Thursday, March 29, 2012
Battleship Potemkin screens with live music
Sergei Eisenstein's classic to show at King's on Saturday
Posted by Carsten Knox on Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 1:34 PM
On Saturday, March 31 at 7pm at Alumni Hall at The University of King's College (6350 Coburg Road), Battleship Potemkin will be screened.
It's hard to underestimate the influence of this 1925 Russian picture. Directed by 27-year-old Sergei Eisenstein, a retelling of a naval mutiny and the resulting street demonstration, the film's grand visual scope and groundbreaking editing techniques taught a whole new language to filmmakers worldwide. And if you've seen Brian De Palma's The Untouchables or Terry Gilliam's Brazil, you owe it to yourself to check out the famous Odessa Steps sequence in Battleship Potemkin.
Following the success of a screening of Metropolis last year, Battleship Potemkin will be shown accompanied by live music, performed by Lukas Pearse, Tim Crofts, Geordie Haley and Douglas Cameron. There will be a $5 suggested donation at the door.
Here's the trailer:
The screening marks the launch of the Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival, running April 10-14, and is presented by the University of King’s College History of Science and Technology Society, Foreign Film Society, and History of Science and Technology program, as well as the Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival and the Situating Science Strategic Knowledge Cluster. A small reception will follow the screening.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Shooting FILM 5 2012 goes to camera
AFCOOP's short film program rolls film (or digital, as the case may be)
Posted by Carsten Knox on Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 1:21 PM
Four short films are slated for production through the Atlantic Filmmakers Co-op's FILM 5 training program. The first, Irene, started shooting this past weekend.
As usual, the subject matter for the films varies widely.
Irene is a drama about a call girl who discovers a lump in her breast. Or rather, it's her client who does the discovering. The film is a collaboration by Kitten filmmakers Vicki Donkin (writer/director) and Colin Tanner (producer).
Matt MacIsaac and Mike Hall begin production in April of their short, 210 Please Repeat, about an alcoholic taxi driver.
Third on the slate is the horror comedy Torturous, by producer Brent MacRae and writer/director Angus Swantee. Expect gore and laughs in equal amounts, in the tradition of local films like Treevenge and Blood Shed.
And last (but not least) is Lucky, a film about street kids, from producer Jenn Millington and writer/director Josh Denaro.
AFCOOPs FILM 5 Program, in partnership with Film Nova Scotia and Telefilm Canada, provides mentorship, resources, and financing for the production of four original scripts by emerging Nova Scotia writers every year. And, very often, the completed shorts are screened at the Atlantic Film Festival in the fall. Look for Irene, 210 Please Repeat, Torturous and Lucky there in September.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Ann MacKenzie to step down as CEO of Film Nova Scotia
Carolyn Horton will act as interim CEO
Posted by Carsten Knox on Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 4:00 PM
After 14 years, Ann MacKenzie is moving on from the job as CEO of Film Nova Scotia. Her final day will be Friday, March 30. Carolyn Horton, director of finance for Film Nova Scotia, will act as interim CEO.
News of MacKenzie's departure is bound to be greeted with a mixed response. While she can take credit for having helped usher recent boom periods in the local film and TV business, I'd run out of fingers if I tried to count the number of times I've spoken to local filmmakers, producers and union reps who've told me (off the record, of course) of their frustration with the operations of Film NS. But no one wants to openly criticize the hands that hold the purse strings, right? And so it goes with the province and the cultural industries.
On the subject of her replacement, I could suggest a few qualified candidates with experience in the biz, something that would really benefit Film Nova Scotia. I wonder what Gregor Ash is up to these days...
Friday, March 16, 2012
Atlantic Film Festival Halifax films jump out at international film fests
Cloudburst continues to reign, Charlie Zone gets into it
Posted by Carsten Knox on Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 3:17 PM
Opening The Canadian Film Festival in Toronto is Cloudburst, Thom Fitzgerald's tale of road-tripping ladies heading to Nova Scotia to get married. The film has been winning awards at film festivals locally and internationally---it took the Audience Award at the 2011 Atlantic Film Festival---and continues to show at places like BFI's Lesbian and Gay Film Fest, The Melbourne Queer Film Festival and the Omaha Film Festival. If you're in TO and want to see it, it screens on Wednesday, March 28 at 8pm. Tickets are at ticketweb.ca.
