Zooey & Adam Private Screening.

I was invited this past Saturday to attend the private screening of Sean Garrity's new film Zooey & Adam. I'll be posting my review of it after it's released in the Projector.

The film was screened at University of Winnipeg's Eckhardt Gramité Hall. Myself and roughly 50 others gathered into the theater and at just past 7:30 Sean took stage and introduced the film. The theater was mostly filled with people from the Garrity camp. The actors who were in the movie, people who had helped him along the way and just close friends and family. It was a great opportunity for me to get acquainted with people who are in the industry I've dreamed about being in since I was a little kid.

Sean was very humble when thanking everyone who helped and supported him while making the film and he seemed very genuine about how important they were in the films completion and success.

After that he screened the movie for us. All of us in CreComm have been talking about it since Sean came to the school and screened the trailer for us. I know a few of us don't want to go because they feel like it might be too intense and real for them and after having seen the movie I can say that, if you feel that way, don't go. The movie is great and the subject matter is very heavy, but for clarification let me just say this. The movie is NOT about rape, it's about the struggles that happen afterward with raising a child that may or may not be yours. To be fair though the rape scene is terrifying.After the screening we all got up and left the theater and went outside to partake in some great food and drinks that we all provided FREE OF CHARGE. (Man I LOVE events like this!!) I got another chance to speak with Sean and told him what I thought of his movie, we chatted for a bit but there were so many people who wanted to talk with him that night so I made sure to not monopolize his time. It would have been easy though, Sean is living my dream.

I also got a chance to talk with Tom Kennan (Adam) we spoke briefly about what it was like to film the movie, and how emotionally draining it was. They were all great people and it was a great event.

Lastly I'd really like to thank Anne Dawson, the ex-CreComm who put the whole event together. She gave me the press kit and a screener of the movie which was really awesome. She went above and beyond the call of duty and I thank her.

If you can get out to see it, I highly recommend going. Do it quickly too because the movie is only in limited release and end Feb 4.

In The Chamber

For my creative writing class we had to attend a play put on by Theater Project Manitoba called In The Chamber. What the title means exactly I couldn't tell you, nor can I explain what the play really was about. I can however let you know what I thought about it.

The play starts out with a man and women wrestling for control of the covers (Has it ever occurred to couples that they can have their OWN blankets?) and then an oddly placed handjob scene that made no sense in context to what happens next. (Of course this might be just because I'm not the well versed in the nuances of theater)

The stage goes black and when the lights come back on we watch as a man goes through an epiphany moment as he records a video of a presentation he was going to do at a farm safety convention. He then goes into an hour long monologue about 15,000 pigs burning to death in a fire. It was a heartfelt and genuinely well acted speech, although I just couldn't find enough reason to care. The actor Gordon Tanner plays the part so well you'd think he wasn't acting at all.

-Intermission-

Lights up bring us into a restaurant scene where a man who just quit his job is giving a speech to his "friends" (Friends is in quotations because this again is really just a one man show and the people are represented by balloons). The man discusses the death of his son and the circumstances surrounding his death within the Health Sciences Center pediatric facility. His son, born with Downs Syndrome and a malformed heart, spent most of his life in and out of the hospital. The acting again is superb, and the actor Steven Ratzlaff makes me feel like he isn't acting at all. Unfortunately I really didn't care about the story and felt completely disconnected. The play ends with a waiter (played by Gordon Tanner from the previous act) talking with the man about a fight he's having with his wife, which in my mind is completely separate from what his previous speech was about. (again this may just be because I don't really read into what the script is deep enough to understand the underlying issues)


I'm torn. I loved the acting, hated the stories. I did like it but I know that the only way I'll ever see anything like this is if I'm forced to go or have to go for another assignment which is pretty sad.

Theater is not for me, but I really did give this one a try.

Top 10 Movies of 2009!

Another year has passed and it's for some reason very contagious to recap the year that was. I love Top 10 lists and have been thinking for a long time about each placement for this list.

Remember these are all personal choices.

You all know how it works.

Top Ten Movies of 2009.


10. Taken. (Released in Canada Jan 09)
Easily one of Liam Neesons better movies, this one was a sleeper hit. The story revolved around an ex CIA operative (Neeson) sees his daughter off on her trip to Paris. Neeson's character is a quiet, but very lethal man and you feel very sorry for him in the first 20 minutes. His estrangement from his daughter and desire to be in her life is at the forefront of his mind. Neeson's daughter gets kidnapped and he is told by his CIA buddies that he has little time to find his daughter before she is sold into sex slavery and is gone forever. Great action scenes, combined with a solid script and some great camera angles make this movie one to see.


