Sorry I haven't been updating this as regularly as I would have liked, but the last week has been a never ending cavalcade of packing, cleaning and last minute socializing. However, we did manage to sneak a couple of movies in there as well.
C.R.A.Z.Y. This 2005 film was a monster hit in Quebec and apparently one in eight Quebequers saw it in theatres. It also swept the Genies that year and had been on our to watch list for a while. So, in an attempt to further psych ourselves up for the move we decided to finally give it a chance. And I am very glad we did. Backed by an awesome period soundtrack (which apparently ate up most of the budget), C.R.A.Z.Y. tells the story of the Beaulieu family, a fairly average French Catholic family and their "exceptional" second youngest son, Zachary. See, while all four boys are very different, Zack is the wrong kind of different, the kind that alienates him for much of his childhood from his macho father (an excellent Michel Côté). The highlights of the film were definitely the performances, particularly Côté, Danielle Proulx as the mother and Marc-André Grondin as Zachary. I also recommend checking out this excellent CBC article.
Control If you've known me for any length of time you know that I am a HUGE diehard Joy Division fan, so when Beej informed me that the Ian Curtis biopic was playing at this year's VIFF, I had to squeeze it into the schedule, no matter what. And I have to admit that I was very apprehensive when I heard that Tony Wilson and Deborah Curtis had finally giving the project the go ahead, but the fact that they were basing the film on Deborah's heartbreaking book was some consolation. I also admit to having mixed feelings about Anton Corbijn as the director. Sure, it was fairly common knowledge that his move to England in the 1970's was inspired by Ian and Joy Division's music, but I have to say that I was not all that impressed by his music video output. While his grainy black and white esthetic is iconic, it doesn't really showcase a lot of depth or dramatic development.
However, all my fretting was for nought. Control is a beautiful, powerful, and very good film. Comparisions to Saturday Night, Sunday Morning are certainly appropriate as Macclesfield is a working class town and Joy Division was a working class band. Samantha Morton does a marvelous job as Debbie, never falling into the trap of playing the victim or the shrew, instead emphasizing her love for Ian and her initial starteling innocence. Sam Riley is also incredible as Ian, an ambitious but fragile man worn down by fate and his own fickle wants.
My other favourite preformances include Toby Kebbell as Rob Gretton, Craig Parkinson as Tony Wilson and Joe Anderson as a delightfully crabby Peter Hook.
The naturalistic and heartbreaking performances are aided by several directorial choices, including the use of a stark black and white portrait which both conveys the spirit of the kitchen sink dramas of the 1960s and allows Corbijn to best demontrate his painterly photographic style. Corbijns framing and use of shadows tell stories where the dialogue is absent, particularly in the way he frames those around Ian and Annik when they are together: backs turned perfectly away, but present and compliant none the less.
The other surprisingly effective trick employed by Corbijn was to have the actors to play their own instruments during the concert scenes. Because Joy Divisions music is not technically difficult, the difference in their playing is barely noticeable, but the immediacy and energy their playing brings to their scenes makes it incredibly easy to understand how they became popular so quickly. While Sam Rileys melodic tennor can be distrancting to those accustomed to Ian Curtis haunting mono-baritone, the power with which he sings conveys the character perfectly.
My only complaint is that because the film is such a slow burn, for those already intimate with Curtis story, it does seem to drag at times. And yet, eventhough we all know how the film has to end, it is even more heartbreaking than we could have imagined.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Bad Timing?
A study released on Wednesday by the Quebec Community Groups Network doesn't really seem to bode that well for me. According to the study, Anglos in Montreal are a dying breed and they need to better work together to make sure their needs are met. An earlier version of the story which I can no longer locate online quoted unemployment for Anglo Montrealers at close to 10% (although the sample group referenced was only 400 people). They also say that many Anglos do not have access to English speaking health care professionals. Among other recommendations, including better cooperation between English school boards, they suggest that Anglo Montrealers try to brush up on their French.
As for why some Anglos are having trouble finding health care professionals, I found this report about a dentist in Quebec who speaks four languages, including English and French, who is being denied a permanent license because he failed a French written exam. Four times.
