“Natasha Kizmet: The Movie” is ready to open across America. Denver producers Mike Drumm and Rich Lerner have finished the final edit, and I saw the trailer and the movie on DVD this week. All they need is a distributor. Easier said than done.
The movie is the almost true story of Kizmet, a curvy import from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, who came to Denver a few years ago to find fame and fortune. She was a barista at Dazbog, which didn’t work out so well. She made a belly- dancing DVD. That was OK, but the stomach show she produced at the Oriental Theater was a $50,000 disaster. She ended up at Shotgun Willie’s, which she thought was some kind of ballet, and was shocked when asked to remove her top.
But that’s where Kizmet now works. She hopes the movie will be released, have legs and let her stop peeling. “I work at Shotgun’s because it’s the only place that can satisfy me financially,” she says in her rich Uzbek accent.
The trailer calls it “Borat with Boobs,” but it’s more like “Borat” meets “Candide.”
“I am kind of innocent, but not that much,” Kizmet says.
Drumm has submitted the flick to various film festivals. “Everyone who sees it says she is a complete star,” he says.
What’s for brunch?
The late Sen. Edward Kennedy was in Denver for the DNC last August, and the Kennedy clan and 100 guests had a special brunch at Strings.
Kennedy ordered a simple breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, white toast and crisp potatoes. Strings owner Noel Cunningham hand-delivered it to Kennedy, telling him, “Senator, there are two things every Irishman hopes to do. Cook for a Kennedy and cook for the pope. Now there’s only one left.”
Kennedy laughed — and might be pleased to see the “Kennedy Special” on Strings’ new Sunday brunch menu.
Bookies.
I just read Michael Connelly’s lousy beach book “The Scarecrow.” The best part of the thriller was the name of the hero’s boss, Alan Prendergast, managing editor of the Los Angeles Times, nicknamed “Prendo.” The real Alan Prendergast is a well-regarded staff writer at Westword. He has no idea why his name was used — and no one has ever called him “Prendo.” Yet.
Helen Thorpe, wife of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, is out with the book “Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America.” She’ll have a reading/signing at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Tattered Cover LoDo.
And Reggie Rivers is at the Tattered Cover Colfax at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday with his fifth book, “The Colony.” It’s a novel about ants — one of the few creatures besides humans who wage organized war with their own kind. Rivers went back to college to get a master’s at DU, and this book is a jazzed up version of his thesis.
City spirit.
Friday was Karlyn Tilley’s last day at CBS4 — she’s moving to “the dark side” as communications manager for the city of Golden. Tilley’s a Golden High grad. . . . Sez who: “Dogs, monkeys and parrots are a thousand times less miserable than we are.” — Voltaire
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or at bhusted@ . Take a peek at Husted’s next column at .
