tonight!

I know this is late notice, but tonight there's an outdoor screening of Winnebago Man screening at the Amsterdam Brewery, with live music and a bar. I missed this movie at Hot Docs in 2009 and it was a huge crowd favourite, so vindication will be mine tonight, complete with buttery buttery popcorn. And maybe a blanket. There are some other cool movies screening in this series, check out the details here. See you on the outside!

hey!

give me my bike back!

1.

A week and a half ago, a tall fence went up in Toronto. I was very excited about this fence. I like fancy shiny things that serve a large purpose - in this case, to keep rabble-rousers and assassins away from the G20 leaders. The fence was not continuous. There were empty spots everywhere, and you could walk between fences and have an entire street to yourself. There were lots of police hanging around, more police than I had ever seen in Toronto before. They were mostly on bikes, and they congregated around the hot dog stands. I was very excited about the fence. 

brief.

So there's another film festival coming up in Toronto called the Worldwide Short Film Festival. It's only 2 hours long. Hey-o!

It's actually 6 days long, and it starts tomorrow. WSFF sent me some DVDs to watch before the festival, since I won't be in town to catch the flickettes in the theaters. So far, I've watched a whole bunch of short movies from programs such as Midnight Mania: Freaky, and Midnight Mania: Creepy (I have not managed to identify the distinction between the two, except that there seems to be more children in the Freaky collection, confirming my suspicions that children are freaky).

Now, there are many ways to make a bad short film. Like by skimping on the actors. It's one of the reasons that I love docs so much - I never have to suffer through, what's the word, oh yes - insufferable - acting. And if you think that it's easy to sit through just 4 minutes of bad acting, then you haven't seen Dinner Date (Part of the Laughter Without Borders program).

But there's also many ways to make a good short movie. Like by getting a historian shitfaced on absinthe, filming him while he gives a history lesson, then getting some famous actors to lip synch the drunken narration. If that sounds like a winning formula to you too, check out the Celebrity Shorts program, featuring the likes of Will Ferrell as Abe Lincoln and John C. Reilly as Tesla.

There's something for everyone at this tiny little festival, and you'll save a whole bundle on Ritalin by taking in your movies 5 minutes at a time.

Have fun, let me know how it is!

breaking news

The Audience Choice Award (that's you!!) goes to....

Thunder Soul! An excellent choice, audience. This movie had good story telling, awesome afros and the best soundtrack at Hot Docs 2010. If you missed it, keeps tabs on it. I suspect it might be released someday, and the director mentioned that he's working on a fictional movie about the same topic (an all black high school funk band in the 70s that took the American high school band circuit by storm).

The runners up for Audience Choice were:
2. A Drummer's Dream
3. My Life With Carlos
4. Autumn Gold
5. Leave Them Laughing
6. RUSH: Beyond The Lighted Stage
7. Listen To This
8. A Small Act
9. Wasteland
10. Marwencol

My take? Audiences love music movies.

:o(

Sad but true. It's over.

One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog is so that I would have a forum for thanking all of the staff and volunteers at Hot Docs for bringing such an eclectic, informative, entertaining and well-oiled (except for the seats at the Royal) film festival to Toronto. So, thank you Hot Docs. I can't wait for next year.

My final tally:
5 shorts
6 movies in advance or in the Doc Shop
and....
36 feature length films in the theatre!!!

Some more tidbits to follow over the next couple days, including the winner of the audience favorite award and some photos from the fest.

Anyone want to go see a movie tonight?

this isn't over.

Saw 6 yesterday, 5 more today. gotta run. but this isn't over. I have more to say so keep checking back for the next few days.

guide to the last weekend

You only have two more nights to impress your date by taking them to a smart person movie. And fr all of you who have been going on and on about how much you want to go see a Hot Doc this year, here's how you do it:

1. Look at the screening schedule.
2. Pick a movie (or 11).
3. GO SEE IT. If it's gone rush, don't worry. Just get there an hour before the movie and you'll probably get in.

