Hey Everybody!

Over at SCREW THE STATUS QUO you can find my latest column that deals with pop culture, politics, and the very obvious decline of our civilization. The piece is designed to make you smile, think, and hopefully respond in a creative and unconventional way. You can check out the piece by clicking this link. Agreement, disagreement, criticism, disgust, condemnation, appreciation and even ridicule are all welcome, but, indifference is not as indifference is another sign of a declining civilization.

I am, for what it’s worth, a hopeful fatalist who longs to be wrong about the ailments of my day. I desire, more than anything, to have my convictions defeated by waves of people who choose to go against the current of time and create a reality beneficial to all of man kind and which all of humanity could participate in with out prejudice. I am not suggesting socialism or communism as they are failed ideologies that inevitably lead to the enslavement of humanity and are void of what is so greatly needed in this coming age: IMAGINATION AND THE FREEDOM TO EXPRESS IT.

To the left you will find two songs that are (sadly) quite relevant to the socio-political climate of the day. One is Eve Of Destruction by Barry McGuire and the other is Civil War by Guns’n'Roses . Take a listen and perhaps you will find that words written back then still have the ability to ring true today despite the advent of internet and iPhones alike.

Much Love,

AnnieG

Measuring Tape Girl is the latest cinematic endeavour by Canadian filmmaker P.M. Veltri. The film deals with a milieu of issues packed into a short format centred around what is essentially a monologue. How is that possible many of you may be asking?  Well, at first glance and after trying to say that fast five times you may be at a loss, but, if you’ve ever seen a P.M. Veltri film you would know that he takes that which is seemingly impossible and transforms it into a very plausible cinematic work. But of course…it all starts with a script…and what a script it is indeed.  This picture is going to be like nothing else he’s ever done as it will truly bring the audience to a place where they are watching a performance based piece. This is exceptionally challenging given that people are so used to fast cuts and lots of action these days but I am confident that folks will enjoy this as much as I did watching it live.

That’s right folks AnnieG was conducting behind the scenes interviews for this film.  I got to hang out a while with the crew and watch the fine oiled machine that is a P.M. Veltri production.  I have to say it’s really nice to see people who are organized, actually know what they want, and are able to execute that vision.  In my experience with indie films nothing ever goes to plan but this shoot totally did and everyone was right on the money and extremely professional. The wonderful Jessica Embro plays Measuring Tape Girl (the 30 something v-logger) in this film and is just amazing.  I will confess now that there’s one line I got to watch her say at the shoot that literally had me teary.  She was able to take me on an emotional journey take after take which makes me anxious to see her in the film when it’s all cut together. A very talented actress that I am so glad I got a chance to spend some time with as one day in the near future it’s not going to be so easy…trust me…my inner geek can sense these things.

The behind the scenes will give you a taste of what this film will look like.  I must say that getting to talk to both P.M. and Jessica I really got a new perspective on a project I had already fallen in love with. The film deals with the communication breakdown that is happening on account of there being way too many means of communication.  It touches upon how the digital self is creating an increasingly alienated society that relies on screens in order to emote. It’s a very vast subject matter but it’s conveyed in such a way that it would appear to be practically seamless. It would only make sense that while talking about the digital self Veltri would incorporate themes of body image and self esteem which I believe men and women will be able to relate to on respective levels. The performance based piece enables Veltri to delve into a tangled web of subject matter while entertaining the audience in a unique and challenging way.  I really look forward to the final product and will keep you all posted on when and where you will be able to see it.

To learn more about P.M. Veltri check out his website www.pmveltri.com where all your cyber stalking needs will be satisfied.  FYI, that was a joke…cyber stalking is not cool and neither is real life stalking for that matter!

]]> http://anniegmovies.com/2010/02/18/measuring-tape-girl-behind-the-scenes/feed/ 5 http://anniegmovies.com/2010/02/15/percy-jackson-the-olympians-the-lightning-thief-2010/ http://anniegmovies.com/2010/02/15/percy-jackson-the-olympians-the-lightning-thief-2010/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:44:05 +0000 AnnieG http://anniegmovies.com/?p=1334

Release Date: Friday February 12, 2010 Genre: Fantasy Running Time: 119 min. Director: Chris Columbus Studio: 20th Century Fox Producer(s): Michael Barnathan, Karen Rosenfelt, Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe Screenplay: Craig Titley Cast: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Kevin McKidd, Uma Thurman, Jake Abel

I had been waiting for this movie for quite a while.  The trailer looked really cool even though I had no idea about the novels.  Also, this Logan Lerman kid really seems interesting–maybe even the new Hollywood it boy.  He’s good looking in that old school handsome sort of way; that Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean kind of way: great eyes and a killer smile.  I can see why the young girls in the theatre were all gaga eyes over him…I’m sure said girls don’t get why I was all gaga for Pierce Brosnan but I have faith that when they get older they’ll understand.

