1356 - Whip It

I wanted to see this film as soon as I was the trailer. The cast was right, solid subject matter, and great trailer with awesome energy. This film looked like a blast.

A friend of mine is a captain for one of the teams in the Toronto Roller Derby league, their team is Chicks Ahoy and we finally made it out to see a game last night (which rocked!), so it was only natural that my wife and I were extra pumped to finally watch this.

And it was... okay.

No one hates throwing out negative comments more than me but I just... I don't know. It's part sports movie, so within that you've got a bit of cliche that just has to happen to make the structure work. I'm fine with that. But I just found that the story was a bit of painting-by-numbers - stuff like everyone getting made at her just happened to all happen at the same time 'cause... well that's where it's supposed to happen in story structure. I guess what I'm saying is that I just felt like I 'felt' the beats of the story, rather than then disappearing into the film.

The cardinal sin of this film, for me, was that the film was unable to make the energy and excitement of the trailer. Not that it was trying to be a bait and switch, but it didn't get me excited the way that I'd hoped. The cast was all lovely, and there were some really nice bits to it. It's not a film I think I'll ever need to revisit. I'll tell you this - if you have a love-on for Barrymore or any of the fantastic people that are in this cast, it's probably worth checking out. But if you want my advice, use the above links and get your ass to a real roller derby. That shit is fun. The logo for my friend's team is below:

1355 - Hannah and Her Sisters

Yes. I've got a stack of films I haven't seen just sitting here, staring at me. Taunting me. But the heart wants what the heart wants. And being that I'm being that I'm gearing up to write a draft of an ensemble comedy, the heart wanted this. I can think of few better films in the ensemble category that work as well as this one does, that's full of so many great characters and great performances, and smart, wonderful one liners:

How the hell do I know why there were Nazi's? I can't even make the can opener work.

If Jesus came back and saw what was going on in his name, he would never stop throwing up.

"What if there is no God? What if you only go around once? Don't you want to be part of the experience?

The blend of comedy with heart, simplistic, yet stylistic shooting - Woody is in a league of his own. He's always, and continues to be, one of primary influences. I can't believe how long it's been since I've watched this film, but he's got so many great ones...

I absolutely adore this film and I'm so glad I revisited it at this juncture. If you haven't seen this and you're a fan of smart, funny, and warm films - get your ass to the video store. Better yet - buy it.

Ben Folds - Still Fighting It

I normally don't post links to clips, etc... but screw it. I've been a Ben Folds fan for many a year, and the only thing that I love more than hearing him is watching him play. The guy is a ninja - he owns the piano and makes it his bitch.
And as much as he's a master of his instrument the guy knows how to plum the depths and he comes out with some pretty ass-kicking stuff.
This song is nearing a decade old, but I just discovered it - this is the link to the video. As a new Dad, I have to say that this pretty much sums up what it feels like. Thank you Ben for once again, emotionally kicking my ass.

The Sandman Vol 3: Dream Country

This was an interesting volume. It was four stand-alone stories all revolving around different periods of Sandman's life. William Shakespeare made a short appearance in a previous volume and we get the pay-off to that here in a wonderfully bizarre explanation that 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was commissioned by Sandman to pay tribute to creatures he knows from another dimension. I don't want to ruin the fun of it, but there's some lovely meta-things going on. One of the other stories is, essentially, a long winded explanation of what happens while cat's dream. It's brilliant, and harsh, and sad, and wonderful. The first and last stories in this volume were just kind of 'meh'. The first, "Calliope", felt a little predictable.
Now, to be fair, they're well written - they look fantastic. But now the bar for Sandman has raised, and they just don't meet it as well as some of the other books do.
Gaiman is a fantastic writer because he's a great thinker. He's excited by ideas. They influence him. I imagine he'd be a great guy to have a few pints with. A good friend of mine has given me a novel of his (geez... how pathetically long has it been since I've read one of those?!), so I look forward to that, as well as the rest of this series. I imagine I'll probably pick up my own copy of it at some point.
In the back of this there is a Gaiman script, which I look forward to studying. The script format of comics baffles me. There doesn't seem to be a standard format. If anyone knows of one, please advise. I'm anal like that.

1354 - The United States of Tara: season two

I know, I know. I've been lazy about watching stuff. The evenings are filled with mostly T.V. (which I only review season by season) and so them reviews are slower to come in. I need to go through another film watching burst - lord knows that my stack of stuff to watch isn't getting any shorter. I blame productivity. I've been writing a lot. I'm about to go to draft on a new feature, and when that's done and out for feedback I think I'll reward myself with a few days of movie watchin'!
Which brings me to this. I LOVE this series. In fact, part of what I'm working on these days is bumping up my writing portfolio, and so this would probably be a good series for me to do a spec of. Got some ideas floating around in my head already.
I know that it's not hip to like Diablo Cody. I don't care. And I'm not sure how much say she has in this series - I'm sure she's got a strong voice - but looking at the opening credits there are a LOT of cooks in this kitchen. But the meals they make... delicious!
This season saw us doubling the number of alters that Tara has - but in a really subtle way. I love that they don't feel locked into the ones we few met last season. It feels... real. They come and go as they're needed. New ones surface as they're needed. There were a few plot threads this year that either disappeared or got finished up a little too easily for my liking, but I'll let it slide for the most part.
The entire cast here is phenomenal. We expect Toni Collette to be amazing - the role is written for her to be so - she shines. No doubt. But the rest of the cast gets the same treatment. I love that the writers don't short change the rest of the cast, and there is some really wonderful stuff going on in their storylines. I could go on and on, but I'd just be naming pretty much everyone in the opening and closing credits. I will, however, single out Brie Larson. I know she's playing the most typical of the Diablo Cody type characters, but I don't care. I adore her. I want to work with her. She seems like she's got a brilliant energy about her. She chomps on good dialogue like it's bubble-gum.
So it's no surprise, based on the above, that I'm strongly STRONGLY recommending this series. If you've never seen it, remedy that, if you've never heard of it I feel bad for you. Now get on board. It's a wonderful little ride.