If you're looking for suggestions, Hot Docs presented their awards last night. Only a couple are still screening, so I put them in brackets. Here they are:

Best International Feature: A Film Unfinished
Special Jury Prize - International Feature: The Oath
Best Canadian Feature: In the Name of the Family [6:45 on Sunday at the Bader]
Special Jury Prize - Canadian Feature: Leave them Laughing [3:15 today at the Bloor]
Best Mid-Length Documentary: I Shot My Love
Best Short: Tussilago
HBO Documentary films Emerging Artist Award: Marwencol [rescheduled rooftop screening at 8:00 on Sunday]

But really, just pick a time and a place that you want to be at, and go see whatever is playing there. It's a documentary - if it's boring or you don't like it, at least you will learn something. That's the edge that fact has over fiction.

some minutes later.

Marwencol was nice, but it's just not the same sitting in a room watching movies on a computer screen. I'm not sharing the experience with anyone (except for you, but you're at a computer screen too). I miss the energy of the theatre. Everyone in this room has head phones on. I was crying at the beginning of Marwencol while my friend beside me was laughing at Dr. Nakamats. There's a bit of a disconnect.

I'm going to try one more though - The Canal Street Madam. Will keep you posted!

friday afternoon.

Oddly, that pesky cough developed into a stomach ache, so I simply had to call in sick for work. Miraculously, within an hour, the achiness cleared up and I was in perfect shape to head out to the festival!

The result? Live blogging coming at you from the doc shop at the industry centre! Here I'll watch all the ones that I woefully had to miss during the festival.

I started Marwencol a couple hours ago on one of these flashy Macs then skipped out to the ROM to watch Kings of Pastry, which left me hungry. Now I'm back, and immersed in Mark Hogancamp's world of miniatures. I'll be back later...

thursday night

Not a whole lot of news form the front lines tonight. Only saw two movies today - Casino Jack and Teenage Paparazzo. I would tell you about it, or you can wait to listen to the podcast that I did with the Mad Hatter on The Dark of The Matinee.

I wanted to go see the midnight movie but I thought I should come home and get some sleep. I feel like I might be coming down with something still. COUGH.

By the way, does anyone know when the 2011 Ford Fiesta is coming out?

a complete list of what i've seen so far...

...because sometimes you need something to do at work. Here are the movies I've seen so far, in chronological order, with hypothetical ticket rip scores:

Babies (3.5)
Rush (3.5)
The Oath (4.5)
Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go (3.5)
Czech Dream (3.5)
Notes on the Other (3.5)
Anne Perry (3)
Arsy Versy (4)
The Invention of Dr. Nakamats (4.5)
Parking Lot Moive (3)
Tussilago (4)
Disorder (NR)
I Bought a Rainforest (3.5)
The World According to Ion B. (3.5)
Budrus (4.5)
Soundtracker (3)
Ito (NR)
Gros Morne (2.5)
Sins of My Father (4)
Feathered Cocaine (4)
David Wants to Fly (4.5)
Blank City (4.5)
Sex Magic (4.5)

welcome home - thursday morning

Indisputable quote of the festival:
"Welcome home." - Baba Dez, Sex Magic.

It's Monday morning. I am TIRED. But last night was such a great night at Hot Docs that the blurry eyes and unkempt hair don't matter much. The evening did not start off as planned - I was thwarted by that armageddon of a rain storm, which beached my bike and forced me onto the TTC. (An aside: it sucks to pay $3 to get on the street car, but it's twice as easy to find two coins as it is to find four.)

I raced from my first night of classes at George Brown to the Royal for Blank City at 9:45. Great movie. When the programmer announced it, all she wanted to say was that the movie was really cool. That about summed it up. It's about the art and film scene in the Lower East Side in Manhattan during the 70s and 80s. Lydia Lunch, John Waters, Thurston Moore (mmm) and other strange and enticing characters painted a thorough picture of a time and place that I sometimes wish I had been born into. Go see this movie. It's playing again.

I was going to go home after that (no bike = walking = slow = lazy), but a little chickadee reminded me that Hot Docs happens only once a year, so I pulled myself together and went to the Bloor for Sex Magic: Long Subtitle. THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. It's like this:  I love music. But I love live music even more. Know what I'm saying? The midnight crowd was rowdy, energetic, loud and quite possibly drunk. We howled our way through this movie. The collective energy was so rambunctious in the theatre. After the movie Baba Dez himself was there, and got one of the warmest welcomes I've seen so far at the festival, notwithstanding the fact that the entire Bloor Cinema just spent that last two hours laughing at him. (Has anyone noticed that the q & a's are getting feistier? I noticed that after the first few days of the festival the audience has started to challenge the directors a little more, which makes for much more interesting sessions.) I would tell you to go see this movie but you missed it - that was the last screening.

