Film Fest Tour: Day 6

11:37am Today is a pretty casual day. Got up and had breakfast with Christine and then we said our goodbyes. She's got some work to do, and I want to check out the city. But first I headed over to her friend Patricia's place. She added me as a friend on facebook and I was browsing around and noticed that she does this great children's art. Check out here website here (http://www.pattyzee.com/). So I went down and bought something for Ephraim, whom I miss terrible. (I miss you too Emily, don't worry!)
Checking in on some e-mail. A good friend of mine (whom wrote the closing credit song for our film) sent me some tracks that he wrote from being inspired by the script that (we hope) is next for us to make. So that was a pretty nice treat to get. Now I'm just waiting for a ride to head down to Whyte Ave, which everyone says is the 'must-see-street' in Edmonton.

3:56pm Did a good little walkabout. Whyte Ave is nice, I'm sure that there are far more interesting shops than I went into, but my usual hunts are only for books, comics and movies. I had planned to perhaps do some clothing shopping whilst on my trip - perhaps in Calgary. So I had a nice 5K walk today, over the river - which with the leaves changing is pretty damn gorgeous.

12:21am I got to the cinema early and went out with some of the EIFF staff for drinks, including Guy the feature programer and Kerrie the festival producer. Really great people, and I can only imagine how hard they work their ass off to make this festival happen. Checked out Heartbeats, I couldn't get in to see The Pharmacist because it's a local film and everyone and their grandmother showed up to see it, so I went to see Frozen (which broke my all-Canadian-streak for this festival) instead, and then headed back for some much needed sleep. Head to Calgary tomorrow.

1430 - Frozen

This film made me break my all-Canadian-streak at EIFF. I had planned to see The Pharmacist, but it's a locally made film and therefore packed. This film is part of a tradition of morally questionable people doing stupid things, and then paying for them, often, with their lives. So knowing that, the challenge of the film is how do you be creative within your premise and locked in location. This is Open Water in a chairlift at a ski resort. And for my money, I can think of a ton of different ways they could have gotten out of it, but I think they exploited the premise in terms of being a thriller pretty darn well. The film offers some solid comic relief when it's needed most, and it's tense. It's a hard film to watch - its not gory, in fact it's very tastefully done in that regard. In fact, for what it is, it's pretty skillfully done. Not the kind of film you ever need to watch more than once (although I could be convinced to check out the commentary), for fans of films of this kind of premise, you'll get a kick out of it.

1429 - Heartbeats

I haven't seen Dolan's first feature, but I have to be absolutely honest when I say that I have no idea how this film has gotten the praise that it does. Reviewers use the words "bold vision", etc... to describe something that is, for my taste, unremarkable. The film is gorgeous to look at. There is absolutely no denying that. It's a technically well made film. Even that actors are all strong, but they aren't given a whole lot to do. In fact, it's an exercise in watching unlikable people. A boy and girl are best friends and both fall in love with this guy who is, for lack of a better term, a douche. The film uses these spralling sections shot in slo-motion that doesn't do anything besides show off the pretty photography. I like to think that my taste is pretty flexible and I can tolerate things with a mild level of pretension if the film is able to say something about the human condition. I don't know what Dolan's intention was here. It's unclear to me. If someone has seen this movie and absolutely loves it, please please please tell me why. I need to understand...

Film Fest Tour: Day 5

7:52am Been awake for about an hour, which means I've adjusted to the new time zone, but it also confirms that my body will pretty much only let me sleep for six hours at a time. The hotel has a "Deluxe Continental Breakfast" so I'm very curious to see what's "deluxe" about it. I think I'm going to walk around and explore a bit as well. Our film screens this afternoon, and I might check out the film before it, Two Indians Talking which is supposed to be good. As for our film, I just really want people to show up at the screening :)

8:24am The "deluxe continental breakfast" at The Matrix is, surprisingly, deluxe. Eggs Benny, roasted potatoes, granola and a host of other breakfast appropriate carbs. Nice.

1:01am Just got in. Now… what the hell happened today. This morning I went for a great long walk to seek out a comic book store I'd heard about. I didn't buy anything, but it was a pretty awesome store called Happy Harbour Comics.
Then I went for a really lovely walk along the ravine on 100 Avenue on the way back to the hotel. Got to the theatre in time to screen a film Two Indians Talking, and then it was time to screen ours. Just before the doors opened we were about to do a test of the film on the screen, but one of the volunteers opened the theatre to let people in - so they had to hope that it would be fine, and it kind of wasn't. The aspect ratio was off, it was a little too bright, and the sound effects channel was off. However the audience, which was pretty damn plentiful, didn't seem to give a damn and the only way to fix it was to stop the screening. I think just like you don't wake a sleeping baby, you don't disrupt an audience that is enjoying your film. So I let it go. Most people stayed for the Q&A and it was great. It was moderated by Christian Zyp who interviewed me for the radio station a little while back, and the questions were intelligent. I didn't feel tripped up like I would doing these Q&As, which was nice. Lots of great feedback from the audience who seemed like the flick. The screening was full of laughs and reactions, and that's the best that I can hope for.
Afterwards Christine and I went to grab dinner at a place her lovely, very pregnant, friend Patricia recommended. I wish I could remember the place - it was amazing. I'll try to walk past it today.
After that I checked out the Fathers & Sons screening 'cause I'd hung out with Jay Brazeau the night before and I like Carl Bessai as a filmmaker and from what I've seen of him in interviews. I'll save my praise for that film for my little mini-review, but it was a delight. Really loved it. My original plan was to go and see Let Me In, but then the opportunity came up to go out with the Fathers & Sons crowd and I couldn't pass that up. I'm a big fan of more intimate sit-downs in bars with people as opposed to things like the party last night, so it was right up my alley and I got to hang more with Jay, who is one of my new favourite people - he's the kind of guy that makes you want to write something for him. And I got to hang out with Carl Bessai, who is a super nice guy. I consider myself pretty damn fortunate that I'm hanging out with some of our countries established directors.
So today was a good day - really great audience at the screening - got to hang out with some fantastic and talented people. Tomorrow I have to say goodbye to Christine, which sucks. It's been amazing having her along. But I'll be joined later on in the week by the one and only Kris Holden-Ried.
Tomorrow I hope to explore a little more of Edmonton before I head to Calgary on Monday.

