The SPOKE Daily » Movie

A River in the Woods

Clay Rochemont — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:31:08 +0000

Come watch A River in the Woods, short film screening at TIFF September 12 at 8pm at the AGO. Features the unbelievable cinematography work of Scott McClellan. A River in the Woods, winner of Audience Choice Award and Best Cinematography at the Nickel Independent Film festival, is a story about a group of kids that befriend a monster they find in the woods. Fascinated by the strange creature, they soon adopt him as a partner in crime and accept him as one of their own. More info here.

BMW: Getting Inside Heads

Jeff Greenspoon — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:12:46 +0000

How BMW used basic science to get inside the minds of consumers, without actually showing them anything.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Rachel Noonan — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:58:00 +0000

From director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin comes The Social Network, a film that proves you don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, and Ceán Chaffin and based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich.

SPOKE @ TIFF

Rachel Noonan — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 23:46:46 +0000

Collectively, the SPOKE team drank 15 Bottles of vodka, 6 bottles of wine, saw 13 movies, attended 18 parties and tried to get in as much trouble as possible. We went highbrow with Toro Magazine’s Preview Exhibition of the New York Times CANADIAN PHOTO ARCHIVE, and lowbrow with some beer shot-gunning and head banging at the World Premiere of FUBAR II. As TIFF continues to grow bigger each year, it gets harder and harder to decide which films are “must see’s”, which parties are worth the time and how far you can roll with the least amount of sleep possible. SPOKE took the time to navigate TIFF and bring back a few tidbits for you. Listed below are nine movie, party and fest mentions that surprised, entertained, disgusted or amazed us over the 10 day TIFF Toronto takeover. 1. TIFF Insider info: If you see a Film Premiere party advertised like this: “ X ACTOR” WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE TO CELEBRATE THE PREMIERE OF HIS/HER FILM. $40 AT THE DOOR, BOTTLE SERVICE MANDATORY.” The party will be lame. Some promoter paid an appearance fee which could have your hot actor of the moment pass by the club for a hot second to shake a few hands and then head out to the real party where YOU will not be invited. 2. It’s all about the movies. Do NOT attend film parties celebrating a film premiere unless you HAVE seen the movie. It’s bad form and you could get caught looking lame if someone asks you a question like “What did you think of the protagonists fall from grace”. Potentially EPIC Fail! 3. Keanu Reeves is super hot in person. We have seen our share of “The Beautiful people” at SPOKE. Over the course of the festival we saw Clive Owen, Ryan Reynolds, Kelly Preston, Kevin Spacey, Abagail Breslin and more. None of them were as much of a surprise as our own Canadian cutie turned dark Matrix Warrior Keanu. 4. MONSTERS is a movie you should see. Done with no script, very little money and a traveling production team, MONSTERS set out to be the most realistic monster movie ever made. It was sweet and you need to watch it. 5. The King’s Speech is a movie you should see. King’s Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI (Colin Firth), the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George (’Bertie’) reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie enlists the help of an unorthodox speech therapist, Lionel Logue. Sounds a little dry right? WRONG. Stripped down, it’s a story about a guy who had a brutal father and no support or outlet for his frustrations. All his issues manifest themselves in the form of a stutter and the most insane cultural pressures prevent Bertie from getting to the real issues. In comes Lionel (Jeffrey Rush). Lionel doesn’t give a hoot about Kings and Queens and all that “Royal” stuffiness. He shakes things up, inspires you, and leaves you with a warm heart. 6. FUBAR II: Get drunk and go see it. “Knowledge of non-knowledge is power” 7. THE TOWN: Will be reviewed as one of the best movies in years. Haven’t seen such amazing car chase scenes since HEAT. 8. If you really want to experience TIFF, do a combo of pre-purchase and RUSH lines. There is something special about the anticipation of being a lucky RUSH line winner to a premiere you never could have purchased a ticket. 9. Don’t be a stalkarazzi. It’s lame.