Only four more days. Frown.

tuesday night.

Bottle of water at the Bloor Cinema: $2

Medium popcorn with butter at the Bloor cinema: $4

Dinner at the Bloor cinema: $6 (you thought I was going to say priceless)

I would have liked to have had dinner at the Bloor, except that in the commotion of the lobby before David Wants to Fly, I accidentally inserted myself right into the middle of the popcorn queue. I obliviously hunted through my survival kit for that elusive $10 bill (I don't want to be the jackass paying with a debit card as everyone is clambering to get into the theatre on time). Anyhoo, the guy behind me catches my attention and asks me, "excuse me, are you in line?" at which point I look up and notice 7 people behind me, in an obvious line up, giving me the stinkiest eyes I've ever been dealt. (Haha, I just thought of a lynch mob. Get it?) I made eye contact with each of them, threw my hands up and flashed a toothy, over-compensatory grin, and said "well, turns out I don't have any cash anyways!" and trotted out of the lobby, through the swinging doors, through the main hallway and outside onto the sidewalk. That's right, I ran away. Classy.

David Wants to Fly is what I was looking for last night. I've seen a lot of heavy movies (smuggling, political conflicts, terrorism, sunshine, lollipops) so I was looking for something lighthearted yet informative. The director put a lot of thought into his composition and opened up the world of transcendental meditation. The movie was bright and had good rhythm. It managed to be many things - a coming of age story, an expose, an homage to David Lynch's movie making, but it didn't feel cluttered. And the subtitles looked great. (Distracting subtitles are one of the great peeves of documentarianists all over the world - you know, the wrong colour, a coloured bar in the background, or even the wrong translation.) My favorite part of the movie was when the filmmaker was interviewing Lynch, who wiggles his hands like a reproducing amoeba when he speaks, which gave the whole crowd a serious case of giggles.

Before that I watched Feathered Cocaine. Between this movie and The Oath, I've spent quite a bit of time looking at Osama Bin Laden's face lately. He has nice eyebrows. 

On tap tonight:
Thieves by Law or Blank City, followed by Sex Magic.

day sixty eight. monday night.

I'm done numbering the days. I can't keep track anymore.

It's Monday night, and I just got home from Sins of My Father. It was a quality documentary about the son of Pablo Escobar, who was 16 when his father died. The movie stayed very close to its subject, resisting the urge to stray into the larger context of Pablo Escobar's life and the Columbian drug trade. And the animation during the title sequence was mesmerizing. If you don't have much time, just go see the first 10 minutes of the movie.

I had just come from Gros Morne at the Drake. Kudos to Hot Docs for trying something new, by screening a movie at a bar with a live soundtrack. If you weren't there, you missed it.

I arrived at the line up for Sins of my Father at 9:10, fifty minutes before the movie started. I rolled up to the back of the ticket holders line and had this conversation with the man in front of me.

Me: Hey, do you mind saving a spot for me?
Ear Bud Guy: [looks baffled]
Me: I just want to go bring this gelato to my friend in the rush line and eat it with her [holds up two oozing Dolce gelato cups].
Ear Bud: [looking incredulous] How long are you going to be gone?
Me: Well, probably until the line starts to move, then I'll come back.
Ear Bud: [not having it]
Me: [wondering where the guff is] We're all allowed to save an extra spot in line for someone else, so, you could just, well, save me a spot. I could be your someone.

As if on cue, Round Head sidles up to Ear Bud.

Round Head: [to Ear Bud] Hey Doug.
Me: Maybe I should ask this guy. [Rotates body 30 degrees to the right to face Round Head.] Hello. Do you mind holding a spot for me while I go eat this Gelato with my friend in the rush line?
Round Head: Sure, no problem!

Crisis averted.

Tomorrow is a nights of toss ups. I am waffling (mmm) between Feathered Cocaine and 12th & Delaware for the 6:30 screening, then David Wants to Fly, Canal Street Madam or Marwencol in the 9:00 spot.  I'll do some thinking in the shower tomorrow morning and check back in during a lull at the office.

hot docs box office.

I love you Hot Docs, but your website kinda sucks.* It's really hard to find the link for purchasing tickets online, so here it is friends:

Hot Docs online box office

* That's not very nice of me. What I mean to say, is that it could use some improvements, especially when it comes to navigating towards the online box office. Fair.

day four.