9. The Hangover.
Easily the best comedy of the year. Great script, fantastic comedic timing, dumb story, but that only works to the movies credit. The movie centers around a bachelor party gone wrong (Hooray for original ideas!) and when the group can't find the groom, things get crazy. With one great scene after another, it easily makes the 9 spot. Would have been higher had it had more staying power, but I felt bored after the second viewing.


8. Pandorum.
I'll be honest, this movie was not what I was expecting, but what it was, was great. It took the great psychological fears of being alone, in the dark, and in the most dangerous environment imaginable, space. And combined it with a great reboot of your average killer alien. The ending was a surprise and it was a welcome one. It just needed to NOT have Denis Quaid in it.


7. Haunting in Connecticut.
I think this movie is very underrated. It's a classic ghost story that aired in what was supposed to be a one off show on the Discovery Channel, but the popularity of it spawned a mini-series. Filmed in Teulon Manitoba and featuring a Winnipeg born actor Erik J. Berg this movie set a very creepy tone. The story revolves around a family that rents a new home to be closer to the hospital for their son who has cancer. He needs to be closer to the hospital because treatment is so hard on his body. Eventually the boy starts seeing things in his new house, is it real, or is it just the stress of his body fighting to stay alive? This is something that played a big part in the TV show, but the movie was hollywoodized to be more entertaining. And that's ok, but this is a main gripe for fans of the show. Listen for great creepy music in the trailer and easily the best opening and ending credits sequence this year!


6. The Fourth Kind.
I have to say right off the bat that this movie has a very niche market. It revolves around "real" recordings of hypnosis sessions documented by the "real" Dr.Abigail Tyler a therapist in Alaska. Patients claim to be visited by owls at night, and while under hypnosis, we find that the "owls" are the most frightening species ever! The movie jumps from the "real" recording to reenactments of these session with actor Milla Jovovich and other notables who fill in for key rolls in the story. The highlight of this movie is the shocking hypnosis sessions that take place in the second and third acts of the movie. I jumped in the theater at one point because I was expecting the scare to have some build up. This movie also has an ending that some people will find surprising but I saw it coming. Great experience, and it's always good to see a director try something new.


5.Collapse.
There were a few great documentaries this year (special mention goes to the amazing "Tyson") but this one really stood out for me. I just recently watched this but it left an impact on me that I just can't shake. Without going into to much detail the movie is one long interview with Michael Rupert. This man basically details how the economy of the world will collapse. Government, Safety, Food, Oil, everything is coming down. Believe him or not, this is a great movie with a guy who is very passionate about what he is preaching. He wants to help, but no one is listening.


4. Inglorious Basterds.
Wow. Just wow. Quentin Tarantino better get an Oscar nomination for this film because it is brilliant! Writing, pacing, acting, shot composition, violence, everything is damn near perfect. If Christoph Waltz doesn't get a nomination for his chilling and flawless role as Colonel Hans Landa we should all petition. This movie was pretty long at almost 2 and a half hours but I was never bored during any of it. Watch. This. Movie!


3. Paranormal Activity.
I'm proud to be the first one who signed the online petition to bring this movie to Winnipeg, and my name is even in the credits. (Seriously, look for it!) This movie was actually made in 2007 but wasn't officially released until late this year, after a very long campaign in which people "Demanded It" to come to their city. The movie had a small budget of roughly $15,000 and it was shot in the director Oren Peli's home. Although I'm not a fan of the Hollywood ending, this movie embodies everything I love about film making. It has scenes where I just can't imagine how they did it on such a low budget and scenes that just scare the crap out of you. I wasn't really scared at all in the movie, but a lot of people were. The thing I love about movies like this is that we, the audience, already know it's going to end up badly for these characters. We do everything we can to wish that they wind up ok, but going in we know it's not going to be good for them. The Cinderella story for 2009, and my number 3. Paranormal Activity.


2. District 9.
This movie blows my mind. The story, the directing, the special effects, the sci-fi, the aliens, the EVERYTHING! This movie creates a story that is cohesive as not only a standalone but as a allegory to the apartheid. This movie was originally a short film called Alive in Johburg that was made by Neill Blomkamp in 2005. It was picked up by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) and Neill was told to, "go crazy". He did and it worked. This movie was my number one until late December when my now number one came out.


Alive in Johburg


1. Avatar.
Did you expect anything else? My full review is the blog entry previous to this, read here.
I'm not gonna say much other than, this movie is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Yes it does have a few script problems and similarities to other movie, in principal. But I've never been to a world like Pandora, no one has, except James Cameron. This movie is something that needs to be experienced and I will see it again when it goes to IMAX. This is now the fourth all time highest grossing movie, and James Cameron's second movie to make over 1 Billion dollars. Yes Billion.


Check out Kenton Larsen's Blog for other great movies that I didn't add to my list.

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