With the cooperation of  the Observer management, my book The Adventures of Cinema Dave in the Florida Motion Picture World has been published.

This 662-page epic features a decade of movie reviews, interviews and memorable pictures that we have shared together since 1999.

The final edits have been painstaking, but I am pleased with the final product, which celebrates film, our South Florida culture and individuals like Rich Zapata, who was the caretaker for Christine Clone Zapata, a 1958 Plymouth Fury modeled after Stephen king’s best-selling book, Christine.

The Film Industry had a choppy experience in 2010. The Memorial Day 2010 box office was the worst on record since the Carter Administration. Although, the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery IMAX Theater consistently had successful openings while playing No. 1 movies.

South Florida Film Festivals proved their grit in 2010. The 25th annual Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival was the most organized of the neighborhood film festivals. This discipline paid dividends when a celebrity, Judd Nelson, cancelled his appearance and director George Hickenlooper passed away four days before the screening of his movie, Casino Jack, which opens next week nationally.

A few weeks after receiving open heart surgery, Burt Reynolds added some Hollywood glamour to the 15th annual Palm Beach International Film Festival.

Yet, it was The Blind Side’s Quinton Aaron who became the crowd favorite. Besides posing with everybody at the festival, Quinton served as the festival disc jockey. PBIFF took financial lumps in 2010, but there are plans for an 8-day festival the last week in March.

Meanwhile, the inaugural Palm Beach Women’s Festival will go head-to-head with the former Delray Beach Film Festival (renamed Downtown Boca Raton Film Festival) on the same weekend in April.

There was growth in indie films made locally, including Lucky Streak and the Crime Fighters, a direct to DVD feature that showcased local talent, great one liners and a fun musical score from Anthony Espina. Espina also contributed the musical score to The Incubus, which enjoyed a run on the big screen last Autumn.

Next week, the Observer will reveal the best flicks of 2010. Unlike the media Goliaths who have been on holiday vacation, this film columnist is still reviewing films of merit that are being released. Happy New Year!