Well, I'm tired.

12 movies this weekend. Starting to get the blend effect (you know, that awesome movie I saw about the Palestinian priest who tries to save a Japanese rainforest. That was a great one.)

Yesterday started off with I Bought A Rainforest at the ROM. I arrived hungover, I left hungry. It was an easy movie to wake up to, but I thought we were done worrying about the rainforests. Did I miss something?

After Rainforest I left my bike outside the ROM and felt my way towards the Cumberland for The World According To Ion B. The sun was way too bright for me. I had to dig through my survival kit (which currently comprises of an oversized purse filled shredded screening schedules) for some sunglasses. I cuddled into one of those cushy seats at Cumberland 1 (rated #1 movie theatre seats at a Hot Docs venue by Pink Milkcrate) with my butter popcorn and watched a movie about a street drunk in Romania who has spent the past few decades making these incredible collages. I want one.

Next up was Budrus, which I would rip a 4.5. Check this one out if you have the time. I love movies where you just can't believe there was someone there with a camera. The audience ate this one up; seems like a contender for the audience choice award. [ed note: I just checked the Hot Docs website to check up on the actual name of the award, and I see that they are tabulating the scores as they go along! Magnifique! I am baffled by some of the front runners, but I suppose a utilitarian approach makes more sense than letting me pick the winner by myself. And I am wrong, Budrus is not up there.]

Back across the road to the ROM for Soundtracker, which missed the mark. If there's going to be only one person in your entire movie, that person better be captivating. The Soundtracker was not. Hot Docs lost some points here for scheduling a movie about sound in the ROM theatre (rumble rumble rumble, all aboard the Spadina subway express!!). And Mr. Director, if you are reading this, please tell you friends that checking your phone during the movie is not nice. Even if you know the directors.

Last up at 9:45 was Ito. I was tired. I napped. Japanese dialogue can be incredibly hypnotic. Although I can't tell you what I thought about it, I can tell you that the audience did not applaud until the FOURTH frame of credits. Something to think about.

Tonight I'm going to see Gros Morne and Sins of My Father. I'm going to have to spend some time at work today rearranging my schedule because there are some movies that have been buzzing in my ear that weren't originally in my schedule, such as Marwencol, The Canal Street Madame and 12th and Delaware. There's a lot of movies that I want to see and not a lot of time to see them. I sense a sick day coming on...

Cough.

day three.

# of movies so far: 9
# of cell phones ringing during a movie so far: 0
# of times HTML outwits me by inserting extra line breaks into my posts: 1


On day three all of my screenings were at the Bader, the Rom or Cumberland, which made it an easy day. With the Freedom March happening at Queens Park, there was lots going on in the neighbourhood and the intervals between movies were pleasantly aromatic.


Pick of the day: Arsy Versy screening with The Inventions of Dr. Nakamats is my top pick so far. Arsy Versy is a short film about a guy who photographs bats, and the film is set to the soundtrack of Space Odyssey 2001. It was whimsical and quirky, just how I like 'em. The Inventions is about the Japanese Thomas Edison, this wacky, creative and completely egomaniacal character named Dr. Nakamats who holds thousands of patents and is planning on living until 144. I was sitting up on the side seats at the Bader so I had a birds eye view of him spontaneously shuffling onto the stage before the movie, uninvited, unintroduced. He took the mic, looked at the audience, and said something that sounded like "look at camera A" but it might have been Japanese. Confused laughter spread through the crowd. Then he left the stage.


The movie was great - Japan always looks wonderful on the big screen. The layout and design of the titles and credits was enough to give me a doc-on.


BUT. I hate it when characters who speak broken English are subtitled, and the subtitles blatantly do not translate what they are saying. Example. Dr. Nakamats: "After two days I shall become 80 years old." Subtitle: "In two days I turn 80." Come on. 


After the movie the Doctor came back on stage, handed out some magic business cards to the audience and was presented with an award from Hot Docs for being...an inventor? I didn't really catch what the award was but I thought it was thoughtful of Hot Docs. After the movie I overheard some insider telling their friend that Dr. Nakamats refused to come unless he was to be receiving an award!


