Over the past couple years I've found myself slowly caring less and less about the game of hockey. Very unpatriotic, I know, but it has happened none-the-less. This turn hasn't happened because the Ottawa Senators went from being a great team to a playoff missing team, I'm not jumping off a band-wagon. I went to three games in the 2010 / 2011 season, 2 games that I won tickets to and 1 that was a birthday gift. I had a good enough time at each of the games, but continued to find myself just really not caring.

I used to care about hockey. I used to care a lot. I would watch games under great amounts of stress, holding my breath and coming out the end either ecstatic or in the pits of despair depending on the outcome. And I couldn't figure out why I stopped caring. I think it was a lot of things. I got jaded as to millionaires playing a game that kids like to play, I hated how players swapped teams so often that you lose track of who plays for who, and I know I got tired of people from other cities (I'm looking at Montreal and Toronto specifically) wanting to argue with me and being disparaging just 'cause we liked different logo's.

Then I realized what it really was that tore me away from a life long passion for hockey watching. It was roller derby. It was totally roller derby. A couple years ago roller derby came to Ottawa. I was very excited, having fallen in love with roller derby after having been hooked on an A&E documentary series from a few years back called ROLLERGIRLS. I went to the first bout that the RIDEAU VALLEY ROLLER GIRLS held here in Ottawa, and haven't missed a home bout since.

Soon after we started a tradition of showing Roller Derby themed movies at the Mayfair that the RVRG's presented. We've shown documentaries and stuff like Kansas City Bomber and Switchblade Sisters (which has an excellent climactic gun battle in a roller derby rink). I've even gotten involved on doing ref crew stuff, and now I find myself friends with a bunch of roller derby ladies.

So, to finally get to the point here, last Sunday in Montreal my Slaughter Daughters won the Beast of the East tournament in Montreal. Quite the accomplishment indeed, and I watch via the magic of the interweb while wearing my Slaughter Daughters shirt and matching red Converse. I don't know what the world record is for holding ones breath is, but I'm pretty sure that I broke it. Then, when the girls managed a stunning come from behind upset victory, I leaped to my feet, knocking over my chair and scaring the hell out of my cat. You can relive the glory (I'm pretty sure the greatest moment in sports history I thinks) thanks to the YouTube below.

Looking very forward to the home opener bout on May 28th.

The fine and brilliant cinematic work of Bruce Campbell makes it's return to the Mayfair this weekend with a late late show offering of director Don Coscarelli's adaptation of writer Joe R. Lansdale's 'Bubba Ho-Tep'.

Small budget indie films with big imaginations often have a lot more heart and soul and quality than their big budget Hollywood counterparts. This film is no exception in that category in comparison to the average $200 million dollar rushed franchise blockbuster that turns out empty and soulless and just plain not good. It's too bad that we don't live in a world where it was more financially viable for a movie studio to fiance 100 movies of this size, instead of a solitary 'Transformers'.

'Bubba Ho-Tep' comes from Don Coscarelli, director of Beastmaster and the Phatasm series. The film was inspired by the story by Joe R. Lansdale, who besides for being a great writer of books and short stories, also wrote some of my favorite Jonah Hex comics and Batman animated episodes. And what's the story you ask? Why, that same ancient rehashed tale about an old age home where-in lives a man who may or may not be Elvis Presley. He befriends another tenant who may of may not be JFK (and also happens to be African American). Elvis is played by Bruce Campbell, JFK played by Ossie Davis. They team-up to battle a cowboy mummy who's terrorizing their fellow elderly.

It is all as bizarre and awesome as it sounds and you can catch it Saturday April 30th at 11:30pm at the Mayfair.

Took us a lil' while to get this organized, as these cross-over business things do at times (boring red-tape stuff and figuring out logistics and schedules and other such dull things), but I'm happy to announce that at long last Auntie Loo's Treats amazing cupcakes will be available to purchase at the candy bar at the Mayfair. Just when you thought that we couldn't possibly be any cooler, we now offer you this! If you're familiar with the bakery, then you already know how awesome their stuff is. If you've never sampled their offerings, be sure to get one next time you're in to see a movie. Good news, bad news: you will be instantly addicted and contemplate a life-style possibility of eating cupcakes all day every day for every snack and meal forever. Which upon contemplation, really isn't that bad.

Sweet Tarts Takeaway, the web series that I worked on and will work on again in the future, is up for an audience choice award via the Mingle Media TV Network. So take a moment, click the link over to their site, and give the show 2 thumbs up. Preliminary voting is open through April, if it makes it to the next round I will be pestering for more votes accordingly.

That is a very small percentage of the amount of plastic spoons tossed haphazardly through the air during a screening of 'The Room' by the movies adoring fans. Adoring, yet possessing very poor choices in their cinematic tastes. Not that I'm up on any kind of pedestal for my amazing movie watching habits of course...I mean, I not only own a copy of 'Ultraviolet' on DVD, I watched it with audio commentary.

Tonight though (or I guess technically last night now)I sat in the Mayfair box office and got to witness a young woman burst into tears of joy as she stood a few feet away from Tommy Wiseau waiting to meet him and get an autograph. This happened last night as well but I missed it. I've been talking about 'The Room' and its director endlessly the last couple days. I am completely fascinated by the turn of events that would lead from a bad independent little movie undeserving of any attention at all getting attention. The chaos theory effect was amazingly in it's favour this time. 'Cause really the film should have come and gone and never be seen by anyone and sit on a shelf and be lost to ages.

Instead, Tommy Wiseau's horrible movie has sold out shows occupied by audiences who hang off his every word and cheer at his every statement, no matter how nonsensical or how hard to understand he is. And they have a hell of a good time yelling back at the screen, singing along with happy birthday wishes, and laughing uproariously for 99 or so minutes. I don't understand how someone could not be in on the joke. I would think that his feelings would be hurt by such a reaction. But he is totally not hurt by being mocked and laughed at, I promise you. I think that he thinks he's made a 'Citizen Kane' of a movie that makes him worthy to be thought of as being the caliber of a director the likes of Martin Scorsese.