As for why some Anglos are having trouble finding health care professionals, I found this report about a dentist in Quebec who speaks four languages, including English and French, who is being denied a permanent license because he failed a French written exam. Four times.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
So, you've probably noticed that I haven't written on my blog in a long time. There are many reasons for this, time being one of them, lack of inspiration being another, and let's not forget the devastating blows my self-esteem have taken in the last couple of years. It's hard to say anything with conviction when you don't really want to get out of bed.Well, in an effort to tackle at least two of these problems I decided to indulge another romantic fantasy, slightly less costly and not nearly as legally binding as my last one. In a mere 11 days, I am boarding a plane for Montreal. And it's a one way ticket.
I will have two companions along for the ride, my fabulous Quebecois beau, L, and my pretty (even the vet said so) male cat K.C. (a.k.a. Bitey). All we need to do is find me a job & all of us an apartment.
I have long fantasized about starting over, just ditching everything and going to a new city. You have to admit it's a fantastically romantic idea, and I am a true Pisces. Now I find myself on the brink of doing just that, and I have to admit, it's kinda terrifying. It's hard for me to expect sympathy for my fear. This was, after all, my idea, and I know that I'll be fine. I guess it's just the mountain of boxes is making me realize this is real. Which means I am about to leave my family (I have never lived more than 30 minutes from my parents) and my friends to start life in a province where I will be a minority, not because of my race but because of my mother tongue.
As much as I think that I will be more at home on the East Coast, there will be a learning curve. While I do speak (pretty good by most accounts) French, I am still lacking confidence speaking it to strangers, although L keeps insisting that I will be perfectly bilingual in a matter of months. So, in addition to film I am going to start blogging all things Quebec, mostly because Quebecois culture has fascinated me ever since I was crowned Duchess of my kindergarten class during our version of Winter Carnival (I went to a French Immersion school).
Of all the places we could be going, Montreal makes sense for a host of reasons:
- Allegedly they get more sun than Vancouver and being that I am affected by S.A.D., this seems like a good thing
- The arts seem to be better supported, both my the government and by the public
- The bars are open until 4 AM
- They will pay me to have a baby
- I have a better chance of running into Jean-Nicholas Verrault
- I already promised Jeremy Knox I would help him review at next year's Fantasia Festival
- I can already cook tourtiere, cretons, and tarte au sucre
- I really want to go to Carnival for my birthday and it's easier to drive there from Montreal
Wish me luck.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Movies I Watched Instead of Writing: Grindhouse
WARNING: CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS & WHINY RANTING
Being that I’ve been running a monthly series of trash film double bills, inspired by the festival circuit and the old grindhouse era, it was pretty much a requirement that I see this film. Or these films, as a couple of our buddies figured out after three hours on their butts.
Now, it would be pretty easy to sit back and be all jaded about this project. Let’s face it, Tarantino isn’t exactly known as Mr. Original and I’m slowly learning that I’m actually only a little bit behind him on the trendy curve. Rodriguez I’ve regarded as consistently fresher, but his insistence on doing everything himself had resulted in a couple of sloppy outings (Spy Kids 3D & Once Upon a Time in Mexico, I’m looking at you) recently. However, I really liked Grindhouse. It did everything I wanted it to, it played to the audience and it made going to the movies an event. Even the fake trailers in between the films were super fun. It’s a tribute to an era and it manages to take what each director loved about that era and craft it into something distinctly theirs.
In many ways I feel that Rodriguez was more successful than Tarantino in this endeavor. He wore his influences on his sleeve, with hard boiled characters and pitch-perfect acting. His offering, Planet Terror, clips along at the breakneck pace Rodriguez is known for, but he still has time to introduce us to a great array of oddball characters and somehow manages to build sympathy for them. It’s heavy on the gross-out, but has a ludicrously endearing love story. It’s filled with jaw dropping performances, from Jeff Fehey to Josh Brolin to especially Rose McGowan. Freddy Rodriguez is an unlikely but wholly convincing action star and Michael Parks kicks fucking ass.
Death Proof on the other hand, spends so much time smashing you over the head with the fact that it’s a “Quentin Tarantino Movie” that the mood he managed to create was sadly overshadowed for me. I say sadly because, (and this is probably one of the more embarrassing things I will ever admit to the internets,) the teenage me adored him to the point where I had actually constructed a Q.T. mini-shrine in my high-school agenda planner. The other thing that is sad about my reaction to the Quentin film is that because he played it straighter, instead of loading on the one-liners and gore, he had the opportunity to make a truly great piece of trash. But no, it became the “I-think-Austin-is-cool-I-know-lots-about-old-movies-and-TV-shows-oh-and-did-you-know-I-like-UK-garage-now-Quentin-fucking-Tarantino-show”. The car chase at the end did kick fucking ass, though.