Meanwhile, another AFF veteran (where it won four awards) is getting in front of fest eyeballs. Michael Melski's Charlie Zone screens on April 13 at the Reelworld Film Festival in Toronto, a festival for multi-racial films produced in Canada and abroad. Following will be the film's European premiere at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, which will be followed by its US premiere at Worldfest Houston, a fest devoted completely to independent films.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
New Work in Progress blog from Eva Madden-Hagen
AFCOOP Filmmaker in Residence reveals POSE
Posted by Carsten Knox on Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 4:00 AM
Eva Madden-Hagen is one of the Work In Progress bloggers here at The Coast.ca, and she has just put up a new post about her new experimental film POSE. Click here to read it.
Madden-Hagen will give the final workshop in her AFCOOP Filmmaker in Residence series this Thursday, March 15, 7pm at The Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative, 5663 Cornwallis Street.
In this special presentation, entitled RAW SOUNDS, Madden-Hagen will share her extensive knowledge of sound design for film. This workshop will focus on designing sound for experimental film in particular but also cover principles and aesthetics appropriate to filmmaking in general. Madden-Hagen’s ongoing residency film, POSE, will be used as a case study.
For more information, visit afcoop.ca.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Festivals Call for submissions: OUTeast Queer Film Festival
Inaugural fest in June looking for content
Posted by Carsten Knox on Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 1:37 PM
OUTeast, Atlantic Canada’s Queer Film Festival, is accepting film submissions for the 2012 OUTeast Film Festival, happening in Halifax in June, with programming, schedule and venue details to come soon.
Here's the deets, from the press release:
"OUTeast is dedicated to presenting the very best in queer independent cinema from around the world to our community in Halifax. We are committed
to showcasing work that will challenge, educate, and unite our audiences, and to celebrating artistic excellence in the medium of film. To learn how to submit a film for consideration in the 2012 OUTeast Film Festival, download the entry guidelines and form at outeastfilm.com.
"Submissions may be fiction, documentary, animation or experimental of any length. We will accept films dealing with queer subject matter as well as those made by queer filmmakers. Only films completed no more than 18 months prior to the OUTeast Film Festival will be considered for admission. Preference will be given to submissions that have not been distributed theatrically or broadcast on television in the Atlantic region prior to the 2012 Festival.
"Deadline for all submissions is May 4, 2012."
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Festivals Game Jam 2012 commences!
A 48-hour gathering of videogame experts at the Hub
Posted by Carsten Knox on Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 11:15 AM
The Halifax Game Jam is a gathering of game developers, artists, musicians, hackers, graphic designers, system admins, comic book artists and good old-fashioned creative people for a weekend-long game-development event.
Game Jammers will converge at The Hub (1673 Barrington Street) on the evening of Friday March 2 where they’ll stay for 48 hours. Jammers will break off into pairs, quartets, or even sometimes in teams of a dozen or more, to produce fully functional games by Sunday evening.
Last year, the Halifax Game Jam saw nearly 100 participants come through the doors of The Hub. By the end of the weekend, 50 dedicated peons produced and demoed nine fantastical games. The Hub was transformed into an impressive multi-disciplinary creative workshop.
This year promises to be even more interesting, with representation from an even wider range of creative professionals, students, and game enthusiasts from Halifax and beyond.
Participation is free, no registration required. Snacks ‘n soda will be provided. Bring your own gear---there will be plenty of wifi, ethernet, and comfy tables for all. For more info, visit halifaxgamjam.com
On screens Land & Sea airs "Pirates and Privateers"
Maritime doc show provides regular local cultural and historic content
Posted by Carsten Knox on Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 11:03 AM
For those who don't know, CBC TV's Land & Sea is a half-hour documentary show running stories of Atlantic history and culture, running Sundays at noon. In the past months they've aired "The Last Sardine Outpost" about North America's only remaining sardine cannery in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick and "Rum Running," about prohibition-era run trade between Atlantic Canada and the French Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon.
