You COULD rush out and buy a copy OR you can enter to a win free Goon DVD from the Toronto Film Scene! That’s right – we’ve got 3 of ‘em and one of them can be yours, all yours!

Just fill out the entry form and check your email obsessively on May 29!

Entries will be accepted ’til 11:59 pm on May 28, 2012. A winner will be chosen on May 29, 2012 and notified via email.

Events

The Student Film Showcase, now in its 9th year, gives you a peek at the next big filmmakers with a carefully selected lineup of the best student films from across Canada. A variety of genres including drama, documentary, animation and experimental are represented in the following films: The Great Maldini, Swift, Sax, Open Invitation, Eraserman, In Here, Life Doesn’t Frighten Me, Tam and Lingo. Schools represented include York University, OCAD University, University of Regina, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Humber College, University of British Columbia, Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning and Ryerson University. Playing Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

New Releases

Turn Me On, Goddammit! - Alma is a 15-year-old girl in a small Norwegian town. Hormones have taken over her every thought and action and all she can think about is sex. Rumours are started after a party and although still a virgin, she becomes an outcast in her town. This is an unconventional teen drama packed with wit. Director Jannicke Systad Jacobsen is known for using untrained actors to produce fresh and charming performances. This film is no exception with the acting debut of 17-year-old Helene Bergsholm in the lead as Alma.

Check out tiff.net or visit any of the links above for details and showtimes.

Original artwork by Bennett O’Brian.

Just in case you thought short films were only for students and unknowns, check out some of the celebrity talent coming to the screen at WSFF 2012: Michael Fassbender, John Malkovich, Scott Thompson, Michael Cera, Margaret Cho, Stellan Skarsgård, Rachel Wilson, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Foley, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anna Paquin, Christopher Plummer and Judy Dench. Not too shabby!

This year’s film offerings, like usual, are parcelled out in nice, bite-sized short film programs, grouped by theme or genre. There truly is something for everyone! Included for 2012 are Celebrity Shorts, a collection of the star-studded films of the festival; Christmas in June; Date Night; Scene Not Herd, a showcase of theatrical music videos; Super 16 Anarkino, the best coming out of this student-run film school; The Night Shift, featuring all that is dark and scary; and a spotlight on short films from Switzerland. They also have the regular drama, sci-fi, animation, comedy programs, and a whole heap of world class premieres of the best short films from the past year.

This year also features a BIG Ideas Symposium, a four-day conference on the art and business of short filmmaking, including a master class with Jean-Marc Vallée (director of C.R.A.Z.Y. and Café de Flore).

The festival runs from June 5 to 10 at a variety of venues around the city – mainly at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema and Isabel Bader Theatre, but also in other locations – so make sure you check their website for all the details. Festival and day passes are available now and can be purchased online. For all the programming and schedule information, please visit the WSFF website.

It’s hard to pick just a few short films to focus on when each one is so well done, but one of the stand out shorts would have to be The Many Doors Of Albert Whale. Directed by Marichelle Daywalt, the film offers up some great effects and a wicked twist. Another fantastic short is Bon Appetit, directed by Kate Shenton. Featuring three short films about food, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Bon Appetit is sure to make you stop eating your popcorn.

Screening before the Viscera Film Festival is Karen Lam’s feature film Stained. The story follows Isabelle, a lonely book store owner who reconnects with her emotionally abusive ex-lover James. When Jennifer, Isabelle’s foster sister, becomes worried after not hearing from her, she travels across the country with a terrible secret that could shatter Isabelle’s new happiness.

Fans of the horror genre won’t be disappointed and the panel discussing women in horror will surely be entertaining and informative. Stained screens tonight, Tuesday, May 15, 2012, at 6:00 pm followed by the Viscera Film Festival, also tonight, Tuesday, May 15, 2012, at 8:00 pm at The Projection Booth theatre. The evening is presented by Curio Media and Fangoria’s Fright Nights, the Viscera Film Festival showcases the work of female filmmakers in the horror genre. This year, the festival will screen 15 short films from directors including Karen Lam, Gigi Romero, and Laura Whyte. There will also be a panel discussion about women in horror featuring Karen Lam, Dara Jade Moats, Jovanka Vuckovic, Chris Alexander, and will be hosted by Kelly Michael Stewart and Lianne Spiderbaby.Information about the event can be found at the Viscera Film Festival website and The Projection Booth website.

Stay tuned for TFS’ featured topic this month. We’ll be exploring short films of all genres and time periods, celebrating the upcoming Worldwide Short Film Festival and introducing you to some of the people who make it their business to give short films their due accolades.  

