Have to start somewhere. Had to start sometime.

Today was the day. Pen to paper (well, fingers to keyboard). Game on, thesis. Game on.

Doors Open

This is the first year since I've moved back to Canada that I've been in town for Doors Open. I went to a couple different venues today, and enjoyed being a tourist in my own city. Lots of walking, lots of going here and there, picking up maps, following self-guided tours - true *L*-tourist mode. Of course, I wasn't the only one who was enjoying the event. I was so happy to see how many people were out and about. The gorgeous weather helps too! It was an awesome day and I plan to head back out again tomorrow!

Summer's here!

Or, at least, good weather is here! I have my first Greg's for the year. I actually stayed away from Greg's entirely last year. Amazing, I know. But it's as delicious as I remember. I tried a couple different flavours before settling on my choices. Trail Mix is exactly what it should taste like, just in ice cream form, and Bombay Chocolate (or something like that), which is coconut milk, curry, and chocolate, is also exactly what it should taste like. The former = tasty. The latter = unique.
Anyway, I was starting to feel bad that I kept asking for samples, but there were enough flavours that I didn't recognize that it was making my decision difficult. I need to be an informed buyer! Yet, in the end, I still took a leap of faith (because, as I said, I was getting a little embarrassed at taking so long). I got Star Anise (actually, quite tasty, so the risk paid off in the end), and of course, my Greg's go-to and must-have flavour, Roasted Marshmallow.
Now, I guess it had been so long since my last visit that I couldn't recall how I would be able to get two different flavours without getting too much ice cream. In the end, I got a scoop of each (which was too much ice cream, even for me!) and then realized that I probably got a 1/2 scoop of each previously. Now that my memory is jogged, I can move forward from here.
Also, there's a second location of Greg's for even more awesomeness. So if you're in the Distillery District, enjoy!

Hot Docs 2012

I ended up seeing 8 films during this year's edition of Hot Docs. Thanks to Scotiabank, I watched all of them for free.

Here are the films that I saw, in the order that I saw them:
1. The Imposter
2. One Fine Day
3. Bones Brigade: An Autobiography
4. Big Boys Gone Bananas!*
5. The Revisionaries
6. Legend of a Warrior
7. Brooklyn Castle
8. Radioman

I did quite well in the movies that I watched. I had planned to see a couple more on the final day of the festival, but I was exhausted. Shame, because two of the films that I was going to see turned out to be award winners: The World Before Her and The Boxing Girls of Kabul. I'm a little disappointed that my body and brain can't keep up with everything that I want to do, but I'm glad that I (for once) didn't push it. Taking the Sunday off was wonderful.
The film that I enjoyed the most out of the 8 that I saw was definitely the first. Hopefully it's not because I was just too exhausted by the end to really enjoy the films and that it was just really that good. But turns out that others in the industry also liked the film too, as it won the Filmmakers Award.
Actually, I liked all of the films that I saw. I could have gone without the second and maybe the third one, but 6 out of 8 is good. I need to get better at guessing which screenings will have Q&As. At 5 out of 8, I'm not happy with my outcome. Actually, I do think that watching the premiere of a film at the festival would give me a better shot at a Q&A, and although I do take that into consideration when creating my schedule during festivals, the jigsaw of maximizing the number of screenings that I can attend based on my schedule means that I just go to the screenings that I have time to go to.
Most likely, the next festival that I will be attending is TIFF, although I'll try to get some outdoor films in during the summer months. I haven't been to a screening of a blockbuster movie on any old average day in a long time. Actually, I can't remember the last time I went to see a movie like that. I don't even know what movies are out right now. I'm such a snob.