Really, what it came down to for me were the characters. While Rodriguez did play it more tongue in cheek, he created characters you could root for, even if everything was painted so broadly you couldn’t really identify with anybody. The only person I wanted to identify with in Death Proof was Stuntman Mike, but his smug swagger disappeared halfway through the film and we were left with nothing but another group of self-involved girls. I don’t care if one group was the hunted and one was the hunters. Same loudmouthed pretentious bitches, different pile.
I want to say something here about misogyny, but I know I have to be very careful because accusing a film of being misogynist can be a very reactionary thing to do. When you are dealing with a film about a man who stalks and murders women, misogyny just kind of goes with the territory. The story wouldn’t work as well without the objectification and subjugation of women and trust me; I am the last person to go on a feminist rant about a movie like this. However, as ballsy as Mr. Tarantino wants to think he is, in Death Proof it felt half-assessed and irresponsible. I understand that by having a group of chicks turn the tables on the lady killer he was trying to excuse his earlier glamourization of brutality against women. This despite the fact that our “heroines” leave one of their own (albeit not a bright one) to get raped so that they can go out joyriding. Okay, so that might be a stretch. At no point is it made explicit that chicky-poo in the cheerleaders outfit is going to get raped. But if it had really been a grindhouse exploitation film, she would have been. That is my point.
My other point is that if you are going to have male stomping she-heroines, make them interesting. I’m talking Tura Satana style psycho-cool. While the decision to kill stuntman Mike was startling and rewarding for the audience, it really didn’t make a lick of sense. Especially when their friend is back at the farm house getting raped, something they seem to have invited. Or maybe Rosario Dawson’s character was supposed to be a sadistic bitch that uses her perky persona to goad her friends into devious acts. Or maybe they’re all stupid.
The thing is if you take out all of the annoying “Tarantino-isms” and half-hearted misogyny I probably would have liked Death Proof even more than Planet Fear. Too bad Tarantino is coasting on pop-culture references and borrowed cool to the point of self parody.
Which brings me to my other big complaint about the films: where were the boobies?! At least there were some in the trailers, but real exploitation has ‘splosions and T&A! Hollywood pussies.
Being that I’ve been running a monthly series of trash film double bills, inspired by the festival circuit and the old grindhouse era, it was pretty much a requirement that I see this film. Or these films, as a couple of our buddies figured out after three hours on their butts.
Now, it would be pretty easy to sit back and be all jaded about this project. Let’s face it, Tarantino isn’t exactly known as Mr. Original and I’m slowly learning that I’m actually only a little bit behind him on the trendy curve. Rodriguez I’ve regarded as consistently fresher, but his insistence on doing everything himself had resulted in a couple of sloppy outings (Spy Kids 3D & Once Upon a Time in Mexico, I’m looking at you) recently. However, I really liked Grindhouse. It did everything I wanted it to, it played to the audience and it made going to the movies an event. Even the fake trailers in between the films were super fun. It’s a tribute to an era and it manages to take what each director loved about that era and craft it into something distinctly theirs.
In many ways I feel that Rodriguez was more successful than Tarantino in this endeavor. He wore his influences on his sleeve, with hard boiled characters and pitch-perfect acting. His offering, Planet Terror, clips along at the breakneck pace Rodriguez is known for, but he still has time to introduce us to a great array of oddball characters and somehow manages to build sympathy for them. It’s heavy on the gross-out, but has a ludicrously endearing love story. It’s filled with jaw dropping performances, from Jeff Fehey to Josh Brolin to especially Rose McGowan. Freddy Rodriguez is an unlikely but wholly convincing action star and Michael Parks kicks fucking ass.