The Sandman Vol 2: The Doll's House

I knew I'd be hooked after two. Well played, Mr. Gaiman, well played. What I really love about this series, now that I'm starting to realize how it works, is that it's just one big universe. And the central character of that universe is Sandman. This volume seemed to have a stronger story-arc than the last and it'll be interesting to see if the other volumes do the same. I love how this one is vaguely tied to the last one through Unity, the woman who was raped and had a child while in her dream-state. Stuff like that makes me feel like I'm in good hands.
Got one more in my stack and then I've got some others to get through before I return to this series.

TUWOPS - More Festivals Added!

So two more festivals have been added to, what is becoming, our international tour. International Film Festival South Africa, and Heart of England International Film Festival. I'm actually going to be in England while this festival is on for a friend's wedding, so there's a pretty good chance I'll be able to hop over to it - which is exciting! We'll see what the fall brings in terms of traveling to South Africa!
We've submitted to A LOT of festivals - and for the most part we won't be hearing back from the majority of them until August. So we'll keep you up to date as best we can. A website for the film is under construction. More details to come...

TUWOPS - International Film Festival Ireland

Just a quick update to say - We've been accepted!!!

Here's their website for more information.

New Music Suggestions?

As some of you know I had a burglary in the winter, and with it I lost my computer, which housed probably over ten thousand songs that I'd collected over the years. Just before that I'd decided to give away a lot of our physical CDs to goodwill because they're just taking up space and we more or less just plug my iPhone into whatever stereo device we have and listen from that.
And I had the music backed up on a harddrive. Which was also stolen.
So since then I've pretty much just been listening to what was on my iPod already in fear of it getting all erased when I plugged it into my computer. With that fear subsiding I'm getting pretty damn tired of having had listened to the same music for the last... six months... geez... has it really been that long?!

I've got a bunch of iTunes gift cards burning a whole in my wallet - so any suggestions would be great - full albums, individual songs. I've been out of the music loop for awhile. So please, friends. Help me to be hip again.

1353 - Pushing Daisies: season one

I love Anna Friel. I don't care to hide it. I could probably make this whole post about how much I love her and her character on this show. You just want to hug her and squeeze her - especially since her love interest can't. And what lovely, lonely things they do with that premise. A tragic love story where the lovers can never touch. Alas.
This show is unlike any on television. The production design alone sets it in a completely different zone. The clothes, hair, colors, sets, I could go on and on. And bizarrely enough the show is almost a procedural in it's plotting. Or at least a procedural with an arc and character development.
This show only got one more season, and I can't wait to see where they take it and what they do with the series. Poor Brian Fuller. I'm still waiting to see the Dead Like Me film he made to wrap up that series. Maybe we'll get a similar treatment for this. As long as Anna Friel is in it - sign me up. If you haven't seen this series yet, you don't know what you're missing. It's clever, sweet, funny, charming, the list goes on and on. My only complaint is that sometimes the CGI looks a bit cheap. Can't win 'em up.

An open letter to those who ride on two wheels..

I realize that I don't normally rant and rave on here. I usually stick to my reviews and my news about my projects. But every now and then there's something that I just feel downright passionate about. Maybe I'll start doing more of this. It remains to be seen.

Anyway. What I came here to do.

An open letter to those who ride on two wheels:

I don't hate you. I don't. I have many friends who ride bicycles in Toronto. And they're good people. They're among some of my favorite people. I'm well aware that cyclists in this city often have a bad reputation. And I KNOW that it's a few bad apples that spoil the bunch.

Regardless...

I'm not going to complain about how you weave in and out of lanes, in and around cars. Or how you treat traffic signals and signs as suggestions rather than laws, or things which otherwise keep people safe.

Here's what I'm going to bitch about. I know it's petty. I know it's small. But I've seen it so many times in the last few days that I have to say something. I just have to.

IT IS ILLEGAL TO RIDE ON THE SIDEWALKS. When I'm walking down the street (pushing my child in his stroller, or pulling him in his wagon) and I hear you chime your bell to tell me to get out of your way, it makes me want to push you onto the road. In fact, it takes a lot of strength for me not to. Instead I tell you that you shouldn't be on the sidewalk. And you either ignore me, flip me the bird, or act like you had no clue that this would or should be an issue. But the worst was a few days ago when someone on a Vespa honked for me to get out of their way. ON A VESPA! Seriously?!

I realize that this is petty. But I have to say something. And I know that the police have far more important things to do than to give tickets to cyclists - and who knows - maybe they do - maybe there's a really big crack down. But I've been ranting and raving about this long enough to other people that I feel like I have to throw my thoughts out into the www. So there. It's out there. Now I can sleep.

Again, cyclists - I don't hate you. I just hate the idiots among you. I should actually cycle for exercise. And maybe I will. But I sure as shit will ride on the road.

