I admit that there was a slight hesitation in going to see the CJ Ramone show in Montreal. Thought it might be an over-the-hill rocker sadly riding the coat-tails of the band he was in years ago. Happy to report that it was great. Just great. It's clear that CJ loves the Ramones, that he knew the Ramones, and of course he was and is a Ramone. Did my heart good.

The Frighteners is one of those great movies that should've been a giant hit, but was not. I already wrote a thing about it on the Mayfair blog, so I won't bother completely repeating myself here. I love this movie, and even I'm guilty at having missed out on seeing it on the big screen back in '96. At long last that will all change this Friday night, thanks to the mad with power birthday movie clause of Mayfair partnership.



"Well, I'd be excited to go and see it...but I'm not paying to get in to the thing" is an often repeated sentiment when talking about a movie we can get, that maybe might not appeal to a theatre full of ticket purchasing patrons. Luckily, the Mayfair audience is often on the same page as us, so we get to play all kinds of great pictures. Which makes picking out something extra special even more difficult. The Frighteners was my runner-up choice this time around (sorry Hudson Hawk...maybe the powers that be will let us play you next year), but a great runner-up it is.

A rare chance to see the Peter Jackson directed and Michael J Fox starring scary funny ghostbustin' adventure on the big screen. Friday March 26th at 11:30PM at the Mayfair.

You work on a whole bunch of horror movies and all of a sudden you're always the guy on set asked to dress up an actress with some fake blood to make it look like she has a bullet wound in the head. I wasn't even an fx guy on the project, I was doing sound. Then next thing you know I'm kneeling over an actress as she pretends to be a corpse as I invade her personal space while applying fake blood to her forehead with a Q-Tip. Ah, the fun of crewing on some indie movie magic.

Pretend complaining aside, this weekend I was glad to help out one of my frequent collaborators on a short that she was producing and had co-written. As it stands now the project is called Dry Clean Only, but I hear that that might change by the time the project finishes completion.

Mentioned this screening last month, but now that the days are upon us I'm going to bring it up again (that movie being 'The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights). For me, this is the Mayfair movie of the month. I always take away a lil' bit of a sense of accomplishment when a movie that I've really been pushing to get shown at our fine theatre finally makes it's way to us...that and it makes me feel somewhat mad with power.

Anyhow, I have a feeling that this movie is going to be (A) awesome, and (B) that we're going to get a very good turn-out. I've had more questions sent my way and more requests to buy advance tickets (of which there are not) then any other thing in recent memory (right up there with the 'Silents is Golden' stuff and 'Rocky Horror').

So, if you love Canada and you love rock n roll, you better get out to the Mayfair on the 10th or 11th (at 9pm both days) for the White Stripes and their adventures Under Great White Northern Lights.

A couple days ago, I accompanied some of the rest of the Mayfair gang over to city hall for a Heritage Day presentation ceremony. The Mayfair won the 'best theatre architecture in Ottawa ever' award...or something along those lines. The funny part is the nice congratulatory letter signed by the mayor. He was pretty much nothing but unsupportive and against any attempts made in saving the place. If it were up to him there'd be no Mayfair in existence right now. Take that Lex Luthor! (he looks like Lex Luthor).

My friends at the Rideau Valley Roller Girls have their first bout of the year tonight! And in an excellent turn of events, at the last minute they've been moved to a larger venue than planned at Carleton University (from the Norm Fenn Gym to the Raven's Nest). Hence it's not sold out anymore, and tickets will be on sale at the door (well, for a bit...until it sells out again). Way more fun than any silly Olympic games you might watch on TV instead.

In 2007 (and in years since then) I greatly enjoyed working at the Blues Fest here in Ottawa. The musical highlight for me was the White Stripes, who were in the midst of a cross country tour of our fine country, in which they were hitting every single province and territory. Today I found out that after months of trying to track it down, the powers that be are FINALLY going to let us screen 'White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights' at the Mayfair. A rock n roll documentary on the topic of the duo's quest across Canada. Keep an eye out for it on March 10th / 11th. Their fine band has done so much for us, the least you can do is come and see their movie.

Some of the highlights of my life now include: having my e-mail read by David Letterman as part of the CBS Mailbag, getting letters published in comics like Buffy and Hellboy, witnessing the last game of hockey ever played by Wayne Gretzky on Canadian soil, shaking hands with Bruce Campbell, and now I've had George Romero (yes...that George Romero!) type my name in an e-mail correspondence.

The latter is Mayfair related, and I will have more news on it soon.

Life kinda' got in the way of TV watching, as it so often tends to do. Wanted to send out a week late shout out to the greatness of the final few moments of Conan's oh so short tenure on the Tonight Show (which I didn't get a chance to see until yesterday). Counting down the moments to the big September come-back.

"Please do not be cynical... Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get, but if you work really hard and yer kind, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you, amazing things will happen."

Next month, the Mayfair will host another short film festival: Painted Lips and Lolly Licks - The Sexy Film Festival. Showcasing short films that explore romance, sex, or the erotic. Submissions of short films at 10 minutes in length or less can be sent in for consideration to be screened, deadline is February 5th (meant to put this info up a bit earlier...better late than never though i guess).

Entries will be judged by friend of the Mayfair, Sasha Grey. Grand prize winner gets a Mayfair gold card (meaning you can go to unlimited Mayfair movies for a whole damn year!)

For more information check out the 'Painted Lips' site or contact the festival organizer at: lee@themayfair.com

'Goonies' is 25 years old in 2010!? Man, I'm old. Well, at least that gives a good excuse to try and get 'Goonies' in for a screening at the Mayfair. But I digress... just wanted to post a quick 'Happy New Years' wish to all. 2010: the year we make contact, the year of Lisa Simpson's wedding, and the year that the '90's 'Knight Rider' TV movie took place in. Good times.