I just noticed that we got a little shout-out in a Calgary publication. Click here to read about it.

1428 - Fathers & Sons

One of the benefits of having your film in a festival is that you often get to meet other filmmakers, actors, etc... and if you're lucky you hit it off. I got to spend some good time with the actor on the above right, Jay Brazeau, and if it wasn't enough for him to be a charming and wonderful guy to hang out with, he has to go and be a phenomenal talent as well. This film was improvised from an outline, but I swear you would never know it. It feels so tight and focused that it would almost have to be written. It's an ensemble film that deals with different situations of fathers and sons, and it's really quite fantastic. At times poignant, but always downright hilarious. I haven't seen it's predecessor Mothers & Daughters but you can be damn sure I'll check it out. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, there are some damn amazing Canadian films this year and I'm excited to be amonst them touring in the festivals.

1427 - Two Indians Talking

Having done a fair amount of research into native issues with the historical documentaries I used to be involved in, I'm always curious about things like this. This film takes place in the 24 hours before a road block is to be set up on a busy highway - a road block that will cost millions of dollars in lost business for the area. This film is more or less a two-hander in the vein of Waiting for Godot or My Dinner with Andre, but the momentum sticks and it doesn't get visually bland. The cast is solid and the writing inspired. It never gets preachy as the conversation between these two cousins touches the pros and cons of everything from the road block itself to their culture and place in the world.
My fear with a film like this is always that it will never reach the audience that could benefit from it the most. People that don't give a shit about native issues are probably not going to bother checking it out, which is a damn shame. The film doesn't preach, it just says it how it is - and more people need to hear it.

Film Fest Tour: Day 4

6:51am It's official, I don't think my body will tolerate more than six hours of sleep at a time. I forgot to say yesterday that before our screening Mireille was lovely enough to drive us to the Big Nickel and let Christine and I act like tourists. I've been taking a few photos here and there, but I think I'll just post them all at the end. We have to leave the hotel in about an hour to catch our flight to Toronto, then a lay-over, then we'll hit Edmonton. Hoping I can grab a nap today at some point, otherwise I think by the evening the 2 hour time difference is going to kick my ass.

4:25pm Just landed in Edmonton so it's actually closer to 6:30. The layover was pretty painless. I had a phone interview with one of the students at the University of Calgary - I'm screening the film there and talking with them, so he just wanted to get some info beforehand. The flight was pretty great. Gotta say, it's been a long time since I've flown Air Canada and I was damn impressed. It's the first time I've seen the little TV things that make it so you can customize your viewing, and I finally got to see The Trotsky. Got to our hotel, which is pretty freaking nice. I have this gigantic bed. I'm going to try to take a nap before we hit the functions. It's opening night of the festival here so it should be pretty exciting!

12:45am (technically 2:45am). You know how you get to the point where you're just so tired that you're not tired anymore. That's where I'm at. At any rate I'm hoping it'll help with the time difference. Today was a weird day as we were a little burnt out so I don't think we got a great first impression of the city - but through no fault of it's own. I'm open minded and optimistic!
After checking in, relaxing, I headed down to a little wine/cheese thing where it was a little empty, but I ended up getting to chat with Michael McGowan, the director of One Week as well as tonight's opening night film Score: A Hockey Musical. Afterwards there was a reception, but we got lost walking back to the Hotel first, and then I got lost walking back to the reception. I will master the streets of Edmonton - I swear!!! I got back to the party and got to hang out with Jay Brazeau who is one of those amazing character actors who have been around forever. Seriously, look the guy up on imdb.com - he's got almost 200 acting credits to his name. Incredible. We're both screening tomorrow so we'll check out each other's films.
And now. Time for bed. Please please please let me sleep in… please!!!

1426 - Score: A Hockey Musical

I'm not a hockey fan so it's hard for me to really judge this film from an appropriate standpoint. What's great about it is that Michael is really trying to make films for Canadians. I really loved One Week and so it's easy to see where his passion for the country lays, and I think that's a pretty damn fantastic thing. The audience at the Edmonton premiere were in fits of non-stop laughs and cheers, and so while it's not necessarily my thing, I think it could do pretty well across the country.