Buzz is building, understandably, about Brett Gaylor’s insightful + shredding new film ‘RiP: A remix manifesto‘, produced in collaboration with the NFB.  The film tackles copyright issues (not just in the entertainment realm!), pinpointing the route of the problem with it’s four point, hyposthesis-proving manifesto.  (Look out backwards thinking old people!)  Gaylor somehow makes copyright exciting and presents his arguments quite hyper-kinetically, employing different kinds of animation and remix video art, some of which was contributed by the film’s audience (RiP had a solid year-long run on the festival circuit; prizes at IDFA, Nouveau Cinema, Whistler etc.) though opensourcecinema.org. And for it’s central character, the film follows and discusses the issues of mash-up maverick Girl Talk.  Really cool stuff.

RiP starts rolling out across Canada this weekend, opening in Montreal - and next week hits Toronto, followed by Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Saskatoon, even Kamloops (yes you Kamloops - go see it!).  Check out the dates here.

For Toronto moviegoers, our friends at Canada Screens & the First Weekend Club are hosting an advance screening on Tuesday March 10th @ the Drake Underground.  Pre-show (free) vino at 7pm / screening at 8pm, followed by a panel discussion with Brett Gaylor, Jonathan McIntosh (video mash-up artist, www.politicalremixvideo.com), Robin Smith (from distributor Kinosmith), and Marcus Bornfreund (Project Lead, Creative Commons Canada).  Advance tickets only available right here.  Or for more info, here!

Check it out!

Well, things has been slow on the FilmCAN front, there’s no doubt of that. And for that we appologize sincerely.

But we got ourselves up to a little project we like to call The National Parks Project (NPP), including the editing of a test shoot completed in Gros Morne National Park (holla newfoundland!) with eye candy specialist Peter Mettler. More on this in the coming weeks and months, including some festival and other news not fit to print (apparently).

BUT in the meantime, here are some programs you might be interested in checking out in Toronto. Like someone reading our blog doesn’t actually know about em’.. nevertheless, here we go:

1) Cinematheque Ontario’s particpiation in the Cannes inspired “Forty Years of the Quinzaine.” Running from November 21 to December 9 (still a few days left!), you can catch a lot of great, older Canadian flicks that you know you know, but have just never seen.

2) Bruce LaBruce Retrospective at the Royal, Dec. 4-11. These are Canadian flicks you know you don’t know, but probably would like to, and therefore should know; so go and see.

New FilmCAN coming soon too - as in the new year, but, y’know, soon. With big NPP news. Promise.

The good people at the First Weekend Club are bringing their Canada Screens Series to Toronto this November with an intimate screening of a contemporary classic, Jean-Marc Vallee’s C.R.A.Z.Y.

Vallee will be in attendance to discuss his Gemini-Award winning film in the rather laid back Drake Underground.  Best of all, everyone’s welcome to kick around after the screening for a wee reception with J-MV.

WHEN: Sunday November 30th

WHERE: The Drake Hotel Underground (1150 Queen St W)

TIME: Doors open 1:30 pm – screening to start at 2pm, Talkback and reception to follow

COST: $12 through PayPal. Tickets must be purchased in advance (buy tickets now)

And stay friendly with the First Weekend Club so you can help boost the profile of CDN cinema and make sure our films get their due theatrical run.

Forget nature themed docs and even Herzog’s Grizzly Man, Canada’s own Peter Lynch (along w editor and partner Caroline Christie) have been forging idiosyncratic, hilarious, and long-lasting ruminations on the state of man vs. nature for over 15 years.

Celebrated internationally (more than domestically - where have I heard that before) for his unique cinematic take on the documentary form, Lynch’s films finally receive a retrospecive this week with a Steve Gravestock programmed retro titled Weird Science (at Cinematheque Ontario).

FilmCAN has long been a fan and supporter of Lynch’s keen eye for the ironies of modern urban life amidst a chaotic combination of mental wilderness, structured by the architecture of place thanks to Christie’s solid backbeat and ingenious story construction. Digging into the virtual archives, in our first issue we have a story on his impossible to see A Whale of A Tale (Locating the Past: Peter Lynch’s Stream of Cartographic Conciousness), and an interview Lynch conducted with Matthew Barney for CinemaScope. Lynch also contributed his thoughts on one of his close-to-home cinematic muses, The Don River, in The Valley: Artifacts and Archetypes, The Spirit of Place.

Additionally, Grizzly Proof, a show originally put on in Queen’s, NYC (an interview w Lynch in Queen’s at the show is available for viewing in FC’s podcast #4), stands up tall at Trinity Square Video in Toronto over the next 3 weeks. Check out the wicked poster via the link below for more info.

http://www.trinitysquarevideo.com/exhibition.php?id=29

Some fascinating news came through my inbox the other day, namely a new press releases informing me that Paul Gross’ long awaited 2nd feature film (remember Men With Brooms? All non-Canadian critics certainly don’t), will open TIFF this year. And it gets better, of course: Gross made the film for a mere 20 mill (including 5 million drops of tar sand oil from Alberta), not only bringing hope back to the idea that the Hollywood Model ™ can exist in the realm of Canadian film, but that we should also make more bloatedly expensive war stories! Only if Douglas Coupland had been involved in the writing process could this film be more relevant - war stories are what Canadians need in this time of high gas prices to bring us together, gawd damnit, eh!!

