The GATE

The carpet was a mess, but I managed to snap a few decent shots of him.

Despite three entries at Sundance, Canadian documentaries are in dire shape
With three documentaries in competition, a feature film in the spotlight and a buzz-ready debut in premieres, this year’s Canadian contingent at the Sundance Film Festival may be the best in recent memory. But while official agencies have been quick to put out logo-laden news releases and party invitations celebrating our success, filmmakers say it’s no time to wave the Maple Leaf.

The Canadian funding system that gave birth to hometown heroes in the past, and the very core of the documentary tradition spawned by John Grierson, has been eroding in recent years, as a result of continuing budget cuts and shrinking broadcast windows.

Documentary production in Canada declined to its lowest level in six years, resulting in rising unemployment in the documentary field as a whole, according to Getting Real, a March 2011 report prepared by the Documentary Organization of Canada.

“Essentially, we are finding less and less support,” says Peter Wintonick, a veteran documentary director and producer who attended Sundance in years past with projects such as Manufacturing Consent, a film about linguistic guru Noam Chomsky. (Illustration by Andrew Barr)

As someone who lives and breaths entertainment, the problem I have with these comments is that it would be nice if Canadian filmmakers could find ways to become financially independent of government funding.

If I had one wish, it would be that government funding would be reserved for new and emerging filmmakers and artists, while established artists would ply their trade with companies.

The problem right now is that Canada just doesn’t have enough commercially viable movies on the market to create a production industry that can support itself. If anything, I’d like to see funding going to that concept instead, rather than feeding artists directly.

Just my two cents.

(via nationalpost)

Although this is just a taste, the sampler Blu-ray disc is still a big sight for sore eyes if you’ve been a fan as long as I have–since the beginning, in fact. The Blu-ray comes with a couple of features to prepare you for the awesomeness, and three episodes: “Encounter At Farpoint,” “Sins of the Father,” and maybe best of all to me, “The Inner Light,” which is memorable because of the flute music by Jerry Goldsmith and Jay Chattaway. This last episode is also a remarkably emotional one, thanks in part to that music that now reminds me greatly of the Lord of the Rings score (check it out below for a sample of that).

From the United Kingdom comes Thorne: Sleepyhead, a modern and disturbingly realistic mystery about a sharp detective hunting for a serial killer that reminds him all too clearly of one of his early investigations that went terribly wrong.

David Morrissey stars as detective inspector Tom Thorne, a brilliant officer trying to find a serial killer who has killed three women so far. Drugging the victims in a way that causes terrible strokes, Thorne believes he could solve the case thanks to Alison, played by Sara Lloyd-Gregory, a victim who has survived the killer’s torture, but is suffering from “locked-in” syndrome, which has rendered her unable to move, speak, or even blink.

As Thorne delves into the case, everything begins to remind him of one of his own first cases that haunts him to this day–something so terrible that it remains a secret that only his best friend knows about and has helped him cover up for all these years.

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nervemedia:

Tina Fey’s photo bombing will never get old. EVER.

Golden Globes highlight. What’s not to love?!

So perfect.

(Source: dsnyfanatic1987)