A DOC WITH HEART, TEENAGE PAPARAZZO

Rachel Noonan — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:00:05 +0000

Yet again, Torontonians were spoiled with another exclusive, and SPOKE was there. An intimate advanced screening of Adrian Grenier’s documentary, Teenage Paparazzo. SYNOPSIS When precocious 13-year-old paparazzo Austin Visschedyk snapped a photo of celebrity Adrian Grenier (HBO’s Entourage), little did he know his life was about to change. Turning the tables on the juvenile paparazzo, Grenier stepped to the other side of the lens in an attempt to mentor a teenager obsessed with the lure of the Hollywood lifestyle. Grenier develops a meaningful relationship with his camera-clicking young friend as he attempts to reconcile their mutual exploitation. Indeed, Grenier puts himself on the line here, trying to make sense of his own recently acquired fame. Post screening, a poorly managed Q&A session (Get a mic people) took place where Adrian and the host bantered back and forth about Plato, the contrast between Old and New Hollywood and how many times the host could call Adrian “Vince”. Some good questions were asked about the social commentary of the story and why society has this hyper obsession with celebrity. Much to my surprise, Adrian was reflective, articulate and very mild mannered. It became clear his intention with this documentary was not to exploit Austin, but to put a lens inward to the core of the industries intent. Why do we care about people we don’t know? Why do we want them built up and broken down? Why have we decided to idolize only a few, putting the common folk into a sort of “Peasant” like status? Paparazzo does not attempt to take a position about whether societies collective confidence is decreasing due to “us” creating unrealistic personal expectations set against these “god like” creatures. It doesn’t try to paint the “shooters” in a particular light or make excuses for celebrities. Paparazzo just asks questions. It was actually one of the most unbiased documentaries I have seen in a while. I am sure considering the intense nature of the subject, it was tough to keep it clean and not veer in one particular direction. It’s really cool that a “celebrity” is taking the time to look at the world we put on a pedestal. It’s the don’t bite the hand that feeds you thing. Nobody wants to put a microscope on it, especially when they are in it. With Adrian, he’s not just in it, but represents the epitome of it with his character “Vince” in Entourage. It was brave for him and his supporters to make this documentary. Well worth watching. I am going to go ahead and put this out there; I think Adrian Grenier’s calling may be behind the camera.

Culture Tracking: New Styles

Rachel Noonan — Thu, 20 May 2010 17:03:08 +0000

MELENA RYZIK wrote this article Mapping the Cultural Buzz that appeared in the NY Times. The amount of collaboration involved is pretty intense. Most of the results are not surprising, but there are a few ” Wow, didn’t see that coming”. Check it:

The Cove PSA – My Friend is….

Karen Lo — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:51:31 +0000

A project inspired by the Oscar-winning documentary, The Cove, Andres Useche has rounded up a handful of A-list celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller, Paul Rudd, and Woody Harrelson, to name a few, to raise awareness on the brutality and ecological damage of dolphin hunting. Released just in time for Earth Day. Please watch and share – and most of all, take part.

Watch It: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Fabio Abreu — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:36:24 +0000

First things first, let’s get rid of some movie-goers. The movie is foreign. It’s Swedish, so subtitles. Its disturbing, graphic violence and mature subject matter are not for the fainthearted. Now that everyone’s gone, the adaptation from global bestseller, the late Stieg Larsson, is a thrilling take on the murder-mystery genre, which captivates from first to final act. The cold, dry backdrop of Sweden’s countryside appropriately sets the tone for the dark case of Harriet Vanger’s mysterious disappearance 40 years ago. Convinced the killer was someone in his own powerful family; Harriet’s beloved uncle commissions the disgraced financial reporter, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and troubled computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) to unravel the mystery. The acting from both leads is excellent, but the poise with which Rapace portrays her demanding role of bleak heroine is a delight for film aficionados grown tired of vacuous female heroes. Out already in limited release across the US, Canadians have to wait for the end of May to catch this suspense-thriller. The good news is that the two other novels in the trilogy are also being adapted into film. Hopefully they’re released before Hollywood has a chance to botch this into another horrible English remake (See or don’t see 2009’s Brothers).

Defendor Triumphs with a Heart of Gold

Karen Lo — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:46:37 +0000

Sports isn’t for everyone. For those whose patriotic spirits have not surged from the Olympic games, try hitting the theatre for Defendor written and directed by Canadian filmmaker, Steven Stebbings. It was hard to believe this as his debut film as director. Every emotional trigger was given in perfect portions while in another’s hands, the movie could have gone straight to the cheese factory. Woody Harrelson, who plays the socially challenged crime fighter, manages to turn an easily clichéd character into one that you’ll love and cheer for. It takes the skills of somebody’s favorite actor to play a role like that – and of course, that somebody is me! Can’t forget to mention the Canadian actors who gave an equally stellar performance as Elias Koteas and Sandra Oh. I walked out the theatre feeling uplifted and proud – Defendor defeated Captain Industry and won a Gold for Canadian films. One of my favorite shots from the movie – Defendor’s first spying mission on Captain Industry OFFICIAL MOVIE TRAILER: Had to throw it in here. Just thought the Woody Harrelson looked a lot like Mr. Incredible.