy who finds a home tracking wolves in the wild lands of the Wyoming.
Sixteen year-old Owen (Spencer Treat Clark) isn’t just rebellious– he’s a bully with a mean streak. Growing up in coal country West Virginia, he struggles against the claustrophobia of small town life, lashing out against school and family. But when his actions lead to the death of a friend, Owen is sent to live with his estranged father, Everett (Andrew Wilson), a biologist on Yellowstone’s wolf reintroduction program.
Dom Hemingway – Saturday April 5th from 845PM to 1020PM at Enzian
OUR TAKE – When the trailer for this screened at the preview party earlier this month, it was a crowd favorite. Also, the writer and director (Richard Shepard) told us that Jude Law really “let himself go” to really bring alive the character of Dom Hemingway. Plus, it’s got “The Mother of Dragons” (Emilia Clarke) and Weeds alum Demian Bichir.
Synopsis –
Dom Hemingway (Jude Law) is a larger-than-life safecracker with a loose fuse, funny, profane, and dangerous. Back on the streets of London after twelve years in prison, it is time to collect what he is owed for keeping his mouth shut.
Traveling with his devoted best friend Dickie (Richard E. Grant), Dom visits his crime boss Mr Fontaine (Demián Bichir) in the south of France to claim his reward. But Dom’s drunk and drug-fueled ego decides what he has lost can not be replaced. One car accident and a femme fatale later, Dom realizes his priority must be to reconnect with his long-lost daughter Evelyn (Emilia Clarke).
Winter in the Blood – Sunday April 6th from 230PM to 410PM
OUR TAKE – Long before Winter in the Blood was made into a film it was a bestselling book by James Welch and a state treasure in Montana. It was hailed as the primary voice for Native American renaissance. Written and Directed by brother duo Alex and Andrew Smith, Winter in the Blood is a “sleeper hit.”
Synopsis –
Virgil First Raise (Chaske Spencer) wakes in a ditch on the hardscrabble plains of Montana, hungover and badly beaten. He sees a shocking vision: his father, ten years dead, lying frozen at his feet. Shaken, Virgil returns home to his ranch on the Reservation, only to find that his wife, Agnes, has left him. Worse, she’s taken his beloved rifle.
Virgil sets out to town find her— or perhaps just the gun— beginning a hi-line odyssey of inebriated and improbable intrigues with the mysterious Airplane Man (David Morse), his beautiful accomplice, Malvina, and two dangerous Men in Suits. Virgil’s quest also brings him face-to-face with childhood memories, traumas and visions of his long lost brother Mose.
Learn more about the Florida Film Festival and how to buy tickets by clicking here.
Jacob Engels, is the Founder of East Orlando Post & Seminole County Post. He is a seasoned political operative who has led numerous statewide political groups and has worked on several high-profile local, statewide, and national races. Jacob has been interviewed on national television & radio programs, with his work having been featured in the Orlando Sentinel, New York Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald and other publications nationwide. He can be reached at info@eastorlandopost.com