This Sunday, March 4 at noon, Land & Sea will air "Pirates and Privateers," which introduces the viewer to several notorious pirates who pillaged Atlantic Canada and looks into the practise of privateering. The story "recalls the blunderbuss, the cutlass, evil deeds, and supposed buried treasure," according to the press release.
If you can't watch the show on Sunday, go to cbc.ca/landandsea after the broadcast time to see the doc and other recent programs available to be watched at your convenience.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
On screens Screening of The Music Never Stopped for Atlantic Association for Music Therapy
Sundance feature gets first Canadian screening
Posted by Carsten Knox on Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 4:00 AM
To celebrate Music Therapy Month, the Atlantic Association for Music Therapy is holding screening The Music Never Stopped, directed by Jim Kohlberg. The screening happens 10am, Saturday March 3 at the Oxford Theatre (6408 Quinpool Road), followed by a Q&A. $10/$6 for students.
The Music Never Stopped is set in the mid-1980s, telling a story based on a case study called "The Last Hippie" by Oliver Sacks, about Gabriel (Lou Taylor Pucci), who has been almost two-decades estranged from his father Henry (JK Simmons) and mother Helen (Cara Seymour). Gabriel has a benign brain tumour removed losing the ability to retain new memories. Through music, particularly the stuff from his teens in the late '60s---The Grateful Dead, Beatles and Stones---and the help of therapist Diane Dailey (Julia Ormond), he starts to reconnect to who he was.
At its core, it's the story of the relationship between Gabriel and Henry, the spanning of a generation gap, as well as a fair amount of guilt, using a bunch of great music.
In some ways, the film plays as a validation of a whole generation, the Boomers, which needs no more mythologizing, IMHO. Since Ang Lee's unbearably mushy Taking Woodstock, the genre of Weren't The '60s Awesome? can go up in a cloud of pot smoke. And The Music Never Stopped certainly doesn't avoid the Hallmark disease-of-the-week cliches. But going for it is a stellar performance from Simmons, called one of the great American character actors in this month's Vanity Fair, and it's also an ideal film to get a discussion going for the AAMT's cause.
The AAMT is a non-profit organization committed to promoting, supporting and advocating for music therapy in Atlantic Canada. For more information go to atlanticmusictherapy.ca
Friday, February 24, 2012
On screens Nightmare Factory screens at The Oxford
The doc a must for horror fans on industry master Greg Nicotero
Posted by Carsten Knox on Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 3:49 PM
Film Nova Scotia and Empire Theatres are presenting a free screening of Nightmare Factory at the Oxford Theatre (6408 Quinpool Road) on Wednesday, February 29, 7pm.
Nightmare Factory delves inside the fascinating high-stakes world of special FX make-up and creature design through the eyes of one of the industry's key players, Greg Nicotero. He headed the SPFX make-up team on more than 800 films including Grindhouse, Hostel, Sin City, Kill Bill, The Hills Have Eyes and The Mist. He even won an Oscar in 2006 for the The Chronicles of Narnia and recently he's worked on AMC's monster hit The Walking Dead.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
On screens CFAT Media Art Scholarship Program Screening on Saturday
Check out the video cool at Neptune Theatre
Posted by Carsten Knox on Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 5:12 PM
The Centre for Art Tapes is having its annual Media Art Scholarship Program Screening on Saturday February 25, 7pm at the Neptune Theatre (1593 Argyle Street). Check out the varied selection of work from CFAT scholars of different ages and backgrounds. Tickets are $8 ($10 at the door), available online by clicking here.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
On screens Ulimate Dog Tease on its way to the big screen
Haligonian video at Paramount for movie development
Posted by Carsten Knox on Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 4:45 PM
Haligonian Andrew Grantham, whose YouTube video Ultimate Dog Tease is more than a frikkin' sensation, it's a monster meme worldwide---94 million hits and the most viewed YouTube video in the United Kingdom last year---is making waves in Hollywood. Variety is reporting that Grantham's video is at Paramount Studios, which is talking to Seinfeld writers Alec Berg and David Mandel to develop it as a feature film.
