1596 - The Freebie

I really dig Katie Aselton from the other Duplass projects and I was excited by the idea of this film when I'd heard about it - and then even more excited when I learned that it would be playing at the Calgary International Film Festival in the same program as my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard - but then disappointed when I learned that it was screening in the same slot in another theatre.  Alas!
So I picked this up in a Blockbuster closing sale.  For those that are unfamiliar it's a film about a couple that hasn't had sex in a long time, and doesn't really have a strong desire to.  They love each other, but their relationship is closer to best friends than lovers - so they pose the question... what if we both had a one night stand to try and put the spark back into our relationship?  What follows is the exploration of that idea, what goes through your mind in the lead-up to it, in the aftermath, etc...
This isn't a film for everyone, shot in an off-the-cuff improvised style, but I don't think that you go into a film like this without having an interest in alternative-indpendant cinema. 
Anyone that's been in a long term relationship knows the issues that these characters face.  For it's 77 minute running time Aselton packs a lot into this film and it turns out really lovely performances by herself and Dax Shepard.  For those who like relationship films that are on the talky-side and explore ideas, this will probably be up your alley - for those looking for a quirky rom-com, this ain't it.
Enjoy!
The Freebie

Film Fest Tour: Day 9 & 10

5:15pm I had a pretty relaxed morning. I spent most of it doing a polish on, what will hopefully be, my next feature. Then I headed downtown to walk around, met up with the one and only Kris Holden-Ried who arrived safely from Newfoundland. Ironically both he and Christine Horne shot back-to-back episodes of Republic of Doyle so look for that in the near future! We did some shopping, I got some gifts for the loved ones back home and then we parked ourselves at a bar. And now I'm brewing some coffee in the hotel sweet 'cause I got a little more saucy than I had intended. It was nice to see a familiar face after a few days of being on my own, and I have a particular fondness for Kris. The guy makes me smile from ear to ear. So we're drying out in our respective hotel rooms before heading out for dinner and then to screen the film. I'm excited for tonight's screenings - at both Edmonton and Sudbury we had afternoon screenings and I think the evenings have a different vibe to them so it should be interesting. I've really enjoyed my time on the road touring this film. I love how it plays, I love how people respond to it. But I'm really looking forward to tomorrow afternoon when I get to pick Ephraim up from daycare. This Saturday we've got the final screening of this little tour in Toronto at the Indie-Can festival. So if you haven't seen the film check it out there. It's Saturday night, at the Innis Town College Theatre, 2 Sussex Ave, 8:30pm and it's a FREE SCREENING. So that means no tickets, which means you might want to get there early.
Okay. Time for coffee.

6:17am I'm tired. We went out for dinner and drinks with Kris' friends from Calgary, and for some reason Kris and I thought it would be a good idea to have an espresso shot around 8:30pm to help keep us going through the film. I think I slept for maybe an hour all night with our
5:00am wake up to go to the airport. I'm beat.
That being said, the screening was fantastic. Really solid crowd, good energy, lots of laughs, lots of reactions. Good Q&A afterwards and discussion outside the theatre following the film. It plays pretty well to an audience, I'm sure that it's not everyone's cup of tea but enough people enjoy it so it does have an audience. Sitting in the airport waiting for my plane - Kris and I are on different airlines, but the same flight time back to Toronto, so we're racing to see who gets there first :) It's been a blast visiting these cities and showing the film, but I'm ready to go home. I miss my family. Can't wait to pick Ephraim up today. And again, for those who haven't seen it, we've got a screening this Saturday at Innis Town Theatre, 8:30pm.
Here's hoping I sleep on the flight...

Film Fest Tour: Day 8

8:43am I actually slept in this morning! Which is good 'cause I was stupid tired last night. Headed down for the breakfast buffet, which is loaded with awesome, but a little pricey. Alas. Here's to treating yourself! And as part of it they bring you over a canteen full of coffee AND a take-out cup if you don't finish it. Now that's my kind of breakfast! By the time I got back to my room the little elves had already made my bed. Then I decided to catch up on some work I haven't had time to do.

4:44pm The screening at the University of Calgary went pretty well. The film played well and got a decent amount of laughs and then we had a really good discussion afterwards. It's been raining so now I'm just back checking in on some e-mail before I head off to meet up with Brenda, the head programmer for dinner. Then more movies…

11:53pm Had dinner with Brenda as well as Jennifer another programmer. What's been really great on this entire trip is getting to talk with programmers and other filmmakers and discuss not so much the art of film, but the business of it. This trip has been extremely valuable for that alone. Caught two films from the world cinema program At World's End and A Somewhat Gentle Man. Then headed straight to bed.

1434 - A Somewhat Gentle Man

This is Stellan Skarsgard as you've never seen him - although maybe it's just that I haven't seen enough of his films. This is one of those "guy gets out of prison and has to re-evaluate his life" kind of films. It's got a wonderfully dark sense of humor. I found that it got a little bit repetitive and dragged on just a bit. Could have been a tad tighter for my liking with a little bit more going on. Fantastic characters, some groan-inducing (in a good way) comical stuff. I liked it enough to recommend.