The film was pretty cool in terms of effects and acting.  Your typical adventure movie with the reluctant hero motivated by his mamma in trouble and some serious daddy issues.  An updated version of a classic tale if you will.  This seems to be the year for that come to think of it.  I always tell people there’s nothing really new about the stories we tell…it’s just the way we tell them that changes.  Nonetheless, the updated takes on mythological characters was interesting. Also, seeing demigods as awkward teenage kids in a camp was also pretty cool and quite fitting given you don’t really think about people with super human powers as having seriously human complexes.  Chris Columbus really did a good job of exploiting that and similar themes to make this film believable to the audience.  Well done on casting and on the over all vision of the film.  No complaints as the movie delivered exactly what it promised. What I really enjoyed was the humorous element in it that made it all the more believable; a card well played by Columbus.

The last thing I’d like to mention is that the film left you wanting a sequel instead of ending the film on the set up to a sequel.  This is something I wish more filmmakers would take note of as you don’t want to annoy your already astute audience–we understand the mechanics of cinematic propagation and would rather a product so good you want more instead of one that lets you know more is sure to follow.  I hope that more Percy Jackson is to follow and so should you.

I am reluctant to write about this film because I was really looking forward to it.  It’s one of those movies where the trailer makes you cry, you know what I mean?  Then when they tell you it’s based on a novel written by Nicholas Sparks…the guy who wrote The Notebook well  how can you not be sold?  The Notebook is a film that left me saying "I will never know a love like that" as I left the theatre with puffy red eyes and equally puffy red lips.  I don’t know why that happens to me when I cry, somehow the lips and the eyes make a deal to look equally pathetic.  That out in the open I can most definitely say that I left this movie saying "I hope I never know a love like that"…and maybe that was the point?

I just felt a sense of lack midway through this film.  I felt like something was supposed to happen that didn’t and what ended up happening simply didn’t live up to my expectations.  It could be that I wanted to see a modern version of The Notebook and felt ripped off; or simply because all the passion and chemistry I saw between Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling wasn’t there between Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. Now the latter two were believable as their characters but that thing between them just didn’t seem to be believable enough to sustain the rest of the film.  Or maybe it’s because if I was dating a guy in special forces like Channing Tatum I wouldn’t go off and marry my neighbour in order to feel "needed".  I don’t know, I just remember saying a whole lot of "grow up" through out the film.  And my partner in crime who watched it with me was equally let down.  Even the love scene was a let down and nothing compared to The Notebook.  Perhaps, it’s just that Nick Cassavetes and and Lasse Halstrom approach love stories in different ways; I really don’t know.  It’s a very realistic film in terms of the fact that the mistakes we make in life tend to last a life time and that people change and the nostalgia you have for romantic love is often based on a memory that is usually not applicable to the present. So, perhaps my dissatisfaction comes from the trailer that pitched me the fairytale and then when I saw the film I was faced with a harsh reality.  In the end I’ll blame devious advertising and nothing else. 

Final verdict:  If you are expecting The Notebook 2.0 don’t see it, if you have an open mind or love the book then try it out!

Sometimes you just want to see a movie that involves absolutely no thinking.  The week is long, life is dim, and suddenly you need something that is so far fetched you’ll go with it for the laugh.  If this sounds like you then go see When In Rome.  Everything is pretty far fetched in the movie but it’s so well put together that you genuinely laugh because the characters and circumstances are so unbelievable.  It’s cute and funny and that’s all it’s really meant to be. 

