Dumbstruck

Hey guys,

yesterday I was lucky enough to hitch a couple tickets and a ride with my three new amigos to the Palm Springs International Film Festival in Palm Springs. Besides the fact that I had a rockingly good time, I saw a couple of cool flics.

The first was a tragic horror story about an elderly man in England taking it to the streets (starring Michael Caine) called Harry Brown. It was violent, and shocking, and actually pretty sweet. Not a pick-me-upper, however. Nor a date flic. nor historic, since it's a slightly skewed version of the violent world we live in. In fact, a day later I'm still not sure how I would describe this film.

But more importantly, the second film I watched (one that the amazing Alex Calleros was an editor for) was called

Dumbstruck

This film, a documentary about ventriloquists in the US, left me beaming like I haven't beamed in years. Think Best in Show meets Tim and Eric meets The Real World. It's a fantastic narrative about 5 professional ventriloquists from the midwest, trying to "make it."

One of them happens to be Terry Fator, a now nationally-renowned puppeteer who has his own theater in Las Vegas, and the story covers his rise to stardom over the course of one year (and 100,000,000 dollars. I sh*t you not).

Another "vent", and my personal favorite, was Wilma Swartz. She's a performer out of Pennsylvania who uses puppets to cheer people up, put on shows and pursue her passion in ventriloquism. In one of her shows, she brings in a fellow performer to help spice it up. His name is Tiger Man. I'd like to introduce you to him now.



The rest of the film covers Dan Horn (an extremely talented performer who works on cruise lines), Dylan (a 13-year-old aspiring ventriloquist), and Kim (a pageant-winning ventriloquist with heart). The story lines mesh when they all meet up at the annual Ventriloquist convention, somewhere in the US.

I wanted to bring it to my blog for two reasons:

1 - Alex worked as an editor so I feel a strong desire push for it, and
2 - the movie will blow you guys away. I'm talking mostly about my family and friends, since this is exactly up your alley. I saw the world premiere, so there's no way for you to see it for a while.
But instead, check it out:

http://www.dumbstruckthemovie.com

I met the director/producers (a married couple) and they are great. Tell them you want to see it! Make it come to a film festival near you!

and then go on Facebook and make friends with Tiger Man (Mark Ciarlante).

Peace yo.
*Migs