Spinal Tap, Goblin, Chuck D. and more at Vancouver International Film Festival Live

A group of local musicians will perform live along to the classic mockumentary This is Spinal Tap Sunday night at the Rio.

The 38th Vancouver International Film Festival kicks off tonight. Besides hundreds of movies, the annual festival (Sept. 26-Oct. 11)  is presenting a number of live events. These include live band accompaniments to the greatest of all mockumentaries, This is Spinal Tap, and a Dario Argento horror film, a live podcast with Public Enemy’s Chuck D, and more.

Find out more below about these events below.

Continue reading:
Spinal Tap, Goblin, Chuck D. and more at Vancouver International Film Festival Live

Celebrate Apollo 11’s 50th anniversary with these spaced-out flicks at Cinematheque

The Cinematheque is marking the 50th anniversary of the first manned mission to the moon in an appropriately cosmic style—with an existential arthouse twist.

Beginning today, July 3, and until the 28th, the theatre presents restorations of science fiction classics and award-winning documentaries. The program A Spaced-Out July: Apollo 11’s 50th Anniversary includes a little-seen but visionary Czech film, a lengthy Tarkovsky meditation on existence, and of course Kubrick’s groundbreaking 2001. Find out more below.

Continue reading:
Celebrate Apollo 11’s 50th anniversary with these spaced-out flicks at Cinematheque

Crime dramas dominate this year’s Taiwanese Film Festival

Taiwanese crime drama The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful won for Best Feature at the 2017 Golden Horse Awards.

Each year, the Taiwanese Film Festival brings some of the best Taiwanese feature films, documentaries, and shorts to Vancouver, along with special guest filmmakers. Since its 2007 launch, the festival has resented more than 100 Taiwanese films and hosted several filmmakers and directors. It has grown to become one of the largest film festivals focusing on Taiwanese cinema in North America.

Here are a few of the films to check out at this year’s festival, which takes place at Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour St.) from June 21-25.

Continue reading:
Crime dramas dominate this year’s Taiwanese Film Festival

See ‘an exorbitant amount of computer-generated cats’ this Saturday at Vancity Theatre!

Sandrine Pinna plays an imperial consort in Legend of the Demon Cat.

Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymoure St.) is screening the blockbuster The Legend of the Demon Cat this Saturday, Feb. 9.

A “cavalcade of lush decor, extravagant coloring, and a delightfully exorbitant amount of computer-generated cats” (mubi.com), the film is a 2017 Chinese-Japanese co-production. Find out more below.

Continue reading:
See ‘an exorbitant amount of computer-generated cats’ this Saturday at Vancity Theatre!

Bacon taped to the wall: a Harmony Korine retrospective at Cinematheque

James Franco plays Alien in Harmony Korine’s 2012 “crime drama” Spring Breakers.

Harmony Korine, that post-grunge enfant terrible of America cinema, is the subject of a new retrospective at Vancouver’s premier arthouse, Cinematheque (1131 Howe St.).

Korine’s films include Gummo and Spring Breakers; he also wrote the script for Larry Clark’s controversial 1995 film Kids, which featured the first screen appearances by Chloë Sevigny and Rosario Dawson. The retrospective is the first of its kind in Canada.

See below for more about the films screening in Harm: A Harmony Korine Retrospective (Nov. 8-15).

Continue reading:
Bacon taped to the wall: a Harmony Korine retrospective at Cinematheque

Exorcisms, love at first sight and Italy’s answer to Breaking Bad at this year’s Italian Film Festival

Matilda de Angelis is featured in the 2016 movie Veloce come il vento (Italian Race), which screens at this year’s Italian Film Festival.

A couple Fellinis, three Tavianis, a Rossellini and a Bertolucci. It must be time for the Italian Film Festival.

Each year, the festival screens old, restored and new films by Italian filmmakers. This year’s runs Jan. 5-11 and features classics, documentaries and examples of new Italian cinema. Screenings take place at Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour St.). Here are some highlights.

Continue reading:
Exorcisms, love at first sight and Italy’s answer to Breaking Bad at this year’s Italian Film Festival

Soak in the Holiday Spirit with The 12 Productions of Christmas Starting Today (Free Prizes!)

Christmas magic in Vancouver.

It’s a common sight throughout the year for Vancouverites and visitors to round a corner and step into an enchanting, snow-covered scene complete with foreign taxis, fluffy snow defying warm and sunny weather, and camera crews capturing every second. Vancouver is rife with productions filming holiday heartwarmers – and a few comedies that’ll jingle your bells, too – and the city’s myriad Yuletide events cast a festive glow that people can enjoy off-screen, too.

Continue reading:
Soak in the Holiday Spirit with The 12 Productions of Christmas Starting Today (Free Prizes!)