Disappointments of the day: A tie between Anne Perry (zzz) and The Parking Lot Movie. I overheard one of the festival programmers telling the director before the movie that this was her favorite film of the whole festival, and I walked away wondering how many films she has actually seen. 


Disaster of the day: Disorder, which played for about 15 minutes before anyone realized there was supposed to be subtitles and the movie was restarted. Then, and I'm not sure how much this affected anyone else, but one of my contact lenses fell out. It just couldn't handle the stress of seeing 5 movies in one day and it gave up, tumbling onto my lap and hopefully to a better place. It gave the rest of the movie and even more abstract quality, and led to a couple of awkward run ins after the movie where I had to pretend I knew who I was talking to. 


I ended the day at Lee's Palace at the Yeasayer show. I know, I know, not a movie, but there are other things in life, you know.


Day four is going to be all over the place, I'll be back to let you know!

day two.

So I was sprawled out in the back row at Innis Theatre last night, on the middle aisle (my safety zone - lots of room to stretch out and dump my stuff, and close enough to the exit for a quick escape in case of a boring movie), thinking that the bathroom in the basement of Innis is a pretty good representation of hell on earth. Don't believe me? Go check for yourself next time you're there. I know that the 15 other women in line thought the same thing - I could see it in the beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads and in the crazy in their eyes. Note to self - pee at the preceding destination, or avoid Innis all together. Those chairs just don't cut it.

I had just come from The Oath at the Bader. (Yes, like I've said, my schedule is a living, breathing organism. For those of you who are actually paying attention, you'll note that I was supposed to be seeing And Everything is Going Fine, but between us, it looked really effing boring. There's only so much archival footage I can take.) The Oath was awesome. I would have ripped it a 5 if I was inclined to participate in that barbaric practice of rating movies by ripping a number on my ticket and putting it in a box. On a scale with such little range, I can see little evidentiary value in asking people to rate a movie before they've seen all of the ones they plan on seeing. It's all relative, non? A 5 today might be demoted to a 4 tomorrow. I hereby DEMAND that Hot Docs implement an online voting system system so viewers can vote after they've seen a bunch of flicks. I'll even get my friend SK to design it for you for free. Ok, SK? Thanks kid! Just give me the word, Hot Docs! Besides, I never would submit my ticket at the end of a movie. If I don't keep my ticket stubs, how am I supposed to remember what I've seen? (I have the retention skills of a gnat).

I was interrupted in my note taking at this point by an announcement from the front of the theatre that the director will not be joining us for a q&a afterwards. ...Whaaaa????---no director??? b-b-bu I chose this screening of Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go because it was a retroprective screening, and I assumed I could hear from the director. For shame. On me. For missing Gasland or Disco and the Atomic War to watch 2 hours of behaviourally demonic children having temper tantrums. I can throw a mighty fine tantrum myself, so there wasn't much new here for me. (The audience agreed with me - the flick ended with a freeze frame, but still no applause until the 5th frame of credits! The Oath? Applause on the first credit. The Applause-o-meter tells it all.)

By the way, there is now a link to my blog from the Hot Docs website, so welcome to all new readers, if you've made it this far! I even have my very first follower who is not a personal friend - hello Mad Hatter, I like your reviews! And can someone leave a comment so I know you're reading, otherwise I'll assume I'm typing into a vacuum and I'll start letting you know what I really think. If I could ever figure that out. Worse, this blog could devolve into a dumping ground for my failed limerick repertoire. The choice is yours...

The following five movies were recommended to me by the cool couple in front of me in line for The Oath, and were in turn recommended to them by their friend, who is "the guy who runs Hot Docs":
- 12th and Delaware
- Gasland
- Bhutto
- Parking Lot Movie
- Osadne

This is a conversation between the two people sitting beside me at the Bader waiting for The Oath to start:
guy: I'm seeing 6 movies this weekend.
date: After a while it's like information overload.
guy: Yeah...
date; I mean, I can sit through two dramas in a row.
guy: Yeah...
[silence]

Today is going to be tricky - I'm already torn about what I'm going to see first, but I can decide on the ride up, because it's either going to be at the ROM or the Bader. And then there's the rain - please don't steal the plastic bag from the seat of my bike. You know who you are. Let's all try to get along today.

One last thing! Thanks a bunch to ZalkEn for the shiny new profile pic, taken in front of the Elgin before Babies. ZalkEn thinks the shot is a little dark but I am to movied-out to Photoshop that thing...