The Sandman Vol 1: Preludes and Nocturnes

So it took me a LONG time to get through this book. Partly because I've been busy, my commute to the new edit suite is a bit shorter, and because... it took me a while to get into it. I probably could have put it down about a third of a way into it. But I said to myself, "Self. There are ten volumes in this series. There has to be a reason for that. Give it at least two volumes before giving up on it." And while I'm not completely on board with it, it definitely picked up steam. (*SPOILER AHEAD) There is some wonderfully disturbing stuff in this book, but the most of all is with Sandman's sister Death, when she reaches into a cradle, carefully picks up a baby and the baby asks, "But... is that all there was? Is that all I get?" And she kindly replies, "Yes, I'm afraid so." As a new parent, that's the kind of stuff that stops me cold with the shivers. It's so simple and so delicately done, and for me it completely eclipses the more grotesque things that happen just prior to it.
I've been loaned the first three volumes of this, so I'll probably get through at LEAST those before making a decision to read the whole series or not. I've still got a stack of my own stuff to read, and I desperately want to re-read the Scott Pilgrim before the last book comes out. Ahh, time management.
So it's hard for me to say if I recommend this or not. It doesn't seem to have a real form or structure - which may be wonderfully refreshing - or wonderfully frustrating. Stand by...

Dazzler

So I'm particularly proud of this blog entry. I've recently befriended a very talented artist named Kalman Andrasofszky, who does a lot of comic art, including stuff for Marvel, such as this Dazzler one-off. Today it came out and he has a signing at The Beguiling, so I went to get my autographed copy. Knowing little to nothing of the character, I was still entertained by the story, but for the first time ever I bought it for the art. There's some seriously wonderful stuff going on with it. The cover alone (above) is just brilliant. It's like a cracked out Britney Spears - there's just layers of awesome going on up there. I'm planning to go out for drinks with Mr. Kalman at some point in the near future, maybe figure out something we could work on together. Trick him into slumming it with me ;-)

1352 - It''s Complicated

So Nancy Meyer seems to have found her niche in writing for middle aged women - and to be fair - she's attracting top talent. Her films, including this one, are good, but not great, and I think the problem lies in that she's got a monopoly on this crowd and no one else appears to be stepping up to be heard - so it's easy to be the big dog in this kennel.
The cast, like I mentioned are tops. John Krasinski even plays a broader version of his Office character, Jim. This isn't a slight to him at all, in fact, he brings something unique to this film, and any time he's a bit too much I think is merely a script thing.
Alec Baldwin has never been better than this stage of his career. He's interesting to me. Meryl is lovely and gets a chance to do some fun, light stuff. Steve Martin is a mystery to me here. His character doesn't have much to do, and I'd argue that's one of the bigger problems with the film - he'st just kind of there, lingering, never demanding anything for himself.
There is one perfect amazing sequence about half-way through the film where they all gather at a party at Meryl's daughters place. Hilarity and heart ensue. Doesn't help that there's a Beach Boy song underscoring. The film never comes back around to the brilliance of this earlier moment. So like I said, its good - not great. Highly recommend for those whom like her work, otherwise it's worth seeing at some point of you like rom-coms.

1351 - Back to the Future

Where do I even start with this?! It's been far too long since I've revisited this film. I'm a bit ashamed actually. This is the kind of film where, if someone told me that they didn't like it, I'm not sure I'd believe them. It just wouldn't make sense. How could someone not like Back to the Future?!
In terms of pure dynamics this is practically a perfect high-concept film. A strong, unique premise, filled with wonderful characters, fleshed out by solid performances. It's a home run. I was obsessed with these films as a kid. I think I even had the novelizations of the films. I remember being so excited for when my small town Video Shop was getting Back to the Future Part II in on VHS, I called them every day for a week to remind them to hold it for me. They must have either thought it was pretty cute, or that I was goddamn annoying.
Re-watching it now to gear up to write something that's in a similar vibe to this. Get inspired by the greatness that is this film.
Not much else to say - if you haven't seen this film then I apologize for whatever's happened in your life to keep it from you, and I insist that you remedy the situation as quickly as possible!

1350 - The Office: season six

I know that Erin (Kelly 2) was introduced in season five, but she is one of the breaths of fresh air that this season so desperately needed. Now what I'm about to say, I say with love: this was the series weakest season. Now that comment is a testimony to how great the show is (when it's great). Granted, this season paid off some wonderful things, in particular with Jim & Pam - however now it feels like their story is over. Dead, really. Now they're just... that couple. There's no 'spark' to them anymore. And sometimes I find them a bit catty and... mean. Before they were playful. Now that they're all married and have a family their behavior often feels a bit juvenile. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wouldn't be upset if their characters left Dunder-Mifflin. I love them, and the actors that play them, but they are bogging the show down just a bit.
The biggest problem that this season had was simply missed opportunities. It seemed like they were really good at setting stuff up but lousy at paying it off. Jim becoming co-manager. GREAT IDEA! And then... they didn't do a whole lot with it. And then it was over. Huh. Others they feel like they're taking their time with, which scares me into wondering if they don't have anything really great to build to anymore.
I want to make it clear that this season was still filled with great moments, I laughed A LOT, but I also found myself wanting more. It's just not as good as it's been, it's set it's own standards too high and now it's not meeting them.
They've set up a lot of interesting things for next season (which could be the last, or just the last for Michael). Let's see if they can pay them off...

1349 - All of Me

When I write I tend to try and surround myself with similar kinds of films, and I think that I probably added this one to my zip.ca list back when I was first working on something with my writing partner called Speak For Yourself, Asshole. Which was quite some time ago. Better late than never I suppose.
It's a body swap comedy and it's not bad. They have some fun with the premise and do some nice little things. Steve Martin is enjoyable when he's not being too far over the top. It's an alright film, worth watching if you like either Martin or Lily Tomlin, but ultimately, a somewhat forgettable film...