On their way, they pick up a young hitchhiker named Prentice (Ryan Doucette) who is on his way home to visit his dying mother. Hijinks ensue, from their border-crossing to their strange visit to the young Prentice’s dysfunctional family. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see that much of what really makes up Stella and Dot’s relationship – the focus seems to be on the action, the road trip, Stella’s crazy antics. It’s really only in the presence of Prentice that we get more of a sense of Stella’s abrasive take-no-prisoners attitude and Dot’s quietly funny and supportive nature. He’s a perfect foil for the couple as they make their way through the gorgeous Nova Scotia landscape.

Adapted from Thom Fitzgerald’s successful theatrical play of the same name, Cloudburst, while slightly reminiscent of Thelma and Louise, has a different story to tell. The film’s strength is its matter of fact portrayal of a lesbian couple. It makes no crusades for same-sex marriage; it doesn’t have to. It just tells it like it is – the story of a couple with a 30-year relationship who have no legal rights to each other’s property or to any say in their care.

Cloudburst screens on Friday, May 25, 2012. Check the Inside Out website for details.

Structurally, Morgan is extremely straight-forward. Morgan, played by sweet-faced, Leo Minaya, used to be an award-winning athlete before his accident. His doting mother (Madalyn McKay) sees him as a burden; his best friend is a not-so-sassy, black girl (Darra Boyd); and he can’t seem to get his, uh, equipment to work. Basically, everything is set up so that by the time Morgan meets Dean (Jack Kesy) in a park one night, the audience is ready to let love overcome all of Morgan’s misfortune. There’s no other choice really.

My being a sucker for a pretty face and a naive champion of love conquering all, I fell for the journey these two boys took to find love, despite the corny dialogue and sometimes forced delivery. Some of the harder questions, like how they can be intimate with each other or how they both wish Morgan could still walk, are touched on in some of the film’s more engaging moments. The trouble is they find love way too soon, which leaves Akers with too much time to fill after the fact. Subsequently, Morgan amounts to a reasonably effective, somewhat endearing but mostly missed opportunity to celebrate how anyone can find love if they’re open to seeing it.

Starring Matthias Schoenaerts, who gained over 50 pounds of muscle to play Jacky Vanmarsenille, Bullhead follows Jacky and his family as they raise cattle on their farm, while taking part in the illegal animal growth-hormone trade. While Jacky and his family are injecting their cattle with illegal steroids, Jacky is simultaneously becoming more and more dependent on testosterone injections and steroids.

After a police officer investigating the trade of these hormones is murdered, police start to close in on Jacky’s family farm. While Bullhead initially feels like a gritty crime drama, it slowly allows viewers a glimpse into the really intriguing element of Bullhead: Jacky himself. After suffering a traumatic beating as a child, Jacky has suffered the after-effects for the remainder of his life. Distancing himself from society, he has simultaneously tracked down all of the people who participated in his abuse decades before, looking for revenge.

Despite all of Jacky’s best efforts, the walls eventually close in on him, as the police get closer to discovering his family business. The movie slowly becomes more menacing and claustrophobic, to the point where it is hard to notice how tense the atmosphere is until the movie is over. Bullhead is the kind of film that manages to envelop you, drawing the viewer into its world with force.

Bullhead is screening on Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 9:30pm, check the Inside Out website for more details.

Albert Nobbs (DVD & Blu-ray combo pack)
A poverty-stricken woman (Glenn Close) in 1860s Ireland disguises herself as a man to gain employment as a waiter in a Dublin hotel. As she settles into her new role in society, she becomes increasingly confused about her identity, courting a maid while pretending to be a man and revealing her secret to a hotel guest.

Special features include: deleted scenes; and interviews. (Entertainment One)

Chronicle (Blu-ray)
Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny telekinetic powers beyond their understanding.  As they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control as their darker sides begin to take over.  What starts out as fun and games quickly becomes dangerous and they must face the inevitable question of whether they can handle the responsibility that comes with their remarkable powers.

The superhero story has received its fair treatment over the last few years – The Avengers just set a world box office record. Chronicle is a different sort of movie about having super powers. The movie feels like an origin story à la Superman and Lex Luther. Once friends, a thirst for power tears them apart and will destroy one of them completely. One of the things that differentiate this picture from other superhero films is the camera is part of the narrative, providing a new twist to the found footage genre.

