Not only is he the muted Silent Bob or a popular film director of films like Clerks, Chasing Amy and MallRats, Kevin Smith is a writer, comedian and podcaster who gives good gab. On a break from his latest project, AMC's Comic Book Men — shot at his shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, in N.J. — Smith will visit rain-soaked Tampa to shoot the shit about new projects for An Evening with Kevin Smith. The Tampa Improv, 1600 E. Eighth Ave. (in Centro Ybor), Ybor City. Tickets are $30. improvtampa.com
Attention film buffs, the 2015 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour, an 83-minute theatrical program of six short film award, can be seen at 7:30 p.m. tonight and tomorrow at Tampa Theatre. Selections include fiction, documentary and animation, with a wide range of tone and mood, from subtle to over the top.
World of Tomorrow — Short Film Jury Award (Best of Fest) about a young girl taken on a mind-bending tour of the distant future. Written and directed by Don Hertzfeldt, U.S., 17 minutes.
SMILF — Short Film Jury Prize: US Fiction; follows a young, single mother whose tricky balancing act nearly comes tumbling down during nap-time. Written and directed by Frankie Shaw, U.S., 9 minutes.
Oh Lucy! — Short Film Jury Prize: International Fiction about Setsuko, a 55-year-old, single, so-called “office lady” in Tokyo is given a blonde wig and a new identity. Written and directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi/Japan, Singapore, USA/22m
The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul — Short Film Jury Prize: Non-Fiction; peer into the casting call of a Ukraine audition, where girls vie for a role to portray the famed Olympic champion figure skater, a bright spot in the country's chequered history. Written and directed by Kitty Green, Russia/Ukraine, 7 minutes.
Storm Hits Jacket — Short Film Jury Prize: Animation; a storm off the Brittany coast has two scientists in a tizzy. Written and directed by Paul Cabon, France, 13 minutes.
Object — Short Film Special Jury Prize for Poetic Vision; an underwater search in two dimensions, told from the point of view of the rescue team, of the diver, and of the ordinary people waiting on the shore. Written and directed by Paulina Skibinska, Poland, 15 minutes.
This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2015.