If you like movies and haven't come out to see 'The Room', or more importantly seen 'The Room' on a night where Tommy is on hand to sign autographs and introduce the movie, you haven't lived yet as a fan of motion pictures. One last chance for you to attend, Sunday April 17th at 10:30pm at the Mayfair.

I should have done a post in the days leading up to our special event at the Mayfair in honour of our 20th month straight of screening 'The Room'. Failing having done that though, I now have to at least comment on the insanity that was having the director of what many a folk think is the worst movie of all time drop by.

It's a weird world that we live in, and now more than ever celebrity is in a strange place. Whether we blame YouTube or Charlie Sheen or TMZ for that, I do not know. The attendance of Tommy Wiseau at the Mayfair equaled one completely sold out show and one packed show. I understand the phenomenon of taking joy from a bad movie, I think it's safe to say that I have seen more bad movies than most. Not only that, I've for some reason done it on purpose. I'm not a movie critic that has to watch movies all day long to pay the rent. I will sit down with a friend and on purpose, when there are so many other worthwhile things to do out there, and watch 'Sharktopus'. We of course didn't expect it to be any good. And none-the-less spent 89 minutes of our lives which we can never get back watching a movie starring Eric Roberts fighting a horrible special effect of a half shark half octopus.

I was curious is Tommy Wiseau was real, or if he was like the fake documentary of 'Spinal Tap' or Paul Reubens playing Pee Wee Herman. I can confirm that he is in fact real. Bizarrely freakishly real. He functions very well in a world of adoring screaming fans, I can't imagine him buying groceries or applying for a passport. Here is a theatre full of people who are paying to see an awful movie and applaud the man who made it. And he seems to have no sadness over the fact that a whole lot of people are laughing at him, not with him. He posed for pictures, he signed autographs, he sang happy birthday to some lucky fans, he tossed around a football with people in line outside of the theatre, he schmoozed the fans next door at Quinn's while they grabbed a drink before the midnight show, and he never ever took off his sunglasses. A grown woman cried in his presence, akin to a teenage girl meeting a Beatle in the early 60's. A teenage boy spotted him in the lobby and started screaming and yelling and I was pretty sure that the kids head might explode.

It was one of those nights where on repeat occasions I was taken aback and couldn't quite believe that this was my life. I was given leftover fish & chips by the most horrible filmmaker of our time. And that was just night one! Two more shows tonight and a special last minute addition with Tommy sticking around for one more screening of 'The Room' on Sunday April the 17th at 10:30pm. More insanity to come I'm sure.

It would be a fair assumption that my favorite George Lucas film would be one of the Star Wars films. That assumption would be wrong. Disregard the Star Wars action figures and row of books on the shelves, the various formats of all the Star Wars films surrounding the entertainment centre or the Empire Strikes Back blanket on my bed. Forget that my family used to have a cat named Chewie or that I've got a Star Wars themed tattoo in the works.

There's no question that I hold those Star Wars movies up on a pedestal. I'm so enthralled with the series I even think the Ewoks are cool and that Hayden Christensen did a good job in Revenge of the Sith.

But no, my favorite George Lucas movie is American Graffiti. A simple lil' ensemble almost anthology tale about a night in the lives of a bunch of young Californians in the summer of 1962. The film features a big ensemble of soon to be stars playing immensely memorable characters, maybe the greatest soundtrack ever assembled, and a bunch of really cool cars. It's one of those movies that I'm pretty sure I will never get tired of. One of those cliche "If you were stuck on a desert island what five movies would you take with you" kinda movies.

And as the geek fates have played out, it marks back to back favorites of mine (Army of Darkness plays Sunday the 27th!) screening at the Mayfair for Lost Marbles Geek Night. Pre-Star Wars / Indiana Jones / merchandising mogul bazillionaire George Lucas directs and co-writes his somewhat of a true story about his youth, American Graffiti, Monday March 28th at 9:30.

A million or so years back (or possibly eighteen-ish) I snuck into a screening of Army of Darkness, not quite old enough to be allowed to see a restricted film. What followed was one of the greatest movie going experiences of my life, actually...let's just say the greatest. It's never good to put a movie too high up on a pedestal, makes the hype hard to live up to for people who haven't seen it. Having said that, Army of Darkness is unbeatable in the history and future as the best film ever made.

I recall that the Ottawa Citizen critic gave Army of Darkness the lowest possible rating, and proceeded to complain about every awesome thing about the film. Clearly he didn't understand the comedic genius of horror adventure perfection. It was at that moment that I realized that critics were meaningless, especially if they couldn't have fun at a movie like this, that all my friends and I had such a great time at and continue to cherish.

Near the top of my short list of great moments in my life was getting to briefly meet Bruce Campbell in San Diego. Not a real sit down, hang out and have a full discussion of course, but a nice Comic Con handshake none-the-less. I was attending a panel on the topic of Brisco County Jr, and at the end Bruce said that he had a lil' bit of time to sign some autographs. Now, Comic Con is enormous, and he was going to be doing said autographing a mile or so away (approximately). I did a Ferris Bueller worthy sprint to where he was signing, and I ended up being the second last person in line (the last person in line gets to hold up a sign letting the other geeks know that no others need line-up behind them).

Approaching the front of the line I was actually chanting in my head something along the lines of "Don't be stupid. Don't faint. Don't be stupid. Don't faint." I imagine I felt like a kid meeting the Beatles in the sixties. I did not faint, or scream, and managed to hold out my hand and say "It's an honour to meet you sir." To which Bruce responded, "It's an honour to meet you Josh". And at that point I did almost scream and make a fool of myself (Bruce wasn't using his super magic powers, I was wearing my film fest participant name-badge). But I held it together.

So, that was one of the greatest minutes of my life. Do not miss the greatest film of all time. Army of Darkness, a Lost Marbles Geek Night screening, happens Sunday March 27th at 9pm at the Mayfair Theatre. Insert one of numerous awesome Ash quotes here to wrap up the blog entry.