At first this tired technique is somewhat annoying, but it eventually goes a long way in bringing the viewer into the story. Told through the eyes of teen boys, the narrative is to some extent seen through testosterone-tinted glasses but it takes a dangerous turn.

Special features include: deleted scene; pre-viz; camera test; theatrical trailer; and soundtrack info. (Fox Home Entertainment)

The Devil Inside (DVD)
In 1989, emergency responders received a 9-1-1 call from Maria Rossi confessing to three brutal murders.  Twenty years later, her daughter Isabella (Fernanda Andrade) seeks to understand what really happened that night, traveling to the Centrino Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Italy where her mother has been locked away.  When Isabella recruits two young men to cure her mother using unconventional methods, they discover the horrifying truth.  Now Isabella must face pure evil or forsake her soul.

Special features not available. (Paramount Home Media Distribution)

Hell on Wheels – Season 1 (Blu-ray)
A Confederate soldier, out to exact revenge on the Union soldiers who murdered his wife, follows their trail to the raucous, traveling town alongside the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

Special features include: “Recreating the Past: The Making of Hell on Wheels”; “Crashing a Train: From Concept to Camera”; seven making-of featurettes; 10 “Inside the Episode” featurettes; seven character featurettes; and behind-the-scenes footage. (Entertainment One)

One for the Money (DVD & Blu-ray combo pack)
A proud, born-and-bred Jersey girl, Stephanie Plum’s (Katherine Heigl) got plenty of attitude, even if she’s been out of work for the last six months and just lost her car to a debt collector. Desperate for some fast cash, Stephanie turns to her last resort: convincing her sleazy cousin to give her a job at his bail bonding company as a recovery agent. True, she doesn’t even own a pair of handcuffs and her weapon of choice is pepper spray, but that doesn’t stop Stephanie from taking on Vinny’s biggest bail-jumper: former vice cop and murder suspect Joe Morelli (Jason O’Mara).

Heigl was on the road to becoming the go-to girl for romantic comedies and then she started accepting terrible scripts. That ship has now sailed as it’s impossible to trust the quality of her work any longer. This movie supports this theory. It’s only remotely funny and there is no chemistry between Heigl and O’Mara. The revolving door of minor characters dilutes the already shallow plot, attempting to make it more complicated than it is or is necessary. Moreover, that she is stumbling over truths that haven’t come to light during a police investigation is hard to believe. Finally her inept methods are simply ridiculous rather than amusing.

Special features include: a behind-the-scenes featurette; “Bond Girls: Kicking Ass in the Bail Bonds Industry”; deleted scene; gag reel; and theatrical trailer. (Entertainment One)

Rampart (DVD & Blu-ray combo pack)
Los Angeles, 1999. Officer Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson) is a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop, dedicated to doing “the people’s dirty work” and asserting his own code of justice, often blurring the lines between right and wrong to maintain his action hero state of mind. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as the consequences of his past sins and his refusal to change his ways in light of a department-wide corruption scandal seal his fate. Brown internalizes his fear, anguish and paranoia as his world, complete with two ex-wives who are sisters, two daughters, an aging mentor dispensing bad advice, investigators galore, and a series of seemingly random women, starts making less and less sense. In the end, what is left is a human being stripped of all his pretense, machismo, chauvinism, arrogance, sexism, homophobia, racism, aggression misanthropy: but is it enough to redeem him as a man?

The cop drama tends to follow a formula: rookie cop discovers trainer is dirty, cue moral dilemma, ridicule and threats. But “Date Rape Dave’s” story isn’t your standard police issue movie. A horrible nickname from vice, he owns all of his actions believing he does what is necessary for society. His interactions with his family are strained and awkward, resulting in a greater distance as more of his transgressions come to light. The raw portrayal of a man who begins to question himself and his values is played outstandingly by Harrelson, who digs deep into the character to get into the darkest corners of his personality.

Special features include: commentary by director Oren Moverman; and a behind-the-scenes featurette. (Entertainment One)

The Secret World of Arrietty (DVD & Blu-ray combo pack)
Residing quietly beneath the floorboards are little people who live undetected in a secret world to be discovered. Arrietty (voice of Bridgit Mendler), a tiny, but tenacious 14-year-old, lives with her parents (voices of Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the recesses of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper (voice of Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty remains hidden from view, except during occasional covert ventures beyond the floorboards to “borrow” scrap supplies like sugar cubes from her human hosts.  But when 12-year-old Shawn (voice of David Henrie), a human boy who comes to stay in the home, discovers his mysterious housemate one evening, a secret friendship blossoms. If discovered, their relationship could drive Arrietty’s family from the home and straight into danger.