Radioman

Radioman (official website here) was the final film that I saw at this year's Hot Docs. By the end of the week, I was pretty tired from everything that was going on in life that I needed something light. I had actually had planned to see a couple more films the next day (Sunday), but in the end, I took the day off. I needed it.
I had never heard of Radioman before. I must have seen him in different films and/or shows but clearly I never made the connection or I didn't realize that it was more than just a character on the screen.
Radioman is man who lives in New York and is a regular on TV show and movie sets. He loves the industry and has gotten to know some of the people in it. He's gotten cameos, is allowed at Craft Service and has attended the Oscars.
Radioman is quite the individual. His story is interesting, and is personality is entertaining. I laughed out loud during the screening, and A-list celebrities have some nice things to say about him, but in the end, I did have an overwhelming sense of sadness.
Apparently, Radioman attended the first two screenings of the film, but the filmmakers who stayed for the Q&A were able to get him on the phone. His personality shone through even through that little cell phone. The filmmakers talked about how they wanted to make a positive film. To show the personality of Radioman, that they didn't want it to be depressing, but as i said before, I felt sad. I wasn't sure if Radioman is a happy person. Sure we all get sad from time to time, but overall, I think I'm doing pretty well. I wonder if he feels like he's getting let down time and time again. I wonder if he's lonely. I wonder what will happen to him after the fact? I don't judge, I just wonder.
Well, rest assured, I will start to look for Radioman as I watch TV and films in the future.
It's kind of a neat movie to see. Radioman does seem like an interested person. But it wasn't quite as happy-go-lucky of a film as I thought it would be. Not that it should be based on the subject matter, but that's just what I was expecting from the write-up.
Finally, at the screening, I realized that it would be my last time watching a movie at the Cumberland Theatres. They would be closing the theatre after Hot Docs and it would be turned into some sort of fancy retail space. Sigh, it's a great location and cute set of theatres. I wonder how it will be redone on the inside? It's amazing how architects can just gut everything and see it as a blank slate. Or build around features that are already there. Tae the best of both worlds. I wonder if they'll keep anything of the cinemas in tact?

- picture courtesy of www.hotdocs.ca

Brooklyn Castle

I always want to see more films at a festival than I have time for. My first attempt at deciding what I want to see usually results in a couple films that I definitely want to see. Brooklyn Castle (official website here) was the one film from this year's Hot Docs that was in that category. It was an obvious choice. Education, youth empowerment, underdog story...some people say that I'm a predictable person.
In a nutshell, this film is about a chess team from an inner city public school that keeps producing champions. The government keeps cutting back funds. Students are learning life lessons and understanding their identities. Some students take on leadership roles. Are the students going to win their matches at the big championships? Will they take some steps to change the rest of their lives?
The film was good, but I wanted more. Now, I'm never sure if it's because I'm more invested in this kind of topic, so I have higher expectations for the film, or that it really wasn't as good as it could have been. The suspense was awesome and the outcomes were awesome and the updates on the characters were awesome, but I still wanted more. I think I wanted more about everything. I wanted to know more about all of the stakeholders. Students, families, and educators. I wanted to know more about the school. I wanted to know more about the club. I even wanted to know more about the chess.
There wasn't a Q&A for the screening (boo), but that wasn't the worst thing because it gave me enough time to rush to the final film that I saw at the festival. Brooklyn Castle was screening at The Regent, which is in a completely different area than the rest of the festival. Nice that Hot Docs is trying to go to different parts of the city, but difficult to contend with if you're one of those people who watches multiple screenings a day.
Oh, and a large-scale standardized test in Grade 8 to determine what high school you can get into. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Although I'm still open to the debate on streaming, and I'm usually quite wishy-washy about my opinions (not because I'm not willing to take a stand, but because I can see both sides), for this situation, I know where I stand.
Anyway, it was a good film. Take a look at the film's website if you want to learn more and even donate to the cause. This was another project partially funded through Kickstarter.

