On Camera
|
Not His Mother’s Winnipeg |
 |
 |
 |
|
Written by Janis Hashe
|
|
Wednesday, 15 October 2008 19:30 |
Canadian director Guy Maddin takes on his hometown in My Winnipeg
 That kooky Canadian, Guy Maddin (The Saddest Music in the World), is back with another moc-doc-fantasy-surreal thing, this time supposedly about his boyhood home and current residence, Winnipeg.
Unless you are a fan of avant-garde films, you may never have heard of Maddin, but he’s been making movies since the ’80s, and has a large following among independent film folks.
He’s often called “the Canadian David Lynch,” and many bios of him cite as a seminal childhood moment “a piggy-back ride from Bing Crosby,” but, as with the scenarios of his films, distinguishing fact from fiction is part of the journey.
Opening this Friday at the Bijou as part of the Arts & Education Council’s Independent Film Series, My Winnipeg is in Maddin’s signature black-and-white, with the silent-filmesque inter-titles and “We were big!” style of acting.
Supposedly drawn from episodes in his boyhood, the film’s mood is set by Maddin’s voiceover at the beginning, as he dramatically insists, “I must leave,” but of course, never does. The “Maddin” character is played by an actor, and though we are told the character of his mother is actually played by his mother, that’s also untrue.
Maddin intersperses actual facts and history about Winnipeg with information that he simply makes up—for example, Winnipeg does not have ten times the sleepwalking rate of any other city in the world.
The director also invents a ’60s TV show called Ledge Man, in which the title character threatens to hurl himself from a different high-rise each week.
In other words, if you like immersing yourself in someone’s off-kilter, ironic and frequently hilarious imagination, your destination this weekend should be My Winnipeg. |
|
|
Unmasking Mobile’s Mardi Gras |
|
|
|
|
Written by Janis Hashe
|
|
Thursday, 25 September 2008 19:42 |
The Order of Myths subtly probes a city’s racial divide
The film that was called ‘the documentary that left the strongest impression from Sundance” comes to the Bijou this Friday as part of the Arts & Education Council’s Independent Film Series.
As winter turns to spring, Mobile buzzes and flutters with the floats, parades, masquerade balls, and secret mystic societies of Mardi Gras. In Mobile, this time-honored ritual has always been racially segregated and continues to be so today.
The film’s materials describe it this way: “Taking a wonderfully restrained, observational approach that allows viewers to draw their own conclusions, Brown unveils the vibrant pageantry under way as ornate masks are donned, luminous gowns fitted, bejeweled trains painstakingly stitched, and the king and queen of each royal court trotted out at public appearances, parties, and coronations—within their distinct black and white realms, that is.
|
|
Written by Janis Hashe
|
|
Wednesday, 17 September 2008 19:16 |
Petit’s 1974 walk between the Twin Towers makes riveting film
 The 2008 Sundance Film Festival winner of the Audience Award & Grand Jury Prize for World Documentary was Man on Wire, the extraordinary film about Phillipe Petit’s August 7, 1974 walk between New York’s Twin Towers. Completely illegal, the wirewalk was a daring act of love—and a quest—for the young Frenchman. Petit went on to do many more walks, such as 1989’s Tour et Fil in Paris on an inclined 700-meter cable, linking the Palais de Chaillot with the second story of the Eiffel Tower.
Chattanoogans will get an opportunity to see behind the scenes of what has been called “the artistic crime of the century” when Man on Wire opens Friday as part of the Arts & Education Council’s Independent Film Series.
|
|
Stop The Remake! Save The Lips! |
|
|
|
|
Written by Kelly Lockhart
|
|
Wednesday, 27 August 2008 20:21 |
Does the world really need a new Rocky Horror Picture Show?
 Since 1975, an adolescent rite of passage has been the first trip to a midnight showing of camp classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Armed with squirt guns, confetti, and various items of clothing more generally suited for the privacy of the bedroom, throngs of teenagers and young adults have made group viewings of the science-fiction musical a must-see event.
Which is why the news from MTV Studios of a planned remake of the film has been met with a mixture of disbelief and outrage. Writer and co-star of the original film Richard O’Brien has publicly expressed his obvious displeasure with the news, telling the BBC that he was not involved with the project in any way.
“I have no view on whether it should be remade, but it doesn’t have my blessing,” he sniffed.
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 27 August 2008 20:28 )
|
|
Written by Janis Hashe
|
|
Wednesday, 20 August 2008 22:21 |
Independent filmaker casting new movie
Maybe you oughta be in movies. If so, has local filmmaker Jarrod Whaley got an opportunity for you.
The
producer/director of a number of documentaries, including the recent
Passion Flower, showing dancer Ann Law’s journey back from breast
cancer, as well as experimental films such as The Amaranth and the
silent Telesthesia, is segueing into feature films with his newest
project, Hell Is Other People.
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 August 2008 13:13 )
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