Kristen Belldoes a great job in this but to be quite honest I’d have enjoyed a whole lot more of Josh Duhamel in it. The Italian bits in this film are so out there it’s crazy.  My parents are Italian, I’ve been to Italy many many many times and there are two things I can vouch for: nobody says abbondanza when they toast and the chances of finding a priest who will play Texas Holdem is pretty damn good.  Said priest is played by Kier O’Donnell who most of you will remember as the creepy brother in Wedding Crashers.  He is the best in this movie and it’s just so sad he couldn’t have had a bigger part.  Realistically, the cast is reason enough to watch this movie because you get to see some amazing actors play these extreme characters.  John Heder plays a Criss Angel type magician, Dax Sheppard plays a conceited model type, Danny DeVito is the cutest sausage king in the world, Will Arnett is the best wanna be Italian ever, and Anjelica Huston plays the wickedest boss from hell you’ve ever seen.  Their renditions of these characters against Josh Duhamel and Kirsten Bell’s "serious/straight" play is just amazing.  Besides, there are some super sweet moments that are almost corney but don’t make you throw up so they are worth the risk.  Finally, this movie ends with a dance number…that alone is worth watching!  Josh Duhamel has got some moves on him!

Final verdict is: a fun movie that’s easy on your brain and sure to give you some long lasting laughs.  Just don’t go to Rome and start stealing coins out of the fountain of love…they don’t take too kindly to that sort of thing. 

Take a chance is what I say.  I’m not one to live dangerously out there in the world full of people and tangible consequence…but….at the video store I am the movie watcher’s equivalent to Evil Knievel!  Oh yes my friends and foes I walk through the isles on the prowl and go where no one else dares to tread…the single DVD release you’ve never even heard of.  And although the back cover blurb is poorly written and almost always dissuades my better judgement I say nay, nay to playing it safe…I rent the lone release and TAKE A CHANCE!

Which brings me to what will be our weekly TAKE A CHANCE REVIEW.  This week’s gem is a British crime flick called The Crew.  To my pleasant surprise (and to the surprise of my pleasant company while watching) this film turned out to be nothing short of fantastic.  The storyline, acting, and directing were really strong in this film.  I think we’ve all become accustomed to a cheeky version of the crime film so wonderfully portrayed by Guy Ritchie that we take for granted the gritty reality of crime in the UK.  This film by Adrian Vitoria is funny at times in an uncomfortable sort of way because it’s not meant to be and the rest of it makes you uncomfortable and intrigued for very different reasons all of which you will simply have to see for yourselves. 

What I will say with out hesitation is that the pace of the film is perfect.  The violence is portrayed in a way that is human if that makes any sense to anybody.  We often have the image of bad men doing bad things with little if any remorse.  This film shows a wide array of supposed "bad men" and shows that not all react to their lives of crime in similar fashions nor do they deal with the stress of said lives in exactly the same ways.  What you find by the end of this film is that there’s as many versions of the criminal as there are of the regular Joe which brings us to a very strange and unwilling conclusion: there is no difference between the criminal and the regular Joe.  We all do what we feel we can and must…when I say we I mean they as my Evil Knievel is limited to the isles of video rental facilities. 

Stephen Graham you will remember as Tommy The Gun from Snatch and you should note that his rendition of Franner in this film is the complete antithesis to Tommy in Snatch.  Scot Williams plays Ged in this (the crew boss) and his performance is very strong and seducing at times not that I mind saying so.  Also, one guy I saw in this and kept thinking "I know you" not in a "I think you went to my high school" sort of way but more in a "I think I’ve seen you in another film" sort of way…and that guy was….Kenny Doughty .  Who is Kenny Doughty?  In this he plays Ratter the ambitious psychotic criminal but back in the day he played Andy MacDowell’s love interest in Crush.  Another versatile actor in this lot.  So if sexy boys, violence, drugs, guns, and a good old crime story don’t suit you I really can’t help you.  My advice: take a chance, you just might like it.

While some directors use cinema to present the audience with a grand illusion Clement Virgo uses the grand illusion of cinema to tell audiences the truth about the darker sides of life and the human condition.   Canadians often fall back on a very laissez faire approach to race and cultural relations in this country and they do so mostly on account of our PR around the world.  Canadians are known to be very nice and polite people who are also open minded and respectful.  For the most part growing up here you always think bad things, really bad things, happen in other places, far away places, places were are safe from.  What Virgo challenges us with is that good and evil aren’t out there but rather inside all of us regardless of age, race, or gender. 

