(Robert Siegel, US 2009, 86 min.)

Comedian Patton Oswalt stars as Paul, a Staten Island parking garage attendant and devoted New York Giants fan who spends much of his free time calling into a trash-talking radio sports show. Spotting his favorite player in his neighborhood, Paul and his buddy Sal (Kevin Corrigan) follow/stalk the athlete to a fateful meeting at a Manhattan strip club that sets off an unexpected chain of events. This funny and fascinating character study of a typically ignored kind of contemporary American marks the directorial debut of writer Robert Siegel, co-founder of The Onion. In Big Fan, Siegel combines the obsessive fandom of The King of Comedy (screening February 3) with the attention to local culture found in his screenplay for The Wrestler. Siegel will introduce his film and answer questions following the screening.