The other day someone told me that they were wearing their Maximum Overdrive t-shirt as they opened up the Mayfair schedule and were excited to see that their favorite movie, Maximum Overdrive, was playing at the Mayfair. Now, I often go off on rants on how movie awards and film critics are useless because movies are subjective to a person, not objective. In this case though, I had to flat out disagree with this persons point of view. Of the thousands upon thousands of movies ever made, of all that you have possibly seen ever, this one is the one you love the most? Peculiar.

Since then though, more and more people are telling me about how excited they are to see it. Seemingly not in an ironic love of B-grade movies kinda way. People seem to be genuinely looking forward to seeing this thing. Which is always great. The more people in the theatre the better of course.

And I'm a giant Stephen King fan, I've read all but his last two books, and will be on top of doing so as soon as possible. It's just that his movies, most of which he has nothing to do with (except for writing the source material of course) aren't always A+ in quality. None-the-less, this film (whether you think it's good or bad) holds a significant part both in motion picture and Stephen King history. It's the only film he's ever directed, the only film that AC/DC did the musical score for, and of course there's an awesome truck in it with a giant Marvel Comics Green Goblin head stuck to the front of it.

On top of the fun of the movie, we'll have a prize supplied from Lost Marbles, and if you'd like you'll be able to purchase one of the limited edition exclusive to the Mayfair posters produced by Skuzzles and artist Travis Bone.

Maximum Overdrive - Lost Marbles Geek Night @ the Mayfair - Friday March 18th - Midight

Bad news, the fat-cat powers that be have decided to back-peddle from the scheduled booking of The King's Speech and cancel on the Mayfair in the 11th hour. 'Cause they love the multiplexes better than they love the repertory theatres.
Good news: It opens up the schedule to show Sofia Coppola's new film, Somewhere. Considering that Lost in Translation is one of my favorite movies, this isn't the worst trade off in the world. Plus, we'll still get The King's Speech next month, along with a couple other Oscar films like Black Swan and True Grit.

The following is the lil' update / press release kinda' memo that was put up on the Mayfair website in regards to the situation:

-------------------------

Unfortunately, The Mayfair’s scheduled screenings of The King’s Speech (March 11-14 & 17) have been canceled.

Why?

In early February, we booked The King’s Speech from distributor Alliance Atlantis.
On February 27, The King’s Speech won four Oscars.
On March 8 (three days before we were scheduled to start showing The King’s Speech), Alliance Atlantis informed us that they would NOT be sending us the print of the film. They feel they can make a little more money if they continue to play it at The World Exchange instead of at your neighbourhood cinema.

In its place, we’re presenting Sofia Coppola’s critically acclaimed drama, Somewhere. (Which is brilliant, and you should definitely see.)

We sincerely regret any inconvenience.
If you’d like to let Alliance Atlantis know how you feel about the situation, you can leave a message on their Facebook page or call them directly at 416-967-1164.
We’re sure they’d be happy to hear from you.

CUT.

Behind the scenes in the Arts Court in downtown Ottawa on the latest episode of Sweet Tarts Takeaway. The first three episodes of season one are currently up and ready to watch on the interwebs. If you haven't checked them out yet, now is a good time to get caught up on the first three episodes before new ones start popping up later in the month. And the latest episode takes place mainly in what might be commonly referred to as a sex shop, perfect for online and more or less safe for work content!

Ever since the big poster for the March schedule went up in the lobby at the Mayfair, I think the number one thing that I've heard over and over again is "That can't be THAT James Taylor." It is indeed that James Taylor starring in this 1970's drive-in classic about drag-racing across the States. The same James Taylor who has won six Grammy's and sang his own brand of laid-back adult contemporary music to Homer Simpson while he was in outer space.

On Monday March 7th, the acclaimed film kicks off a month of car themed movies at the Mayfair for Lost Marbles Geek Night (with a nifty car type prize from Lost Marbles which will be given away to one lucky attendee). The other diverse batch of automobile themed movies on there way are Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive, George Lucas' American Graffiti and Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness. The last film isn't a car film per-say...but it does have an awesome car in it, and any excuse to show the greatest film of all time is a good one.

I don't care about the Oscars. And yet, like any film fan, I find myself talking endlessly about the Oscars. For me it pretty much comes down to the old and often brought up point of view that it's ridiculous to award something that is subjective. No one ever agrees unanimously on what is the best film, how can it be given an award which states that it is the best of the year then? I understand why people like giving or receiving awards, but I just can't wrap my mind around the process. I remember one year the two critics in Entertainment Weekly each did an article on their top 10 and bottom 10 picks of the year. One critic had a film on their top 10 list that was on the others bottom 10. To me, that really wraps up how silly critics and awards are.

Having said that, let me now talk about the Oscars some more! There's 10 films in the best picture category, I have seen five. I was neutral on 'Social Network' and 'Inception', thought '127 Hours' was good and that 'Winter's Bone' was pretty great. I missed seeing 'The Kids Are All Right' when we had it at the Mayfair, and will see 'The Fighter' (which kida' just looks like another 'Rocky' to me) and 'The King's Speech' in March, and I think we're getting 'Black Swan' (which I've heard conflicting reports that it is the best thing ever and horrible pretentious film school snobbery) later. I'm dieing to see 'True Grit', and only missed out on it 'cause I avoid those pesky multiplexes for the most part.

That leaves 'Toy Story 3'. Of the ten options, I think 'Toy Story 3' is hands down the best film on the list. Pixar just blows my mind. Any other franchise or studio would've dropped the ball by the time they get to part three in a series. And those mad geniuses at Pixar almost inexplicably makes another story about talking toys that manages to soar above any other offerings not only of the summer but the whole damn year. Yet, I think that most folks think 'Social Network' is gonna' win. And that movie being considered the best perplexes me to no end, but I'm in the minority there.

But none of it really matters because my favorite movie of the year was 'Scott Pilgrim vs the World', and it got zero nominations, and that doesn't make me care about it any more or less.