Death Proof on the other hand, spends so much time smashing you over the head with the fact that it’s a “Quentin Tarantino Movie” that the mood he managed to create was sadly overshadowed for me. I say sadly because, (and this is probably one of the more embarrassing things I will ever admit to the internets,) the teenage me adored him to the point where I had actually constructed a Q.T. mini-shrine in my high-school agenda planner. The other thing that is sad about my reaction to the Quentin film is that because he played it straighter, instead of loading on the one-liners and gore, he had the opportunity to make a truly great piece of trash. But no, it became the “I-think-Austin-is-cool-I-know-lots-about-old-movies-and-TV-shows-oh-and-did-you-know-I-like-UK-garage-now-Quentin-fucking-Tarantino-show”. The car chase at the end did kick fucking ass, though.
Really, what it came down to for me were the characters. While Rodriguez did play it more tongue in cheek, he created characters you could root for, even if everything was painted so broadly you couldn’t really identify with anybody. The only person I wanted to identify with in Death Proof was Stuntman Mike, but his smug swagger disappeared halfway through the film and we were left with nothing but another group of self-involved girls. I don’t care if one group was the hunted and one was the hunters. Same loudmouthed pretentious bitches, different pile.
I want to say something here about misogyny, but I know I have to be very careful because accusing a film of being misogynist can be a very reactionary thing to do. When you are dealing with a film about a man who stalks and murders women, misogyny just kind of goes with the territory. The story wouldn’t work as well without the objectification and subjugation of women and trust me; I am the last person to go on a feminist rant about a movie like this. However, as ballsy as Mr. Tarantino wants to think he is, in Death Proof it felt half-assessed and irresponsible. I understand that by having a group of chicks turn the tables on the lady killer he was trying to excuse his earlier glamourization of brutality against women. This despite the fact that our “heroines” leave one of their own (albeit not a bright one) to get raped so that they can go out joyriding. Okay, so that might be a stretch. At no point is it made explicit that chicky-poo in the cheerleaders outfit is going to get raped. But if it had really been a grindhouse exploitation film, she would have been. That is my point.
My other point is that if you are going to have male stomping she-heroines, make them interesting. I’m talking Tura Satana style psycho-cool. While the decision to kill stuntman Mike was startling and rewarding for the audience, it really didn’t make a lick of sense. Especially when their friend is back at the farm house getting raped, something they seem to have invited. Or maybe Rosario Dawson’s character was supposed to be a sadistic bitch that uses her perky persona to goad her friends into devious acts. Or maybe they’re all stupid.
The thing is if you take out all of the annoying “Tarantino-isms” and half-hearted misogyny I probably would have liked Death Proof even more than Planet Fear. Too bad Tarantino is coasting on pop-culture references and borrowed cool to the point of self parody.
Which brings me to my other big complaint about the films: where were the boobies?! At least there were some in the trailers, but real exploitation has ‘splosions and T&A! Hollywood pussies.
Monday, April 09, 2007
R.I.P. Bob Clark
I was saddened to learn this weekend of the passing of Bob Clark, director of the beloved Christmas Story, Porky's and one of my personal favourites, the original Black Christmas.
I had the honour of meeting Mr. Clark a couple of years ago when he participated in a panel discussion at Cinemuerte for the launch of a book on Canadian horror films from the "Tax Shelter" period. I had just seen Black Christmas and excitedly told him of my admiration for it. He was very gratious and struck me as a very genuine, optimistic man filled with passion for film and his upcoming projects.
While often cited as a Canadian director, Bob Clark had actually been born in Louisianna, but decided to settle in Toronto after shooting a movie there. Although not a native son, he considered himself an honorary Canadian and took great pride in his adoptive country.
My sympathies go out to his family and friends.
I had the honour of meeting Mr. Clark a couple of years ago when he participated in a panel discussion at Cinemuerte for the launch of a book on Canadian horror films from the "Tax Shelter" period. I had just seen Black Christmas and excitedly told him of my admiration for it. He was very gratious and struck me as a very genuine, optimistic man filled with passion for film and his upcoming projects.
While often cited as a Canadian director, Bob Clark had actually been born in Louisianna, but decided to settle in Toronto after shooting a movie there. Although not a native son, he considered himself an honorary Canadian and took great pride in his adoptive country.
My sympathies go out to his family and friends.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
EFS February Heads Up
Hey kids,
Before I depart for Sin City and a four day booze bender, I though I would give you a heads up on next month's EFS:
Evil Film School Presents: New York Sleazy
When: Friday, February 23rd
Two lost gems from the golden age of exploitation.