Gotta jet!

day one.

Mmmm....there it is. The line ups, the commotion, the amusing dilemma faced by those who were looking to get in the rush line up for the Rush movie. And Kevin Clark, hot on the mayoral trail, pulling live pigeons out of bag in front a baffled group of bright eyed documentarianists waiting for the box office to open. Hot Docs has begun.

First up was Babies, a cute little flick about...babies. I learned that babies in Namibia are adorable and that babies in Mongolia are hilarious and like to play with baby goats.

From goat babies to goat ears, next up was Rush. This was the rowdiest crowd I've ever been a part of at a documentary screening. There was yelling and cheering and several standing ovations. And then the movie started. It didn't help matters that Geddy and Alex were there in the flesh. (I wonder what would happen if Hot Docs hardcores crashed the next Rush concert. We'll show them how to sit in your seat and behave!) During the introduction someone remarked that a good music doc is one that makes you go home and listen to the band right away. Well I'm listening to Lady Gaga as I type this. Kidding. I'm listening to YYZ.

Things I remembered to bring with me today: my fancy pants festival pass and my tuned-up bike (gears like butta - thanks Duke's) Things I forgot: My light up pen and my dinner. Much appreciation to the lady with the purple scarf for holding my place in line while I looked for a Tim Hortons that still had bagels at night. I've got 10 more days to get into the swing of things.

Some more things I learned today:
Hot Docs is actually 11 days long, not 10. See brand new tag line above.
The Honourable Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism and Culture, is the funniest man in provincial politics.
The Elgin/Winter Gardens Theatre is the world's last remaing double decker theatre.

One last tidbit: As I rode home, one of those "need $$$ for weed" types yelled at me "man, I wish I was your bike!" And to clarify, "You know what you do to a bike, right?"

schedule - revised.

I have been up since 5 am. It's Thursday morning, the first day of the rest of my life, for the next ten days. I can't eat, can't sleep, too excited! Tonight should be easy, with only two movies, both at the same venue. Let the documentarianism begin!

Thursday, April 29

6:30 - Babies

9:30 - RUSH: Beyond the Lighted Stage

Friday, April 30^th  

6:30 - And Everything is Going Fine

9:ish - either Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go or Disco and the Atomic War

Saturday, May 1^st

11:30 - either Czech Dream or Shinjuku Boys

2:15 - Anne Perry - Interiors

4:15 - The Invention of Dr. Nakamats

6:15 - Bhutto

9:00 - Disorder

12:00  - 1991 The Year Punk Broke

Sunday, May 2^nd

noon - I Bought a Rainforest or

1:00 - A Film Unfinished or 1:45 - The World According To Ion B. 

3:00/ 4:00 - something

6:45 - Soundtracker

9:ish - Daddy's Girls or Ito - A Diary Of An Urban Priest

Monday, May 3^rd

7:00 - National Parks Project: Gros Morne

11:45 - The Parking Lot Movie

Tuesday, May the 4^th be with you 

6:30 - Feathered Cocaine

9:00 - David Wants To Fly

Wednesday, May the 5^th

9:45 - Blank City

11:59 - Sex Magic, Manifesting Maya

Thursday, May the 6^th

6:30 - Casino Jack And The United States Of Money

9:30 - Teenage Paparazzo

11:30 - We Don't Care About Music Anyway

Friday, May 7^th

7:ish - Views On Vermeer - 12 Short Stories

9:15 - Shadow Play: The Making of Anton Corbjin

11:59 - Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt And The Magnetic Fields 

Saturday, May 8^th

11:30 - Horses 

1:30 - Dish: Women, Waitressing And The Art Of Service 

4:45 - Neighbors

7:30 - Family Affair

10:00 - Thieves By Law

11:45 - I'm Dangerous With Love

Sunday, May 9^th

11:30 - American Radical

1:45 - Thunder Soul

3:45 - Life With Murder

7:00 - The House Of Suh

last movie: festival fave

sneaky preview.

Hot Docs asked me if I wanted to receive screeners of the movies before the festival. I knew they would balk if I requested 168 DVDs, so I've been working my way through some of the ones that have been putting da kinks in my schedule. 

I slept my way  through most of The Mirror. Please don't infer too much from that. It was late and the lights were off and my couch is very cozy. Heidi stayed up and she liked it. She had this to say: "Annie, wake up." 

