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Film

Hot Tub Time Machine

I went into this film with some high expectations, but was still skeptical enough to not see it during its initial theatrical run, and instead saw it at Toronto’s Bloor Cinema. What I didn’t expect was to see such perfection. I haven’t laughed so hard at a film in a long time, especially not in a theatre. One joke that literally had me in stitches was such an obvious joke and was even in the trailer, “What colour is Michael Jackson?” but the execution was done so perfectly that it led to such hilarity. For those who don’t remember, the 1980s was the worst decade in all human history. One… Read More »Hot Tub Time Machine

Under more stars than there are prostitutes in Thailand…

On Friday night, I went to my first ever Hot Docs screening. Yes, I had never before been to Hot Docs after living in Toronto(ish) for 28 years. How long? 28 years.1 I lost my Hot Docs virginity to Strange Powers, a film about Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields. For those who don’t know who Stephin Merritt is, or who the Magnetic Fields are, you’re obviously new to my blog, and my life.2 The Magnetic Fields are one of the most ambitious pop artists who are best known for their monumentous3 triple album project 69 Love Songs. Stephin Merritt is the band’s songwriter, leader, visionary, and in all honesty,… Read More »Under more stars than there are prostitutes in Thailand…

April 2010, in review

In December, I set goals for myself, how many films to see this year, how many shows to attend, how many records to purchase, and how many books to read. This is the standings, as of the end of February… Books I read (6/10) – 60%: Nothing this month. Films I saw (32/52) – 61%: The Sweet Hereafter | Originally released 1997    Nine | Originally released 2009 The Runaways Sleeper | Originally released 1973 Albums I bought (24/52) – 46%: “My Father’s House” b/w “The Digger” (Regional 7″ Volume 2) by $100    What The Boat Gave The River by Mark Berube & The Patriotic Few    new EP by… Read More »April 2010, in review

Young People Fucking

Young People Fucking, written and directed by Martin Gero is according to the IMDB one of the top grossing Anglo-Canadian films. For those who don’t know, Gero is a staff writer for Stargate Universe (previously Stargate Atlantis) and Bored To Death. Shows I’m quite fond of. When I had heard he made a film, I was excited to see it. Unlike most Canadian films, I was able to find it playing in a rather large cinema, and went. Now years later, I decided it was time to rewatch the film. The film follows five hetero-normative1 couples, the friends, the couple, the exes, the first date, and the roommates; and the… Read More »Young People Fucking

Sleeper

Last weekend, I went out to the Bloor Cinema to see Sleeper, the Woody Allen film about a man who is defrosted from cryogenic sleep after two hundred years. He immediately gets involved in a political battle, and is running for his life. It is bloody horrible. Woody Allen is not a physical comedian, and he tries hard. As I watched Allen’s slapstick routine as he was awoken from his slumber, all I could think is, “this would probably be funny if Peter Sellers was performing it.” Sadly Peter Sellers was nowhere to be seen, and Allen failed miserably in his attempts to mimic the likes of such great physical… Read More »Sleeper

The Runaways

I received a last minute invitation to see The Runaways last night. I couldn’t really turn that down. How could one resist chicks with guitars? I’m not quite sure what to make of the film. The story was sloppy, and didn’t seem to go anywhere. The timeline of the band was so compressed and it seems events were cherry picked out of nowhere without any sense of a timeline to their story1. It seems more to be a vanity project for Joan Jett (who served as Producer) and Cherie Currie (who wrote the book it was based on). Then there’s the band itself, if you were to go by the… Read More »The Runaways

The Sweet Hereafter

The Sweet Hereafter is a classic Atom Egoyan film from 1997. Egoyan’s narrative is emotional and strong. He deftly parallels the grief of Ian Holm’s character over his destroyed family with the grief of the the small community who’s children are lost or injured in a school bus crash. Non-linear narrative is something which has come to be more and more common-place. Television has succeeded at this structure with Lost but more often than not, it fails when countless TV writers don’t know how to make a good teaser and instead jump to the climax of the show. Egoyan is able to successfully navigate the story in a non-linear manner, which… Read More »The Sweet Hereafter

March 2010, in review

Books I read (6/10) – 60%: Overqualified by Joey Comeau | Originally published 2009   Fear of Fighting by Stacey May Fowles & Marlena Zuber | Originally published 2008   Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 4 Time Of Your Life by Jeph Loeb & Joss Whedon | Originally published 2009 Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby  | Originally released 2009 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 5 Predators & Prey by Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson, Steven S. DeKnight, Drew Z Geenberg, Jim Krueger, Doug Petrie & Georges Jeanty | Originally published 2009 Films I saw (28/52) – 54%: In The Loop | Originally released 2009 Inglourious Basterds | Originally released… Read More »March 2010, in review

BRAINS! 2

Well, we know James Brown is among the wandering dead, perhaps he’s patient zero. I just watched Zombieland, admittedly an odd choice for this night. Overall, I just needed something to make me laugh, and Cronenberg or Egoyan are not usually great for shits and giggles. Zombieland thoroughly was.

The Silent Partner

Miles (Elliot Gould) works at the Eaton Centre branch of First Bank of Toronto, it’s located immediately beside the Coles bookstore1. He’s a rather boring chap who interested in Julie (Susannah York), one of his coworkers who’s too busy boning their married coworker to give the boring Miles a second glance. Life changes rather quickly for Miles and he discovers that someone intends to rob the bank. His solution? Find a way to keep most of the money, and let the criminal (Reikle, played by Christopher Plummer) think he got away with it. Until Reikle hears reports of how much money was stolen. Reikle’s not a happy man! A word of advice,… Read More »The Silent Partner