Here's the video:
Thursday, February 9, 2012
On screens We're not reviewing 3D rereleases
And I'll tell you why
Posted by Carsten Knox on Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 4:00 AM
The Coast movie braintrust---Molly Segal, Matt Semanksy and myself, film editor
Carsten Knox---has discussed this recent trend of older movies being released in 3D. We've decided to not review them.
That's included Disney's Beauty and the Beast and this week's rerelease of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
The reasons for not reviewing them are manifold.
For starters, these are movies that have been in the public consciousness for years. Critical thought on them is easy to find, both locally and out there on the interwebs.
Secondly, there is an ongoing discussion right now about the difference betweem 3D movies made utilizing 3D cameras as part of the concept of the thing and movies that are retrofitted for 3D after the fact. Even those who really love the technology providing an illusion of extra depth are critical of 3D as a post-production effect. Movies such as Clash of the Titans were turned 3D retroactively to the detriment of the film, by many estimates. So are we taking a political stand against retroactive 3D? Not necessarily, but neither are we rushing to embrace it.
Thirdly, what is a reviewer going to tell you about the cinematic experience at these 3D rereleases? There's certainly a part of the job that requires some awareness of the technical bells and whistles, how it was made and how it's being experienced. But asking a reviewer to revisit a film which is changed only by being in 3D hardly seems like a useful application of his or her skills. It's the same reason a reviewer wouldn't necessarily go to Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol in IMAX to review it. Yes, it will increase the spectacle of the experience with a bigger image, more dynamic sound, but there is a standard of quality measured in your average screening space that should define a moviegoing experience.
Which leads me to, finally, the fact that we're kind of waiting to see how this plays out. Perhaps this trend of rereleasing older films in 3D will quickly vanish if audiences don't show up, or perhaps it will linger like the smell of burned toast. One of us is a big supporter of Jim Cameron's Titanic, which will be rereleased in 3D in April. We are sure to revisit this policy then.
So, in the meantime, we're putting it out to you. Do you want to read a review of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D, even if the review discusses only whether Jar-Jar leaping off the screen much improves the experience?
Monday, February 6, 2012
Hear Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier do Halifax
SMODCAST #200, birthed on stage at the Spatz.
Posted by Allison Saunders on Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 9:16 AM
Well, Kevin Smith successfully pulled off his Halifax hat trick on Friday and brought the ridiculously funny Scott Mosier along for the ride. They talked The Beachcombers, sharks, nazis, Harry Potter and even belted out an admirable rendition of our national anthem.
Smith was a peach, as always, and was pumped to be back in what he calls "the heart of Canada" but for me, Mosier was the champ that night. The producer-extraordinaire (and dual citizen of Canada and the US) laid a beating on The Friendly Giant and was pretty consistently pee-your-pants hilarious.
Hear what you missed here, SMODCAST #200 recorded live at the Spatz.
Oh, and Smith announced at the end of the night he'll be back in May with his other, other partner in crime Ralph Garman for a night of Hollywood Babble On.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Atlantic Film Festival AFF/Neptune launches winter film series
alfreSnow filmFesto screens Hitchcock through March
Posted by Carsten Knox on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 4:14 PM
The Atlantic Film Festival, in partnership with Neptune Theatre (1593 Argyle Street), have announced a winter film series. Just as painfully capitalized as their summertime outdoor fest alFresco filmFesto, except punnier, the alfreSnow filmFesto will show four films each Monday in March by legendary British director Alfred Hitchcock--the program entitled 7 O’clock Hitchcock---at the 200-seat Studio Theatre on Argyle Street. A local director will introduce each film and a suggested donation of $8 will help both organizations offset technical costs and fees for rights.
The line up is of follows:
March 5 - Dial M for Murder presented by Michael Melski
March 12 - Rope presented by Thom Fitzgerald
March 19 - I Confess presented by Eva Madden-Hagen
March 26 - Strangers on a Train presented by Josh MacDonald
March 12 - Rope presented by Thom Fitzgerald
March 19 - I Confess presented by Eva Madden-Hagen
March 26 - Strangers on a Train presented by Josh MacDonald
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