His work most recently took him to Los Angeles, where he was the main writer for NFL Network's flagship show, NFL GameDay Morning. He has also directed content or written for CNN, Village Voice Media (where he served as columnist at Houston Press), New York Daily News, and Modern Luxury Media, where he was editor of Houston's first men's magazine. \u003Cbr/>Passionate about promoting Houston as the next great global city, he also co-hosts and co-produces the weekly CultureMap television and streaming segments on ABC13.\u003C/p>","identifier":"22243373","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://houston.culturemap.com/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8zMzIyOTk0MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTc2MzE0MTEwM30.SpKsPMbbo_XonejubDrsNYFeJ1ekjyalB_TuhZ_jDiA/image.jpg?width=210"},"name":"Steven Devadanam","url":"https://houston.culturemap.com/u/stevendevadanam"},"dateModified":"2022-09-15T10:03:40Z","datePublished":"2021-08-06T22:17:29Z","description":"show up as shooter!","headline":"Fun River Oaks film festival links favorite golf movies, a costume contest, and bourbon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":600,"url":"https://houston.culturemap.com/media-library/carl-spackler-caddyshack.jpg?id=31491425&width=1200&height=600&coordinates=0%2C47%2C0%2C203","width":1200},"keywords":["festivals","movies","sports"],"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://houston.culturemap.com/news/entertainment/08-06-21-ipic-houston-film-festival-happy-gilmore-caddyshack-tin-cup-sweetens-cove-bourbon-august-9/","@type":"WebPage"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://houston.culturemap.com/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8zMTczMjk3OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTc0NTUwMzE0NX0.TijlKXhSuG32_EoXKtOZaTtJlSPyCqQurmTPsKfQTcg/image.png?width=210"},"name":"CultureMap Houston"},"thumbnailUrl":"https://houston.culturemap.com/media-library/carl-spackler-caddyshack.jpg?id=31491425&width=210","url":"https://houston.culturemap.com/news/entertainment/08-06-21-ipic-houston-film-festival-happy-gilmore-caddyshack-tin-cup-sweetens-cove-bourbon-august-9/"}
Fun River Oaks film festival links favorite golf movies, a costume contest, and bourbon - CultureMap Houston
show up as shooter!
Fun River Oaks film festival links favorite golf movies, a costume contest, and bourbon
See — or dress up as — Caddychack's Carl Spackler at this film fest.
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
As players — even bad players — know, golf is a sport steeped in tradition, such as dressing with, say, panache, and enjoying some booze on the course.
Now, a new film festival that pairs beloved golf films with a bourbon line started by two sports stars will celebrate those time-honored traditions and more when it screens at iPic in River Oaks District on Monday, August 9.
This new festival is sponsored by Sweetens Cove Bourbon, which was launched by NFL icon Peyton Manning and tennis star Andy Roddick. The bourbon is named after a beloved nine-hole golf course in Tennessee, where golfers to take a shot of bourbon before the first hole. (That inspired the idea to create a bourbon of the same name.)
The film fest celebrates the brand’s opening in Texas, per a press release.
Fans can expect some golf-flick favorites: Happy Gilmore, Caddyshack, and Tin Cup. For the golf fashion element, guests are encouraged to come dressed as the three films’s memorable characters: Shooter McGavin, (that finger gun!) Carl Spackler, or Roy McAvoy. The fan donning the best costume scores a bottle of Sweetens Cove Bourbon autographed by Roddick and Manning.
Doors open at 6pm with a happy hour, followed by the costume contest at 6:15 pm; screenings start 6:20pm-7:30pm. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online and include admission, swag, snacks, and sips of Sweetens Cove Bourbon.
An added plus: $5 from each ticket sale goes to First Tee Houston, which aims to help local kids build character and learn life-enhancing values and healthy choices through golf.
Writer/director Sean Baker’s filmography is full of films that aim to show stories not typically seen in mainstream movies, ones that often feel so true to life that they can be tough to watch. His latest film, Anora, is similar to his previous content in some ways, but much different in others.
Anora (Mikey Madison), aka Ani, is a stripper/sex worker who works at a club in Brooklyn. Because she can speak Russian, she is assigned to dance for Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), who she discovers is the son of a Russian oligarch. With an unlimited supply of money, he pays Ani for sex and, enjoying spending time with her, for her to pretend to be his girlfriend for a week.
That week sees them do a lot of wild stuff, most notably an impulsive trip to Las Vegas where they — almost as hastily — decide to get married. Their elopement doesn’t stay secret for long, though, with Ivan’s parents especially upset. A trio of henchmen track them down, enlisted by Ivan’s parents to force them to get the marriage annulled at all costs.
Baker is not your typical storyteller, and so even though the film has three distinct acts, they don’t play out in ways that will be familiar or comfortable for many filmgoers. Much of the first act involves Ani in states of undress, either dancing for customers or having sex with Ivan. Although the “rich guy paying for the company of a sex worker” echoes a film like Pretty Woman, the comparison doesn’t really fit, especially because the immature, video game-playing Ivan is about as far from romance as you can get.
Whatever appeal he might have had disappears in the second half of the film when he’s confronted with his parents’ displeasure. It’s here that Baker seems to play with moviegoer expectations the most. With three goons sent to get Ani and Ivan to take back what they’ve done, it feels like Baker is going to go down the typical mob movie road. Instead, what transpires can only be described as an intense farce, with Ani resisting the trio’s efforts with all her might, causing lots of comedic chaos.
What plays out throughout the film, and especially in the final act, is a disparity of wealth. While Ani being willing to have sex with a rich guy who comes into the club could be viewed in multiple ways, it does hint at her need to make money however she can. Conversely, Ivan spends money with abandon and acts accordingly, like someone who will never have a care in the world. After much frivolity, this imbalance hits like a ton of bricks in the film’s final minutes.
Madison, who’s had small but showy roles in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the reboot of Scream, proves herself to be a star in this role. She owns every part of the performance, from the New York accent to the pole dancing, and she is the fire that keeps the film humming. She is especially important because Russian actor Eydelshteyn is only intermittently effective. Special note goes to Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Yura Borisov, the three men who come for Ani and Ivan. Each walks the line between drama and comedy especially well.
Taken at face value, Anora could be viewed as a merely titillating and somewhat shallow film. But Baker doesn’t do anything without a purpose, which is why the subtext of the story gives the film its power, with a bravura performance by Madison to put it over the top.