FLICKS: My Afternoons with Margueritte & Spooky Empire countdown

Posted on 22 September 2011 by LeslieM

Barry S. Anderson will be at Spooky Empire. Will you?

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Last Monday night at Bru’s Room, the Deerfield Beach Reunion Committee adjourned for 10 years, making plans for the 40-year class reunion in 2021.

Many of us felt we had arrived at a domestic crossroads; one individual is buying her first house, some were dealing with their children graduating high school and  some are dealing with being the guardian to aging parents.

Opening tomorrow in limited release, My Afternoons with Margueritte is a beautiful and poetic French film about many characters at their crossroads. Gérard Depardieu portrays Germain, the town handyman who feels short-changed by life. His true solace is spent on the park bench with Margueritte (Gisele Casadesus), a 92-year-old bibliophile. Beyond talking about life, liberty and romance, the couple take pleasure in naming pigeons.

Told with flashbacks, Ger-main recounts having a verbally abusive mother. Margueritte becomes Ger-main’s mentor. Conflict ensues and Germain must set things right. Since the drama is not forced and the acting is subtle, this film becomes a pleasant cinematic choice.

For those seeking, instead, experiences of horror and terror, Spooky Empire’s Ultimate Weekend of Horrors will commence the second weekend in October. (www.spookyempire.com). The guest list now includes Malcolm McDowell, horror author Clive Barker and Barry S. Anderson, renaissance artist. Like Bill Hinzman, Anderson holds perfect attendance with Spooky Empire.

A “monster kid” from upstate New York, Anderson came to South Florida during Spring Break, got a regular job in Miami Vice and stayed here. He later joined Tom Savini’s special effects and makeup team on the set of George Romero’s Day of the Dead (1985).

He said, “This was a dream come true for a ‘monster kid,’ who grew up during the 60s and 70s watching Chiller Theatre every Friday and Saturday night while eating Jiffy Pop Popcorn!”

Besides a 17-year stint with Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, Anderson has contributed to the motion picture industry in a variety of films, from Hairspray to his recent independent feature shot in Orlando, Astro Zombies M4 Invaders from Cyber Space, which features a cameo appearance from his wife of 22 years, Chickie, and 9-year-old son, Miles.

Recently, he showed Miles the original Boris Karloff Frankenstein movies.  At first fearful of the monster, Miles later told his father, “The monster wasn’t bad, he was just looking for a friend.”

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