film
film section editor:
James King
James King began making short films in 2002. When not making films, he projects them in various booths around Toronto. He enjoys his films cruel, bloody, gory and funny - and usually in that order.
current short list:
The Girl Next Door
Elephant
Twin Peaks
I drink your blood, I eat your skin!
Second Skin
An official selection for the SXSW film fest - Second Skin looks like a pretty polished doc about the online world of MMORPG's (massive multiplayer online role playing games). Consisting of interviews with people who have watched thier lives fall apart through a game obsession to those who have 'actually' found love through the fantasy world - its interesting to see the effects of a digital community on real, live, living beings.
feb 6th
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Infest Wisely!
So the official launch screening of Jim Munroe's indie, lo-fi sci-fi adventure 'Infest Wisely' was amazing. Innis Town Hall was packed (literally, some people had to sit on the floor) - and the reception was great. The feature-length film, created for under $1000, featured seven segements directed by seven different directors. All had a linking plot structure, but each section was tailored to the particular director's style.
The film is about the rise and destructive influence of 'nanites' - tiny entities which are created to serve humanity, but, of course, start to have rather dire effects.
The film was concieved by Munroe as an experiment in altruism - most of the effects, props, supplies and other elements were donated by friends and those directly involved in the production. This is what kept the costs so low. And as a film built on favours (and a great open source script writing program) - the end result was damn impresive.
Check out www.infestwisely.com for ...
may 23rd, 2007
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featured story:
Movies, Memories and Montreal
by Zev Asher
I was born in Montreal but tend to move around a lot (I am prone to wandering). A number of great feature films that have been made in Quebec's big city have helped to capture its unique cultural climate. Like steamies, smoked meat and souvlaki, these treats bear repeated consumption for me as a form of memory re-coding.
My parents' generation get their hometown hankerings from films like Ted Kotcheff's "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" (1974) and "Joshua Then and Now" (1985). I look elsewhere.
Several remarkable feature films captured the essence of life for disenfranchised anglophones on the margins of early 1970's Montreal. Frank Vitale's "Montreal Main" (1974) has a neo-hippie failed artist courting a young pretty boy while various low-brow characters cavort aimlessly. His "East End Hustle"(1976) has some seriously shady whore-mongering going on along with violent redemption for the hookers. Allan Moyle's The Rubber Gun Show" (1977) has many of the same people inv... read more
more features:
Indie Games and the Rise of the DIY Mod Culture
by James KingCriminal Cinema: Stale Spunk and Tears Can't Save B-Movie Scheme
by Rachel SandersCanuxploitation! Your complete guide to the Canadian b-movie.
by Paul Corupefeatured review:
RECAP: Video Images of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty has been described as, ingenious, different and successful. The same could be said for RECAP. This collection of work by Roberto Ariganello, Jonathan Culp, Kika Thorne, the Toronto Video Activist Collective and Dan Roy isn't just about OCAP, it is also inspired by these rebels with a cause. For example, Culp's Supplement is a cinema vérité documentary about a special diet supplement clinic that OCAP held in May 2005. (At the clinics, doctors would sign up people on social assistance for a $250 monthly allowance to buy food-the provincial government restricted the program later that year.) And Kika Thorne's The Up and the Down shows a violent/angry protest on one half of a split screen and happy/mundane images-such as people shopping for Fuzzy Peaches-on the other. RECAP is a fascinating combination of gripping images, creative film/video-making and historical documentation. Different indeed.
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recent film reviews:
Bums
Echoes of Forgotten Places
Jump
NILC: How Shall I Love You, My New Little One
RECAP: Video Images of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Trigger Cut: Jonathan Culp: Film and Video Works 2005-1989
Valery's Ankle