Well, the 2010 Nashville Film Festival has now wrapped up and Collide was there throughout the week to see some of the best films on the festival circuit. Here are some that we felt were particularly noteworthy.

The Festival opened with “Nowhere Boy”, a full length bio pic about John Lennon’s years before The Beatles.  While I felt the movie was a little long and the score didn’t quite work, the cast gave some of the best performances I have ever seen.  This is not really a film that tells much about The Beatles and it is not an overly cheery tale, but if you’re ok with that, it was definitely worth seeing. This movie is set to release in theaters in October.

“I Can Speak Swedish” is a short film about a woman with social issues and how she overcomes them, at least for a little while.  This was a very humorous story that had me giggling throughout.  At this point I don’t believe you can see it anywhere but festivals, but if you happen across it, make a point to see it.

“Dear Lemon Lima”, a full-length narrative about an awkward girl in Alaska getting in touch with her Eskimo roots.  This story is a little bit “Napolean Dynamite”, a little bit “Northern Exposure” and a little bit “Dead Poet’s Society”, but it is smart and funny and although the graphics are a bit distracting at times, they make for a great feel to the film.

“Feeder” is an innovative short film that amazingly tells a story through the view of a camera inside someone’s mouth.  Warning:  Not for those with a weak stomach!  :  )

“Wisdom Teeth” is another short that makes you question whether or not you should really be laughing.  This one is animated and some of you may recognize the style of Don Hertzfeldt. He has done several films along this line. Disturbing but hilarious, definitely track this one down.

“TiMER” is a full length narrative that proposes the question, “what if we could know, down to the exact second when we would meet our soul mate?”.  Even though this is pretty much a romantic comedy, it is funny and clever and thinks out of the box.  If you live in Nashville, it is showing on Comcast on demand under the Tribeca Film Festival section.  We actually missed it at the Nashville festival and cheated and saw it in the comfort of our own living room!

“Hipsters” is a Russian musical about teenagers in the 50′s…  enough said.  :  )  We missed this one at the festival too, but I have no reservations about recommending it to you all.  It won best narrative in Nashville and everyone I heard talk about it just loved it.

I have attached links to all of the trailers I could find online so you all could check them out for yourselves.  Just a side note, most of these are not kid friendly.   If you want to take the kids, we did see “The Secret of Kells” at the Belcourt.  There are a few scary scenes, but man, if you can choose to see only one of these films, go to this one.  It is animated and each frame is more beautiful than the last!

Until next time,

-Becky Tucker

Becky Tucker Film/Video, Uncategorized

I’m still a little bit in the dark as to the “why” of this particular item, but it is certainly an interesting find:

While sorting through some old family papers, I happened upon this lovely old check from Bing Crosby.  The front of the check is printed with Bing’s signature and the back is stamped with Kellogg’s.  Upon typing the words “Bing Crosby Kellogg’s Check” into Google, I received a lovely edition of the April 6, 1976 paper including the ad offering this promotional item. (That totally never happens, how often do you find not only what you want on Google, but a picture of the exact thing from 30 years ago, I was so excited!)  Apparently when you bought Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies and Minute Maid concentrated orange juice, you got this Bing Crosby refund check.  No cross promotion with Bing’s face plastered on the box, no “Synergy” just buy breakfast and receive Bing.  Things were so different then.  Even with all this information, I still have no idea why Bing was on this check.  The world will never know.

Hope you all enjoy this curious blast from the past,

Until next time,

-Becky Tucker

Becky Tucker Defies Categorization

This morning Kevin and I were having brunch at Fido before the 11:30 service and while enjoying our fabulously yummy food (plug for Fido) we were reflecting on Easters passed.  The following memory always stands out and gives us a great blessing and chuckle every year.  So without further ado…

