U of T Film Festival This Saturday
“100 Films, 15 Countries, 12 Rooms, 1 Day”. The tagline for the 2010 U of T Film Festival says it all. This Saturday, March 13th is the 1 Day they speak of. The 12 Rooms are all at Hart House. 15 Countries includes Canada, Brazil, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Iran, Israel, Poland and Slovakia. The 100 films are too numerous to mention here, but the program also includes discussion groups on freedom of speech, an “animation playground” (sounds exciting), and a visit from director Babak Payami. Read more
Toronto film to go to Cannes
If I Were You had barely wrapped shooting in Toronto in February, when it already began to get a lot of attention. The impressively high-powered (if their website is any indication) London-based PR and Consulting firm, DDA, has recently signed the film. According to their chairman, Dennis Davidson, they’re hoping to “present footage from this exciting film during the market at Cannes.” That would be the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, people! Read more
Early Monthly Segments: The Films of Robert Beavers
Early Monthly Segments is an avant-garde film screening series held at the Gladstone Hotel’s Art Bar once monthly, and this March 16th marks their one-year anniversary. In celebration, they’re showing films by American experimental filmmaker Robert Beavers, from whose work the screening series takes its name. Screening experimental films in a salon-like setting is definitely a refreshing alternative to the darkness and solemnity of the dark movie theatre, and lively discussions usually follow the films (snacks and drinks are available to order from the Art Bar’s kitchen). Perhaps most significantly, Beavers famously restricted exhibition of his work, and even pulled some prints of his films into seclusion with him in Europe, so this is a rare opportunity to see his work, and in an atmosphere of total art-nerds (that’s a compliment, you guys).
Free Friday screening of Bound for Glory
Despite the fact that Kill Bill and Kung Fu star David Carradine passed away in Bangkok over six months ago, his already-impressive list of acting jobs will have several more additions in 2010 if this is any indication. It seems that Carradine already had a half-dozen appearances left in the post-production hopper when he died. Now, you could wait to see his newer work, OR you could just go see a 1976 film (on a nice, big screen) that we already know he was great in. The Cinema Studies Student Union is presenting Bound for Glory this Friday night – for FREE! Read more
The Movie Gamble
Take this as a challenge: do a Movie Gamble. In this day and age of the internet and trailers being so detailed, you could practically know every single thing about a movie without even seeing it. In my mind, some of the magic gets lost. Instead of bombarding yourself with spoilers or allowing yourself the opportunity to check everything on IMDB, I prefer Movie Gambles. A Movie Gamble is going into a movie without knowing a single thing about it (or at least as little as possible). Read more
NFB Presents: Rendez-vous de la Francophonie
The National Film Board presents some FREE Francophone films for your enjoyment this Wednesday evening at the Toronto Mediatheque. The program (consisting of three shorts – two documentary and one animated) is focused on French-speaking Canada. Read more
“Well, the time has come,”: Oscar 2010
The Oscars are the best day of the year for me — bar none. I do little on this day that resembles work. I have a yearly tradition of Pilsbury Ready-to-Bake cookies, popcorn, pizza and absolutely no calorie count. My friends know not to call me during the broadcast, except on a commercial to squee. It’s my SuperBowl. So why did I feel so disconnected this year? Read more
The 2010 Academy Awards; Avatar Hurting from The Hurt Locker
Times are changing – and they are changing fast! The 82nd Annual Academy Awards seem to be another golden example of the changes that are heading straight our way. Last night, the highest-grossing film of all time was trampled on by the tiny film-that-could, The Hurt Locker. Not only did the The Hurt Locker walk away with Best Picture and a historic award for first female director winner Kathryn Bigelow, it also marched away with the most awards, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. Funny that Cameron and his ingenious “game-changing” Avatar walked away with only three awards, almost a quartar of what Cameron’s previous blockbuster snatched up back in 1997. Read more
Time and Essence: The Preserved Films of Coleen Fitzgibbon at TIFF Cinematheque
Watching obscure experimental films is probably not everyone’s ‘bag’, as Austin Powers would say from the vantage point of his anything-but-experimental film world. But, if you happen to have an interest in avant-garde modernist art (yes, I’m talking to all three of you… and myself), the newly restored films of Coleen Fitzgibbon are being screened at TIFF Cinematheque this Thursday, March 11 and Fitzgibbon herself will be in attendance to introduce her work, participate in discussion, and answer questions.
Chris Alexander’s Film School Confidential Presents “Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror”
The only thing human beings are good for is being eaten. Specifically, I understand the brains and gastro-intestinal organs are the most appetizing and sought-after body parts. This is the point of view of zombies (I in no way aim to endorse this stance, but at the same time, in the interest of fairness and respect for diverse cultural practices, I won’t condemn it either.) Read more