- picture courtesy of www.hotdocs.ca

Legend of a Warrior

I'm clearly way behind on my blogging. Hot Docs has come and gone and I'm still trying to advocate for films that people should have gone to see. Well, I guess people can watch them in other venues if they want. Anyway, this gives me the excuse to be brief, as if I wasn't already going down that route with my other reviews.
So, Legend of a Warrior (click on link to read Hot Doc write-up) is less about fighting and more about family. The filmmaker seeks to get to know his father better, in part because he is now a father himself. There is a cultural gap. A generational gap. Some strains in the family.
Director, Corey Lee, was in attendance and it was a family affair. His father had attended the premiere at the festival and as I had attended the final screening, his dad had come and gone from the festival (although he called in that day to find out how things were going), but Lee's in-laws were all in attendance.
The film itself is quite nice. It's powerful because of the topic and how it gets resolved. Everyone can relate to the story and has an emotional connection to anything about families. If you get a chance to watch the film, you should. I wouldn't put it in the category of 'go out of your way to watch it', but if you have the opportunity to watch it, do it.

- picture courtesy of www.hotdocs.ca

Jige bag

Qui veut une pochette Hermes? Voila!

Massimo Dutti

There will soon be a Massimo Dutti store in the city! This was my Club Monaco when I lived in Europe. I wonder what the response to the store will be in North America?
For those who don't know much about the Inditex group, it's actually similar to the Gap group. The Gap group has (among others) Banana Republic, Gap, and Old Navy in a hierarchy of sorts. Inditex has Massimo Dutti, Zara, and a couple others that I would put at the same level as Old Navy. They include Bershka, Stradivarius, and Pull and Bear.
Anyway, because I'm selfish and I sort of want to keep some European things in Europe so that I can go to my 'special' places whenever I go back, I'm not entirely sure if I'm happy that the store will be coming so close to home.
Alas. These are not the things I should be too concerned about.

Cinquecento

Did the Fiat folks finally notice the success of the Beetle and Mini and decide that they wanted to stage a comeback too? Or maybe this is just additional proof that North Americans are really slow at following the trends.
Anyway, the 500 is uber, I mean, molto cute!

The Revisionaries

The Revisionaries (official website here) is about Don McLeroy, who chaired the Texas Board of Education. He, along with some of his colleagues were working on teaching standards for the science and social sciences curriculum and actively tried to introduce anti-evolutionary thinking. Or, ummm, promote a creationist approach.
I don't want to get into a discussion about religion, and although much of the movie seemed shocking to me (and the audience) based on my (our) own ideology/ies (clearly, with the gasps and laughs), what it did make me consider was the effect that policy makes have on so many people. In this case, not just a State, but also on a nation. You see, Texas and California are so big that standards in either of these States will affect the entire country. Textbook companies would rather not make multiple versions of textbooks (for different States), thus whatever goes in Texas and/or California often goes for the rest of the country. Crazy.
I think of myself as a pretty neutral member of society. I don't follow a particular religion. I don't subscribe to a particular political party. And I'm naive about a lot of these things, so it's kind of funny for me to see how 'extreme' things can get. Of course, I realize that certain decisions have huge repercussions, but seeing this particular example on the big screen was particularly shocking. I wonder if things like this happen in Canada? I guess so, but with different specifics.
During the Q&A with Scott Thurman, we learned that Americans react the same way to the film as we Canadians do, although they take it a little bit more personally. Of course, the types of people attending film festivals are probably more on 'one-side' than the other (even he said it) and would see the film from one angle, I guess I was also reminded that everyone looks at the world through their own particular lens. This lens is based on personal experiences and beliefs and skews how we interpret everything that we see and do. Apparently Don McLeroy watched the film and loved it. Clearly he didn't see it in the way that many of the audience members do.
Anyway, lately I've been going through a little bit of a crisis (actually, not a crisis at all, as I tend to blow things out of proportion) and wonder if I should know more about different educational perspectives. There's a group in my field that looks at things through a particular lens that I don't naturally see. Once they explain it to me, I understand what they mean, but I never see it as such myself. But the thing is, I wonder if learning more would actually help me. I'm sure that I will always see the world through a particular (rose coloured) lens no matter how much I know about different lenses. Although, I wonder if I could be convinced to change my stance? I guess it would take a pretty significant event. For now, though, I like how I look at things.
This was the first film that I saw which was partially funded through Kickstarter. I thought that was pretty cool. I have seen a couple different cool projects on Kickstarter so to see a final product was pretty special.

