WHISTLER FILM FESTIVAL: As It Happens

Sunday, Dec. 6

 

Last day in Whistler, and it's been a total blast! Thanks to the fine folks up there for showing WE a good time. The awards brunch brought it all to a nice close, with some lovely speeches and nice surprises for worthy films. The Borsos prize for the best new Canadian film went to Les Signes Vitaux, with the best actress award going to its star, Marie-Hélène Bellavance. And, Woody Harrelson, already honoured this week for his work in The Messenger by the National Board of Review, won the best actor award for Defendor.

 

Saturday, Dec. 5

 

Such a great day of films and frolic.

 

High Life, an unusual junkie-heist flick set in the '80s, features great performances from stars Timothy Olyphant and a grizzled Stephen Eric McIntyre (a particularly nuanced effort). High Life also takes some interesting risks that left me thinking this could have been a great film, rather than just a good one.

 

The Mighty Uke, the festival's biggest surprise, is the way a documentary should be put together. It's perfectly structured, with plenty of historical perspective, and great interviews. It wholly embraces the corny and heartwarming nature of the very instrument it celebrates.

 

Big Fan won't likely be released in Vancouver, unfortunately, but you can catch it on DVD in January. Made for under $500,000, by the writer of The Wrestler, Big Fan follows Paul (Patton Oswalt showing new depth), a middle-aged man obsessed with the New York Giants. But Paul’s simple existence is fractured, and his loyalty to the Giants tested, when he’s assaulted by his favourite quarterback.

 

We ended the evening with the Directors Guild party at the Bearfoot Bistro, with plenty of booze flowing, and industry types rubbing elbows, bumping hips, and shaking hands. Our favourite celebrity sighting? From television's Glee, Patrick Gallagher, who plays Coach Ken Tanaka!

 

Friday, Dec. 4

 

The first full day of the Whistler Film Festival was almost non-stop movies, and it was supposed to finish with an awesome party at Araxi. Sadly, only one name was on the list, rather than two, so we couldn't get in. We looked wistfully inside at the free alcohol and the oysters and then trudged home. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise awesome and incredibly busy day.

 

Two screeners first thing in the morning: the silly but funny vampire/rock 'n' roll camp-fest, Suck, which features some great cameos from unusual music legends, like Iggy Pop and Alice Cooper, to name a few. But watch for the Moby one, that's where I lost it, laughing out loud.

 

The surprisingly affecting superhero flick, Defendor, shows off Woody Harrelson's acting chops in a totally new way. He plays a mentally slow man (without any of the 'Sam I Am' mugging), with a simple adjustment of his facial features (a jutted chin, slighly furrowed brow) and speaking voice. It's a Canadian flick that seems surprisingly high-budget, and is an incredibly confident first film from writer-director Peter Stebbings.

 

Then, it was an afternoon of interviewing writer-directors, including Jacob Tierney of The Trotsky, and Defendor's Peter Stebbings. Interviews to follow in WE in the new year.

 

The late afternoon featured the uneven documentary, Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Rebel and Activist. There's some incredible interviews and interesting tidbits about the iconic publisher, but the film is all over the place, tracing Hef's life over his entire 82 years, taking far too broad an approach for a film that lists its objectives in the title. Plus, the infrequent animation sequences are incredibly jarring and irritating. The man's fascinating enough on his own without dressing up his recollections in lame cartoons.

 

This was followed by a tribute to Ivan Reitman, which was really like a re-cap of the interview I did with him that ran in WE two weeks ago, though he did lightly chastise interviewer Terry David Mulligan for consulting his notes too much which was funny.

 

The final film of the day was a screening of the Reitman-produced, Atom Egoyan-directed Chloe, a sexually charged thriller filled with great performances that couldn't quite mask the poor script and story. In its favour: a super-hot sex scene between Amanda Seyfriend and Julianne Moore. Seriously.

 

Thursday, Dec. 3

 

The festival opened with the gala screening of writer/director Jacob Tierney's The Trotsky, which stars one of our favourite Canadian actors, Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder, television's Undeclared), who plays Leon, an unusual teenager who believes he's the reincarnation of Communist leader, Leon Trotsky. When he's sent to a public school helmed by detention-happy teachers, Leon's inpsired to mobilize the students for a revolution, culminating in a hostage negotiation/coup d'etat.

Though about 30 minutes too long, and a tad unfocused, Trotsky more than achieves its simple goals: It rattles something on the inside. The beginnings of a revolution, perhaps?