Dave Samojlenko

  • TIFF 08 – Special Presentations Announced

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    dsamojlenko

    A whole bunch more films were announced yesterday – 20 films were added to the Special Presentations programme, including some that I’m really looking forward to:

    Me and Orson Welles by Richard Linklater, one of my favourite film makers.  Starring Zac Efron, Claire Danes, Ben Chaplin and Christian McKay.

    Zack and Miri Make a Porno by Kevin Smith – starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks – the Q&A following this one should be a BLAST!

    Synecdoche, New York by Charlie Kaufman starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Catherine Keener, Dianne Wiest, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Emily Watson and Hope Davis.

    The Wrestler by Darren Aronofsky starring Mickey Rourke (who is AWESOME!).

  • Tkaronto

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    dsamojlenko

    An old high school friend, Shane Belcourt is off making us all proud and opening his first feature film tonight at The Bytowne in Ottawa.  It runs through this weekend and the director and some cast members are going to be around for Q&A after the shows.  Below is some press the film is getting today:

    Two lost souls touch in terrific Tkaronto
    Native part came naturally
    Métis mishmash: Tkaronto explores cultural, personal identity loss

    Also, see the official Tkaronto site for more details.

  • TIFF 08 – The List… so far.

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    dsamojlenko

    Ok, I’m ridiculously excited about this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.  We’ve got our tickets, we’ve booked our apartment, now all we have to do is wait (augh!) – the full film list won’t be available until August 19th and we won’t be scheduling until August 27th.  In the meantime, the Midnight Madness and Canada First! programmes have been announced and I’m starting to build my list.  Here are some Midnight flicks that I’m looking forward to:

    JCVD – “The Muscles from Brussels is back!” – Starring Jean Claude Van Damme as himself, “JCVD tells the comeback story of a screen hero who has been on the receiving end of kicks that are getting harder and harder to take. “

    The Burrowers – One of my favourite film experiences of TIFF 06 was JT Petty’s S&Man – and this year JT is back with what has been described as a creature feature wrapped inside a gritty western.

    There’s a bunch of flicks I want to see from the Midnight Madness series – I’ll be sure to keep linking them up.  I’m really looking forward to spending some late nights at Ryerson this year.  As for the Canada First! programme, some flicks I’d like to check out:

    “Control Alt Delete is an unusually quirky romantic comedy set in 1999. When computer geek Lewis Henderson (Tyler Labine) is dumped by his longtime girlfriend, he becomes more and more obsessed with internet porn. After a while, the images lose their power over his libido and he begins a strange sexual relationship with the machine itself. As Lewis starts dating the new receptionist Jane (Sonja Bennett), he realizes he may not be the only one harbouring a dirty little secret.”

    and

    “A wild and deranged comedy set in 1985 suburbia, Cooper’s Camera follows the disintegration of a truly dysfunctional family Christmas after the arrival of an estranged uncle. As everyone gets drunker and drunker, old conflicts and secrets are unearthed to hilarious effect. The story is told through the eyes of the youngest son Teddy, via the family’s newest Christmas present, a second-hand VHS camcorder. The film stars Jason Jones, Samantha Bee, Peter Keleghan and Mike Beaver and is written by Jason Jones and Mike Beaver.”

    Most in Canada would agree our summers are short enough as it is… but with TIFF coming, I find myself wishing August would just hurry the hell up already!

  • TIFF 08 – Ticket Packages Purchased!

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    dsamojlenko

    I just put our order in for our Toronto International Film Festival ticket packages!  We got 5 10-ticket packages (maximum flexibility) and I made a $250 donation to TIFFG to make sure our orders are among the first processed.  It is exciting times indeed.

  • Bluesfest – The Rest

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    dsamojlenko

    A little late coming, but here’s the wrap-up post for Bluesfest.  The last couple of days were fun – my biggest regret is missing Saturday – by all accounts a highlight of the festival this year.  I had to work that night and couldn’t go.  Next year I swear I’m not missing a single night – I won’t book any DJ gigs during the run – and I’m taking the days off work too.

    So Friday night was Metric – and they put on a wicked show.  I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to see them.  Earlier on I caught the end of Balkan Beat Box who seemed like they’d be fun – but I was still hunting for food, booze and people during their performance so not paying much attention.  The mainstage act was Great Big Sea – and there seemed to be a pretty big crowd out for them – we just caught a few minutes at the very end after Metric had wrapped up.  I’m just not so much into the Celtic music so much… sorry!

    On Sunday I caught some of Sean Paul, who I didn’t care much for before, and didn’t care much for after – guess it’s just not my thing.  Caught Sam Roberts Band – who were good, but I was catching up with friends who’d just returned from a vacation and didn’t pay as much attention as I’d have liked (man, isn’t that the story of my Bluesfest…) though from what I caught they were quite good.

    Donna Summer was the headliner for the evening closing out Bluesfest with what has become the traditional disco party Sunday.  She was great fun – put on a big bright performance with all the requisite backup dancers and costume changes and glitz and glam you’d expect from a disco diva.  She was pimping her new album pretty hard so there was lots of stuff I didn’t know – but she hit a number of fun classics too.

    So that was Bluesfest for me: it’s all becoming a bit of a blur now.  There were lessons learned, festival friends made, and lots of great (if hazy) memories.  Can’t wait for next year!