- picture courtesy of www.hotdocs.ca

Big Boys Gone Bananas!*

Big Boys Gone Bananas!* (official website here) is a film about the aftermath of Fredrik Gertten's previous film, Bananas!. In Bananas!, Gertten investigates the lawsuit against Dole by workers in the banana fields. Dole responded in a pretty extreme fashion. This new documentary follows exactly what went down from the first instant that Gertten and team knew that something was up.
This film was another 'predictable' documentary. Chronological, following main characters, showing natural highs and lows that came up along the way and of course bashing corporate America. Or, well, corporations in America and Europe.
This was the one and only screening of the film during HotDocs, but apparently it's (along with Bananas!) coming back for a run at the (newly renovated) Bloor Cinema. The audience seemed to be very receptive to the film and actually gave Gertten a standing ovation. I never look at the world through 'big bad corporations' lens, so although I get what the film was about and I appreciate what's going on, I probably won't be changing my habits, regular practice and opinions about things. Like I said, I can appreciate it, but that's about it. Maybe I'm a disappointment, but it is what it is.
Anyway, I guess it's a good film. I may not give it a glowing review, but that's not because it wasn't good. It's just because it didn't blow me away or surprise me in any way. It was cool to learn about how certain things and big companies work, but it didn't blow my mind. It definitely has a 'we can make a difference' message, and I appreciated that.

- picture courtesy of www.hotdocs.ca

Bones Brigade: An Autobiography

I know nothing about skateboarding. I don't even know how to skateboard (although, I did try once). The only name I recognized from the synopsis is Tony Hawk. The only reason I decided to go to the screening of Bones Brigade: An Autobiography is because the final screening of the film is sold out so I figured other people (in the know?) must think it's worth watching. It also happened to fit into my schedule.
I dozed off in this movie as well. I mean, it was okay, but nothing too interesting. I'm going to hope that's because I'm not an avid follower of the skateboarding culture. Although, one elderly lady who also said she knew nothing about the subject matter praised the film when asked for feedback from director, Stacy Peralta. But maybe she just said that because she was put on the spot. Who knows?
Anyway, let's just analyze the film for what it is. It's a series of interviews with different members of the skateboarding community who were influential or invested in the sport around the 1980. Interspersed between their interviews was skateboarding footage and other footage from the 1980s. It told a story in chronological fashion and ended with little blurbettes with updates on each of the featured characters. It seemed to be a pretty traditional documentary in terms of format. In the post-screening Q&A, Peralta talked about how many of the Bones Brigade had asked him to create this documentary. That they felt that there was a story to tell. A documented story about a group of people who were so influential on skateboarding as we know it today. With that purpose in mind, I think the documentary did a great job. Was it groundbreaking and did it uncover anything shocking, controversial or anything that I'll remember many years down the line? No, but I don't think that was the point. This is a documentary that something wanting to know more about skateboarding culture can and should watch.
One of the questions from the Q&A was about whether Peralta was conducting the interviews when the interviewee talked about Peralta. He said that initial interviews were conducted by him, but after starting to piece together the film and needing to go back to do follow-up interviews, for specific topics, another member of the crew would conduct the interviews and Peralta would not be present. It was a mutual decision by Peralta and the interviewees. Every so often in these Q&As, I'm reminded that making a documentary is very similar to the process that I follow when conducting research. I'm currently involved in a study in which I am conducting interviews with my participants. Of course to a certain extent, the interviewer takes a position of authority, but in this particular case, the relationship that I have developed with these participants even before they joined my study has been one in which I am the person of authority. While I like to think that there is no power dynamic in this study and that there will be no effects on my data as a result, it's hard to know for sure. I usually watch films for enjoyment sake. I like the topics of the film, I like the storyline, I like the music, I like the art direction, I like learning, but I don't naturally analyze the film for the '-ology' behind the creation of the film. I like it when I'm reminded (often during the Q&A) that there's kind of a science or methodology behind making a film. It's another layer that I don't natural associate with the final product, but I like thinking about it and relating it to some of the issues that I deal with in my own work.