7:30pm - Telephone Book [1971]: Wacky comedy about one girl's quest to date the world's greatest obscene caller. Ahead of it's time.
9:15pm - Who Killed Teddy Bear [1965]: Post "Rebel" Sal Mineo is a creepy stalker with serious sexual hang-ups. First rate trash that's still creepy.
Doors: 7pm, Admission $5 - $10 Sliding scale
For more info: evilfilmschool@gmail.com or www.evilfilmschool.com
p.s. It's also my birthday that night, so get there early if you want birthday cake!
Before I depart for Sin City and a four day booze bender, I though I would give you a heads up on next month's EFS:
Evil Film School Presents: New York Sleazy
When: Friday, February 23rd
Two lost gems from the golden age of exploitation.
7:30pm - Telephone Book [1971]: Wacky comedy about one girl's quest to date the world's greatest obscene caller. Ahead of it's time.
9:15pm - Who Killed Teddy Bear [1965]: Post "Rebel" Sal Mineo is a creepy stalker with serious sexual hang-ups. First rate trash that's still creepy.
Doors: 7pm, Admission $5 - $10 Sliding scale
For more info: evilfilmschool@gmail.com or www.evilfilmschool.com
p.s. It's also my birthday that night, so get there early if you want birthday cake!
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Evil Film School: Not This Friday!
Hey Kids,
So, because I am a goof, I did not realize that Blim had actually scheduled Evil Film School for Thursday November 30th, not the 24th as I had been advertising.
DO NOT GO TO BLIM THIS FRIDAY!!
Turkish Wizard of Oz will be happening on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30th.
A big huge apology to anyone this might inconvenience.
Thank you,
~meeko
So, because I am a goof, I did not realize that Blim had actually scheduled Evil Film School for Thursday November 30th, not the 24th as I had been advertising.
DO NOT GO TO BLIM THIS FRIDAY!!
Turkish Wizard of Oz will be happening on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30th.
A big huge apology to anyone this might inconvenience.
Thank you,
~meeko
Thursday, November 09, 2006
How I Spent My Summer Vacation (and Most of the Fall): A Return to Blogging
This post is meant partly as an explanation and mostly as a round-up of relevant stuff I've neglected to post about in the last few months. First, let me just say that my life has been rather rocky recently, and instead of boring all of you with my emotional travails, I opted to just keep it to myself.
So here, in bullet form, is what I was up to:
Moved - Moved into my first solo apartment. It is huge. I was hoping to post some pictures, but my digital camera got busted before I could do so. I still need to paint and work on getting a couple more chairs for the kitchen & a few more pieces of wall art, but in general it really does feel like home. The only downside so far was the one time I was propositioned on the the way to work (bearing in mind that I leave for work at 5:30am, more on that later). Other than that, the neighborhood rocks. Everything is within walking distance, from markets, to doctors to drugstores and butchers. People are generally unpretentious and I'm close enough to The Drive to conveniently go for a nice dinner or brunch and far enough away to avoid most of the hippies.
Found a New Job - So, shortly after I moved into my new apartment (read: my rent just doubled), the company I was writing Anime Scripts for failed to get me a translation script in time for me to work on and invoice for a script, meaning I didn't get paid that week. Realizing that this was no way to live and that I was beginning to tire of working from home (not to mention Shojo in general), I decided that it was time to find a real job. After some frustration, I was suddenly confronted with two promising offers, one in the film field with room to move, and one in sales with the possibility of travel to New York. Since the sales position was a lock and likely paid better than the other job, I went with it. However, because I work a territory in Eastern US, I have to start work at 6am. To say that this has been an adjustment, is an understatement. My karaoke appearances are sporadic at best and I have given up entirely on going out Friday nights. In fact, the last time I was invited out on a Friday at 8:45pm I actually thought to myself "Good god, who would want to go out so late?!" Luckily everyone I work with is very nice and we all get along very well. It is a small company (>20 people), so it is cozy and comfortable, but owned by a larger company, which means good benefits. I don't plan on spending more than a couple years here, but by that point I should have paid off most of my debt and saved sufficiently for my next adventure. While sales isn't my first choice of jobs, the industry and my position require enough crossover skills with my dream career that it seems like the right place to be right now. Plus, I have the potential to make mad cash for a change.
