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KickassCanadians.ca gets press in the Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, March 7th, 2013—NewsKickassCanadians.ca was called out in today’s Ottawa Citizen article about Natali Harea, the mastermind behind Kickass Canadian Stephen Beckta’s delectable breads at his restaurants, Beckta dining & wine, Play food & wine and Gezellig.
Still Mine (and a bit of Bliss)
Friday, March 1st, 2013—FilmStill Mine (Canada 2012, Drama), Writer/Director: Michael McGowan
Bliss (Canada 2013, Drama), Writer/Director: Amanda Sage
I was pretty excited to learn that my short movie, Bliss, would be screened at the 2013 Kingston Canadian Film Festival. Kingston was my stomping grounds during my Queen’s University days, and the festival was founded by my friend, and Kickass Canadian, Alex Jansen. But I was over the moon when I found out Bliss would be paired with the festival’s opening night screening of Still Mine, the latest feature from writer/director Michael McGowan.
McGowan is one of Canada’s most prominent filmmakers, with My Dog Vincent, Saint Ralph, One Week and Score: A Hockey Musical to his credit. I’ve been a big fan of his since seeing Saint Ralph nearly 10 years ago—not long after finishing my previous short movie, Sight Lines. So, having Bliss shown at the same screening as McGowan’s latest film, on top of getting to meet him and hear him speak about Still Mine, made for a pretty kickass evening.
Things started off with a Q+A led by Saturday Night at the Movies host Thom Ernst, which revealed as much about McGowan’s character as it did about his process. He’s clearly as real, funny and sincere as the films he makes. That’s no small thing, given how varied and accomplished his career has been: runner (he won the 1995 Detroit marathon), carpenter, English teacher, novelist, journalist, screenwriter, film director.
Then we moved onto the movies themselves. After seeing Bliss on the big screen for the first time (having missed its premiere at the Vancouver Island Short Film Festival), I got to see the work of a real pro as Still Mine began to weave its spell. The film is based on the remarkable true story of Craig Morrison (James Cromwell), an elderly New Brunswick man who sets about building a better home for him and his wife Irene (Geneviève Bujold) when her advancing Alzheimer’s makes their current house unlivable.
The challenge—as if Alzheimer’s wasn’t enough—comes when the local building inspectors continually give Craig grief over code violations, even though his tried-and-true methods are shown to be superior to modern techniques. Old vs. new. Proven vs. assumed. Logic vs. bureaucracy.
The house is deemed invalid and Craig is ordered to stop working on it. No matter that he’d been building it with all the knowledge he’d inherited from his father (who’d been a professional joiner) and the skills he’d developed over eight decades. Or that there is nothing structurally unsound about the building. And so Craig is forced to choose between the right way or the legal way of going forward.
All the old familiar faces of a Michael McGowan film come out for Still Mine. That perfect mixture of heartfelt and humorous, which McGowan says he strives for in all his stories. A male protagonist butting heads with authority, choosing to chart his own course. A man trying to navigate a relationship with the woman in his life.
But of all the McGowan films I’ve seen, this one features the strongest female counterpart yet. Irene is a layered and complex woman who clearly matters deeply to her husband. Their history is long and firmly rooted, and as perfectly imperfect as the knots in the wood that forms their foundation. This richly drawn relationship is what gives the film its heart.
There’s a moment in Still Mine that reminds me of the most powerful scene in Sarah’s Polley’s Away From Her, another film about an elderly couple grappling with a woman’s descent into Alzheimer’s. The moment in Polley’s film features Grant (Gordon Pinsent) leaving Fiona (Julie Christie) for what may be the last time as their former selves—the last time she’ll still remember the life they had. In Still Mine, the moment comes when Irene asks Craig to undress for her.
“It’s been awhile,” he says, before removing his clothes. Irene does the same and then steps into his embrace, holding on tight. In that moment, you can see the years that came before and imagine how many times they’ve come together like that, their bodies slowly aging all the while, bringing them towards this moment.
In the Q+A, McGowan said that his goal in that scene wasn’t to capture nudity, but to capture intimacy. He absolutely succeeded. The nudity couldn’t be further from gratuitous. It speaks to the deep love and connection between the couple, while reflecting on the universal process we all face (if we’re lucky). The fresh, blissful encounters of youth, and how quickly they spool together to form worn, aged moments.
Craig’s search for a way to build a better home for himself and Irene, both literally and figuratively, is about more than simply refusing to give up. It’s about making something that honours who they are as people, and about creating a place that can house all the memories they share—those behind them and those still to come.
With this film, McGowan adds another success to his long list of accomplishments. And he definitely solidifies his standing as a favourite in my books. I’m thrilled, thankful and honoured that Bliss, my many-years-in-the-making movie, ended up being screened with Still Mine.
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Still Mine opens in Canada on May 3, 2013.
