Summertime = Blockbusters

So there's not much in the way of Canadian fare playing at the theatres right now (at least in Calgary). I've been meaning to watch Snow Cake for a future review, but I had other films to get out of my system first (i.e. showing my girlfriend how the Blade trilogy is silly fun--and no, I don't lose my film cred for that. I'm not a complete snob.). I like what I saw in the trailer for Snow Cake, especially a scene where Alan Rickman says, "I'm going to Winnipeg." Like Mr. Rickman would ever make a winter trek to the 'Peg in a car!

It's not film-related, but I'm particularly excited that the third and final season of Slings and Arrows arrives on DVD on July 3. This wonderful comedy series deals with the ecstasies and miseries of running a nationally-renown theatre festival and features many excellent Canadian film actors like Paul Gross, Colm Feore, Mark McKinney, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Polley and the always-great Don McKellar as an eccentric theatre director. Perhaps I shall expand the scope of this blog to include worthy Canadian televison fare, hmm...

You'd be amazed how vital drinking several Rock Star Vodka and Pomegranates can be to the movie-viewing process. Were it not for those tasty beverages, I would have suffered immeasurably through a complete viewing of Peyton Reed's treatise on cheerleading choreography, Bring It On. Wow, Kirsten Dunst is really bad here, but with alcohol, all is forgiven. And what's with Eliza Dushku's permanent-wet-hair-meets-dreadlocks look? At least Jesse Bradford's mugging reminds me of a much-younger version of Don McKellar and that's good enough for a CanCon reference. Just one of those nights where you just can't be bothered to watch something worthwhile.

DVD Alert!

Because Alliance Atlantis, Canada's biggest film distributor, doesn't like to make much noise about upcoming DVD releases, I always have to do a lot of online searching for release dates. Reg Harkema's Monkey Warfare is listed on amazon.ca for a June 26 release and Gary Burns' quasi-documentary Radiant City is slated for August 7. Of course A. A. charges nearly-Criterion prices for Canadian films (and without Criterion's sumptuous supplementary features), so pre-order online while you can at the discounted prices. It's difficult to find a lot of Canadian films on DVD at Future Shop or Best Buy, so buying online is often the only option, sigh.

Review: The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico

I know I shouldn't admit this, but I've never seen the most revered mockumentary film ever, This Is Spinal Tap. Yes, I should be raked over coals, bludgeoned with a blunt instrument and doused in tar and feathers. Before you accost me, I have seen the recent mockumentaries by Spinal Tap's Christopher Guest and I think the Canadian entry,The Delicate Art of Parking, is fun. Hell, Trailer Park Boys is a hilarious subversion of the mockumentary format.

Having said that, I'm here to recommend another Canadian mockumentary, Michael Mabbott's The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico. Mabbott assembles a cast of actors and real people to discuss the titular character's turbulent life and times. Home movies of 70s country rocker Guy Terrifico (Canadian indie rocker Matt Murphy) are interspersed with interviews of his friends and family. Terrifico was an up-and-coming Alberta country rocker who won the lottery, bought a honky tonk in Toronto and created a booze-and-drug fuelled notoriety in Nashville until his suspicious death. Even real-life country legends like Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson offer their opinions of the tragic country-star wannabe.

While it's not a riotous romp, Guy Terrifico is a funny depiction of a completely fucked-up singer. Matt Murphy may not say much, but his drunken ramblings and slapstick buffoonery as Terrifico are admirable, especially for a character who's best known for simulating sex with a drum kit. A particularly memorable scene has Terrifico and his band appear on a fictional family country music variety show, with hilarious drunken results. There are wry nods to classic Canadiana (stubbies, old dollar bills) and the appearances alone of Haggard and Kristofferson legitimize the picture. Haggard's recollections of Guy are some of the best scenes in the film and the footage from the 1970 Country Music Awards with a confused Kristofferson is the best scene in the film. The Band's Levon Helm, Ronnie Hawkins, Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy and even a cameo by George Stroumboulopoulos also help create the aura of a 70s legend.

Like in many mockumentaries, there are pacing problems to be found in Guy Terrifico and there are periods in the film when even the fictional talking heads become tiresome. Real-life Gram Parsons manager Phil Kaufman manages to keep things lively when Haggard and Kristofferson aren't on screen, but the actors playing Terrifico's wife and band mates don't have a lot of material to make a presence. Particularly annoying is the backup singer character who spouts the F-bomb every third word--she pops up quite a bit, but her character is neither interesting nor does she add anything to Guy's back story.

The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico wouldn't likely work without the participation of Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson, so it's a credit to Michael Mabbott's powers of persuasion that they energize the film. Mabbott and Murphy's country rock songs add further credibility to Guy's legacy and bolster an amusing and worthwhile story of a Canadian kid who kind of made it big in Nashville. And isn't that typically Canadian?

Review: Monkey Warfare, or Guerrilla My Dreams

One of the arguments people make against Canadian films is the lack of a sizeable budget to entice potential moviegoers. There are those who feel low-budget films look cheap and amateurish, but they obviously haven't been watching Canadian films lately, because I can't recall another point in time when Canadian filmmakers have compensated for string-shoe budgets with innovation and imagination. Reg Harkema's Monkey Warfare is the latest budget-challenged Canadian film that gives viewers more than enough visual stimuli for an engaging viewing experience.

Harkema takes a $30,000 budget and creates a thoughtful and very funny account of a radical couple who are keeping a very low profile in the Toronto suburb of Parkdale. Political activists Dan and Linda (played superbly low key by real-life couple Don McKellar and Tracy Wright) spend their days going to garage sales and looking through people's garbage, seeking out abandoned knick-knacks that they can sell online to keep themselves in pot. When their pot dealer is arrested, Dan encounters Susan, a young woman from Calgary, who happens to be a dealer of primo B.C. bud. Susan is quickly integrated in both Dan and Susan's lives and begins to plan her own revolutionary tactics, Molotov cocktails included.

To say anything more about the plot would be giving too much away, but at a brisk 75 minutes, Monkey Warfare is a cynical and exciting film that is unapologetic with its reverence for all things Jean-Luc Godard, starting with the opening credits: "A Masculin Féminin production", to the on-screen text that accompanies a hilarious and sexy women-on-bicycles montage. When Dan discusses revolutionaries like the Black Panthers with Susan, Harkema jumps to a flurry of still images complete with raucous and brilliant song choices. Songs from bands like the Refused, Fugs, Comets on Fire and Sun Ra help fuel the revolutionary cause. I love the grainy low-grade film stock because it compliments the static, weary life Dan and Linda have grown accustomed to in the past fifteen years.

What's equally exciting about Monkey Warfare is that Harkema, though cynical, doesn't give the audience a clear statement about radical politics. While in many ways the film mocks Dan and Linda for their passive existence after living life as revolutionaries, it also gives credence to the futility revolutionary tactics can be in the contemporary world. When Dan and Linda lecture Susan about what it means to be radical, there's a certain logic that even revolutionaries need to grow up. Of course I also believe Harkema uses Dan and Linda as a metaphor for what all the hippies did with their really big ideas and became stock brokers and TV network executives. If flower power is dead, as the film's poster suggests, wouldn't that mean revolutionary power is just as corruptible?

I can't see Monkey Warfare as an American feature. Could you imagine any studios bidding for a self-financed film about a revolutionary couple? A little too edgy for the Fox Searchlight "indie" boutique, methinks. Thankfully it took the genius and ingenuity of Reg Harkema to assemble a stellar cast and play with several sides of guerrilla politicking to create a truly memorable and subversive comedy. Now about those Molotov cocktails....