Went to the Seattle Film Festival -- Had a very good time, made a pilgrimage to Scarecrow, saw A Scanner Darkly & Strangers with Candy. Got to hang with Xian & MiuMiu. Scanner's probably still my favourite film so far this year, but there's a lot I haven't seen yet. Strangers was funny, but didn't really add anything new. The Dan Hadeya cameo was cute.
Made my Burlesque Debut -- In the spirit of trying new things and broadening my horizons I took the Femme Factory Burlesque workshop. I did the 5 week course which includes an opportunity to appear on stage. Between moving, finding a job & trying to get my scripts done, I basically had one week to choreograph my routine and build my costume. Runthrough with my instructor did not go well (I was unprepared) & I found out that she'd done a routine to the same song a couple of weeks prior. Eek! Stressed out terribly and swore up and down that I would do it this once and then never again since I "just don't have the time". The actual event went marvelously. The crowd was very responsive and multiple people complemented me on my enthusiasm. Pics are available on Flickr here. Photos of my finale are available to friends via email request. Oh, and because I know Theron will want to know, my routine was to SCOTS's cover of "House of Bamboo".
Hosted a Bunch of EFS Nights -- All well attended, with one notable exception. Put together a Halloween shorts program which went over very well, although I was a little disappointed at the small number of local submissions I received. I'm starting to get media inquiries and attendance is becoming more consistent. Yeah me.
Watched Lots of Movies -- Capsule reviews to be posted shortly.
Trying to Improve My French -- There are multiple reasons for this one, but I'm not ready to comment on most of them yet. Mostly it's the fact that I've been learning it since I was 3 years old and I still don't feel comfortable using it at work. Not that I have to use it that often, but it'd be a nice thing to include on my resume & would help with a couple of projects I'd like to start.
So there it is, in a nutshell. I do plan on posting more regularly & will be expanding my reviews to include restaurants because it was brought to my attention recently that I am a foodie. If you give two craps, I would ask you to leave a comment. However, I seem to have deleted that function. Please email me if you are more proficient at HTML than I.
Thanks,
~meeko
So here, in bullet form, is what I was up to:
Moved - Moved into my first solo apartment. It is huge. I was hoping to post some pictures, but my digital camera got busted before I could do so. I still need to paint and work on getting a couple more chairs for the kitchen & a few more pieces of wall art, but in general it really does feel like home. The only downside so far was the one time I was propositioned on the the way to work (bearing in mind that I leave for work at 5:30am, more on that later). Other than that, the neighborhood rocks. Everything is within walking distance, from markets, to doctors to drugstores and butchers. People are generally unpretentious and I'm close enough to The Drive to conveniently go for a nice dinner or brunch and far enough away to avoid most of the hippies.
Found a New Job - So, shortly after I moved into my new apartment (read: my rent just doubled), the company I was writing Anime Scripts for failed to get me a translation script in time for me to work on and invoice for a script, meaning I didn't get paid that week. Realizing that this was no way to live and that I was beginning to tire of working from home (not to mention Shojo in general), I decided that it was time to find a real job. After some frustration, I was suddenly confronted with two promising offers, one in the film field with room to move, and one in sales with the possibility of travel to New York. Since the sales position was a lock and likely paid better than the other job, I went with it. However, because I work a territory in Eastern US, I have to start work at 6am. To say that this has been an adjustment, is an understatement. My karaoke appearances are sporadic at best and I have given up entirely on going out Friday nights. In fact, the last time I was invited out on a Friday at 8:45pm I actually thought to myself "Good god, who would want to go out so late?!" Luckily everyone I work with is very nice and we all get along very well. It is a small company (>20 people), so it is cozy and comfortable, but owned by a larger company, which means good benefits. I don't plan on spending more than a couple years here, but by that point I should have paid off most of my debt and saved sufficiently for my next adventure. While sales isn't my first choice of jobs, the industry and my position require enough crossover skills with my dream career that it seems like the right place to be right now. Plus, I have the potential to make mad cash for a change.
Went to the Seattle Film Festival -- Had a very good time, made a pilgrimage to Scarecrow, saw A Scanner Darkly & Strangers with Candy. Got to hang with Xian & MiuMiu. Scanner's probably still my favourite film so far this year, but there's a lot I haven't seen yet. Strangers was funny, but didn't really add anything new. The Dan Hadeya cameo was cute.
