By Margaret A. McGurk

Weirdest holiday movie

'Bad Santa': Two crooks dress as Santa and elf to rip off unsuspecting merchants until a little boy teaches them the true meaning of the holiday. Bad Santa (Nov. 26) sounds like pretty standard feel-good fare, even with Billy Bob Thornton and Bernie Mac as the larcenous duo. Here's where it gets weird: The director is Terry Zwigoff, something of an idol to ironic nihilists after Crumb and Ghost World, and the original story - since reworked by at least four sets of hands - came from the ever-eccentric Joel and Ethan Coen. All of which leads us to suspect that, whatever happened to Bad Santa on its way to the screen, Curly Sue it is not.

Hot tickets

Short and sweet: The brand-new Queen City Film and Video Festival comes to the Newsreel Theater at Cincinnati Museum Center in Union Terminal 1-5 p.m. on Saturday. Some artists who took part in the 48 Hour Film Project in August - when nearly two dozen teams wrote, shot and edited short digital movies in a single weekend - are expected to show their entries, in some cases as re-edited "directors' cuts."

Tickets are $5 in advance online at qcfilmfestival.tripod.com.

Also in the works is a 48 Hour Film Project best-of show at 7 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Madison Theatre in Covington. Check for updates at www.48hourfilm.com and www.southernohiofilm.com.

New tradition

Quarterly showcase: Underneath Cincinnati, the ever-more-popular quarterly showcase for local film and video artists held at the SSNova Gallery, unveils its final crop of 2003 work 8 p.m. Nov. 9 in the third-floor gallery, 603 W. McMicken Ave. Entrants will be eligible for end-of-year honors; top winners will be included in a traveling showcase that will visit like-minded galleries nationwide. Submissions are still open: mail tapes to Underneath Cincinnati, PO Box 19928, Cincinnati 45219.

Suggested donation is $5; a cash bar will be available. www.ssnova.org.

On the radar

'Artworks' screening: Veteran producer Jim Amatulli promises a local screening this fall of his first feature film, Artworks, which recently scored a commercial distribution deal. The movie, shot entirely in Cincinnati, stars Virginia Madsen and Rick Rossovich. Date and location TBA.

Also in the works are new programs from Reel Justice, the legal-themed series at the Mariemont, and from these local film groups:

• CineLatino: www.cincylatino.com, 379-6462.

• Cincinnati World Cinema: www.communityzero.com/cincyworldcinema, 859-781-8151.

• Cincinnati International Film Festival: www.cincinnatifilm.com.

• Cincinnati Film Society: www.cincinnatifilmsociety.com, 251-6060.

E-mail mmcgurk@enquirer.com