Bliss nominated for Best Local Short award
Monday, February 25th, 2013—NewsBliss is up for the Steam Whistle Home Brew Award for Best Local Short at the 2013 Kingston Canadian Film Festival! Congratulations to the other filmmakers in this category.
Bliss to open Kingston Canadian Film Festival
Saturday, February 23rd, 2013—NewsI just got word that my short movie Bliss will open the 2013 Kingston Canadian Film Festival! As part of the Local Shorts Program, Bliss will show before Kickass Canadian Michael McGowan’s latest feature, Still Mine, starring James Cromwell, Geneviève Bujold and Campbell Scott. This is a huge honour for me, as McGowan has directed such Canadian film treasures as Saint Ralph (see the Saint Ralph review from April 2009) and One Week (see the One Week review from May 2009). Bliss can be seen at Kingston’s Baby Grand Theatre at 7pm on Thursday, February 28 (the opening night gala screening!) and 12pm on Saturday, March 2.
WIDE OPEN: A Canadian Perspective available to download
Tuesday, February 19th, 2013—NewsAfter selling out the limited edition print run of WIDE OPEN: A Canadian Perspective at our recent CARE Canada fundraiser, KickassCanadians.ca has made the photobook available to download as a PDF. The e-book is free, with an option to donate to CARE Canada. Thank you to everyone who made this possible, including shift180 designer Shawn Phillips, web designer Thomas J. Bradley and CARE Canada Ambassador Laura Nicol.
Bliss to screen at 2013 Kingston Canadian Film Festival
Sunday, February 17th, 2013—NewsAfter debuting earlier this month at the Vancouver Island Short Film Festival, my short movie Bliss will next be seen at the 2013 Kingston Canadian Film Festival as part of its Local Shorts Program. Details pending on the day and time… Check back here for details!
WIDE OPEN photographs develop standout crowd
Monday, February 11th, 2013—NewsWIDE OPEN: Kickass Canadian Photographs for CARE generated a stellar turnout yesterday afternoon. We sold every copy of the limited edition photobook WIDE OPEN: A Canadian Perspective, raising $3,280 for CARE Canada. A very special thank-you to Patricia Barr and Wall Space Gallery for hosting, and to our primary photobook sponsors, Andrew Morrisey, Broker, Re/Max Metro City Realty Ltd. and Brad Rollo, Owner, Bramel Developments Inc. For details and photos, please visit the KickassCanadians.ca event page.
Kitchissippi Times features WIDE OPEN: A Canadian Perspective
Thursday, January 31st, 2013—NewsThank you to Kitchissippi Times for writing a wonderful article about WIDE OPEN: A Canadian Perspective. The piece, in papers today, features John Bagnell and Dwayne Brown, two of the book’s 10 photographers.
Beasts of the Southern Wild & Daughters of the Dust
Wednesday, January 30th, 2013—FilmBeasts of the Southern Wild (USA 2012, Drama/Fantasy), Writers: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar; Director: Benh Zeitlin
Daughters of the Dust (USA/UK 1991, Drama/Romance), Writer/Director: Julie Dash
I almost wrote about Beast of the Southern Wild in my 2012 year-end “wrap-up,” but I just couldn’t crunch it in; there’s so much to say about it. I still won’t be writing it justice here, largely because it’s been too long since I’ve seen the movie. But here it is anyway. It’s too special not to include. And it continues to remind me of another unique film, which I saw even longer ago, in my film school days, but still want to call to your attention: Daughters of the Dust.
Beasts and Daughters are both first-time feature films by American directors, who explore American subcultures (or co-cultures) by stirring up fantasy and “reality” to create highly unusual, very impactful works. They’re more multimedia poems than traditional narrative movies, relying heavily on atmosphere and setting to capture the spirit of a place and time, and to create lyrical, poignant worlds. The films are also both narrated by otherworldly young girls.
Beasts of the Southern Wild is based on Lucy Alibar’s stage play Juicy and Delicious. Its narrator is the film’s main character, Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), a six-year-old living in a Louisiana bayou community called the Bathtub. With a missing mother and an ailing, alcoholic father named Wink (Dwight Henry), Hushpuppy is left to raise herself, and she does so with great courage and imagination. As the Bathtub braces for a Katrina-like storm, and Wink’s health deteriorates, the young girl carries on, even as she sees her world flooded with rising waters and stampeding aurochs—fantastical prehistoric creatures that symbolize the impending destruction.
Daughters of the Dust is narrated by the unborn child of the one of the characters. (Though being unborn doesn’t prevent her from gracing the screen now and then, in the form of a spirit.) The film is set in 1902 on a small island off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina, which is home to the women of the African-American Peazant family—all members of a Gullah community. As the family prepares to migrate north, their story serves as something of a microcosm, exploring the clash of ancient cultures against modern influences.