There is an innocent quality to Studio Ghibli’s films that cannot be found in other animated movies.

That Borrowers only take what they need is not just out of necessity, but also an innate and genuine kindness. There’s also a subtle beauty that permeates every aspect of the picture. The animators’ attention to detail is unrivaled. A dollhouse is given the most intricate decoration, from tiny china plates to fancy wallpaper. Even Arrietty’s miniature home is adorned with the most trivial items that give it a genuine lived-in feeling. The story is sweet and simple, but unique.

Special features include: a making-of featurette; storyboard presentation of the film; “Summertime” music video; “Arrietty’s Song” music video; and original Japanese trailers and television commercials. (Walt Disney Motion Pictures)

Now we all know how bloody expensive it is to make a movie, but director Casey Walker managed to get A Little Bit Zombie made with a little Internet inspiration and a lot of creativity. No, not with pornography (though IDEA!). Walker created “My Million Dollar Movie,” where people can purchase frames to post video or still images. They can link the frames to their own website, too, which can drive traffic (and possibly revenue) to their own site. And if the film makes a profit, the purchaser gets their money back, and potentially receives a share of profits. Pretty ingenious. But don’t see the film for its creative financing; come out and see it for its zombie fun. The film stars Kristopher Turner, Shawn Roberts and perennial horror fave Stephen McHattie as the zombie slayer Max. And anything called a “Rom-Zom-Comedy” deserves to be seen!

A Little Bit Zombie screens at Toronto Underground Cinema this Thursday, May 17 at 11:59 pm. Tickets are $9 for students, and $7.50 for zombies (I’m not being cute, there’s a discount for zombies). Tickets can be purchased here. For more ticket info you can call 647-992-4335.

I was first introduced to their work years ago when I encountered the “Unreel Sports” series that they did for US network Fuel TV. Sports such as Danger Swimming, Cross Country Snowboarding and Pool Pool (it’s billiards in a swimming pool – self explanatory, right?) are profiled in a series of hilarious three minute documentary-style shorts. Adam and Dave not only wrote and directed the series of 16 shorts, they also star in them all. “We were very aware that some of the sports, like danger swimming, if you stopped and thought about it, made no sense,” Dave muses. “Like, how do you win or lose?” They shot the shorts at break-neck speed, over only five days, sometimes doing two complete films in a single day. Everything had to be meticulously plotted out, including the increments in which they would trim and shave their facial hair in order to look different in each film. The end result is truly inspired, and they tell me, some of the fake sports they invented have taken off among fans in real life.

“Usually we bring a DJ, mostly to do needle scratches, to punctuate our jokes,” says Dave, as we sit down on a sunny patio to talk about their film career. The two met while they were students together at Ryerson, finding immediately that a common sensibility and a shared stubbornness about all the same things made for a good working arrangement. The two have been working together as co-writers, directors and sometimes actors for years. Adam & Dave’s absurd humour has garnered attention for the pair & accolades for the pair, and they seem to be poised for the next major leap in their careers.

“We were really influenced by the location sketches – they were really short films – in Kids in the Hall… We love sketch comedy too, but the best ones on Kids in the Hall were short films and could exist on their own. I think that’s how we approach short films too. Make them really funny sketches, but elevate them to a cinematic level. That’s where we started.”

I ask them about whether they see shorts as an outlet they’ll always be drawn to, or a stepping stone to bigger things, as many filmmakers see them. “Short films are like an anchor that’s weighing us down in our careers?” Dave suggests. “Or, are they an anchor that’s stabilizing us?” asks Adam.

“Just to pick up on the idea of short films taking you into features, I think that started going out of style when we started making features.” says Dave. “That did happen, way back when. It doesn’t anymore, that’s the bad news. But the good news is that you can do a lot more with short films now.”

“We did get away from short films for a while,” Dave continues. “But I think part of the allure of short films is that you can do them so quickly. And people have also started paying us to do short films on TV for some reason.” The two have been working steadily in TV, most recently directing and doing a lot of the joke-crafting on The Jon Dore Television Show, on the Comedy Network and on Sci-Fi channel’s Scare Tactics (one of their excellent episodes, Killing Rosemary’s Baby, can be found here).

“But it can also be dangerous. Suddenly, we’re the guys who can do three minute things, but can we do an hour and a half? Or can you do 30 seconds for a commercial? You’ve only done three minute things.” Dave tells me.