Space Tourists wasn't really about space tourists. It was, but it was also about 4 or 5 other things, and some of the stories got lost in orbit. A treat were photographs of Kazakhstan by Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiiksen, who is something to look at on his own. 

The Story of Furious Pete did not do anything to assuage my suspicion that competitive eaters can never be charismatic people. There is some truly grotesque stuff in this movie, including but not limited to slow-mo, close-up shots of liquified hamburgers pouring out of a fat man's mouth. Prediction: someone's going to walk out of this one. 

3 more days until we get to do this all together...

al fresco docs.

I think "al fresco" means outside. Maybe I'm wrong, it might have something to do with ice cream. Both are pretty good. Ice cream outside is the best.

Hots Docs has announced some out of doors, top of roof, beer swilling, popcorn choking screenings in Yorkville. You can read about it here. I'd really love to make it, but they all conflict with the beta edition of my screening schedule.

schedule - beta.

Oh, the satisfaction. Yesterday, I inhaled the aroma of the Program Guide (with the incredibly imaginative cover – thanks Hot Docs), and armed with 2 pens and a sharpie, I made myself a schedule.


A note on method: I made a list of all the movies I might like to see. This list was originally called Must See, but as the list swelled to over 40, I was forced to remove the word Must. I then examined each column of the schedule and sharpied any See movie that was not screening at the same time as any other movie form the See list. I then employed a light green pen to cross the movie off the aforementioned list. The next step involved an elaborate web of if/then statements with the aim to allow for the greatest me for the greatest number of movies. This is the result:

Thursday, April 29

6:30 - Babies

9:30 - RUSH: Beyond the Lighted Stage

Friday, April 30^th  

6:30 - And Everything is Going Fine

9:ish - either Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go or Disco and the Atomic War

Saturday, May 1^st

11:30 - either Czech Dream or Shinjuku Boys

2:15 - Anne Perry - Interiors

4:15 - The Invention of Dr. Nakamats

6:15 - Bhutto

9:00 - Disorder

12:00  - 1991 The Year Punk Broke

Sunday, May 2^nd

noon - I Bought a Rainforest (Might skip this one in order to make it to a 1:00 screening. See below.)

1:00 - A Film Unfinished or 1:45 - The World According To Ion B. 

3:00/ 4:00 - A rare gem of a column where none of the screenings were on the See list. Will deal with this time slot later.

6:45 - Soundtracker

9:ish - Daddy's Girls or Ito - A Diary Of An Urban Priest

Monday, May 3^rd

This day is causing me some serious issues.

either

7:00 - National Parks Project: Gros Morne

or

7:30 - The Mirror

and

9:15 - The Rainbow Warriors of Waiheke Island

then

11:45 - The Parking Lot Movie

Tuesday, May the 4^th be with you 

6:30 - Feathered Cocaine

9:00 - David Wants To Fly

[Not going to see this, but I see that the The People Vs. George Lucas is screening today - coincidence?!!!]

Wednesday, May the 5^th be with you

7:00 - Space Tourists (Either this or show up for my first day of night classes.)

9:45 - Blank City

11:59 - Sex Magic, Manifesting Maya

Thursday, May the 6^th

6:30 - Casino Jack And The United States Of Money

9:30 - Teenage Paparazzo

11:30 - We Don't Care About Music Anyway

Friday, May 7^th

7:ish - either Views On Vermeer - 12 Short Stories or A Different Path

9:15 - Shadow Play: The Making of Anton Corbjin

11:59 - Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt And The Magnetic Fields 

Saturday, May 8^th

11:30 - Horses (
This one wasn't even on the list but it's better that sitting through the Doc It Showcase. Sorry kids.)

1:30 - Dish: Women, Waitressing And The Art Of Service 

4:45 - Neighbors

7:30 - Family Affair

10:00 - Thieves By Law

11:45 - I'm Dangerous With Love

Sunday, May 9^th

11:30 - either Views On Vermeer or American Radical

1:30ish - either The Story Of Furious Pete or Thunder Soul

3:45 - Life With Murder

6:30/7:00 - either A Different Path or The House Of Suh

last movie: Hopefully there will be a Festival Fave screening of something that I had wanted to see from the beginning but couldn’t fit into my schedule. 

GMO that's 39 screenings.  I’ve outdone myself.