Each week I write film blurbs in Caliente for the "Now Playing" movie capsules section.
Since space is at a premium, I try to dispense with flowery language and get right to the point. Some examples:
"Gray Matters" — "A woman and her brother fall for the same girl."
"Babel"— "Parallel stories unfold in five languages as strangers become entangled over a presumed terrorist shooting."
People seem to like movie blurbs because they provide quick, easy references that tell them what to expect in a film they're considering checking out. Just a few choice words in a blurb can jog your memory and help you decide whether or not you're interested in the movie. There are several sources for blurbs, including the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com), film books such as "VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever," and newspapers.
People are also reading…
The challenge now falls to readers, thanks to a Caliente contest that offers free tickets to the TucsonFilm.com ShortFest.
John Varley, a Pima Community College film student, won the contest the first week with his summary of "El Gran Zambini."
"I watched the film and just tried to put how I felt about it into words, and sort of what I thought," Varley said. "I just tried to be as eloquent as possible."
Varley, a 24-year-old who has made a handful of short films, said he's a fan of IMDB.
"I'm a film student at Pima so I hear about a lot of films from other students and people I talk to. I go to imdb.com, look them up and read into them, then I usually try and find them at Casa Video."
Examples using 'Gladiator'
IMDB: "When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by a corrupt prince, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge."
VideoHound: "Emperor Marcus Aurelius decides to name victorious general Maximus his heir over the ruler's own son, the decadent Commodus. But Commodus manages to take over the Empire anyway. Maximus is betrayed, his family killed, and he is sold as a slave, eventually learning the ways of a gladiator. Then he returns to Rome to fight before the new Emperor and get his revenge."
Here's how I would have handled "Gladiator": "In ancient Rome, a wronged slave rises up the ranks as a Gladiator to seek vengeance on a rival."
"A fun look at childhood dreams, and the heroes who both embarrass and inspire us to reach for our dreams, no matter how impossible they seem. It is a story of an adolescent boy who is embarrassed by his father's short stature and dreams of space travel."
