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MIDNIGHT MOVIES


BUBBA HO-TEP
USA, 2002, 92 MIN, DIRECTED BY DON COSCARELLI
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Sponsored by Jack Daniel's
Friday, March 14, Midnight at Enzian
Sunday, March 16, 9:30 PM at Loews
Based on the story by acclaimed Mojo author Joe R. Lansdale, Bubba Ho-Tep finds a 68-year-old Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell, The Evil Dead) alive and not-so-well in a Texas nursing home. Years after (disastrously) swapping identities with an impersonator, the King has become a morose, impotent shadow of his former self, saddled with a broken hip, a disquieting growth on his pecker, and a million regrets. His friend Jack (the legendary Ossie Davis) doesn't have it much better--he claims to be none other than President John F. Kennedy, dyed black and sporting a bag of sand where his brain should be. It's a long way from Graceland, and it's getting worse: an ancient Egyptian mummy is devouring the souls of the facility's residents one by one! Sallying forth against the soul-sucking fiend, the two geriatric legends rise from wheelchair and walker to "TCB" once more...

Directed by Don Coscarelli (Phantasm) and featuring a stunning, tour-de-force portrayal by Campbell as the aging Elvis, Bubba Ho-Tep is an outrageous, hilarious, yet oddly affecting tale of glory, rock and roll, and redemption.

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THE PRINCESS BLADE (SHURAYUKI HIME)
JAPAN, 2001, 92 MIN, DIRECTED BY SHINSUKE SATO
IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
Saturday, March 8, Midnight at Park 2
Wednesday, March 12, 9:45 PM at Park 2
Like action but tired of male domination? Watch this woman's story with real kick! The Princess Blade offers a female warrior with attitude who slices from shoulder to hip in one clean move. Based on the 1970s manga Lady Snowblood, written by Kazuo Koike (Lone Wolf and Cub) and Kazuo Kamimura, and two earlier movies directed by Toshiya Fujita, it's an inspired and radical remake. In Japan 500 years from now, the Takemikazuchi, a clan of for-hire samurai assassins, roams a grim post-apocalyptic landscape. Yuki (Shaku Yumiko), last of her bloodline, seeks revenge after learning of their leader's treachery and joins a reluctant rebel (Ito Hideaki). Combining Hong Kong aesthetics--from amazing action director Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey)--with Japanese storytelling, the film creates a unique hybrid blend. Brilliant hyperkinetic martial arts and swordplay is integral to character and story. It's an engrossing and moody contemplation of loyalty, betrayal, love, and death, with characters robbed of their humanity.

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ROLLERBALL
USA, 1975, 129 MIN, RATED R, DIRECTED BY NORMAN JEWISON
Saturday, March 15, Midnight at Enzian
We are proud to present an archive print of Norman Jewison's cult science fiction classic, Rollerball. Unlike the weak remake that featured some rapper and the guy from the pie movie, the original brilliantly evokes a bleak future that hinges upon the public's fascination with an ultra-violent sport-think roller derby with motorcycles and weapons. James Caan portrays Jonathan E., an idol amongst men and the most famous player in Rollerball history. In response to the public's adoration of Jonathan, the corporations that are in control try to force him to retire from the game, as he becomes a threat to their stranglehold on society. His brash decision to refuse his imposed retirement and continue playing leads the powers-that-be to make a few slight changes to the game--no substitutions, no penalties, and no time limit. It's kill or be killed until the last man is left standing. A bold and exciting vision of a not too distant future, Rollerball still remains a startling film that dares to question the nature of a utopia gone awry. Winner of two Golden Scrolls from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films for Best Picture and Best Actor, 1976.

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SPUN
USA/FRANCE, 2002, 101 MIN, DIRECTED BY JONAS AKERLUND
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
Saturday, March 15, Midnight at Park 2
Sunday, March 16, 9:30 PM at Park 2
Spun straps you to your seat and hurtles you through the deteriorating veins of society and straight into the raging, crystal meth-pumped heart of America. Simulating the drug's sensation, Spun's jaw-dropping cinematography and frenzied fast forward footage could challenge Requiem for a Dream in the kinetic cinematic assault department. With impressive performances by an eclectic cast in unusual roles, we get to see American Beauty's Mena Suvari as a green-toothed crack ho; John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge) as a psychotically paranoid tattooed meth dealer; Almost Famous's Patrick Fugit as an impossibly pimpled meth-head; Debbie Harry of Blondie as a butch lesbian phone sex operator; Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore) as our addicted protagonist who leaves his naked stripper girlfriend handcuffed to the bed for three days; and Brittany Murphy (8 Mile) as the dopey sexpot girlfriend of Mickey Rourke (Angel Heart), the cowboy that keeps this group of losers well-stocked by cooking up a supply of drugs in his hotel room. Acclaimed music video director Jonas Akerlund spins Spun into a wild, funny, and completely over the top experience that is guaranteed to make the list of cult cinema masterpieces. The memorable soundtrack was composed by Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins, Zwan).

