JOURNAL

Just read that filmmaker Robert Altman passed away yesterday.

Filmmaker Magazine Spring 2006.

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His Filmography at IMDB.

... thanks for all the good stuff, sir.

I've been chewing up a fair bit of Canadian fiction this year. Some on and some off the Can-lit track. Mostly short story collections. Good news is that there is certainly no shortage of wonderfully talented writers in this country, but, like everyone, my time is far too limited - and well... my taste is perhaps - a little south of mainstream. With that thought in mind, I share some of my favourites over the past year (or so) and officially encourage you to turn off the dvd player once in awhile.

Let's Not Let a Little Thing Like the End of the World Come Between Us, by James Marshall (Thistledown), Jessica Grant's, Making Light of Tragedy (Porcupine's Quill) and Kissing the Damned, by Mark Foss (Oberon) are right at the top of the list. Obviously, I'm a big fan of the brilliant Kilter: 55 fictions by John Gould (Turnstone). My latest film, The Perfection of the Moment, was adapted from the story of the same name contained within this marvelous assemblage of flash fiction. Craig Davidson's Rust and Bone is also delectable read. He has also recently released a new novel The Fighter. Read his interview with the Torontoist here.

Like most writers, I am a HUGE fan of the Public Library. So, eventhough I've linked the NW Passages site above, ALL of the titles listed here will be available through you're local library.

Now get on it.

Sorting through a ridiculous amount of data as of late. Hmm... HD video takes up a hell of a lot of drive space. Text... not so much, thank goodness. Stumbled upon word file backups of my early days of blogging, during which time I climbed my first feature film mountain. Still available for your reading pleasure on the defining edward Director's Rant Archive.
Here's a taste: From Thursday, June 26, 2003

TOP TEN LEAST FAVOURITE MOVIE PHRASES HEARD DURING NIGHT SHOOTING:

10. "We've just added a scene"
9. "I'm not sure how we're going to do this..."
8. "I think the hot chocolate is empty"
7. "So, here's what we need for splinter unit..."
6. "We're going to bring out burgers so we can keep working"
5. "Your gear is in shot"
4. "They couldn't reach it, so we just had them cut it off"
3. "You have to offload this truck now"
2. "I need... I want... Get me... Make me"
1. "Going again"

Discovered two trailers of interest. The first is for the UK horror/comedy Severance which played this year at the Toronto Film Fest. Also check out the super low buck digital indie I. BOY by Canadian Ayz Waraich. Thanks to Todd and Mack at Twitch for the goods.

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The folks at the CSIF have posted a pdf of the fall issue of Answer Print. Chock full o' good stuff, but be sure to check out Amy Darling's article on Distributing your short film (pg.4) as well as a review of Panasonic's HVX-200 camera by your truly (pg.9).