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Nurse.Fighter.Boy

I caught the amazing film Nurse.Fighter.Boy when it played at TIFF last September. I loved it for many reasons and felt an instant connection to it (it might have been the boy with a single mother or the fact that it was shot in the East end of Toronto or maybe it was just because it's a great film). I recommended it as one of my top five films to be seen during the festival and jumped at the chance to interview the director (Charles Officer) and some of the cast.

Now that the film has opened in Toronto and Vancouver I thought it would be great to get Charles back in front of the camera talking about the locations he used in the film. Check out video below and read the article here.

Enjoy.

If you're in Toronto catch Nurse.Fighter.Boy at the Royal or AMC Yonge & Dundas.

Neil Gaiman Interview/'Coraline' Review

We started a new feature on CityNews.ca today called His Take/Her Take. This is a weekly movie review from a male and female perspective. First film up is the 3D stop-motion animated film Coraline (it rocks and everyone should see it). You can read the review here.

My partner-in-crime Suzanne also got to talk to Neil Gaiman (who wrote the book Coraline) about his thoughts on the adaptation. You can watch the interview below and read it here.

Enjoy!

Batmania Hits Toronto!

The marketing for The Dark Knight is in full around Toronto. If you're not seeing the bat logo flying in the sky, you're seeing the Batmobile parked in and around the club district. Check out some photos I snapped this afternoon of the craziness.

More TIFF07 News

We are well into the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF07), so I thought I should post an update of our CityNews.ca coverage.

Last week we interviewed Canadian director Leonard Farlinger about his film All Hat. This is the first festival film for Leonard and he spewed enthusiasm. He was also a decent guy too. We also chatted with Meni Tsirbas about his animated sci-fi film Terra (which looks very cool and I hope I get to see soon). I immediately liked Meni when he pulled out his iPhone (he's a fellow geek).

Suzanne also spoke with actresses Ellen Page (Hard Candy) and Tilda Swinton (Chronicles of Narnia), in between her screening of Jodie Foster's The Brave One, and the party for the Stuart Townsend film Battle in Seattle.

We'll be going strong again this week with a piece on George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead (along with a video of his Q&A), an interview with the producers of the Brian De Palma film Redacted (Brian might do an interview too if we're lucky), as well as more reviews and tales of the festival life (so keep watching the blog).

 

CityNews.ca TIFF07 Coverage

I'm producing the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF07) coverage for CityNews.ca. Suzanna Ellis - our wonder-reporter - has a blog setup, lots of original content, reviews, interviews (Tilda Swinton is almost locked), and general how-to do the fest pieces. We'll also be covering some parties and special events happening in the city (thanks to our friends at Peach Stone Media).

Our goal with the coverage is to do it from the ground (not the red carpet) daily during the festival. We have no special access, had to buy our own tickets, are not accredited for press events, and it is just two us working on the site (with Suzanne doing a majority of the work).

TIFF07 kicks off on September 6th and runs until September 15th. If you have any news to share with regards to the fest during that time please drop us a line at tiff@citynews.ca.

 

NGTV does Superbad

NGTV has a great four part, behind-the-scenes look at the movie Superbad (opening today). From what I've heard the movie is hilarious and I cannot wait to see it (I am even more excited after watching this series).

Part 1 is below, but I warn you this is for ADULTS ONLY!

 

Reviews, reviews, reviews!

I have reviewed a lot of stuff the last couple of weeks over at Criticize This! (the latest addition to BAMCAT, Inc.). Along with Cate Jones (movies), Greg Hood-Morris (music), and Madclan (comics); we have new reviews posted daily.

Some of the things I have reviewed recently are the LG SuperBlu (Blu-Ray/HD-DVD combo player), the 300 HD-DVD, and the first episode of the new season of Weeds (which premieres tonight on Showtime). We also have reviews of the movie Sunshine, the new Spoon album, and the television show Chuck.

Drop us a line if there is something you would like to see us review, and make sure to subscribe to our feed over at criticizethis.net.

 

Chasing Ghosts

After my post on The King of Kong a few days ago, I got a comment (thanks Josh!) about another retro gaming documentary called Chasing Ghosts. This one focuses on Pac-Man (kinda obvious from the title) and looks just as interesting and fun as The King of Kong.

 

The King of Kong

I'm geeking out to the idea of the documentary The King of Kong. The premise is simple - two Donkey Kong champions compete for the title of World's Best. Lots of arcade footage from the 80's, mixed with a couple of eccentric dudes (Billy and Steve), and you have the formula for an interesting film.

In a year of health care and animal cruelty on the screen, it's nice to see a light-hearted documentary emerge with such enthusiasm.

Trailer below.

 

The Joker Wants You!

Viral marketing for The Dark Knight (the next film in the Batman franchise) has officially kicked off with the launch of a recruiting web site for the Joker.

Supposedly there is one pixel on the site that will launch a photo of what Heath Ledger will look like as the new Joker in the film. I'm too impatient to hunt for a pixel so I Googled it and found this post on The Viral Garden which delves into the entire campaign for the film (due in theaters next summer).