1433 - At World's End

One of the programmer's at CIFF told me that this was probably her favorite film in the world cinema category this year and I can see why. It's a fantastic action adventure but with a wonderful sense of humor. The entire cast is just a great group of misfits that are a lot of fun to spend time with. The premise is a bit zany, and they poke enough fun at it, and it's the kind of film where you just can't predict where the hell it's going to go so you sit back and enjoy the ride. It's a wonderful film and I hope they release a north america bluray at some point.

Film Fest Tour: Day 7

4:00pm Got up this morning and barely caught the deluxe breakfast. Apparently the weekday times are much shorter. Got ready to head to the airport, but then got a little concerned when no one picked me up. So I called in and apparently the transport guy is no longer working for the festival and he neglected to mention that I needed a ride to the airport. But the Edmonton guys stepped into action and I got to the airport in plenty of time. Landed in Calgary just after lunch. Picked up by a lovely girl (who had a card with my name on it!) and we talked about our children on the way to the Delta.
Got settled in and then walked over to the festival office, which was hard to find inside the mall. Each festival is quite a bit different. I tried asking about other filmmakers that were in town, etc… but I get the sense that they don't do the networking thing here, which is kind of a shame… There is a Fubar 2 party tonight, so I'm debating going to that, although there's a film I really want to see so who knows… And in the festival office they were giving away free copies of the True Blood comic book. Sweet. Also their program book is pretty awesome. We're in the 'Hump Night' section and I really like the write-up they did for the film. Wish we would have had something more like it in the write-ups for Sudbury and Edmonton.
I got back to my hotel and a little elf had left me a welcome note from the festival as well as a chocolate boot with chocolate bark inside. Partially flattered, partially creeped out that someone came into my room. But they left chocolate, so the flattered side of me wins :)
I was hoping to see a theatre show called Blind Date while I'm in town tomorrow night so I called for tickets and it looks like it's sold out. Which is a drag. So I guess I'll just see more movies…

11:21pm I came into my room. The lights were on. The radio was on. The television was on. My bed had been stripped of the fancy pillows and unnecessary covers. Also a bottle of water and chocolates beside my bed. Again, I'm creeped out… except… there's chocolate… I call the front desk:
"Hello, Mr. LaLonde."
"Um. I think someone was in my room. Lots of stuff is turned on."
"It's part of our complimentary turn down service."
"It's a little creepy."
"A lot of people think that at first."
"And then they think it's not creepy?"
"They find it comforting."
"They're comforted by all the wasted electricity?"
"… the chocolate."
So today was pretty tame. I treated myself to a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant. Tomorrow I'll be more adventurous and eat in the city. I walked around a bit and then took in Small Town Murder Songs and Bummer Summer, then had a nice walk back to the hotel, whereupon I was creeped out by my room.
I think I'm actually going to get to bed at a decent time tonight. Tomorrow I've been asked to come to the University of Calgary to screen my film for the students and do a Q&A.

1432 - Bummer Summer

This is the kind of film that could have been so damn terrible. I'll give you the set up - it's shot on a digital SLR in black and white. Save at the end, the camera stays still inside of it's scenes, not even rack-focusing (which drove me a little nuts at times) when it's characters move in and out of focus. And it's improvised using completely unknown newcomers.
Recipe for disaster, isn't it?
It works. Sadly, I went from being absolutely in love with this film half-way through to really liking it by the end. It loses just a tad of momentum, but the characters feel so natural and real and you care about what they're going through, even if it's minor and subtle. Each shot in this film feels like a beautiful photograph and what we're seeing is the story of that photograph. It's not pretentious at all, though it sounds like it very well could be. If you like coming of age stories and don't mind something bordering on experimental I think that this is the film for you.

1431 - Small Town Murder Songs

I got to meet Ed Gass-Donnelly very briefly as I was checking in and he was checking out at Sudbury, and this has been on my list to check out while on the festival circuit. This is a very different film from Ed's last, which shows a nice variety. It's intended to be more character drama than it is a murder-mystery, which is good because... there's no mystery really. It's all pretty cut-and-dry. There are some really stylistic sequences where Ed combines music and montage and it gives it a great and unexpected energy. Visually it's a really interesting to film, but content wise I found it to be a little lacking. When I said there isn't a mystery I was wrong - the mystery is about Peter Stormare's character and his backstory. We get glimpses but never a full picture, and because of that I don't know where the character is coming from or where he needs to go. Martha Plimpton sounds like she's trying to do her best Fargo impression, and that would be great if it wasn't for the fact that no one else had that accent in the film. And sadly, Aaron Poole's character probably could have been removed from the film and it never would have made much of a difference. This sounds like I'm slagging the film, but that's not my intention. I think Ed's aim here is to make something in the vein of a Coen film, although with a more serious bend. I think he's got a great future in filmmaking and this is an interesting stepping stone.