Hackers and Penises

hot docs!!!!

Last night was a perfect specimen (more about those in a minute) of a fabulous night at hot docs. Putting the movies aside for a minute, the theatres were packed, the audiences were excited and the q and a's were interesting and fun for all. It was also my first movie at the new Bloor cinema. Aside from the screen being off-puttingly high (is that new? I can't remember), the seats were luxuriously comfortable.

The Bloor was the setting for my first screening of the evening - We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists. This movie, about Anonymous, was the story of the online hacking network behind the attacks on Scientology and various other unsavory governmental organizations and businesses (like Paypal! and Mastercard!). It was an interesting look into what I previously thought was a secret world, but now know identifies as open and inclusive. I can't wait to leap on to 4chan and join in all the fun! The screening would have been even better if the man two seats over from me did not have the most severe case of halitosis I've ever smelled. During the q & a, there was an appearance by an "Anon" in his signature Guy Fawkes mask. He didn't speak but he emplyed many thumbs ups and mime-like poses. It was one of the first q & a's I saw at the festival this year where a subject was in attendance. Everybody loved the movie-I know because the applause-o-meter was off the charts!

After that, we were off the the Royal to see a couple movies about penises, with a quick stop for some Fresh Slices across the road. The screening was for The Final Member with a short film in front called Manhood - my favorite combo of the festival so far, for several reasons, which I will now enumerate.

1. I got popcorn. I like popcorn.
2. All of the filmmakers were from Toronto, so the theatre was packed with excited friends and family.
3. The movies were hilarious.
4. Penis.
Manhood was a very short film made by some students from Humber. It was a fine example of a movie with very little artistic or technical merit, but with a fabulous story, and tight editting (it clocked in at 5 minutes). It was a first person account of a young man who broke his penis during a particularly ambitious sex romp while on vacation with his new girlfriend in Jamaica. Laughter ensues.

The Last Member was one of the better movies I've ever seen at hot docs. It was one of those documentaries where you couldn't have written better characters. You gotta get a load of this man from California who has nicknamed his penis "Elmo" and is so enamoured with his member that he wants to cut it off, while he's alive, and display it in the world's only penis museum in Iceland. Another fun fact: according to well established folklore, the "legal size" for a penis in Iceland is 5 inches. 

Those two are screening again, try to see them if you can.