There’s a lot more to know about these fascinating films. In addition to being significant and powerful as finished products (Daughters of the Dust was the first feature film by an African-American woman to get a general theatrical release in the U.S.), they each have interesting production backgrounds (Beasts of the Southern Wild involved casting non-actors and working from an unfinished script that was developed throughout the filming process). If you’re interested, check out writer/producer/director Julie Dash’s book, Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an African American Woman’s Film, or the Creators Project documentary on the making of Beasts of the Southern Wild.
I hope you’ll be able to watch the films, too. Beasts of the Southern Wild should be easy to find, as it’s nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress (Wallis). Daughters of the Dust will be a little more elusive, but it’s around—try treasure troves like Ottawa’s Glebe Video International.
The Sessions & Zero Dark Thirty
Sunday, January 20th, 2013—FilmThe Sessions (USA 2012, Drama), Writer/Director: Ben Lewin
Zero Dark Thirty (USA 2012, Drama/History/Thriller), Writer: Mark Boal; Director: Kathryn Bigalow
In the last couple weeks, I saw two wonderful films. Both recount true events, both explore extraordinary resilience in the face of tremendous adversity, and both had a very big impact on me.
The Sessions is based on the autobiographical articles and poems of Mark O’Brien (John Hawkes), an American man who contracted polio as a child and spent most of his adult life in an iron lung. The movie joins Mark at age 38, when he sets about trying to lose his virginity with the help of his priest (William H. Macy), his caretaker (Moon Bloodgood) and a sexual surrogate, Cheryl Cohen Greene (Helen Hunt).
Mark’s story is treated with such frankness that the scenes, no matter how intimate they get, never feel voyeuristic or exploitative. He’s spent more than three decades having to submit to others tending to his bodily needs; for Mark, even when it may be embarrassing, discussing his body and putting it in the hands of his caregivers is just a matter of fact. It also helps that Hawkes wickedly captures his character’s sense of humour, injecting the film with a healthy dose of levity.
What I loved most about The Sessions were the performances, and the way it sheds light on so many different ways to live, and look at, life—which is made all the more poignant because the film is based on real people.
The cast is fantastic all-around, from the supporting actors who play Mark’s fleeting caretakers, to the luminous lead actors. I’ve written about Hawkes’ amazing versatility in my reviews of Me and You and Everyone We Know and Winter’s Bone (he was also fantastic, and once again very different, in Martha Marcy May Marlene, which I didn’t get around to writing up). In The Sessions, he does it again, this time in a very physically challenging role. Hunt is also excellent, in spite of a laughably uneven Boston accent (I mean that literally; every time the accent resurfaced, my friend, GR, cracked up beside me).
As for the second reason I loved The Sessions, there are plenty of insights shared about contrasting views of the world. They come throughout the film, sometimes from Mark’s caretakers and priest, but most significantly from Mark and Cheryl. Mark’s perseverance and determination to find a way no matter what are the epitome of inspiration. This is a man who, in spite of being effectively paralyzed from the neck down, manages to attend Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, go on to have a successful career in writing, and even co-found a publishing press dedicated to poetry by people with disabilities. Not to mention lead an active sex life. You can read more about Mark’s story in this The New York Times article and in a piece he wrote for The Sun called ‘On Seeing a Sex Surrogate.’
Cheryl’s story is also unique and inspiring, from her deep empathy for her clients, to her unusual approach to marriage, to her unfailing (and all too rare) open-mindedness. I’m curious to read her book, an intimate life: sex, love and my life as a surrogate partner.
The Sessions turns out to be therapeutic for more than just Mark. It leaves you with a lot to think about: that there isn’t only one way to do things; that happiness can exist even in very trying circumstances; and there are wonderful people who not only accept difference, but embrace it.
Now, onto a horse of a different colour: Zero Dark Thirty. This is director Kathryn Bigelow’s brilliant depiction of the hunt for, and killing of, Osama Bin Laden, following the September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centers. Intriguingly, it centres on a female CIA agent named Maya (Jessica Chastain), who played a major role in keeping the investigation going and in discovering Bin Laden’s hiding place in Pakistan.
Bigelow brings the same standard of excellence and realism to Zero Dark Thirty as she did to The Hurt Locker. Her latest film is utterly captivating from start to finish. I can’t comment on what liberties may have been taken with real life events, but what I saw was an absolutely mesmerizing account of an important piece of recent history.
As with The Hurt Locker, Bigelow assembled a first-rate cast to pull off the complicated, often upsetting storyline in Zero Dark Thirty. Her team is impeccably led by Chastain, who stole the show in The Tree of Life and delivers again with Zero Dark Thirty. Not surprisingly, she’s up for a Best Actress Academy Award. (The film is also up for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.)
I would have liked to see Hawkes up for Best Actor for The Sessions, but ah, well… His time will come. And he did score a Best Actor nomination at the recent Golden Globes.
Awarded or not, both these films deserve to be seen.