1348 - Dr. Horrible's Song-Along-Blog

I don't really have a whole lot to say about this other than I really quite enjoyed it. The actors and everyone is having a lot of fun - for good reason. It's full of really fun and catchy music. Now I need to check out the musical commentary.
This is very very easy to recommend, especially if you're a Joss fan. Check it out!

TUWOPS - Preview Screening!

Last night we had our preview screening of the finished film. I'm not sure of the final headcount, but I know that well over three hundred people RSVP'd. Filled with cast, crew, friends, family, and some other people along the way.
It was a rush to see it in a theatre as beautiful as The Royal. A lot of people asked me if I was nervous going into the screening, and I wasn't. Not really. Mostly because, unlike a play when things can go horribly wrong, the film was finished - if people didn't like it at this point there wasn't much I could do. I made the film that I set out to make, and I'm really happy and proud of it. The best compliments I recieved last night when was a few people, individually, told me that they saw themselves up on the screen, and that it affected them. And that's the best compliment it gets. To know that you've told a story that other people feel connected to. As a filmmaker I don't think that you can ask for much more.
So if you came last night - thank you very much! I hope you enjoyed it. And if you're still waiting to see it - hopefully we'll have some exciting news in the upcoming weeks and months. We're just starting to submit to festivals and we won't start hearing back on whether we get in or not until mid-to-end of summer.

1347 - The Wackness

I saw this when it first came out - in fact I believe if you do a search you can find my previous review of this. I'll keep this short and sweet. Watched it because Emily hadn't seen it and I just picked it up recently. It's a nice little flick - I'm a fan of coming-of-age stories in general so that doesn't hurt and Peck and Thirlby have this rare beautiful awkwardness to their relationship. I absolutely love their final moments together in this film. So I won't say much more, but if you haven't seen this - do yourself a favor, it's quite nice, and you get an awesome Ben Kingsley performance AND you get to see him making out with one of the Olsen twins. So beat that! B
But in all seriousness - well worth checking out - and there's some fun nods to the nineties as well.

1346 - Shutter Island

This was an incredible mind-fuck of a film, and I'm going to keep this extremely short as not to try and give anything away. This is a very different film for Scorsese, and one would bet that he signed up for it almost due to the dream/fantasy sequences alone. He doesn't some beautifully inspired work in those moments.
So I won't say too much other than it's a film that demands your attention and concentration. Not my favorite Scorsese by any means, but worth checking out for sure. Some really nice, smart, harsh twists and turns.

1345 - Real Time

I love Jay Baruchel. I think he's a brilliant actor, clever, smart, funny. And he's a big supporter of Canadian cinema so it's one of my hopes to one day work with him. This film is an interesting one, I'd wanted to see it because of Jay, but also because it was produced by a company that I, years ago, had a film in early development with that, ultimately, went south. It's a decent little film that's, more or less, exploring a very specific theme and idea through-out the entire film. I find that it hits it a little hard for my liking, and it's almost hitting the same note through-out. I just wish that they would have found a few more ways to get their themes and points across. Quaid and Baruchel do a really lovely time of keeping it interesting and enjoyable. I have no idea what the point of making Quaid an Aussie is. His accent is fine, just doesn't seem like there's much of a point.
So if you see this out there, please do give it a look. It was made south of here in Hamilton (I believe) and it's actually a nice little film and well worth watching, if for nothing else than the brilliant Baruchel.

1344 - Up

I know that I'm late to the party on this one and my recommendation means absolutely nothing since everyone on the planet has seen this film already. But here it is anyway - and it's one of pure love:
Look at that picture above. Doesn't that guy look like he's just having the time of his life? That's the experience that I had watching this film. It's funny, incredibly touching at times, and the story plotting is just really really sophisticated. As a story-freak, I was sitting there several times just wondering how the hell they were going to get out of this scenario, or the next. With the characters and beats, this is story telling at it's absolute finest.
I've never seen a Pixar film I haven't liked (the only I haven't seen is Bug's Life), there are a few I'm a bit 'meh' on, but this one is, without a doubt, their finest hour.
Let's see how you top it gentlemen!

1343 - District 9

This was a powerhouse of a film. I'm glad that I finally saw it. I loved the campaign they had for it. Great posters. Great ideas. The idea of the film itself is pretty prominent to us as well sadly. How we treat those different, from different backgrounds. It was actually difficult to watch how some of the aliens were treated. The CGI here was flawless and beautiful - seamless really. I don't think this film could have worked with known talent, it wouldn't have had the raw and real feel. I can't recommend this strongly enough, and to boot, it was edited by a fellow Canadian. This is the kind of film that I can't wait to show my son when he's old enough to be entertained by it, then when he's old enough to understand all the levels it's playing on.

Astonishing X-Men #4: Unstoppable

So as you can see I clearly blasted through this series. I never would have imagined I'd be this into X-Men. If you're familiar with this particular series you'll know that the image above isn't from this volume, but an earlier one, however if you're familiar with this volume - you'll know why I picked it.
Colossus and Kitty Pride are the heart of this entire series, particularly in the end. There's some really moving and interesting stuff going on in their storyline, even till the end. It's definitely changed the way I look at the big Marvel stories - I suppose that there's a reason they're so popular.
So I don't want to go into any detail except to say that this is a really spectacular final thrust in this storyline (which would have made a far more interesting third film, if done closer to what they've got here...) Alas. I'm not sure it'll make me want to pick up other X-Men books, but if anyone can recommend some at this level - I might just be up for it.

