In 1985, Michael J Fox starred in one of the most successful, highly praised, most beloved, and some would say one of the best films of not only the 80's, but of all time. Teen Wolf was not that movie.

It's amazing the kind of stuff that used to get green lit by the powers that be in Hollywood. And even more amazing, that the movie must have done a bit of business. It spawned a non-Michael J Fox sequel (the wittily titled, Jason Bateman starring, Teen Wolf Too) and even a Saturday morning cartoon (though to be fair, even the Rubik's Cube starred in a cartoon back then).

Relive the good ole' days of 1980's teen monster cinema on May 30th at 9:15 for another Sunday Night Geek Night. This one sponsored by Invisible Cinema, who have supplied some great 80's themed DVD's for us to give away to those brave enough to attend.

Back to the Future was the biggest film of 1985 (now...my favorite film of '85 was Goonies, followed by Pee Wee's Big Adventure, then maybe Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome...not to detract from Back to the Future mind you). It was also critically praised across the board, garnered a giant fan-base, spun-off a pair of sequels, an animated series, a theme park ride, has an awesome theme song by Huey Lewis & the News, and made director Robert Zemeckis a Hollywood powerhouse. Some people even think it's the most perfect screenplay of the 80's. Which is a pretty heady statement considering the movies that came out in that decade.

I needn't bother going into a plot synopsis, everyone knows that already. What I will emphasize is that this special 25th anniversary screening is being presented on the only available 35mm print in North America. And sadly, it very may well be the last chance to see it in such a format up on the big screen.

So, come on out for an extra special Sunday Night Geek Night at the Mayfair, May 23rd at 8pm. And even more incentive, my friends at Lost Marbles
have supplied a pair of very awesome prizes (I'll have to think up some extra hard trivia to make sure they go to a deserving home).

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you haven't seen Buckaroo Banzai, Buckaroo Banzai is the coolest movie that you've never seen. Hands down. I'm so confident of it's pinnacle of awesomeness that I won't even go into details on what it's about. I'll let those unfamiliar with it's brilliance jump in to the story completely spoiler free and have their minds blown to it's fullest potential.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension at the Mayfair for Sunday Night Geek Night - May 16th @ 9PM (Plus! Awesome prizes to give away from The Comic Book Shoppe!bv).

GEEK NIGHT #1



I've been involved with throwing my ideas into the ring for Mayfair screenings for a while now, but I must say that this lil' experiment of a project has me very excited. I put forward the request to be given a shot of doing something with our most dead of time-slots, the Sunday late show. A little while back I went to a show on that night, and five minutes before show-time it was me and the projectionist and another employee hanging out in the box office...besides for that the place was empty (a couple people showed up last minute, but think the attendance that night hovered around five people).

Seeing as we have such luck with theme specific events, I thought focusing on our geeky offerings might be the way to go. A bit risky showing cult stuff in such a time slot, but I thought that we might have a shot at creating a brand new Midnight Movie kinda' tradition for our fine patrons. And seeing how well the last Roller Derby night did, plus great turn-out's for The Big Labowski and Army of Darkness and other such classics, my spirits are now high.

We kick things off with Howard the Duck. Forget Iron Man 2...this is the comic book movie you want to spend your money on this weekend! In an age of comic book movies at every turn (Kick Ass, The Losers, Jonah Hex, Scott Pilgrim, The Green Hornet...) it's easy to forget how rare they once were. Howard the Duck came just after the Superman sequels and before the concept of mining comic books for ideas returned to Hollywood's attention with the likes of Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

It had a popular and acclaimed Marvel Comics character as its centerpiece, was produced by the creator of Star Wars, and had a script from the Oscar nominated writers of American Graffiti. What could possibly go wrong!?

The Mayfair's next great tradition, our very first officially tagged Sunday Night Geek Night, happens on May 9th an 9:30. Prizes, fun, and a legendarily bad movie up on the big screen.

Just wait till you see what we have planned next!

This upcoming Saturday May 1st is the ninth annual Free Comic Book Day. I can't believe it's up to nine already...time flies. Anyhow, I'm stuck working like a chump on FCBD, which seems wrong, pretty sure that I'm having my basic human rights oppressed by having to work on such an important national holiday.

Anyhow, that should not stop you from heading over to your nearest comic store and snatching up amazing comic free-ness (like maybe that Tick comic pictured above there). I will be sure to sprint to a store on my lunch break, grab up an armful of books, then run back, then complain about having to work and not being able to read comics. Life is so hard.

If there are two things that I love, it's the Mayfair Theatre and Roller Derby. Imagine the joy my cold Grinch heart gains at the possibility of combining the pair in an amazing Reese Peanut Butter Cup like impossible combo!

This Sunday night we welcome back the Rideau Valley Roller Girls to the Mayfair with a special screening of the acclaimed documentary Hell On Wheels. It was to be the first of our Sunday Night Geek Nights, but the schedule got too packed with other stuff. This awesome event will stand alone, and SNGN will blow your minds in May.

So join both of our Ottawa teams, the Slaughter Daughters and the Riot Squad, for the Ottawa premiere of Hell on Wheels at the Mayfair, Sunday April 11th at 9:20.

Music composer and director Mike Dubue hard at work during the amazing Night of the Living Dead: Live. One of the many awesome events which happen frequently at the Mayfair (besides for just good ole' fashioned movie screenings). I was told today of the possible follow-up film which Mike's going to give the 'Mayfair Live' treatment to, it will also be amazing (and I predict again it will also be sold out).

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.