COMMENTARY: OUR FRIEND, WEB GROUP MEMBER, AND
WONDERFUL SPOKEPERSON, PATTI DIVITA, RECEIVED A
TERRIFIC REVIEW ON HER MOVIE ABOUT THE WAITERS' LIFE.
I PICKED IT OFF HER WEBSITE BLOG
(http://didisaythousandisland.com/blog.php). AND
WANTED TO SHAE IT WITH OUR GROUP.
ENJOY!
PAUL WWW.WAITERSWORLD.COM


Movie Review by DAVID MALSCH

DID I SAY THOUSAND ISLAND?
Written and Directed by Patti DiVita
http://davidmalsch.blogspot.com/2008/02/did-i-say-thousand-island.html

During the brief life of the Black Point Film Festival
that I co-founded and ran for five years, I watched a
lot of movies. We would receive hundreds of entries
every year submitted for our approval from all over
the world. We did suffer for our art back then, trying
to make Black Point great, and despite some of the
films we had to sit through it was worth it in the
end. It's been three years since the festival ended
and I still miss it terribly. I miss it selfishly but
also regret not being able to still offer it to the
loyal cinemaniacs and filmmakers that supported us
through it all. In retrospect, I think Black Point
started something never done before in southeastern
Wisconsin and I believe its spirit still lingers on
there today for both film and music aficionados. I'm
proud of what we did and I'm even more proud of the
people keeping indie film and music alive there today.

A couple of months ago I got an e-mail from a woman
named Patti DiVita who asked if I would be interested
in seeing her film, Did I Say Thousand Island? She was
once very gracious and supportive of Black Point and I
encouraged her to send it to me. At the time she
contacted me I was so overloaded with films--I had 53
screeners sitting on top of my television that I had
to get through--but I promised her I would take the
time to watch her movie. Eventually I did and I'm
really glad because despite the lack of strong
production values it contains in it a small gem of a
story that I know like the back of my hand and have an
immense love for--the food service industry.

I started working in bars before I was legally old
enough to be in them. I started out as a DJ in a
bowling alley well before I graduated high school. In
fact, the owner never realized my true age until he
read about me being in the graduating class in the
local paper. From there, I became a bartender and
waited tables in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for over 20
years. I don't regret those years because I learned
more about the world and about the people in it by
working behind a bar than I would have ever learned
just by sitting at it. I did burn myself out doing it
that long but I really do miss it and have nothing but
good memories and stories to tell from all those
years. Black Point was to be my path out of that
business. It was a big reason I decided to start the
festival outside of my love for film and music.

Did I say Thousand Island? is a film about the
business and love of food service told from the point
of view of those in the middle of it. It’s told mostly
through the voice of its lead character, Cathy (Jaime
Foard), who on the verge of her 30th birthday is
wondering where her life is heading. She works in a
resort town in the Rocky Mountains outside of Denver,
Colorado as a waitress. In a profession not always
looked upon as legitimate and more as a fall back to
something else, Cathy and her co-workers and friends
are actually quite happy and content in their chosen
fields. This is a film about these people and for
these people and Devita is not ashamed about it. There
have been plenty of films made about this profession
but rarely do they embrace the people or the job quite
like this film does.

Ms. DiVita, who has spent her life waiting tables, has
taken her talent for writing about it to the next
level by somehow, remarkably, turning it into a film.
Make no mistake that this is an independent,
low-budget film with unseasoned actors at the helm but
it has more heart and gusto than any big-budget
mainstream film about the hospitality business. I
enjoyed this film for that reason--I knew these
situations and I know these people because I have
spent the better part of my entire life with them and
love them to death. This industry is a tough one but
it is also a rewarding one and Did I Say Thousand
Island? reflects that wonderfully. Jaime Foard is also
a terrific find and gives the film a strong and
promising lead actress to root for.

Somehow Patti and I had missed each other all those
years living and working in the same small resort town
of Lake Geneva. We’d both been doing the same type of
work yet somehow avoided either meeting each other or
waiting on each other along the way. If Black Point
was still around I guarantee that our paths would have
finally crossed with her film and my festival. I hope
Patti continues down this path as a filmmaker because
she shows more promise in her first film than most
struggling filmmakers ever show. Filmmaking is hard
business just like being a good waitress but somehow
Patti DiVita is showing a knack for both. She deserves
a nice big tip for this one.


DAVID EAT WORLD
DAVID MALSCH is a film critic who founded the BLACK
POINT FILM FESTIVAL, an independent film & music
festival in Wisconsin and currently runs a political
film series called the BIG PICTURE FILM SERIES. David
lives in Arizona and is a member of Phoenix Film
Critics Society. All reviews are edited by Pascal Marco.



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