Poor Boy’s Game is a film that challenges us to review and reconsider our ideas and perhaps even our ideals when it comes to racism in this country.  But, with Clement Virgo nothing is ever that simple.  He doesn’t make a film just about race, or just about family, or just about anything: it’s a tangled web that touches upon all the facets of life presenting its emotional triumphs and disasters almost seamlessly.  It can (and should) be argued that watching a Clement Virgo film is like watching the bits of life we’d rather not see on film because in our daily lives we rarely (if ever) confront the situations: when they are presented to us on a big screen and surround sound we are confronted by them.  The film’s story is centred around Donnie Rose (Rossif Sutherland ) who is being released after serving almost 10 years in prison for beating a man so badly it left him handicapped for life.   The release of Donnie Rose elicits hurt and anger with in the black community but in particular George Carvey (Danny Glover) who is reminded on a daily basis that his handicapped son was the victim of racist violence.  Two men on opposite ends of the same crime seek redemption and closure in the boxing ring.  A tale that deconstructs masculinity and bigotry in a way that challenges our views and our hearts.  

The film is beautifully written and Chaz Thorne doesn’t pull any punches with the subject matter or dialogue.  Rossif Sutherland delivers an inspiring performance.  He breaths life into Donnie Rose and makes this character human and sympathetic.  His restrained delivery makes any burst of action and energy all the more powerful and sets him a part from other actors of his generation.  Danny Glover plays a man torn between revenge and the fight for his own soul with grace and elegance.  The supporting cast all do a great job and none of them are slotted typically or indicate a rudimentary role playing of any kind.   Although, this story is primarily centred around Donnie Rose and George Carvey the supporting cast is just as important to both the action and the development to these characters.  Everyone in this film is fighting for something and any which way the film turns they are all pulling at Donnie for a sense of revenge, redemption. completion, or simply affection.  It’s an interesting take on masculinity and what really makes a man.  

The film also deals with sex, love, and attraction on many levels.  I always enjoy Clement Virgo films because they are far more honest than anyone I know when it comes to openly discussing the aforementioned.  The parallels of love and affection are shown through sex scenes and make the audience conscious that people are looking for something in a sexual experience that goes far beyond pleasure.  Not to ruin the very high and low moments in and around the sexual discourse of this film but I do believe seeing and experiencing first hand would do it far more justice.  What can be said is that the film offers no predetermined judgement on the limitations of sexuality, masculinity, love, or attraction–rather it indicates how complex people really are and perhaps how complex you are.

A definite must see and a film you won’t regret.  Watching this may get a little uneasy, a little teary, and at times a little steamy but one thing it won’t be is boring.  Clement Virgo has done it again…and keep an eye out for Rossif Sutherland…my inner geek senses good things
to come. 

Leap Yearis the latest film from director Anand Tucker(Red Riding: 1983, Shopgirl).  The film is centred around a woman who seems to have checked off everything from her life’s "to do list" except for one little thing: get married.  When her live in boyfriend doesn’t pop the question she decides to follow him to Ireland and take advantage of an old Irish tradition and propose to him on leap year.  Needless to say that a few hiccups happen along the way and her almost perfect happy ending turns into quite the disaster.  

But, as in true romantic comedy fashion that disaster leads her to her real happy ending that couldn’t be more different from the life she’d originally planned out for herself. This film is a critique of North American living from an old world perspective that teaches us that your life isn’t made up by the things you buy but rather it’s made up of things you can’t replace.  Given that it has some corny cliché moments requisite of the romantic comedy genre it still is worth watching.  Be careful though, you just may fall in love with Ireland and book a trip–I blame the beautiful cinematography.  Who needs art direction when you have such a glorious landscape? 

Daybreakers was interesting take on the vampire genre with plenty of technical fortes coupled with ample doses of socio-historic references to boot. The Spierig Brothers manage to combine the best of film noire and horror making for one very interesting thriller.  I describe it as a dystopic film with hint of hope right at the end.  Science spliced with spirituality in the framing and action of this film.  It would seem that the brothers have created the perfect contradiction in cinema that will no doubt go unnoticed by many theorists when it should be counted as one of the more prolific films kicking off 2010.  Ethan Hawke does a great job as the unlikely hero and Willem Dafoe is just whimsical in his omage to the beat generation.  The whole cast does a great job at portraying these very archetypal characters while delivering a not so likely story in a very believable fashion.  A must see for those who keep up to date on all the forecasted catastrophes….the metaphors and dates mentioned are staggering–I say no more!

A definite must see as it will have you jumping in your seats…or at least I did.