Though I don't care about the Oscars, I will kinda be watching them. In the capacity that we'll be again showing them on the big screen at the Mayfair. Likely I will be on ballot counting patrol again. Which last year came down to the very last award given before we had a winner, it was actually fairly action packed to keep track of. Plus, James Franco is co-hosting and he's pretty awesome.

Oh, and there's a slim chance that Banksy might do something awesome (again...don't care, won't think the film is any less great, but I really want him to win).

Tonight marks the end of the mini-bout of Black History Month done in true Mayfair style. To counter the horror Blaxploitation that was the genius of Blacula, last night we screened likely the most mainstream and critically praised film in Geek Night history with Do the Right Thing. Which might not seem like the most geeky of films at first thought, but any film with someone like Spike Lee in the lead role definitely holds a tinge of geek to it. Plus of course the packed cast holds none other than geek movie icon Samuel L. Jackson, amongst other talents.

But, that was last nights film. Tonight we showcase '1990: The Bronx Warriors' A knock-off grindhouse Italian picture that takes influence from (or rips off from depending on if you're looking at it negatively or positively) The Warriors, Escape from New York, and a lil' bit of Clockwork Orange. A moviegoers guilty pleasure calibre of a film, which although not quite Blaxploitation, holds a place alongside that type of movie thanks to the inclusion of actor Fred Williamson (star of Hammer, Black Caesar & Black Eye to name a Blaxploitation few).

Another chance to see a rare bad movie gem up on the big screen. One night only for Lost Marbles Geek Night - Friday February 18th at 11:30pm at the Mayfair.

I've been crewing on a new series from the creative mind of one of my frequent collaborators which premieres on the interwebs tomorrow, just in time for Valentine's Day. Be sure to tune in and check out the first episode of Sweet Tarts Takeaway and keep apprised of the production via various social network devices.

Early on yesterday, I got a text from a friend that left me confused. I replied with a question mark. She replied with a laugh, and information that it was an exact quote from a bit of an interview in regards to the Painted Lips and Lolly Licks fest at the Mayfair. Funny that is, 'cause I said nothing close to that in real life. I can deduce where the fake quote came from, and it doesn't surprise me, due to the fact that every single time I'm interviewed it ends in mis-quotes and embellished half-truths. I've had the belief for a while that many a journalist are really more paraphrasers than anything else. Anyhow, that's really more funny and annoying than anything else, not the end of the world.

The fest itself was another grand and amazing Mayfair of a night. We should have burlesque girls perform pre-show at every damn movie we show! Twas a packed house of heckling lustful film-goers, hepped up on alcohol and the anticipation of seeing some explicit short movies.

'Kinda True' was very well received. Looking forward to either getting permission to use the music that we used, or getting some other equally cool music. And y'know, a rather famous porn star who has exploits with Charlie Sheen said it was "super sexy" evidently, so that doesn't happen every day.

The film that walked away with the Mayfair gold card getting it's director a year of free movies was Polar Bear Love. A well deserved accomplishment, there were a lot of films, but I have to say I'm pretty sure that it was my favorite. Click on the films title above, and you can watch it for yourself. I'll be busy contemplating another short for 2012.

I was reminded that on top of inappropriate lewd inciting fun that will be the Painted Lips & Lolly Licks sexy film film fest tomorrow night, the show also gets an opening act from the talented Sin Sisters. They will be presenting their burlesque, go-go & variety show in front of the new collection of new short films up on the big screen at the Mayfair.

If the promise of new erotic cinema offerings from a batch of diverse film-making talent wasn't enough to get you to attend instead of going to see the new Justin Bieber movie, this information has to win you over!

The line-up for this years Painted Lips & Lolly Licks is up on the interwebs. There are eighteen shorts from across the globe, with six of those coming from Ottawa filmmakers. Our short for the event is finally done, went through one final revamp when the editor made another pass over on the sound (and there may have been a typo in the credits too). Now it's finished again and passed off last night, which means that it was submitted only a full four days or so after the actual deadline.

I'm quite pleased with the final product. Since I've done so much horror and a bit of sci-fi type genre stuff, for my first Painted Lips short I didn't want to mix genres. I wanted to make a plain ole' sexy story offering. And I think that me and my small band of film-making compatriots have managed to make something pretty good. Only a couple of people have seen the finished product, but so far the reaction has been all positive and included a "fucking awesome!" (sorry for the crude language, but that's a direct quote).

This-afternoon I'll venture out to my friend / editor / cinematographer's place to finalize the cut for my latest directorial effort and first short for the Painted Lips & Lolly Licks sexy film fest at the Mayfair. Last year I was a mix of too sissy to participate and didn't have a really decent idea. Since all my other stuff has been horror or sci-fi themed in recent years, I didn't want to mix up genres, I didn't want it to be about vampires or in a zombie world or anything like that.

As luck would have it, late last year while sitting on a bus reading a Japanese comic book and minding my own business a quick little interaction happened that made not only a great lil' story that I'll get to tell for the rest of my life, but inspired some film-making. That real life story adapted into a sexy short film idea, and as luck would have it one of my partners at the Mayfair holds the aforementioned sexy short film festival every year. So there you have it.

Now, what happened in real life and what happens in the short has gone through some rather drastic re-writes (well, I didn't actually write anything down for this one since it was a relatively easy chain of events with little in the way of dialog). It's about as close to a true story as 'Social Network' is I think. Hence my initial idea of calling it 'Based On A True Story' has switched titles to become 'Kinda True'. Due to the last minuteness of this whole thing and my rather insane schedule, I've dropped the ball on tracking down a piece of music needed for a rather integral scene. My editor made use of a song that we don't have permission to use, just to have something to pace the editing to. I'm insanely in love with the music that we can't use. And since the screening is in less than a week and the short isn't finished yet and the deadline was two days ago, I'm going to make use of the song for the screening. I'm relatively sure that it won't end with me serving out a jail term. After that, we'll replace the score with something equally cool but less law breaking.

So, for one night only (on Friday February 11th at 9:30pm), come on out and watch me break the laws of copyright infringement at the Mayfair Theatre. Please attend, just don't tell anyone what I just told you.