Several years ago while in Chattanooga on Easter Sunday we attended one of the local Baptist churches.  We usually go to church with his family or mine, but for some reason that I can’t quite remember we chose to attend Bayside which is where I went to vacation Bible school every year as a child.  This is quite a large church and we are usually pretty late, so we ended up sitting in the balcony at the very back just in time for the children’s sermon.  As we sat down, the pastor gathered all of the children to the front on the stairs in typical fashion and then pulled out… an egg. He began to speak about the egg, describing what an egg consists of: shell, yolk, white etc… and then in front of the whole church proceeded to smash the egg!  (Unknown to everyone, he had drained it presumably through a small hole before the service) Then with an amazed reaction he said, “It was empty”!  At this point the audience began to understand where he was going with this as he continued to speak about Jesus and how they took Him from the cross and put Him in the tomb rolling the stone across the front.  The children listened quietly and intently as the story continued to unfold.  When the pastor had finished laying the ground work for the revelation of the empty tomb, he looked at the children and said, “And they rolled away the stone and guess what the found in the tomb?”  And the children, in unison yelled with exuberance and understanding, “AN EGG!”

I’m sure there are many great lessons we can learn from this experience, but really it was just a charming story that we wanted to share on this most wonderful of all days! We hope you all had a happy and blessed Easter!

Christ is Risen Indeed!

-Becky Tucker

Becky Tucker Defies Categorization

As today is Good Friday, it seems an appropriate time to share the imaging we created for The Village Chapel‘s Easter services this weekend.

Kevin Tucker Uncategorized

As promised, this week’s entry into the Collide blog will feature Frank Lloyd Wright’s Rosenbaum house in Florence, AL.  While this entry does not contain as many anecdotes and brushes with “destiny”  as last week’s, it is full of respect and awe for one of the most talented and well known architects in history.

Frank Lloyd Wright, of course, is best known for his design of the Guggenheim Museum as well as the beautiful house at Fallingwater.  Fallingwater is probably the most remarkable testament to Wright’s dedication to the art of organic architecture or promoting the harmony between human habitation and the landscape on which it resides.  Wright paid such attention to detail that every aspect of each home or building was carefully planned to become a part of the surrounding landscape.  From the furniture to the windows, the doors to the lighting each piece reflects its relationship to the natural world.  Wright was also fond of using local materials as often as possible to add to the illusion that each home or building may have just sprung up right out of the hillside.

The home that we visited and will be talking about today is The Rosenbaum House. The Rosenbaum House  is the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in the state of Alabama, and the only one in the Southeast open to the public (On a side note, there is a Frank Lloyd Wright house, the Seamour Shavin House, in Chattanooga, TN on Missionary Ridge.   A little difficult to see from the road, but beautiful nonetheless). This house is a perfect example of Wright’s Usonian (Named for the United States of America) style of architecture which was Wright’s solution to affordable housing for middle income families.

The Rosenbaum house was built for Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum in 1939.  The Rosenbaums were the only owners and occupants of this house until 1999 when it was sold to the City of Florence who spent years and close to $700,000 to repair this house.  The house is now open as a museum.  One of the most interesting things about the Rosenbaum house, is that it originated as a 1,540 square foot home, but when the occupants began to out grow the space, an addition was built.  It took several letters to Mr. Wright to convince him to build this addition, but he finally agreed and added another 1,084 square feet to the home realized as a larger kitchen area and a dormitory for the children.  The transformation is seamless and what you see today appears as though it was always meant to be.  Yet another testament to the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright.

This home is definitely worth the 3 hour trip from Nashville to visit although this isn’t the only beautiful thing in Florence.  If you’re taking a day trip, make sure to go on a sunny day and drive down the Natchez Trace Parkway. Stop to eat at the Loveless Cafe’ for some great food, hospitality and artisan shopping.  It’s absolutely worth the extra 30 minutes to drive this historic trail.  When you arrive in Florence, there are many river parks, local restaurants and even a small historic theater to occupy your time.  If you’re looking for shopping, this probably isn’t the place for you (although there is a small mall and a few shops downtown), but if you’re looking for small town charm, a laid back atmosphere and friendly faces, this is a great place to spend a weekend.

Until next time,

-Becky Tucker

Becky Tucker Defies Categorization