JOURNAL

The trailer for one of the most highly anticipated comic book (sorry, 'Graphic Novel') adaptations of all time has just hit online. I am a fan of the book, but have been trying to avoid reading/seeing too much on Zack Snyder's film which wrapped not all that long ago in Vancouver, BC. Be interesting to see how they pull it off, as the book by Alan Moore, was presented in 12 chapters and is a fairly massive undertaking. Instead of working, like I'm supposed to be... go watch the trailer and read the hype at EW. Cheers.

Opening in Canada today is Martin Gero's Young People F*cking, a sharply written comedy which follows 4 couples and one threesome through a single night of passion. I caught a preview of the film last week and laughed my ass off. As you might expect by it's title, it is not overly deep and the sex is actually quite tame, but I encourage you to drop your 12 bucks on this homegrown debut by Gero and company. Support Canadian cinema not simply because you are guilted into it, but because it's pretty good. And it's entire budget was likely about one hundredth of the Incredible Hulk or Sex and the City's marketing costs alone. Sometimes that's just what we're known for: Doing a lot with very little. A bonus when we do it really well.

The incredibly busy Miss Anita Athavale continues to rock the universe. Fresh off recent gigs in Los Angeles, New York City and the '08 JunoFest, she is off again, this time in Toronto for the upcoming NXNE fest in mid-June. Anita will be playing the Rivoli on Queen St W. on Friday June 13th. She has also been all the buzz in a variety of publications, most recently featured in Calgary's Avenue magazine. And, of course, you can check out the full video for Anita's "South Pacific", produced and directed by yours truly, on YouTube.

I stumbled upon this recently and thought I would share. Authors Aloud is an online resource of short audio readings by Canadian authors. They feature a plethora of great writers, all of whom are accomplished talents with books published by Canadian publishing houses. Go and check it out by starting with John Gould's reading of the short story "Crunch" here.

In Translation, the final film of the kilter trilogy, based on stories from John Gould's kilter: 55 fictions, shot last weekend in a furious and action packed single day on a set built up at the MTM soundstage in North East Calgary. Endless thanks go out to many fine individuals, but mostly the wonderful cast and amazing crew who helped bring this unconventional narrative to life. The film now enters the post production phase with superstar picture editor Ken Filewych, composer Alec Harrison and the brilliant Six Degrees sound design and engineering team headed by Dan McManus and John Iaquinta. Stay tuned for more...

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Somehow it is the end of the year and time again for reviews of films, books and the state of the universe. I had hoped to get a little teaser for ClimaXXX posted, but we're just entering the sound post phase and I've unfortunately had little or no extra time to lend to the project. Will endeavour to get something up early in the new year. For now... just links. Cheers.
The U.S. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures list.
Canada's Top Ten (as chosen by the Toronto International Film Festival Group)... congrats to Cam Christiansen
New York Film Critics Circle best of the year.
LA Film Critics best of the year.
Time Magazine's 50 Top 10 lists of '07.

The 2007 Edmonton International Film Festival recently posted some pictures from this year's edition. Thought I'd share a few. Above is the Q & A following the evening screening of all Canadian Shorts on Friday October 5th, 2007 at the Princess Theatre II in Edmonton, AB.
Speaking at the 1st ever Bring A Filmmaker to School panel, left to right: Mark Montefiore, Me, Karen Hines & Trevor Anderson.


With Jasper Place High School film studies Teacher Brad Smilanich.

Accepting the award for Best Alberta Short Film from Michael Hamm of Frame 30 Productions (my son stealing the show).

For more pictures and updates please visit the Edmonton International Film Festival. *All images courtesy of the Edmonton International Film Festival.