“It’s a weird thing that we’ve encountered,” Adam says. “We just make content, but people are like yeah, but your content is two minutes so you can’t make a 30 second spot, or a half hour show.” Do you have to make one work of each length just to have them as examples in your portfolio, I ask them. “You almost have to. It’s like, if you want money to make your feature, people ask to first see your feature,” Adam confirms.

“And we’re like sure, here it is!” Dave says. “Oh wait, you can’t jump into our imaginations? That’s on you.”

And what pays the bills for guys like Adam and Dave? “How have we mined our short film experience into a money making venture?” Dave rephrases for me. “I think it helped us with commercials. Television commercials, or very short films, as we call them. Sometimes only 15 seconds.”

“We worked on the HBO Canada show Funny As Hell, which has short film elements in it,” Adam continues. “I guess we’ve branched out a little longer and a little shorter into commercials and TV. Commercials pay the best and are the shortest, so it’s the most efficient way to do it but it’s very competitive. And television is where we’re really comfortable. We like that type of shooting, we have five or six days to work on something, you work with the same crew over a long period of time and get to know people very comfortably. We’ve gone that way with the Jon Dore show and a pilot we did which was essentially short films, sketches. And even Scare Tactics, which we worked on, is a segment based show. Tracey Morgan interrupts the segments, but basically it’s four short hidden camera bits.”

What do Adam & Dave like to watch when they’re not making their own films? Chris Elliott’s Eagleheart makes the list, as does Jon Glaser’s Delocated, both Adult Swim shows. The Adult Swim sensibility is similar to the work Adam & Dave do, and contextualizing their work somewhere between the kings of Canadian sketch comedy and the edgiest of current North American sketch shows makes a lot of sense. I ask the two about working in Canada and Dave tells me it’s complicated. “In its essence, I think it’s good,” he continues. “But maybe you’re catching us at a time when we’re feeling frustrated by the points of view and lack of risk-taking when it comes to what gets selected to be made for mass audiences.”

“It’s tough for us; we’ve had difficulty finding a place for our voice. There’s just not as many places to go here, there aren’t as many opportunities. It’s not like the US is a cure-all, but there are more cracks to fall into. It’s easy to get cynical about it.”

“We’re just trying to figure out a way to age ourselves,” Adam tells me. “Make ourselves look like we’re in our 50s or 60s, and then everyone will just say oh, you deserve a show! Now that you’re so clued in with what’s going on with our generation.”

“We tried putting flour in our beards,” Dave adds. “But it rained before the meeting, so it was an awful situation. We looked like maniacs.”

Getting serious again, Dave says “It’s also that we have a different point of view, so sometimes it’s easier to get work in the states. People are like, oh, you’re kind of like us, but you’re so fresh and weird.”

“What, you’re in your 30s and you haven’t done anything yet? That’s such a fresh take!” Adam chimes in. “I think [Canada] is a great breeding ground for comedy, and that’s one of the reasons why we got into films in the first place. That’s how we got into the Jon Dore show, that’s how we’ve done a lot of things. It’s all tied into this very closely knit Canadian comedy scene that is so great and so talented. But all those people need to go down to the United States, get some attention, get a blurb in the New York Times, then come back and get hired here.”

Of course, it’s not all bad. The pair continues to be pretty busy with a variety of projects. I ask them what they currently have on the go. They are working on a feature, they tell me, “but it’s about short filmmakers”, Dave jokes. I fall for the joke and he quickly responds, “Do you want it to be? If anyone out there wants us to make a feature about short filmmakers, call us.” They’re reticent to reveal anything about the plot. “Someone will steal our amazing idea,” Adam says. “It’ll jinx it, I think,” Dave adds. “Call it the ‘Unnamed Jinx Project’.” The Unnamed Jinx Project is currently in the writing stage.

“We’re also developing a few television show ideas right now, and we’re going to do more Funny as Hell, so we’ll be writing more short films with Jon Dore,” Dave tells me. “It’s all short films, we’ve got to stop saying that term,” Adam interrupts. “I’m going to start calling them SFs” Dave responds. “People will think we’re talking about San Francisco.”

“Now we’re forever going to be known as the short content people. Thanks, Kat,” says Dave.

Adam & Dave’s SFs, TV work and commercials can all be found on their website, www.adamanddave.com.

Stay tuned for TFS’ featured topic this month. We’ll be exploring short films of all genres and time periods, celebrating the upcoming Worldwide Short Film Festival and introducing you to some of the people who make it their business to give short films their due accolades.