Made my Burlesque Debut -- In the spirit of trying new things and broadening my horizons I took the Femme Factory Burlesque workshop. I did the 5 week course which includes an opportunity to appear on stage. Between moving, finding a job & trying to get my scripts done, I basically had one week to choreograph my routine and build my costume. Runthrough with my instructor did not go well (I was unprepared) & I found out that she'd done a routine to the same song a couple of weeks prior. Eek! Stressed out terribly and swore up and down that I would do it this once and then never again since I "just don't have the time". The actual event went marvelously. The crowd was very responsive and multiple people complemented me on my enthusiasm. Pics are available on Flickr here. Photos of my finale are available to friends via email request. Oh, and because I know Theron will want to know, my routine was to SCOTS's cover of "House of Bamboo".
Hosted a Bunch of EFS Nights -- All well attended, with one notable exception. Put together a Halloween shorts program which went over very well, although I was a little disappointed at the small number of local submissions I received. I'm starting to get media inquiries and attendance is becoming more consistent. Yeah me.
Watched Lots of Movies -- Capsule reviews to be posted shortly.
Trying to Improve My French -- There are multiple reasons for this one, but I'm not ready to comment on most of them yet. Mostly it's the fact that I've been learning it since I was 3 years old and I still don't feel comfortable using it at work. Not that I have to use it that often, but it'd be a nice thing to include on my resume & would help with a couple of projects I'd like to start.
So there it is, in a nutshell. I do plan on posting more regularly & will be expanding my reviews to include restaurants because it was brought to my attention recently that I am a foodie. If you give two craps, I would ask you to leave a comment. However, I seem to have deleted that function. Please email me if you are more proficient at HTML than I.
Thanks,
~meeko
Monday, October 16, 2006
Monster Mash - Oct 27th!
Hey Kids!
Have Halloween weekend plans yet? Well, now you do!
What - Evil Film School's First Annual Monster Mash
When - Friday Oct 27th
Doors - 7pm
Admission - $5 - $10 sliding scale
It's a Halloween Party with a horror shorts program, costume contest (with AWESOME) prizes and of course, the main attraction: The Monster Squad [1987]. Directed by Fred Dekker (House, Night of the Creeps) and written by Shane Black (Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang; Leathal Weapon), this is sure to be a major nostalgia fest for many of our regulars.
Remember, costumes are manditory, and if you don't have your own, one may be provided for you.
Shorts start at 7:30pm, costume contest stars at 8:30pm and The Monster Squad will be on around 9pm. Bring your friends!!
Prizes provided by Fright Rags and Happy Bats Cinema! Thanks guys!
Have Halloween weekend plans yet? Well, now you do!
What - Evil Film School's First Annual Monster Mash
When - Friday Oct 27th
Doors - 7pm
Admission - $5 - $10 sliding scale
It's a Halloween Party with a horror shorts program, costume contest (with AWESOME) prizes and of course, the main attraction: The Monster Squad [1987]. Directed by Fred Dekker (House, Night of the Creeps) and written by Shane Black (Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang; Leathal Weapon), this is sure to be a major nostalgia fest for many of our regulars.
Remember, costumes are manditory, and if you don't have your own, one may be provided for you.
Shorts start at 7:30pm, costume contest stars at 8:30pm and The Monster Squad will be on around 9pm. Bring your friends!!
Prizes provided by Fright Rags and Happy Bats Cinema! Thanks guys!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Blaxploitation Rarities - Sept 29th!
Hey Everybody,
Just a quick reminder that the next Evil Film School is less than 2 weeks away!
Evil Film School Presents: Blaxploitation Rarities
When: Friday, Sept. 29th
Doors: 7pm
Admission $5 - $10 (Sliding Scale)
For more info, email evilfilmschool@gmail. com
Hope to see you there,
~Mariko
p.s. I'm still accepting submissions for our Halloween Monster Mash. Email me for more info.
Just a quick reminder that the next Evil Film School is less than 2 weeks away!
Evil Film School Presents: Blaxploitation Rarities
When: Friday, Sept. 29th
Doors: 7pm
Admission $5 - $10 (Sliding Scale)
For more info, email evilfilmschool@gmail. com
Hope to see you there,
~Mariko
p.s. I'm still accepting submissions for our Halloween Monster Mash. Email me for more info.
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