Astonishing X-Men #3 - Torn

This series continues to get more and more interesting. Of my limited knowledge of this world I knew absolutely nothing of Emma Frost or the Hellfire club, so I feel looking into that might have made this a richer read. Other than that it continues to be a really entertaining series. They had a lot of fun in this trade with messing with the X-Men's minds, seeing Wolverine reduced to the state of an English Schoolboy was quite a delight. And the relationship between Kitty and Peter is quite lovely. There's a really great moment where she loses control of her power mid-coitus.
There's one more book left in this series, and then I think I'm going to take a short break from reading comics, mostly just because I owe several people notes on scripts, so I need to focus on that for a little bit. I've got Sandman lined up, which is one of my major gaps when it comes to classic comic series.

Astonishing X-Men #2: Dangerous

Again, I should state clearly for the record that I'm not a huge X-Men geek, I've got limited knowledge at best based on pop culture, the movies, and a few of the comic series I've read over the years. I was given another X-Men series to read recently and I couldn't get through it - so it's a pretty big achievement to have me finishing my second trade, and promptly starting the third. What Joss appears to be doing with this series is playing "What If?" with the X-Men a little bit. The first "Gifted" posed the question, 'What if someone developed a 'cure' for the mutations?'. And this one seems to be, 'What if the Danger Room came alive?'. It's like he's testing the premise, and there's a lot of fun stuff inside of it.
The writing here is playful, and the twists and turns are sharp and well calculated. I look forward to the final two books of Joss' run.

1342 - Postcards From The Edge

"I don't want life to imitate art. I was life to be art."
This is one of those films that I knew of, but never had any burning desire to watch - although I really do adore everyone involved in it. Mike Nichols is, I think, an underrated director. Meryl Streep is is phenomenal and Shirley MacLaine is heartwarming and heartwrenching all at the same time. The film is littered with great cameos ranging from Gene Hackman to Richard Dreyfus, Dennis Quaid and Annette Benning (whom I barely recognized).
There is a lot of great dialogue and scenes in this piece, none of which feel written with movie dialogue :) I'm not really sure that I got a strong sense of a character arc in the piece. Sure she's in a different state at the end than she was in the beginning, but I'm not geting of sense of what Meryl's character wanted or needed throughout the film.
Glad I finally got a chance to see this. I'd file it under a 'rainy day' category. Not the kind of film you absulotely must run out and pick up - but worth seeing if it happens to fall into your lap.

1341 - New Moon

Over the last half year or so myself and our story-editor have been piling films on my assistant to watch, and in that time she's watched an assload of films (over 80 at the very least - I'll post the list sometime in the near future). And as retribution for watching all of those film she's insisting that I watch the 'Twilight' films, this being the latest.
I have a few gripes with this film. First is that they lack chemistry in the love stories. There isn't any. It's pretty flat and boring. And not a lot happens - all that does happen is we're introduced to the idea of werewolves and the hierarchy of the vampires. And the writer just lays on thick what she would LOVE to be parallels to Romeo & Juliet, which only serves to show how poor a version of that this is. The film is slow, twice as long as it should be. And they handle exposition pretty horribly. If my assistant drops the third film on me when it hits DVD I'll probably check it out - lord knows why. Although I could go either way. It's a very 'meh' film for me.

1340 - Humpday

This film has been talked about quite a bit, based solely, I think, on the premise - which is essentially two heterosexual friends daring each other to have sex with them on camera.
This comes out of the Duplass methodology which started back with The Puffy Chair. It is unscripted and completely improvised - I'm not quite sure how much of an outline existed. I'd be curious to know.
The film is an entertaining one and the cast is charming. I particularily enjoyed Alycia Delmore and found that she really grounded the whole thing. Sadly I wasn't blown away by this. I enjoyed it and would gladly recommend it to anyone into independant film made experimentally.

Astonishing X-Men #1: Gifted

The X-Men have never been terribly exciting to me. I enjoyed the first two films A LOT, and like the rest of the world just shook my head at the third - but outside of that I've had very little exposure to the X-Men world. And I was given another series to read of them (sorry, can't remember which) and I couldn't get through it. But this one I liked quite a bit, and I'll continue reading along with it. I don't know what the difference was. I suppose that this one felt like a slightly easier entry point for me. I mean there's still a lot of back-story that I've been looking up while reading this, but they do a pretty good job of handling the exposition.
So this is the storyline that inspired the movie mentioned above, and it's a shame that they didn't follow it a little closer 'cause it's damn fine. The issues brought up here are far more interesting than what they did in the film and I'm curious to read further into this series to see if the idea continues along, or if they just move on from it.
So I've been converted. I'm not officially an X-Men comic reader (for this series anyway...)

1339 - Kick-Ass

I've been tracking this film for quite some time. I've got the comic, but I've yet to read it. I will now. It's hard to watch this as New York since Toronto just SCREAMS through the locations. But I'll get past that. What we have here is, outside of some outlandish set pieces, probably one of the more realistic superhero films in how it deals with the realities of the injuries, the desires, etc... There's a deeper level to this film than the slick and gloss that's on the cover of it.
The performances are fantastic, the set pieces inspired (although I do feel like I saw everything awesome they had of Hit Girl in the trailers - so few surprises from her here, which was a little disappointing).
This is a film that I'll definitely pick up when it comes out. It's smart. Fun. And has a great edge to it. Should make stars out of all these kids.