- picture courtesy of www.hotdocs.ca

I guess it's good

...that I can fall asleep under any circumstance. When you're stuck in a super-loud MRI machine for an hour, my special skill definitely comes in handy. Before I dozed off, I do remember imagining that I was listening to hard-core techno music.

One Fine Day

The second film that I watched in this year's Hot Docs was One Fine Day. It was sort of ho hum. It played out like a paid programming advertisement for some sort of organization. I don't know what the organization would be, but something like a activism, stand up for your rights kind of thing. The deep voiced narrator with a British accent didn't really help matters.
Now, the issues discussed in the documentary are really important, but it just seemed a little bit too forced. Too cliche. The stories and people that were featured were great, but it was still pretty blah. Blah enough that I think I started to fall asleep in one part. Actually, I'm pretty sure that I dozed off. I know that I'm running on fumes right now and I can pretty much fall asleep in any dark room, but still, I would have thought that if the documentary was good, it would keep me awake.
I really don't have too much to say about the film. As I said previously, it was pretty ho hum. There wasn't a Q&A or anything but I didn't feel as though I would have been enlightened by one. The one part of the film that I did enjoy was the beginning and ending. Weaving in that common theme and imagery...that was great. But yeah. That's it.
Wow, the most lackluster review ever.

- picture courtesy of www.hotdocs.ca

The Imposter

Hot Docs is underway! I'm going to milk this 'student' thing as long as I can. The Hot Docs Film Festival is once again offering free tickets to students and seniors for screenings starting before 6pm - it's fantastic! My schedule during the festival is busy enough that I only have 3 weekdays and the closing weekend free to watch films. As per usual, there are more films that I want to see than I have time for. Such is life.
The first film that I saw was The Imposter (official website here). Here is the festival's write-up:

The Imposter is probably the most unusual story in this year’s Festival. In 1994 a 13-year-old boy disappears without a trace from San Antonio, Texas. Three and a half years later he is found alive, thousands of miles away in a village in southern Spain with a story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not quite as it seems. The boy bears many of the same distinguishing marks he always had, but why does he now have a strange accent? Why does he look so different? And why doesn’t the family seem to notice these glaring inconsistencies? It’s only when an investigator starts asking questions that this strange tale takes an even stranger turn...

How could you not be intrigued by the synopsis? The film was really slick. The opening credits were really feature film-esque. And the way that the film was put together is typical documentary with interviews with stakeholders, but with slick transitions and details to make it, well, kinda feature film-esque once again.
You know how I can never describe why I like or don't like a film? And that usually I'm left wishing the film was longer or that I want it to be more in-depth? This film gave me a new revelation. It left me wanting more, but in a way that I was willing to google the story and read up about it. I mean, it would have been great if there was another half hour to the film to talk a little bit more about the tail end of the story (the film ended with traditional captions with updates about different characters in the film), so I do feel a sense of finality, but it's still a little unfinished. I'm going to chalk that up to the fact that the story is insane!
Basically, this film was amazing. There were many moments where the audience was in total awe, shock and amazement in what was happening on the screen. Unfortunately, there was no Q&A with the film. That would have been amazing. In googling the film, it seems as though one of the main characters was played by an actor. That just made it even more intriguing and left me superly wanting to hear someone associated with the film talk about it. How they decided to create a film about the topic, how they decided who would be involved (and not), how they weaved the story together...so many questions!
In this case, it wasn't that I was really annoyed at the movie that I still have so many questions, but I thought so highly of the film as a result.
As per usual, I don't seem to be able to eloquently talk about this film, but I assure you that it's a film worth seeing. Partly, I don't want to say too much about the film because I think it's more enjoyable the less you know about it. I saw the final screening of the film at the festival, but maybe you will be able to see it somewhere in the future.
It's quite amazing.

- picture courtesy of www.hotdocs.ca