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.
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?
The Canadian Film Fest kicked off in Toronto last night with a screening of Matthew Klinck’s Easter Bunny comedy, Hank & Mike. The festival runs until Saturday at the Carlton cinema, showcasing a host of Canadian films small and independent enough to fly under the radar of megafests like TIFF. Find a full schedule and some additional info here.
The Museum of Modern Art in New York has picked the films to be shown in this year’s edition of Canada Front, its annual spotlight on Canadian film. The selections are:
- Poor Boy’s Game, Clement Virgo
- The Tracey Fragments, Bruce McDonald
- Breakfast with Scot, Laurie Lynd
- Family Motel, Helene Klodawsky
- Continental, un film sans fusil, Stephane Lafleur
- L’age de tenebres, Denys Arcand
- Contre toute esperance, Bernard Emond
- Le Ring, Anais Barbeau-Lavalette
Commenting on the showcase, Wayne Clarkson pointed to the success of Sarah Polley’s Away From Her (which screened at last year’s Canada Front), and said “There’s clearly a market for and interest in Canadian film.” Interesting, though, to see Canadian films packaged this way for a so-called high art venue in New York — “target-marketed” would be one way of putting it; “ghettoized,” another. Clarkson uses the show as proof of Canadian films’ appeal, but to whom? The gallery-going crowd? That’s not such a bad thing, but if Clarkson is admitting that Canadian films play better to audiences who frequent galleries and cinematheques rather than megaplexes, why the continued focus on increasing box-office returns and developing “market-driven features,” like the ones promised by Infinity Features — recipients of Telefilm’s new Slate Development Pilot Program? Telefilm obviously has different marketing strategies in mind for the two countries, but still: the identity crisis continues.
At any rate, nice to see Canadian film get some attention in the States.
It was sheer domination at the 28th Genie Awards, with Sarah Polley’s Alzheimer’s drama Away From Her and David Cronenberg’s Russian mob thriller Eastern Promises taking a combined 13 of the 15 prizes they were eligible for – while French-Canadian entries were almost entirely shut-out.
Away From Her took most of the top honours, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Gordon Pinsent), Best Actress (Julie Christie), Best Supporting Actress (Kristen Thomson) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Sarah Polley). Polley, who was previously announced as the winner of the Claude Jutra Award for Best First Feature was also named Best Director. Eastern Promises meanwhile faired best in the technical categories including Achievement in Cinematography (Peter Suschitzky), Achievement in Editing (Ronald Sanders), Achievement in Sound Editing and Achievement in Overall Sound. The film also scored prizes for Best Original Screenplay (Steve Knight), Best Original Score (Howard Shore) and Best Supporting Actor (Armin Mueller-Stahl).
Just four other films - all English Canadian, won awards in the feature-length categories - Fido for Achievement in Art Direction (Rob Gray, James Willcock), Silk for Achievement in Costume Design (Carlo Poggioli, Kazuko Kurosawa), Shake Hands With the Devil, for Best Original Song (Kaya by Valanga Khoza and David Hirschfelder) and FilmCAN favorite Radiant City for Best Documentary.
The Oscar-nominated Madame Tutli-Putli won for Best Animated Short, while Apres Tout was lone French-Canadian winner of the night, taking the prize for Best Live Action Short Drama.