Stray Bullets #4

I'm really quite enjoying this series. It's got a lovely pulp quality to it. I want to believe that there is a film within this series... but I'm not entirely sure... This book saw a major shift for a few characters, some for the better, some for the worse. They did some bold things, that's for sure - and they're starting to introduce new storylines and characters as old ones shift into something new. More and more I feel like we're honing in on who this series is really about. I wonder if the whole thing isn't going to come full circle or not in a wonderfully creepy way. This was the last of my 'borrowed stack' of this series, so I'll have to look around and start collecting it for myself.
Again, if you're into dark and gritty things about not so good people doing not so good things - this is for you.

1338 - Glee: season one, part one

Last spring the pilot got leaked (on purpose I imagine) and it got me really excited. And then life happened and I didn't watch the show again until just recently. I realize that they took a hell of a long break and then deemed what's coming on now as the second-half of the season, but I'm still writing in here, as with other shows that tend to do something similar.
For the most part the cast is completely enjoyable. The song entertaining. You can feel your top tapping from time to time. I wasn't sure about this series once I got back into episodes, but it has clearly gotten much much stronger to the point where it's a show that I actually look forward to. I'm getting a little tired of the biggest threat being people quitting the club, or being thrown out, etc... so hopefully they step it up. Very curious to see where they take this show after this season...
It's not the most-amazing-perfect-wonderful show ever - but it's not too shabby either. I'll keep at it for now.

1337 - Touching the Void

I avoided watching this film for quite some time - for no particular reason. In general I'm not a huge documentary watcher - ironic given the mediums and styles I often work in professionally. This isn't to say I don't like documentaries, quite the contrary. I have to say that I've never seen a documentary like this one. The story of a mountain climb gone horribly wrong and how the two men overcame the odds and survived it. That doesn't ruin anything since it's narrated by them.
The photography and the re-enactments are just plain amazing - the acting alone is the strongest I've ever seen in a re-enactment documentary. I just can't imagine the conditions under which this film was shot. Amazing, really. It's easy to recommend this film because it just grabs you and keeps you wondering "how the hell did they get out of this" and the answer is nothing short of extraordinary.

TUWOPS - The Sound Mix is Complete!

Huzzah! The day has come! After stolen hard-drives (which resulted in editing the film all the way through - twice), a lovely test audience, the online, the mix, it's pretty exciting to know that the film is pretty much complete. We just need to line the sound mix up to the final picture over at the online house, make sure it's all synced up proper and we are done. And it could come at a better time. All of the entries for the Canadian film festivals are starting up, so it'll be exciting to start sending the film off to them. I'm really excited to start showing this film to people. I'm extremely proud of it and the work that everyone has done on it.

1336 - Everyone Says I Love You

I've been giving my assistant films to watch over the last few months (she's racked up an impressive list - I'll try to post it when we're finished working on the show together) and she's shown a particular liking to Woody Allen, and so I've been more than happy to oblige her.
I haven't seen this film in years, and despite having a stack of new stuff to watch, I really felt like revisiting it.
I know some of these old songs, but a lot I'd never heard until I saw this film for the first time. An interesting piece of trivia I recently learned is that Woody didn't tell any of the actors that they were going to be appearing in a musical until after they'd signed their contacts. And what a cast it is. From Goldie to Julia to Edward to Drew to Tim Roth, and even a young Natalie Portman. There are many more, and all do a pretty good job in their singing roles (although Drew is dubbed).
I love that Woody isn't beyond shaking it up with something like this. It's ambitious and yet lovely. Full of some really wonderful moments. No one can say that Woody doesn't put himself out there and take risks. Let's hope for many more films from him.

Stray Bullets #3

There isn't much more to add to this that I haven't already talked about in generalities, and I don't want to go into specifics as I'd rather you discover them yourself. What the series seems to be doing, however, is narrowing in on a few select characters and making it mostly about them. Which I'm okay with 'cause they're darn interesting characters. Looks like there are right books in total thus far. I've got one more on my pile and then I can only pray that my guy has more...

1335 - Kwik Stop

This is a little sucker punch of a film. It comes out of nowhere and absolutely knocks you on your ass. The acting, by people more or less unknowns, is simply top fucking notch. This is a film filled with flawed characters. But we love them despite and for their flaws. So full of infinite sadness and each of them just wanting to love someone or some thing.
I can't believe that the director, Michael Gilio, hasn't directed another feature since this one. Perhaps he just didn't enjoy the process. It's sad to think that more people aren't aware of this film. It's the kind I'll rave about for days and tell everyone I know. It's a hard film to find, but I believe you can get it on iTunes now, and hulu.com
I recommend this film very very highly. It's funny, it's sweet, it's beautiful. What more can I say than that?

Stray Bullets #2

The more I read this series the more that I like it. Especially this volume which, surprisingly had a lot of heart to it. I love how this is essentially a collection of short stories that interconnects here and there. I'm borrowing it right now, but I can see myself picking up this series if I can find it for the right price. As I continue to read it I keep asking myself "Is there a way to adapt this to another medium?" and I'm not sure what the answer is to that. I'm sure someone has the option rights locked up anyway.
So this is a dark series with a bit of a wink, and more and more a bit of a heart to it. I've got two or three more in my loaner stack so right now it's a recommend, but if it keeps going in the direction it is I imagine it'll become a strong recommend.

1334 - Food Inc.