For a while now, I've had it in my head to see if we might program some Black History Month themed films at the Mayfair. There's a worry sometimes for that kind of thing that it might come across as poking fun at or being disrespectful of the significant event. More so in a case when one is involved with helping to run a theatre that at any given time is showing cannibal movies, exploitation fare or 'The Human Centipede'.

Of course, the first thing that came to my mind was to see what the likelihood was of showing some Blaxploitation Cinema. The thought of which corresponds with the previous statement of not wanting to make light of Black History Month. Though I don't think it would be too horribly offensive of a genre to screen, especially considering the number of interviews I've seen with actors and filmmakers of the genre discussing how proud they were of those films.

I thought it would be a good idea and film historical appropriate plan to counter with some more serious fare, and possibly something music related. Alas, like so often gets in the way of this kind of thing, many of the films weren't available to be screened. Not only other Blaxploitation fare, but the likes of 'When We Were Kings', 'Dave Chappelle's Block Party' or 'The Harder They Come' are all on the shelf for now.

Shockingly, one movie that was available was 'Blacula'. I always find it weird that we're not able to screen something mainstream like 'Gremlins'...but more obscure weird offerings are up for grabs no problem. 'Blacula' is so unbelievably cool, that a person or two that I told about this film of late actually didn't believe me. They thought I was making a movie up, that the title was about as unbelievable as 'Dr. Acula' (that title is stolen from 'Scrubs').

Brave the harsh weather to see a rare glimpse of 70's Blaxploitation vampire horror at the Mayfair for a late late Lost Marbles Geek Night, Friday February 4th at 11:30PM.

Monday nights screening of the impressive documentary 'Kings of Pastry' was excellent times all around. We got a great turnout, especially for a cold Monday night thanks to the power of the fan-base of Auntie Loo's. Even more-so impressive considering that the film recently played at a certain other Ottawa repertory theatre, and when that happens more-often than not we don't get the opportunity to screen the film as well. So when a great crowd comes out for a movie that played elsewhere recently, it of course makes us look like a viable option to film distributors (as also happened with 'Exit Through The Giftshop').

On top of the good film watched by a welcome and enjoying themselves audience, we also had not only cupcakes for sale from out friends at Auntie Loo's, we had free stuff from our friends at Auntie Loo's! You may have thought that you had a decent cupcake or two in your time, but if you haven't had one of these your life might be unknowingly sad and incomplete.

So make yourself a happier person and don't miss cupcakes and the encore Mayfair screening of 'Kings of Pastry' as presented by Autie Loo's Treats on Wednesday February 2nd at 7pm at the Mayfair Theatre.

Auntie Loo's Treats is presenting the acclaimed and excellent documentary (ok...I haven't seen it, but it looks great)'The Kings of Pastry' at the Mayfair on Monday January 31st & Wednesday February 2nd. So what does this mean exactly? It means that not only will you get to see an action packed documentary about the world of competitive cake making, but if yer really lucky and extra nice, you might just get some free samples! And failing that, you can buy some cupcakes! They are awesome. You will become addicted. You have been warned.



If that wasn't enough of a special occasion. Monday night also brings another Lost Marbles Geek Night and a special presentation of Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil'. One of many of his long line of commercial flops that were film-making brilliance. And if you don't snag a free cupcake, sticking around for the late show will give yah a shot at getting a kewl prize from Lost Marbles.

A midst telling a friend of mine my recent and upcoming schedule, she made me halt due to being knowledgeable of the hectic levels of my day to day activities was stressing her out. Between normal work gigs and Mayfair stuff, then add in the occasional social obligation, film crew participation, working on my own short at the moment and a friends web series, I don't have anything in the way of free time at the moment.

I've got a batch of backlogged TV to watch (Fringe! Clone Wars! 30 Rock!) and a ever increasing stack of comics and non-picture books that aren't going to just read themselves. I've vowed to even try to avoid the library this year just 'cause I'm so behind on reading my stuff / friends books. I had intended to write a comment on the long deserved and finally here death of the Comics Code, but haven't had much in the way of sitting at the computer time when I'm not busy computering something else. Even if that's just keeping the Mayfair Twitter page up to date, which might not seem like all that much work, but has become a constant never ending 140 character monkey on my back. I even dropped the ball on writing an entry on Lost Marbles Geek Night presentation of 'Fifth Element' last Monday. It was great, and just to let you know, if you're ever introducing a Bruce Willis movie, do use the Asthton Kutcher's dad joke. It kills.




So, although kind of last minute, I didn't want to let pass a couple of very cool screenings happening at the Mayfair this-afternoon and tomorrow. Today at 1pm and tomorrow at 3pm we have a collection of some of the greatest Looney Tunes classics up on the big screen in all their 35mm glory. If that wasn't amazing and retro enough, on the very same Saturday and Sunday we have (at 3pm and 8:15pm respectively) 'Batman & Robin' serials from the late 1940's. A rare chance to see the mostly lost genre of the theatrical short animation (except for PIXAR and the occasional other offering) and the completely lost art of the short episodic serial up on the big screen (though I seem to remember hearing rumor that Marvel may to some live action shorts of their 2nd / 3rd tier characters in front of their upcoming films).

Bugs Bunny. Batman. Big Screen. Drop everything. Don't miss it.

At one point in recent history, a bunch of rappers had Oscars and Martin Scorsese did not. Hence, I really don't care about them or any awards all that much. People who can write better than I have ranted about the judging of art and foolishness of awarding film or music or plays, pitting them against each other. Although an arguable statement to say the least, I've always thought that films were subjective and not objective. I certainly hated 'Crash' (not the sex and car crashes one, the other one), but somebody must have liked it since it made a couple bucks and won a Best Picture Oscar. And as shocking as this might sound to any rational being, there are some people out there who don't love Bruce Campbell or 'Army of Darkness'. There's no way in hell that you're going to talk me out of thinking that that movie is incredible. Yet I remember that the Ottawa Citizen gave it one star, lowest possible rating.