And it gets even better! Gross, undeterred by special effects in MWB that he clearly had the vision but not the budget to fully realise (beavers are expensive, after all), decided to film the story of his grandfather’s WW2 romance (I mean a unifying bond for our nation) in the 3rd dimension! Leading the world not only in artistic risk taking, Gross now adds ‘technical wizard’ to his resume that also includes a genie for ‘narrative genius.’ Personally I’m already checking my mailbox daily for the results of my $4000 arts council grant applications to see how much money I can scrounge together to help fund his next film - which should, if there’s anything right in this world and country, have at least a 120million dollar budget, and premiere on Mars.

Fellow Canadians, you can help make Gross’ domination of all film funds Canadian complete - avoid his movie in theatres the same way you did w MWB, express mild indifference to its overblown mellodramatic messages despite a flurry of oil-inspired, Tim Horton’s-nostalgic-dripping advertising blitz, and everyone will turn a blind eye to its actual placid performance (remember Foolproof?), allowing newspaper critics to politically correctly deem it a worthwhile mythologizing exercise via a generic Canadian Press release.

UPDATE: Sorry, I got my press releases confused.. Gross DID NOT film Passchedaele in 3D, that was the new animated film “Fly Me To The Moon,’ also due out near Passchendaele’s TIFF premiere (September 4), on August 28. Let the countdown (in 3D?) begin!
(Props to DrunkJaysFans for inspiring the appropriate vile and cynicism necessary for a topic such as this.)

FilmCAN would like to mostly, proudly, endorse a cool new mini-fest called GENERATION DIY, that’s coming to Canada this month. Ron Mann and Gary Topp’s aptly named distro company filmswelike brings a smattering of the “mumblecore” movement’s greatest hits to Toronto (Bloor Cinema, June 19-22), Winnipeg (Winnipeg Film Group, June 26-29), Edmonton (Metro Cinema, July 4-10) and Vancouver (VanCity, July 11-17) - for the first time!

Not sure what the heck mumblecore is? Well check out FilmCAN’s recent chronicle of the mumble-uprising and its Canadian roots, including Mark Wihak’s ode to Regina, ‘River.’

They’re calling the fest ‘Generation DIY’ which makes plenty sense, considering the production aesthetic of the films and their ability to illuminate the lifestyles of today’s young folks. Mann and Topp have done a great job of assembling pretty well all of the most prominent mumbleflicks from the past five years. Barely any of these films have ever screened in Canada, while only a handful are accessible on DVD through local indie video shops. For full festival listings and showtimes, head here.

We suggest you don’t miss either of the Andrew Bujalski films Mutual Appreciation and Funny Ha Ha - arguably the crowning jewels of the movement. We’re also keen to check out Joe Swanberg’s latest, Nights and Weekends (Swanberg and star/collaborator Greta Gerwig will be in Toronto for the premiere) and the lone Canadian film in festival, The Death of Indie Rock.

June 20 is a poised to be a banner day for Canadian cinema. On that hallowed Friday, films by two FilmCAN favourites are set to hit theatres in Toronto.

Guy Maddin’s documentary / love letter / hallucination My Winnipeg, which makes explicit the director’s noted obsession with his hometown, will see its first post-festival circuit airing, bringing with it accolades from TIFF (where it was voted best Canadian film) and Berlin (where it was selected to open the Forum program). Openings in other Canadian cities will follow.

The 20th will also see the unleashing of Global Metal, the follow-up to Scott McFadyen and Sam Dunn’s great 2006 doc, Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey. Global Metal sees the devil horn-throwing duo traversing the earth to see how metal has mutated in unlikely places such as Indonesia and Dubai. Expect a healthy mix of anthropological musing and aggressive moshing, as the filmmakers look at how traditional music has influenced metal, how the music reflects and deconstructs power and class dynamics, and whether or not it’s possible for anyone to like Metallica after Some Kind of Monster exposed them as total douchebags. Global Metal will open in Toronto and Vancouver.

FilmCAN offers its sincerest congratulations to Yung Chang and the producers/distributors of his award-winning documentary UP THE YANGTZE for crossing the $500,000 threshold at the Canadian box office.

UP THE YANGTZE has won countless awards since premiering last fall at the Vancouver International Film Festival. It was named as one Canada’s Top Ten by TIFFG and was also cited by FilmCAN as the Best Canadian Film of 2007.

For theatres and showtimes, check your local listings or look online at http://www.aflick.ca

A good primer at CBC.ca about the issues surrounding Bill C-10.

Demonstrating a near-lunatic fondness for bad puns and plays on words, the Canadian media today reported that the upcoming sixth season of Corner Gas will be its last. Says creator Brent Butt, “It kind of felt like the show tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Can I go now? I’ll stick around if you want me to, but I think it’s time to go.’”

However, there is talk of a Corner Gas movie. To which my response is, if we’re looking at the American model of turning successful television series into films, why aren’t we spending the money on old favourites instead of shows that haven’t even gone off air yet? Hollywood has given us Miami Vice, Charlie’s Angels and a host of other old-school TV shows. Hell, it took The Simpsons 18 years to get its own movie. How about a big-screen Beachcombers movie starring Ryan Gosling as Nick Adonidas?

Or maybe not. Still, it begs the question: how far away is Little Mosque on the Big Screen?