Yay! Summer is approaching, which means the Twilight Drive-in is slowly powering back up for the Summer months!

I grew up going to drive-ins, which was largely luck, as even in the late 70s, early 80s, Drive-ins in Canada – already hampered by seasonal weather considerations – were slowly dying out. When a refinery fire in Calgary crippled then closed the Corral 4, that was pretty much it. It’s only been in the last few years that I got to hit the Brackley Beach Drive-in on PEI, and then regularly attend the Twilight Drive-in in Langley – a mainstay in the lower mainland, it closed for a few years, and then re-opened under new owners, and so far, so good.

The trick, at least for me, is getting a movie line-up that is perfect for a drive-in. Art films and Oscars winners need not apply. Instead, the B-grade and sensational films, films you regard as “renters” are perfect. This weekend’s line-up of Brooklyn’s Finest and The Crazies has “drive-in” written all over it. And if that’s not enough, they have a regular Sunday swap-meet!

So, if you’ve been looking for a good reason to get that Zipcar account, this could be something to seriously consider – screw trips to IKEA. The age of the drive-in will not last forever – enjoy it while you still can.

It’s the second annual Yaletown outdoor movie night. Where you get to watch a movie and hang out with friends.

When:  Sunday,  Jul 19th
Where: David Lam Park

It’s being done in conjunction with a community picnic. So the picnic starts from Noon – 4pm and then the movie starts at dusk.  They play the movie on a giant 40’x20′ screen and it’s usually a “secret” classic 80’s movie that they’ll play.

Given the clue they provide “who ya gonna call?”, we can safely guess it’ll be Ghostbusters playing. They suggest bringing along a blanket and flash light.  If it rains it’ll be postponed to the 26th.

Saturday December 6th, there’s a lot going on at The Rio Theatre (Broadway and Commercial), all of it part of Cthulhupalooza (kuh-too-loo-pah-loo-zah) – I’ll see if I can break it down for you.

For starters, there’s a Rock Band contest, sponsored by the game creators, Harmonix – if you’ve got some pals, and think you can rock it out, the contest is open to all attendees. Finalists get to rock it out on stage, and the winners, besides winning sweet prizes, can perform with The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets. The Thickets have a track on Rock Band, so that’s the connection.

Then later there will be a screening of the HP Lovecraft Historical Society’s Call of Cthulhu (which is done as an old-school, silent movie) along with other visual fun.

And then the evening is capped by a performance by The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets! Lead singer and chief instigator Toren was recently a guest-host on CITR’s We All Fall Down, helping to get the word out and drive some funds for CITR’s on-going funding donations (listen here.)

Besides being a barrel of monkeys, the event is helping to raise money for Child’s Play, which helps provide hospitals around the world (including BC’s Children’s Hospital) with video game systems, toys, and other fun things that make time spent in a hospital that much less sucky.

There’s a website for the event, which has information on where to pick up tickets (RX comics, Elfsar comics, Scratch, Red Cat, Zulu, and Neptoon records, etc. plus online sales via PayPal), how to enter the Rock Band contest, and more as the day of the event gets nearer!

Please spread the word, as the event benefits from having as many people as possible in attendance!

Full disclosure – I am helping to organize this event. It’s a charity event, so I’m not sure if you give full disclosure on that sort of thing. But let’s just say I a lot of my heart invested in this event, and I wish it to go well. Hope to see you there.

With X-Files creator Chris Carter honoured in Vancouver last night [cbc], and the impending launch of a new film that was filmed in Vancouver, the world is just about ready for the return of agents Scully and Mulder.

Or is it?  We’ve moved on since The X-Files, people now watch shows like CSI and Boneswhich focus more on scientific forensics than the supernatural.  In Vancouver the show is mostly remembered for being one of the first really good American television shows filmed here.  Nearly every long time Vancouverite can drive past a location of the X-Files and point it out even if they’ve never watched a show, it’s just in the DNA.

But does the rest of the world remember the show, apart from a few fans who’ve survived through Mulder and Scully slash fiction, or is even here in the city that acted as the moody backdrop to the show’s best seasons beyond caring?

[poll=4]

Fifth Ave Cinemas on Burrard.
Go see it, even if you think you don’t like super hero movies. (Like I don’t.)

As mentioned earlier in the post by Jeffery, the death of Heath Ledger alongside the writer’s strike caused many job losses in our local film industry. Well, according to the CBC that is.

Remember the days when 21 Jump Street was filmed here? Well Johnny Depp will apparently be re-familiarizing himself with our city as he, Jude Law and Colin Farrell will be coming to town to replace Heath Ledger’s character in the upcoming Terry Gilliam flick.

Let’s hope this situation along with the vote that ended the writer’s strike will mean a quick recovery and resurgence of jobs for our local and vital film industry.

juno-poster2-big

Originally uploaded by Jeffery Simpson.

Movies filmed in Vancouver tend to range from the sort of indie fare that nobdy ever sees, to the big budget science fiction comic book movies that nobody ever cares about. Sure I love the X-Men films, but that’s because I’m a big comics nerd, but let’s face it they’re not exactly great art. It’s very rare that one of the year’s best movies comes out of Vancouver, in fact the last one that comes to mind is The Sweet Hereafter which was filmed aroud Merritt. The difference is that The Sweet Hereafter was a Canadian movie that caught Hollywood’s attention, as opposed to a Hollywood movie just using Vancouver to film.

Juno though is that American movie filmed in Vancouver that really manages to be an incredible picture. Though billed as a teen comedy, which puts it in a catagory with the American Pie movies, but it’s really a film about teenagers. Ellen Page, who before this was probably most recognized as Kitty Pryde in the last X-Man movie, gives a performance that is worthy of an Oscar and has already earned a Golden Globe nomination.

I don’t want to get into too much detail about the film, because I think that the more you can be surprised by it the more you will appreciate it. It’s one of last year’s best movies, and since it’s still in Vancouver theatres I feel a responsibility to make you understand that you need to see this movie. Seriously go see it. It’s a great film, one of the best that Vancouver has ever produced.

Department of Solutions – Episode 1 on FunnyOrDie.com

Students in Langara College’s Film Arts program have been creating a series of web episodes based on a fictional government agency The Department of Solutions. According to their submitted suggest a story post the shorts follow “the adventures of Quincy, an idealistic young public servant who dreams of changing the world through paperwork.” Having watched the first three today I have to say they’re well worth clicking on this link [tds] to visit their site which has all the episodes.

New episodes get added on Mondays and Thursdays, so click early and click often.

With the Vancouver Film Festival having ended a little early for me (work is getting in the way), it’s time for wrap-up reviews:
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Retired actress, erstwhile ballerina, and present-day author Meg Tilly has a website and a blog.
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