Having just done the annual reading of the Oscar nominees, there are some choices I'd agree with (Toy Story 3 was awesome), some stuff I'd disagree with (I thought Social Network was meh at best), and some stuff that I think was robbed (Scott Pilgrim vs the World). Every year holds a few surprises, even for one like I who as previously stated thinks awards are meaningless.

This year...Banksy got an Oscar nomination!? What a strange world we're in the midst of. A lil while back this guy was a true underground artist running around the streets of London mysteriously leaving his street art mark on the land. Now he's got a Simpsons credit on imdb and he's nominated for an Academy Award! Madness. 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' was maybe my 2nd favorite movie of last year, and I'm intrigued by the nomination if only it means that wherever the Oscars are held in California that maybe this means it'll get tagged by some nifty new Banksy art. And if he wins he'll surely thank me for my tattoo tribute.

A couple days ago finished reading 'Nerd Do Well', the autobiographical story of a little geek who becomes a professional geek from one of my heterosexual guy crushes, Simon Pegg. Thought of it today as I saw a snippet of the 'Paul' trailer. Simon Pegg (along with his best of friends Nick Frost & Edgar Wright) are living the geek dream. The books through-line is all a geeks growing up evolution (with a few stories of the non-geek thread thrown in). What makes it shine is that he really seems like one of us...or to stand corrected he is one of us. With the difference that he gets to live out geek dreams that most of us will ever be lucky enough to partake in. Imagine being a kid who likes watching 'Star Trek' re-runs, and then one day going in to work and finding yourself acting alongside Leonard Nimoy while portraying Scotty. Or getting to be a villain on 'Doctor Who'. Or working with the guy who directed 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (on a project with two of your best friends). Or being a zombie in a Romero movie. Pretty amazing truth is stranger than fiction kindah stuff.

If you're a geek, that means you like Simon Pegg, that means you'll like this book. If you don't like Simon Pegg, that means you don't like 'Spaced' or 'Shaun of the Dead' or 'Hot Fuzz'...and that means that there is something wrong with you.

Just a quick post to remind one and all of Infra-Man, a great Lost Marbles Geek Night treat tonight at the Mayfair tonight at 9. I'm looking very forward to this Power Rangers looking 1970's sci-fi superhero vs giant monsters extravaganza. When we say we're the home of 'stuff you won't see anywhere else', we sure as damn well mean it.

I have not see the film yet, but from what I've researched, it seems to have demon princesses, witches, skeleton ghosts, a slew of monsters and front to back over the top martial arts action. We've got a bunch of Lost Marbles stuff to give away, and on top of all that it's a film that Roger Ebert thinks is extreme genius. That's the most respected film critic on the planet people!

Recently I got snippy with some friend of a friend as they were trashing Ottawa as a horrible place to live where there was nothing ever to do. I told them that if they thought there was nothing to ever do in this city they weren't trying very hard to find stuff. Not only do I think there's always something to do here, often I find the cool things overlap and you have to pick over two equally worthwhile events.

I thought of this glum hater of the city that I love so as a couple nights later I went to a hip indie lil' coffee shop tucked in beside the impressive Chinatown arch as I watched a great local band perform an intimate yet still rock & rolling show. The band used in this example, The Hilotrons, are on the cover of this weeks Ottawa XPress in promotion of their Saturday night show at Babylon.

So don't be one of those whiners who inexplicably say there's nothing to do in Ottawa. Unless you have other awesome plans, get yourself out to this show to see a truly impressive local band.

There have been many an awesome an amazing night at the Mayfair Theatre in the last couple years. Sure, every once and a while a Julia Roberts or Alvin & the Chipmunks movie slips through, but for the most part the diversity and quality of the programming is stellar. And where else do you get to watch stuff like Night of the Living Dead Live, classic silent films with live musical accompaniment, Troll 2 / Best Worst Movie, Hitchcock fests, Geek Nights, roller derby movie events, and the list goes on...

Thursday January 13th though will wrap up the Charlie Chaplin film fest we've been showcasing. And not to sound too over the top hokey, but these kinds of thing are I think akin to magic. Seeing movies from the 20's, 30's and beyond in a theatre opened in 1932 almost seems like time travel. Especially impressive are these series of films considering they still hold up seamlessly. So if you're in town, are a movie fan, and haven't had a chance to catch any of these yet, do yourself a favour and get out Thursday night to participate in some true movie magic movie-watchin'

I got a letter published in the latest issue of Hellboy. Even at my advanced geek age, I still get thrilled by such things. It's one of the big reasons why I love the comic book community, for it's high level of reader / professional interaction (except for DC Comics, I don't think they have any letters columns at all in their books, they've gone completely to the web for such things). Sure there's something to be said for message-boards some would say, but getting your thoughts published on paper within an actual comic book that you're a fan of is so much more meaningful, and seems like a bit of an accomplishment. To get into a comic book (or magazine or newspaper) you have to be found interesting by an editor or writer or artist. Someone involved in the thing that you are fond enough of to comment on thought that you had something worthwhile to share with the masses. Message boards just seem to be anger and stupidity a good 90% of the time. Any idiot can ramble on about anything on the internet (y'know, like on blogs).

Wrapped up shooting on day three of Thunderstorm (which has more lovingly been dubbed Fake Thor by some...and by some I guess I mean me). I think that the title character kind of looks a bit more like Iron Man than Thor, but who am I to question the mockbuster making artistic community? I'm going to pitch one called Sam Pilgrim Vs The Universe...or maybe Night of the Dead Living.

I saw Flash Gordon initially at the Renfrew Drive-In when I was a little kid. My mum or dad would take me there frequently to see many a geeky film. The first two films I ever saw were Star Wars and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, followed on other occasions by Superman II (which I'm pretty sure I saw before the original...but I'll have to verify that), The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Cannonball Run, Airplane! and various other late 70's early 80's offerings.