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MIDNIGHT SHORTS
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 104½ MIN
Sponsored by Real Radio 104.1 FM
Saturday, March 8, Midnight at Enzian
Friday, March 14, Midnight at Park 2
What do we do when shorts make even our most jaded selections committee members retch, choke, or helplessly roll about on the floor in puddles of laughter and spittle? We slap them into our MIDNIGHT SHORTS PROGRAM! Yes indeedie, FFF's most consistently controversial offering is back! Here's another gag-inducing slab of outrageous sexuality, gross-out animations, and stoner wisecracks. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll hide your face in shame while this disturbed batch of visuals marches across the screen. And then you'll peek out through clenched fingers because, like a car crash, Midnight Shorts CANNOT BE IGNORED! Will anything top last year's now-legendary closer Chirpy? Hey, we live to try. Leave the kids home because the adult nature of some titles here means they're not suitable for children (really, just read some of those titles!).

ADULT EDUCATION
USA, 2002, 18 MIN, DIRECTED BY JESSICA SULTAN
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
Adult education meets adult films in this original and funny work in which a porn industry veteran teaches a vocational course to an unlikely group of students.

ANGRY KID: SNAIL
UK, 2002, 1 MIN, DIRECTED BY DARREN WALSH
US PREMIERE
Now in his fourth outrageous year of mirth and mischief at the Florida Film Festival, Aardman Animation's innovative poster boy for adolescent angst finds a cure for backyard boredom.

ANGRY KID: PISS
UK, 2002, 1 MIN, DIRECTED BY DARREN WALSH
US PREMIERE
A bumpy ride in the car proves too much for our hero's bottomless bladder.

PORNOGRAPHIC APATHETIC
USA, 2002, 6 MIN, DIRECTED BY T. ARTHUR COTTAM
WORLD PREMIERE
Funny and absurd, pure genius or profound idiocy? Four characters in search of a porn flick give life to this existential trash epic from the director of last year's equally polarizing Beer Goggles. Discuss.

ICARUS OF PITTSBURGH
USA, 2002, 10 MIN, DIRECTED BY KIRK HOSTETTER AND EVAN MATHER
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
An obsessed Steelers fan attempts to fly to heaven in a helium-filled wet suit. Yes, a helium-filled wet suit.

DAVID AND MAMET
USA, 2003, 1 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY ALEXANDER ROSE
WORLD PREMIERE
"Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mamet" from the director of New Apartment (FFF 2001) and Bill vs. the City (FFF 2000).

MEMENTOKE
USA, 2002, 17 MIN, DIRECTED BY MATT NIX & ALFREDO BARRIOS
WORLD PREMIERE
In this ingenious parody of Memento, a pizza delivery guy afflicted with a not-so-mysterious form of memory loss seeks revenge on the man who destroyed his life. Using the same reverse narrative structure as the original film, directors Matt Nix (Me and the Big Guy, FFF 2001 and Chekhov's Gun, FFF 1997) and Alfredo Barrios grapple with profound issues of identity, memory, and-uh--you know--other stuff.

EARTHQUAKE
UK/USA, 2001, 1 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY JAMES BRETT
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Earthquake! Run for the hills, you fools! Run for your lives! Aaaaaaaargh! (Awarded special honorable mention at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival).

THE MAN WITH THE SMALLEST PENIS IN EXISTENCE AND THE ELECTRON MICROSCOPE TECHNICIAN WHO LOVED HIM
USA, 2002, 8 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY PATRICK O'BRIEN
WORLD PREMIERE
A tender love story of infinitesimal proportions from Augenblick Studios, stylish creators of Drunky (FFF 2002) and Ramblin' Man (FFF 2001).

CHUMP
UK, 2002, 4 MIN, DIRECTED BY SAM FELL
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
A cheerful vision of the future (with puppets!) from the Aardman stable, best described as a rodent exploitation, grindhouse spanking simian odyssey beyond the bottom of the barrel.

OUR VERY FIRST SEX TAPE
USA, 2002, 9 MIN, DIRECTED BY AMY TALKINGTON
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Amy Talkington, one of FILMMAKER Magazine's "25 New Indie Faces to Watch" and director of the 360-degree internet short The New Arrival (FFF 2001), is back with this humorous look at a couple trying to spice up their soured romance.

THE LITTLE COW
HUNGARY, 2001, 2 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY IGOR LAZIN
IN ENGLISH
US PREMIERE
Making his nonsensical, cheerfully haunting debut, The Little Cow sits on a tree, singing and enjoying every second of life, and that's just fine.

MISFORTUNE
USA, 2002, 1 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY DAVE LUNDBERG-KENRICK
WORLD PREMIERE
Herb's fortune cookie informs him that he has thirty seconds to live. Twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven . . .

SERIAL GAMES
USA, 2001, 14 MIN, DIRECTED BY PAUL HOLTZHAUSEN
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
In this nightmare vision of the future, the latest in reality television is a game show where everyone's dying to win--literally. Using illegal aliens as contestants, the show promises U.S. citizenship to those who can defeat the convicted serial killer trapped in the maze with them.

STUNT C*CKS
USA, 2002, 8 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY TOM HODGES
WORLD PREMIERE
The outrageous story of two young men who have taken their severe sexual dysfunction and used it to turn the porn industry into a business filled with friendship and love. A "mockumentary" of the lowest order, the all-star ensemble cast includes the legendary Ron Jeremy, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Scott Thompson (The Kids in the Hall).

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Florida Film Festival 2003
Produced by Enzian Theater
1300 South Orlando Ave., Maitland, Florida 32751
Telephone (407) 629-8587   Fax (407) 629-6870

Funded in part by Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs. Enzian Theater is supported
by United Arts of Central Florida with funds from the United Arts campaign and by State
of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council,
and the National Endowment for the Arts.