Chris Clark stars in “Stalking Santa.” Barely visible in the passenger seat is Daryn Tufts, who wrote the film and also appears in it.

Two months ago I mentioned a movie called “Stalking Santa,” a mockumentary about a man seeking to prove the existence of Kris Kringle. It was made by some friends of mine (and some people I don’t know) in Utah, and it’s gotten rave reviews at the film festivals it’s played at. But it still had no firm release date, nor even a distributor — tragic, when you consider “Wild Hogs” had a release date and a distributor before it was even made.

Now I bring you two bits of information:

1) The film has been picked up by Excel Entertainment and will be released in theaters in time for the holiday season. Excel has almost exclusively done Mormon-themed movies so far, so this will be a departure for them, as “Stalking Santa” has no Utah or Mormon content. Hopefully they don’t chicken out and only market the film in Utah just because that’s what they’re used to.

2) You can see the movie this weekend at the Utah Family Film Festival, being held at University Mall Cinemas in Orem. It’s screening Thursday at 5 p.m., Friday at 7:10 p.m., and Saturday at 6:10 p.m. Cast members will be in attendance each time to answer questions and stuff. Tickets are $5 if you buy them online ($6 at the door), which means it’s cheaper to see it now than it will be when it’s released in theaters later this year.

I don’t know much about the rest of the fledgling festival. The lineup of films looks reasonable, with more than just Utah-made films on the list. The schedule includes special screenings of “The Goonies” and “Napoleon Dynamite,” too, so that’s cool. If you find yourself in Utah Valley this weekend, maybe you should check it out.

The cause of your children’s sudden interest in cross-dressing.

Is there anything funnier in this world than people flying off the handle because they misunderstood a joke? I think not!

The Illinois Review is a conservative blog that I was unfamiliar with until Defamer pointed out a recent entry entitled: “Shrek: A Strange Setting to Promote Transgenderism.”

The writer, Fran Eaton, says she’s reluctant to sound like an ogre herself by spoiling everyone’s fun with “Shrek the Third,” but “there was [an] issue raised in the movie that I’ve seen no one yet address.” Of course, the reason no one has yet addressed it is that it only exists in Fran’s imagination. The issue? Cross-dressing. Specifically:

It’s the awkward inclusion of a transvestite and the uselessness of the character himself (herself?) in the story that is troubling.

Right in the midst of a warm “traditional family” setting, the film writers place a man dressed as a woman in with Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White (the good gals).

Continue reading…

Our celebration of the 10th anniversary of “Snide Remarks” continues with “Comfy KOSY Are We,” which is this week’s designated “Snide Remarks” Classic. It was column #232, published Dec. 12, 2001. It pertains to the Christmas season, and to a Utah radio station’s practice of playing nothing but Christmas music from Thanksgiving through Dec. 26. (I believe now they now they start even earlier, on Nov. 1, which is appalling.) Read and enjoy! I command you!