I have a distinct memory of being scared to death by at least one scene. Some plot plot point where Flash had to stick his hand in a hole and there was a killer spider in there or something like that (I haven't seen the movie forever, kind of blurry). I also remember thinking that it wasn't as cool as Star Wars. Which is funny, since now I know that the Flash Gordon serials and comic strips were a giant influence on George Lucas in the creation of the Star Wars saga. Not only that, evidently he initially wanted to do a big screen Flash Gordon after his successful turn on American Graffiti, but he couldn't get the rights to do so. The powers that be didn't think he was the right director for the job, considering that his previous science fiction directorial effort was the acclaimed but box office failure of a movie called THX 1138. There are many an article on the subject, but I found the one on Star Wars Origins fairly informative and comprehensive.

The most famous part of the film is of course not the script or behind the scenes talent or special effects or actors...but that it has a score from British rock and role icons Queen (one of only two films they did so for, the other being the original Highlander). A powerful over the top musical turn, accompanied by some pretty on the nose Saturday morning caliber lyrics along the lines of "Flash! He'll save every one of us!"

Find out if Flash Gordon can indeed save us pathetic earthlings at the first of four sci-fi themed Lost Marbles Geek Nights for the month of January, Monday the 10th at 9:15pm at the Mayfair Theatre

Home from work on the first night of shooting for Thunderstorm: Return of Thor. This is not of course the Thor film coming out in theatres later this year from Marvel Comics. This is what is commonly known in film geek circles as a mockbuster. Mockbusters are nothing new to the cinema world. The old monster films were ripped off over and over, in the 70's there were plenty of shark and space movies riding the coat-tails of Jaws and Star Wars. And in the 80's a plethora of wannabe Gremlins movies flooded out of the gates after its success.

This generation of mirror copy but low budget versions of Hollywood tent-pole releases are on quite the roll, so I guess someone must be watching them...or being tricked into watching them. There's one company called The Asylum that seems to hold the crown at the moment, they've done 18 in 6 years. Their fine library of titles include: The Da Vinci Treasure, The Termiators, Paranormal Entity and believe it or not, Snakes on a Train (you get one guess at what each of those were ripped off from).

It looks like the movie that I'm crewing on will even face some competition (besides for the competition of y'know, the actual theatrical release, big budget, directed by a four time Oscar nominee project). On the video store shelf, or more appropriately mayhaps to say on Netflix now-a-days, beside Thunderstorm: Return of Thor will sit The Asylum's Almighty Thor. And who said Hollywood was out of ideas?

Had planned to update the blog with this information a couple days ago. Alas my gmail account (and hence blog too) got hacked and taken over by evil villainous masterminds from Egypt. Nefarious Egyptians who tried to trick all my friends who're connected to me via g-mail to send them $2,000 because "I" was trapped at an airport in the UK under dire situations...or something like that. It was kindah' funny if it wasn't such an pain of a couple of days trying to get my account back. Good news: I've got it back. Bad news: It's wiped out of all of the information that used to be on there. Oh well. I digress...

Ok! Above is the poster for the upcoming event at the Mayfair Theatre, the third annual Painted Lips and Lolly Licks Film Festival (with all pertinent contact information listed upon it). It arrives just in time for Valentine's Day weekend, and is currently on the look-out for and accepting submissions of short films to be screened on the night.

I'll be directing a short which I think we're calling "Kindah based on a true story...". Hopefully we'll have casting figured out within the next couple weeks, and then I'm sure my frequent collaborators and I will shoot on a day very near to the deadline and be editing the night before. There's no other way to do one of these things.

The Magic 8 Ball decrees that YES indeed, 2011 will be awesome. So says the Magic 8 Ball!! Bow down before it's mighty power!

Sorry. I found nicer geeky festive images to accompany my lil'"Merry Christmas" blog entry...but I do love the fine inappropriate work of the Biz. And what more could be said than the wise words from Lobo his-self? So do what he says...or else...

Over and over again, there seems to be endless proof that there is never a sure thing in the art and business of film production. Imagine this line-up pitched to studio executives in the mid 80's: We've got a pitch for a new movie from the guy who created The Muppets, from the producer of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, with a script written by a Monty Python alum, starring one of the biggest rock icons of all time. Uhm...yeah, let's green light that movie right away! Fat cat executives must have been tripping over themselves trying to be the first in line to finance this thing.

But, as famed screenwriter William Goldman pointed out in his writings about the film industry, "Nobody knows anything". And in this case, it's pretty unlikely that anyone could have guessed that a movie with those four men involved could have completely tanked.



A movie not making any money has never meant that the movie wasn't any good though. There's a long list, but the all-stars of great movies that were box office bombs include Fight Club, Office Space, Blade Runner, It's A Wonderful Life, Fantasia, Citizen Kane, and most recently I would add Scott Pilgrim Vs The World to that list. Critics not praising and an audience not showing up to a movie does not equal a terrible movie all of the time.

So, on Boxing Day, once recovered from the previous days family time, present opening and food feasting, make your way to the Mayfair for a holiday Lost Marbles Geek Night presentation of Labyrinth at 8:15pm.

Recently and coincidentally I was told a story of a girl showing her boyfriend her favorite film, The Princess Bride. Not only did he not like the film, he didn't even make it half way through the film before giving up and turning it off. That my friends is unacceptable, and I'm pretty sure the dictionary definition of what would be known as a dealbreaker. This wasn't some cliche case of a girl forcing a guy to watch Sex and the City or some horrible Julia Roberts romance...this was the frickin Princess Bride! There's not a lot of movies that I consider perfect, but this one is pretty damn close. It has everything! Swashbuckling pirates, underhanded villains, a tough and beautiful princess, eccentric wizards, rodents of unusual size, Andre the Giant, Peter Falk...what more could you possibly want!?

That is the end of my rant. Please come out and see this excellent film. And if you've been invited to the film by a significant other, do not fail the test. See the movie. It is great.

Lost Marbles Geek Night: Sunday December 19th at the Mayfair at 8:45PM.

Our Christmas gift from the Mayfair to you are a trio of geeky movies with a lil something for everyone. The perfect movies for the uber-geek or their more of the norm significant other. Date Night Geek Nights will kick off with the cornerstone generation x romantic dramady Reality Bites. The feature film directorial debut from Ben Stiller, starring a post Heathers / pre-shoplifting Winona Rider and every mid-90's geek boys crush, Janeane Garofalo.

