Posts Tagged: Awesome
Mythbusters!
The Mythbusters were in town this Sunday! Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage took over the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for a couple of hours of fun and science. Though I’m a huge fan I hadn’t actually planning to go, since I’ve got volleyball on Sunday nights, and I didn’t think a live show would really add much to the experience—unlike, say, Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, who graced the Vogue Theatre back in November.
Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: Jamie Travis Retrospective
I don’t think I’d heard of Jamie Travis before last night. My loss, because he’s absolutely brilliant! He’s got a sharp eye for visuals, lavishing bright colours juxtaposed with dark humour and creepy mind screws. You don’t watch his movies, you strap in and let yourself be taken on a tour of a delightfully quirky mind. Maybe it’ll make sense at the end and maybe not; either way, you’re in for a hell of a ride!
Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: The Wise Kids
I just don’t have the words to express how amazing The Wise Kids is. Smart, moving, thoughtful, relentlessly positive? It’s all those things and more. I left the theatre all warm and happy and uplifted. Not bad for a movie about gayness and Evangelical Christianity, eh? Mark my words: this movie will win the VQFF People’s Choice Award, hands down.
Vancouver International Film Festival Review: Insomnia
More Canadian shorts, but these are more focused on art and the artist’s life.
Vancouver International Film Festival Review: The Eye 3D
This hour-long film takes us on a tour of the Very Large Telescope array in Cerro Paranal, Chile—the most powerful deep-space telescope in the world. We hear the scientists and technicians describe their work and discoveries, and through them get a tantalising glimpse of the cosmos.
High School Confidential
The Out on Screen Society does a lot more than put out quality queer cinema. They also run Out in Schools, a program to put queer films in schools all across the province, to facilitate discussion and fight homophobia and bullying. The news have been full of stories of gay teens committing suicide due to bullying—and don’t think it doesn’t happen in Canada. That’s why Out in Schools is such a vital program, because it may be the difference between life and death for some students.
Vancouver International Fringe Festival
I don’t think I’d ever gone to a Fringe show before, and this year I went to two! It should have been three, but I’d double-booked myself on Friday and missed Morgan Brayton’s Raccoonery. I thought about rescheduling (which would have meant buying another ticket, since Fringe policy clearly states there are no refunds or exchanges), but I’d just come down with a cold, so that plan was kaput. Still, I got to enjoy two really excellent shows:
Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: From Coast To Coast Is Queer
It’s good to be queer and Canadian! This brand-new installment complements The Coast Is Queer to show queer shorts from all over this fair land of ours. The program included a dozen titles, but I’ll only list the ones that made a strong impression on me.
Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: The Coast Is Queer
Wow, that was an awesome crop of movies this year! Fifteen short films were showcased, ranging in quality from “pretty good” to “excellent”. I’ll just mention the ones that made a strong impression on me.
Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: Riffs On The Theme Of Activism
For various reasons I missed The Love That Won’t Shut Up, Rex vs Singh, and The Portside. I’d be damned if I was going to miss the last of the screenings commissioned by the Queer History Project.
Riffs consists of five very short films (about 5 minutes long on average), with the focus being on a panel discussion with the directors. Moving and informative, Riffs is an excellent conclusion to an already fantastic series.
Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: The People I’ve Slept With
Oh my fucking gawd, that was amazing. I was a little hesitant to like it, since just before the screening I learned that director Quentin Lee also directed the short Little Love, which I wasn’t that crazy about. But good news, it looks like his forte is light comedy!
Vancouver Queer Film Festival Review: Pornography: A Thriller
Well, that was a mindfuck and a half! Hot porn stars, a mythical snuff tape and urban legends collide in this creepy nightmarish thriller. From the synopsis I expected weird horror, and at first that’s what it looked like I was getting. The first act, dealing with the life and disappearance of porn star Mark Anton, was really disturbing but had no overtly supernatural elements.
Celebration of Light 2010: Tribute to China
Now that’s what I’m talking about! The 2010 Celebration of Light ended on a high note with our tribute to last year’s winner, China. Stunning and inventive visuals, great music, what’s not to love?
Celebration of Light 2010: Team Spain
It’s fireworks time in Vancouver, with the Celebration of Light, taking place on July 21, 24, 28 and 31. I have already gone to the first two shows—Team USA and Team Spain, and will definitely see the rest. Hey, it’s great entertainment, and I live right by Sunset Beach, so why not?
Game Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum
I’d heard the hype about this game, and eventually got to play the first few chapters at a friend’s place. I was so hooked that I decided to rent a disc and console so I could play it for myself. Everything about it is excellent, from the graphics to the gameplay to the story. Everything.
Movie Review: Star Trek
That was awesome. And not quite what I expected, which was even more awesome.
Crescent Moon and Venus
I admit, it was a pure stroke of luck. I was walking home, looking forward to an evening of volleyball, when I happened to look up and saw a lovely new crescent moon. The light was still good so I took its picture, not paying much attention to the nearby bright spot. But it turns out, it’s Venus.
Graphic Novel Review: Fun Home
I love Alison Bechdel’s Dykes To Watch Out For, and have from the day I came out and picked up my first GO-Info (strip # 140, “The Last Tango”, where Mo and Harriet have sex one last time before breaking up for good). Until it ended earlier this year, it was the first thing I read when picking up Xtra! West, and I could always count on it to make me laugh make me think, or both. I own all the collected books, including The Indelible Alison Bechdel.
But, there was one book of hers missing from my collection: a non-DTWOF book I didn’t even know existed until this summer, when I saw it as part of an exhibition on animation and comics at the Art Gallery. I read it all the way through in one sitting, absolutely captivated.
Laugh At Me
The Queer Film Festival is in full swing. Last night I they showed The Coast is Queer, a showcase of shorts by local filmmakers that’s become an annual tradition. There was so much excellent material this year that it’s hard to pick a favourite, but I’d have to go with David C. Jones’ Laugh At Me. Which, good news, has been on YouTube for a while
Movie Review: WALL•E
The trailers never really grabbed me, so I skipped Cars and Ratatouille. Still haven’t seen them on DVD. This movie, though? This movie had promise.
And boy, did it deliver.
