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Between the video games and pushup bras at Centro Ybor, Peter and Paul (no Mary) resurrect an independent-film night that draws a cast of characters.

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published January 20, 2006

	[Times Photo: Daniel Wallace]
	Before showing "Chip," filmmaker Jeff Bowers addresses the audience gathered for the Tampa Film Review and explains some of the intentions and influences behind his work. "It was a serious movie but we had a lot of fun doing it," he said.

YBOR CITY - It's Friday night, one block off the Seventh Avenue strip, and people are watching movies back there.

And we're talking way back there.

It's the Tampa Film Review, a monthly screening of local independent films. It's fun, it's free, and it's a little hard to find.

It's in the Centro Ybor plaza, in International Bazaar, a store between Gameworks and Victoria's Secret.

It's back in the back of the 16,000-square-foot store. Back behind thousands of samples of colorful clothing and art and accessories.

Back through the cloud of incense. Back to the stage, back to the small screen where they're projecting DVDs of local films.

It's Jan. 13 - yes, Friday the 13th - and Ybor's shoestring film series is back in business.

Organizers Paul and Pete Guzzo changed the name from Coffeehouse Film Review, which originally took place in, naturally, a coffeehouse. The sprawling International Bazaar might be virtually everything else, but it's not a coffeehouse.

Tonight it's a theater. And just as the clock strikes 8 - time to start the show - fewer than two dozen people are here.

Paul, 30, had feared that tonight's turnout might be subpar. He and brother Pete, 27, worked hard to get the word out about the changes, but the review was on hiatus for a few months, and not everyone might have heard about the new night and location.

The group, which formed in January 2003, used to gather the second Tuesday of each month at Romeo's Studio 1515 Coffeehouse on Seventh Avenue. But Romeo's closed, and Bazaar owner Jacqueline Conley offered her site.

Still, Paul's not too worried. Most attendees are filmmakers or relatives and friends of filmmakers, and creative types aren't known for their punctuality. "We never get started right on time."

Over the next 15 minutes, another two dozen people show up, and more keep flowing in even as the brothers kick off the film fest. Eventually, all 70 chairs are full, and several more people are standing.

The opening night of Tampa Film Review is a hit.

The Guzzos are running the show. Athletic and handsome, they don't fit the stereotype of the average low-budget filmmaker. But they're dedicated artists, and after a brief opening statement, they show a trailer for the full-length comedy they're producing, titled 99.

It's written by Paul and directed by Pete, and a couple of the characters' names are "Stoopid" and "Beercan." Actually, those are the ones we can print in a family newspaper.

The audience seems to enjoy the spirited trailer for 99, which the Guzzos plan to premiere in April at Centro Ybor's Muvico theater.

One of tonight's attendees is Krista Soroka, the Tampa Bay film commissioner. A few days earlier, Soroka explained that a strong local film scene is important for drawing major film production to the area.

"Paul and Peter Guzzo are just powerhouse guys in our area," Soroka said. "They're getting out there and doing it."

There's a ragtag spirit to the proceedings. After the 99 preview, Pete digs through the DVD submissions for the next selection: "I'm not sure what's next."

"Just grab one," Paul replies. "It's in no specified order."

Next up are two Twilight Zone-reminiscent shorts by Andres Yepes, a Pasco County filmmaker. Purgatorio is in Spanish with English subtitles. The Whisper is in English.

Both have style to burn, and Yepes shows off a talent for well-composed shots and suspenseful editing. Judging from its applause, the crowd clearly is impressed.

The Guzzos follow with a screening of their short Life Is a Circus, which follows a mime and a clown in various misadventures through Ybor City.

The 18-minute film was shot a couple of years ago, and Pete acknowledges this project was less story-driven than most. The idea was to use it to improve filmmaking techniques.

"We actually wrote the screenplay in about 20 minutes," he says, "drunk somewhere."

But Circus, directed by Pete, is largely a delight. It's packed with interesting shots and impressive comedic performances.

In particular, Kim Reid is hilarious as - well, she's credited as "Urinary Tract Girl." Let's just leave it at that.

Filmmaker Jeffrey Bowers raises an eyebrow or two when he introduces his short, Chip.

"We were inspired by Jessica Lunsford," he tells the crowd. "But even being on a serious note like that, we still had a lot of fun doing it."

How did last year's slaying of a Citrus County girl inspire a film? Chip turns out to be an unrepentantly blunt trifle about a sexual predator who gets a chip planted in his genitals. When he becomes aroused, the chip sends an electrical shock through his body.

"This is what we'd like to see happen" to sexual predators, Bowers explains.

The story ends gruesomely, with the frustrated offender's fatal attempt to carve out the chip with a pocket knife.

Obvious and crude to say the least, Chip nevertheless has an energetic, campy spirit that several attendees seem to appreciate.

Diving full-on into camp is Hooligans Valley by a crew named Other Side Cinema. It's represented at the review by Shelby McIntyre, who has a small, funny role in the film.

McIntyre explains that Hooligans is a sendup of old school B-movies.

"Don't worry if you get it," he says. "You'll know if you get it."

Hooligans is amusing and creatively shot, with some cool music and intriguingly weird characters. It's a contrast to the final submission, which is two extended scenes from the proposed Icon Film Studios feature film Pop, directed by Chris Woods of St. Petersburg.

Woods explains that he shot the two Pop scenes to generate interest from financiers to help fund production of the full film.

The scenes set up what appears to be the first act of the story, in which four teenage girls kidnap a pop singer.

Once the house lights come up and people start chatting, Joe Davison takes the stage.

The Zephyrhills native is known for co-producing and co-starring in writer-director Craig Kovach's Unearthed, a low-budget horror film shot in Tampa about three years ago.

Davison says he wants to create a "Tampa Film Network" in which local filmmakers pool their resources into making a much larger feature than each could do independently.

At least, that seems to be the idea. But that's not coming out quite the way Davison intends.

"We want to do this so there's not 19 people trying to make one movie," he says, then pauses, realizing he has messed up.

He soldiers on: "There's one movie being made by 19 people."

Everyone seems to get the idea anyway. Business cards are traded, and debates begin about the evening's events, to be continued later on Internet message boards. The crowd disperses into the cool Ybor evening.

The Guzzos pack up their stuff, and - until next month - the bizarre leaves the Bazaar.

- Rick Gershman can be reached at rgershman@sptimes.com or 813 226-3431. You also can comment on his blog.

[Last modified January 20, 2006, 16:24:35]