brand upon the brain! Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Northern Exposures: Guy Maddin's 'The Saddest Music in the World'
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », Columns », Cinematical Indie », Northern Exposures »
Beyond the toques, hockey, and those ever-rampant igloos, Canada houses a veritable smorgasbord of media talent. Unfortunately, much of it migrates to the States and becomes part of the "They're Canadian!?" contingent -- including game show host Alex Trebek, and actors from Michael J. Fox to Fay Wray. Heck, even Jack Warner, co-founder of Warner Brothers, was born in London, Ontario. Yet on the northern side of the 49th parallel, a lot of talent still thrives. This is the inaugural post of Northern Exposures, a monthly column that will highlight great Canadian films you should check out, and the wider-recognized work they are similar to.
Film: The Saddest Music in the World
Director: Guy Maddin
Year: 2003
Comparable to: David Lynch
The Saddest Music in the World might not be the most accessible film to throw at wide-release audiences, being a grainy, 8mm black and white film blown up for the big screen, but being the indie side of Cinematical, I can't help but start off with my favorite Canadian film. Before he wowed audiences with Brand Upon the Brain!, Guy Maddin concocted the movie he'd been waiting years to make – one with recognizable, real movie stars and a $3.5 million budget. While it sounds like dreary fare, Saddest Music is actually a quirky, almost fantastical satire about love, greed, pain, and the undeniable allure of show.
TIFF Watch: 'My Winnipeg' Claimed for US by IFC
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », Deals », IFC », Distribution », Toronto International Film Festival », Cinematical Indie »
Ordinarily I wouldn't think that a "surreal documentary ... on Winnipeg that is all set in the course of a narrated goodbye to the city" (in the words of our own Monika Bartyzel) would be a likely acquisition target, but I'm happy to be proved wrong. Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg has been picked up by IFC Entertainment, according to Brian Brooks at indieWIRE. While IFC has claimed US rights, Maximum Films has secured distribution in Canada.Guy Maddin continues to follow his own path as a filmmaker. In her review, Monika wrote: "If you're not into experimental and fantastical filmmaking, you might not like My Winnipeg, but it would be a terrible waste. Maddin has done something that is sorely lacking in documentary film -- he's used his humor to create a thoroughly funny and engaging journey that informs through entertainment, rather than verbose exposition."
Maddin's last film, Brand Upon the Brain!, played selected theatrical engagements with an orchestra, live foley artists, a narrator and a singer. This time around, Maddin stood on stage for each TIFF screening of My Winnipeg and provided live narration.Monika's not the only one who enjoyed it -- so did Todd Brown at Twitch, Jason McBride at Toronto Life and Eric at Moviepie Musings, among others. And all of the reviews agree that it's a very funny film. Here's hoping that IFC won't delay too long in making it available to the rest of us -- with or without Guy Maddin in person to narrate. SCREENING ALERT: The film plays once more tonight in Toronto.
'Brand Upon the Brain!' Has a Killer List of Narrators!
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Distribution », Cinematical Indie »
By now you've probably caught on that a number of us at Cinematical are fans of Guy Maddin's silent masterpiece, Brand Upon the Brain!, which James Rocchi reviewed as part of TIFF. I tried to urge you all to travel to Europe to see the experience for yourself. Luckily, Kim Voynar then shared that before it goes into a regular run with a soundtrack by Isabella Rossellini, it will play in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles with a "live 11-piece orchestra, a five-person live foley team creating special sound effects on stage, a live celebrity narrator, and a castrato performing along with the film."If our kind words and urges aren't enough, the movie is starting to list its celebrity narrators. Holy crap, as lucky and honored as I feel to have seen the debut, I really, really want to head to Gotham and see all of the great names lined up. (As if Guy Maddin presenting wasn't enough.) Are you ready? The narrators for New York are, in order, Crispin Glover, Anne Jackson, Eli Wallach, Joie Lee, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Justin Bond, John Ashbery, Tunde Adebimpe, Edward Hibbert, Peter Scarlet and Isabella Rossellini. Glover will then head to Chicago for a handful of shows, and then there's L.A., where no one has been listed yet. And, if you're in San Francisco, you can check out Joan Chen narrating that is part of SFIFF. This is your chance... Don't pass it up!
[via Twitch]
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