First off - kudos to the CBC for putting this up for free on their website for everyone to be able to watch. Now there's absolutely no excuse. Classy move. So if you click on this link, you'll be directed right to it. There's always a danger of just preaching to the choir with this sort of thing, so hopefully making it easily available will at least reach the people that are on the fence.
I'll state my bias up front. I've been a vegetarian going on three years now. When I first met Emily she was a vegetarian, and she never once pressured me into following her choice. I decided on my own to stop eating meat, and it wasn't about the animals (although I'm not a big fan of animal abuse either), but what really shook me to my core was learning a little about food production and the industry. It scared the fuck out of me.
I can't imagine that this is an easy film to try and present a balanced argument with. But what they do is they explain the history of the industry - how it all began (with McDonald's essentially), and how it went wrong. It at least helps you to understand the machine, why it works and how. And it makes sense. It's hard to blame them. Like one of the farmer's says - who wants a chicken that takes 74 days to grow, when you get one twice the size in half the time. It's simple economics. And just the bullying that goes on in the food industry is probably the saddest part of it.
Schlosser, at one point mentions that titans of industry have been taken down before - the tobacco industry has fallen far from it's former glory. He says this is a good template for how to take down the evils of the food industry. I'm not sure about his logic. Absolutely no one needs to smoke. It's actually one of the few, and perhaps the only, product that actually has no purpose whatsoever. But absolutely everyone needs to eat. And as the film points out, it's easier for poor people to eat fast food than it is for them to buy healthy groceries and make a decent meal. So how do you overcome that? The film does offer some legitimate solutions, and argues that lowly, as people become better educated, the tide will turn, and people will simply demand better. Let's hope so.
As the film ends it lists tips on what you can do, it felt good to know that we're already doing the majority of them most of the time, and the rest all the time. My son is a year old, and we're raising him with the same food values that we have. When he's older, and he wants to eat meat I won't stop him. But I'll make damn sure we know where it comes from, and that he's making an informed decision.
I don't think there is anyone who can't benefit from checking this film out, regardless of how ignorant or educated you are to the topic. Enjoy.

All-Star Superman Vol #2

The above image is actually from the first volume, when Superman gives Lois his powers for a day. Fun stuff. I really enjoyed the first volume and found this entry just a bit... meh. I didn't get as excited or involved in it - like the ideas for it weren't quite as sharp. I didn't get a sense of Superman really dealing with his impending doom. I like that Lex and the Man of Steel got to match braun in a showdown, but it was fairly underwhelming in terms of being a conclusion. It was just alright, to be quite honest, nothing about it really knocked my socks off.

1333 - Sex and Death 101

So I've been a horrible film-geek recently. I blame it on the fact that I've been using all my spare time to write - which is going, I believe, quite well. Although after a long day I thought I'd dig into my stack of films. This one has been on my "I'm curious" list for quite some time. It's got a really great premise in a guy who, a week before his wedding, finds a list of every woman he'll ever sleep with - and he's not even half-way through the list.
Simon Baker isn't the best choice for this lead role. He's got the look and has a few nice moments, but ultimately he lacks the chemistry needed. The emotional arc of the film is fairly stagnant. Which is a shame.
Although when Ryder and Baker finally share a scene together it fucking pops. It's amazing and makes you wonder why the rest of the film is merely okay. It's a really clever premise with a 'meh' execution. Shame, really.

Stray Bullets #1

It's interesting that this was primarily to be a blog about my experience in making and watching films - and I've spent a lot of time on comics lately. Mostly it's because I read them on the subway to and from work. And they're pretty quick to go through. AND there is some great goddamn writing in them. And I've spent my time at night writing lately and so movie watching has been put on the back-burner.
So, to this. It's quite enjoyable. It's dark and often nihilistic. An anthology with loose connections between each chapter. Not unlike Criminal in that, although Criminal is a different beast altogether. This for me is just more interesting scenes and scenarios with some fun in finding connections. It's a Pulp Fiction type deal in that there's four seperate stories that all, somewhat intertwine. Pretty much all down endings, even if there is some kind of pleasant release. I could see myself spending more time with this series and these characters to see how the world builds.

Gotham Central: Dead Robin

And so it ends. And like expected, not with a bang, but a whimper - but at least the whimper was from someone unexpected...
So before I get into more specific details, let me just talk about the series as a whole. If I was to pitch this I would say it's "The Wire with Batman". Now I know it's not fair to compare things, especially in different mediums, but I think it's a fair assessment. Not in in the way that it examines the different sides of a city or even simply the law, it just sticks to the police really, but just in it's grittiness. If Gotham existed with all the insanity of the 'freaks' in it - this is what it would be like to be a cop there. So for those of you who are missing 'The Wire' this is about as close as you're going to get from the cop angle.
So this final book is called 'Dead Robin' but that's not even the story that's the most interesting, it's the final, brutal story which, thankfully, is Batman free. How ironic that I feel that way. I always enjoy when he pops in in this series, but I ALWAYS want the cops to solve the case before he does. And that's a huge accomplishment.
I don't want to give away specific details except to say that this is writing that just demands to be read. You can't put it down for very long - and that's a good thing. Brubaker only pulls half duty here - but I'll definitely read anything he's got his pen on. Can't wait to dig into more of his 'Criminal' work.
So I recommend this series about as highly as I can. It's wonderful. Please please please read it. But start from the beginning.