Reality Bites - Sunday December 5th - 8:45pm

And then on the 19th and the 26th, slightly more fantastical date geek fare with the 80's classics The Princess Bride and Labyrinth. All nights with prizes from your favorite Christmas shopping destination, Lost Marbles.

A few days ago, the gentleman who directed my favorite movie ever died. And if you google Irvin Kershner, you'll find many more popular geek than I ranging from Harry Knowles to George Lucas saying deserved nice things about the man. So no need for me to repeat his career accomplishments here. Even though belated, I felt like typing up a lil' something though...

It's always sad when someone dies of course, and weird when someone you've never met yet admire passes away. You have no actual connection, but they've managed to yet completely help shape and change your life. The first movie I ever saw at a movie theatre was The Empire Strikes Back. I went to see it at the Somerset Theatre in Ottawa, which doesn't exist anymore, with three family members, two of which aren't with us anymore. The movie going experience blew my lil four year old mind, and can probably be pin-pointed as the first step towards my love of movies. I remember the opening scene with Luke on the Tauntaun, I was completely mesmerized by the snow kangaroo thing. And I remember the cliffhanger ending, and being furious when my dad told me I had to wait three years to find out what happens to Han Solo. Three years!?! I was only four! That's most of my life! I have vowed that if I ever have kids I'm making them wait three years between watching Empire and Jedi.

In conclusion, The Empire Strikes Back was awesome, and without Irvin Kirshner instead of Han saying "I know" in response to Leia's confession of love, he just would have said "I love you too". Thank you sir.

In the current issue of the Ottawa X-Press, the Mayfair was voted the bestest theatre in all of the land (that might be a slight paraphrasing on my part). That marks the second year in a row for us winning the category. Thanks to the X-Press and to all of our lovely patrons who took the time to participate and vote for us. You can check out the rest of the results either in the parer version (which is in the boxes and around town for the next couple days), or online.

Tonight at the Mayfair is our second of three John Waters pictures, which encompass the Lost Marbles Geek Nights / John Waters Mini Film Festival. There have been many a request for us to show all and any of John Waters films, and now that we're showing these three, there's questions as to why we're not showing more. Alas, in this horrible world that we live in, these three movies are the only film prints currently available. A shocking and unbelievable statement I know! So, for the time being anyhow, no Hairspray or Polyester or Pink Flamingos or anything else. It truly is the most annoying and frustrating of things in trying to run an awesome repertory theatre, the unbelievable amount of films that yah just can't get.

But, let's look at things glass half full and enjoy Cecil B Demented, John's comment on the state of Hollywood vs indie film-making. Tonight at 9:15 at the Mayfair for another geek-gasmic Lost Marbles Geek Night...and yes, there will be prizes.



Oh...PS...also tonight at the Mayfair, right before the John Waters screening will be a special presentation of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Special for two reasons: 1. I'm pretty sure that I could watch this movie every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. 2. It's a fundraiser for my former high school, Canterbury.

So if you're coming out to one or the other tonight, why not take in the pair? Ferris at 7 / Cecil at 9:15.

Time for another Halloween. Which this year seems to be more the day that people are excited about The Walking Dead finally premiering on TV more than being excited by any thoughts of dressing up or getting candy. I swear, buzz in both geek and non-geek circles for this thing seems huge. I will be both going trick or treating with some friends kids (mainly to score some candy left-overs) and then dressing up for later costumed festivities. Then will go home and watch Freaks (for the first time...shocking I know) and of course, The Walking Dead. Good times.

The Mayfair has been nominated again and will be defending its title as the distinction of greatest movie theatre in the universe from the fine folks at the X-Press. Well, actually it's for 'Best alternative to a multiplex', which is a bit of a strange distinction. But we'll take it! So please feel free to click over to the X Press readers poll website and vote away.

While you're there, feel free to also vote for the Silents is Golden film festival, Lee's filmmaking efforts, our neighbours at Quinn's, Invisible Cinema, and our friend Socalled as Best Local Hero.

Tell your friends. Many votes from many friends are muchly appreciated! Polls close at 11:59pm on Wednesday November 3rd, winners announced on November 11th.

So, a pair of cool things just happened. First, an 11th hour special feature to the Scott Pilgrim screening tonight at the Mayfair (which happens in about 4 1/2 hours from now). A last minute guest will be in attendance, Catriona Strurton, who was in the band Plumtree, who wrote the song that inspired the comic to be named Scott Pilgrim. The band appears not only on the soundtrack (would seem weird if they didn't), but keep a look out for a Plumtree shirt on Michael Cera in the film.



More geek coolness, Edgar Wright was kind enough to help spread the word about our screening via his Twitter account. So we've got prizes as per usual for Geek Nights, we have a special rock & roll guest (who's bringing a music video to show off), AND the guy who directed Shaun of the Dead wants you to come! What more could you possibly want to talk you into attending!?!

Scott Pilgrim vs the World may well go down in history as the best film of 2010 that everyone loved yet tanked at the box office. I haven't heard a single bad review or comment on this thing, and yet it didn't even come near to making half of it's estimated 100 million dollar budget back. But, not being profitable does no mean not good. Look at Fight Club, look at Psycho, look at Fantasia...and let us not forget Hudson Hawk!

Now I cannot tell a lie, I didn't get a chance to see the movie yet either. Two reasons: I kindah hate multiplexes, and I knew that we'd get it for sure at the Mayfair. I'm very excited to finally get the chance to see it, especially since I've been told by a couple of different friends that it's like the powers that be sat down and figured out how to make the perfect movie that I would love. It's comic book themed, filled with crazy video game violence, populated with geek girl characters, has Michael Cera in the lead, and is directed by the guy who did Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

Wednesday October 27th & Thursday the 28th at 9:15 at the Mayfair, a special Lost Marbles Geek Night presentation of the greatest geek film of the year.