Aw yeah Christmas!!

Alex Contreras in the title role of 'Alex Vampire Slayer'



Killer63 year IV is tonight! If you don't go you'll regret it for the rest of your life! Like that time Homer didn't go and see Mr. T at the mall. That's how you'll feel. Complete regret.

KILLER63 IV LINE-UP REVEALED!!

16 Projects from 11 filmmakers! Ranging from under 60 seconds in length to a whopping 22 minutes! Featuring local Ottawa talent, and shorts from the far off lands of Calgary and Montreal! Vampires, Zombies, Aliens, Torture, Elvis, Puppets, Cartoons!!

(listed alphabetically by director...)

Massacrator – Pierre Ayotte

You & Your Friends - Jeff Campbell

Fallacy of Man, Saturday Morning Cartoons - Chris Chitaroni

Hostile Entities, Revival, Hel-Away - Matt Fincer / Creepy Puppet Projects

Snare Off (music video by The Love Machine) - Luca Fiore

Ronald, One Percent - Michael Anthony Horrigan

Legend of the Bonesetter – Brett Kelly

Alex Vampire Slayer - Al Kratina

The Morning After of the Living Dead - Josh Stafford

Ghost Town, Bleed On(music video by Liminal State) – Kyle Thomas

Dead Pussy - Steve Villeneuve

(PS - yes...you will find the exact same posting on Facebook and on the Mayfair site and maybe a couple other places. Usually I try to keep things original, but in this case, it's so much easier to cut and paste and try to spread the word of the screening through the magic of the inter-webs)

A batch of behind the scenes shots taken during last Saturday's shoot for my contribution to this year's Killer63. Stare in wonder at our high tech clapper board! Ok...it's not a clapper board. We forgot our clapper board, so we made use of the memo board off the fridge. Indie film-making ingenuity at it's best. The title on it is 'The Morning After'. Not sure if that's actually our final title. Both 'cause since then I was reminded that that's already a movie with Jeff Bridges and Jane Fonda in it, and because I think some other folks might have come up with better titles then my idea.

The classy looking black and white shot features our acting duo of Sarah Lavrisa and Mark Singleton. Both are deep in thought...and / or pretending to listen to my direction. The short was shot by Amber Peters (in the red sweater checking out the scene through the camera), who also shot my Killer63 movie in '08 (which also featured Mark's acting, though he died pretty quickly in that one).

And finally, our pale-faced red-eyed Zombie Girl was played by Jennilee Murray (those contacts were such a great lil' touch). Seen here getting some blood make-up touch-up's from super crew member Anne-Marie Kelly.

The tapes are in the hands of my editor as I write this. My schedule is a bit insane, so not sure when I'll actually get to look at what she puts together. That's the good loop-hole about organizing a festival screening, you can miss the deadline and be the last one to get the project done.

Been working on the latest Killer63 short horror film festival for a lil' while now. Have about eight or nine filmmakers confirmed as participants, and a number of other submissions received or on their way in to me. And, have a fancy new logo thanks to K63 alum Brett Kelly (I like it...looks very EC Comics). I'll be shooting my short next weekend, as per usual, at a much later date then I had originally planned. After I get everyone's stuff in, I'm going to slap together a trailer to show at the Mayfair (guess I'll post it online as well).

I'll try my best to be more frequent with festival related updates. Be sure to keep your calendar clear on Friday December 18th at 9PM for the big premiere of Killer63 IV at the Mayfair!

Kind of a last minute entry...but I was stuck working all day, so this is my first chance to sit at the computer. Tonight marks the Ottawa premiere of SMASH CUT at the Mayfair! A film which was directed, written by, features music by, and stars various owners, managers and friends of the Mayfair Theatre (like my geeky movie friend Jennilee, in character in the above photo as Gigi Spot).

I'll be shocked if the place isn't packed tonight. So, if you're coming out, be sure to arrive nice and early for all the crazy horror fun.

Today it was announced via the Ottawa X-Press that the Mayfair was awarded the best movie theatre ever award. My friend corrected me that it was actually: The Mayfair has won the best movie theatre in the history of the galaxy, now and ever shall be, Amen.

Both might be a slight exaggeration and paraphrasing of what actually happened or was printed. In reality, the Best of Ottawa 2009 poll results were published in the new issue of the X-Press, and the Mayfair got awarded the distinction of the 'best alternative to a multiplex movie theatre'. Which is pretty awesome...though the title of the category still seems a bit strange, plain ole' 'best theatre' would be nice. Anyhow, nit-picking aside, thanks go out to the X-Press for the nomination and all the fine folks of Ottawa for voting.

PS - The cover of the issue features Sasha Grey in 'Smash Cut', which was filmed in part at the Mayfair (and screens November 20th!)

The Mayfair Theatre (the bestest theatre in all the land) has been nominated in two categories in the ‘Best of Ottawa 09 Readers Poll’ in the X-Press. Hence, now I will shamelessly ask (because beg is such a harsh word) everyone I know to take a moment, link over to their website, and vote for us as ‘best alternative to a multiplex’ and ‘best film festival’ (for the 'Silents is Golden' series). It should just be a category titled 'best theatre', wording there makes it sound like the best way to see a movie is in a multiplex... which is madness.

I should have posted this request a bit earlier…but didn’t think that a year end poll would close on Wednesday November 11th at 11:59PM. Y’know…’cause I thought the year ends at the end of the year, like say December 31st or so.

Anyhow, if you have a chance to vote, it’s greatly appreciated by me and the rest of your friends at the Mayfair:

X-Press Best of Ottawa 09 Readers Poll

Happy Halloween!!
Time for me to go and supervise some trick r treaters...to be followed by the annual practice of stealing candy from babies.