Jar of Fools

Every now and then a palette cleanser is in order and this is that for sure. This is more in line with the indie comic vibe. For those unfamiliar with the comic world and just assume that it's full of mostly just superheroes and other branded series, even outside of some of the less familiar titles you've seen here in my blog, there is a whole world of comics that would be on par with 'independent film'. And I've got to be honest, I don't know a whole hell of a lot about that world - but in intrigues me quite a bit.
So now to this book. It's about a magician and a group of misfits, but more to the point it's about the hauntings of the past, moving on, etc… There are some nice little moments, some interesting thoughts rumbling about, but if I'm to be completely honest it was just… okay. It was a breezy read so I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it if it seems like your cup of tea, but nothing about it blew me away - and the ending was a bit half-ass. It felt disruptive in a way that it didn't need to. A down ending that wasn't honest. For the sake of it, perhaps. If you're just entering into indie comics I wouldn't recommend starting with this one. It's not the best of the best. It's just… okay.

The Unwritten #1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity

I was given this to read by the provider of most of my comic trades because he knows of my Fables love (Willingham writes the foreword here) and it's written by the same guys that did Lucifer (a series I own quite a few trades of, but have yet to read). It's interesting, and I say that in the kindest possible way. It's a lit-geek's way of taking a bit of a piss on lit-fiction, but also on the world of lit-fiction including it's fans, cultists, etc…
And the execution is good - there's a lot to like in here, in particular there's a great scene in which a book club discusses the construction of a good horror story and someone says "We make our own monsters, then fear them for what they show us about ourselves." I starred at that sentence for quite a long while and marvelled in it's complex and yet simple nature. What's interesting about this series is that, I imagine, it will be a deconstruction of the craft of writing - the behind the scenes, and for that reason alone I think I'll stick around to continue to see what they do with that. The story and characters have yet to grab me and suck me in completely, but the world and ideas fascinate me enough to give it another trade. And being how fresh this series is, it might be awhile before that. Which is fine - I have no shortage of things to read.

1332 - Oldboy

Yes. That's right, this is another of the great films that I hadn't seen. And it's also the kind of film that, as soon as it's over, you want to go back and rewatch it again from the start. What's really great about this film, and annoyed me a bit at first, is that you spend the majority of it as lost and confused as it's hero, and it's intentional. As the pieces start to come together you appreciate the confusion.
The film's "twist" ending feels a slight bit deus ex - but it could be because I missed some of the signs leading up. Regardless it went from being a pretty decent film, to a complete head fuck of a film. I don't want to say too much about the storyline, as it's a treat to watch it unfold, but I will say that this film is full of some wonderful sequences. And not crazy, unrealistic phyiscal violence, etc... it's all grounded in a wonderful and often mundane reality.
I look forward to getting my own copy of this film when I see it kicking around somewhere.
Very enjoyable and hopefully it stands up on revisits.

1331 - Showgirls (commentary)

I'd never seen this film, but I was well aware of it's legacy of badness. I had been loaned the film under the strict instructions to not bother watching the film on it's own, but to only watch it with David Schmader - who is, apparently, a Showgirls aficionado. His theory is that at every single moment of the film, someone is making the wrong choice, whether it's the writer, director, actors, cameraman, grip, craft services, etc... I have to say I was reluctant not to watch the film on it's own first - but much like I can't imagine it being necessary to watch one of the Mystery Science 3000 films on it's own, there is absolutely no reason to watch this film sans-commentary.
At a point in time where I've got a stack of films that I'm dying to see, and another stack that I want to revisit, I still didn't find this a waste of time, but more like watching a horrible film with a wonderful smart ass of a friend.

Gotham Central: The Quick & the Dead

I've lost the numbering structure of this series as the hardcover and trade numbers don't line up. Also I believe that there was a cross-over book that happened between this and the last in which Batman did something to piss off the G.C.P.D. and so when we enter here, they're taking down the Bat-Signal. The Cops and The Cape are not on speaking terms, and not everyone shares the opinion.
It would seem that Allen and Montoya are the lead characters of this series, if it has lead characters. They're the most interesting and most written about anyway. The last arc in this book was the most interesting to me, in particular because I know nothing of Doctor Alchemy and was really excited to see where they would take the storyline. It's a bit anti-climatic, but in a wonderful way. Again, I really enjoy when the cops triumph instead of Batman.
Looking forward to the next, and apparently, final volume in this series where the G.C.P.D. is after The Bat himself...

Gotham Central #2: Jokers & Madmen

You kind of have to wonder if the Nolan's didn't take some pieces of this and make it their own for The Dark Knight. Or perhaps the ideas were just surfacing around the same time. Regardless. There's some really great writing in this series (and a little 'meh' writing), but the good outweighs the 'meh'. And the 'meh' isn't even that bad - it's just not as amazing as the best of, in this case.
We get to see some characters fleshed out a bit more, the mystery of Bullock (who I just learned was apparently a big character in the 80's Batman comics). What I love about reading this the most is how much I want the cops to get to the villains before Batman does, I'm rooting for the average Joe over the Bat. Which is a testament to the fine writing.
This is a really clever and great series and would make a fantastic television show at some point if they found a way to make it work. Like The Wire but with superheroes and villains. It could work!

1330 - Singin' in the Rain

The people in this film are just so fucking good at what you're doing that it looks effortless. Gene Kelly makes me believe that I could dance like that.

What a charming film this is. A simple and fun plot that gives a bit of a history lesson all the while playing tribute to Hollywood's history. Watching them learn how to use sound is wonderfully entertaining. Jean Hagen is wonderfully over the top and a heck of a lot of fun as the silent film star that can't quiet transition to talkies.

And as charming as Gene is, Debbie Reynolds steals the show. She really does. The film is clearly centred around the musical numbers, but it's okay - that's what we're here to see anyway - and they integrate pretty amazingly into the story anyway.

I've got quite a few gaps in this era of filmmaking and I'm glad that I've now filled in one of the big ones. I'll have to pick this one up when I see it around.