Weirdos, the latest film from the quintessentially Canadian auteur Bruce McDonald, is on its face just another road trip comedy with the spirit of Andy Warhol, but this time Warhol actually appears on screen — although for legal reasons, per the credits, Rhys Bevan-John plays “Not Andy Warhol.” It’s the summer of 1976 in Nova Scotia when Kit (Dylan Authors) takes out on the road with his radiant pal Alice (Julia Sarah Stone). She’s as confused as he is when she asks if they’ll be having “goodbye sex,” something they’ve been putting off for an obvious reason.
Kit and Alice bum rides, walk, and hitchhike from Antigonish to the shore where Kit hopes to escape his father’s unkind words at home and move in with his mother Laura (Molly Parker), a hippy who regrets she ever moved out of Toronto. She’s presumably more open-minded than his...
Kit and Alice bum rides, walk, and hitchhike from Antigonish to the shore where Kit hopes to escape his father’s unkind words at home and move in with his mother Laura (Molly Parker), a hippy who regrets she ever moved out of Toronto. She’s presumably more open-minded than his...
- 9/19/2016
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
At the end of last year we reported that the Fantasia Film Festival is gearing up to become the next hot spot to acquire unproduced projects being sold as part of its film market - the Frontières International Co-Production Market. And now we have additional details.
From the Press Release
Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, widely acclaimed as one of the largest and most influential genre film festivals in the world, is embarking on its 16th edition with a major new industry-driven venture: the Frontières International Co-Production Market. Frontières is the first international co-production market to connect North American with Europe and Australasia in an environment focused specifically on genre film production.
The projects to be presented in the market have now been chosen and feature an exciting array of filmmakers, from gifted newcomers to world-renowned maestros, as well as numerous established international producers.
Blood Borne (Australia) Director / Writer:...
From the Press Release
Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, widely acclaimed as one of the largest and most influential genre film festivals in the world, is embarking on its 16th edition with a major new industry-driven venture: the Frontières International Co-Production Market. Frontières is the first international co-production market to connect North American with Europe and Australasia in an environment focused specifically on genre film production.
The projects to be presented in the market have now been chosen and feature an exciting array of filmmakers, from gifted newcomers to world-renowned maestros, as well as numerous established international producers.
Blood Borne (Australia) Director / Writer:...
- 5/7/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, (also known as Sound On Sight’s favourite film festival world wide), as well as widely acclaimed as one of the largest and most influential genre film festivals in the world, is embarking on its 16th edition with a major new industry-driven venture: the Frontières International Co-Production Market. Frontières is the first international co-production market to connect North-American with Europe and Australasia, in an environment focused specifically on genre film production.
The projects to be presented in the market have now been chosen and feature an exciting array of filmmakers, from gifted newcomers to world-renowned maestros, as well as numerous established international producers. Fantasia just announced the selection of the first fourteen projects and there is plenty of reason to be excited.
Here is the press release:
Four of the 14 projects hail from Canada and Quebec: Adored maverick trail-blazer Bruce McDonald (Hard Core Logo 1 & 2, This Movie Is Broken,...
The projects to be presented in the market have now been chosen and feature an exciting array of filmmakers, from gifted newcomers to world-renowned maestros, as well as numerous established international producers. Fantasia just announced the selection of the first fourteen projects and there is plenty of reason to be excited.
Here is the press release:
Four of the 14 projects hail from Canada and Quebec: Adored maverick trail-blazer Bruce McDonald (Hard Core Logo 1 & 2, This Movie Is Broken,...
- 5/7/2012
- by Kyle Reese
- SoundOnSight
News came around in September that Canadian helmer Bruce McDonald was getting to work on Highway, a supernatural thriller (ever seen one of those?) from writer Christopher Kyle. Word on it has been entirely silent in the four months since, but a big update has come at the bottom of a piece in The Halifax Chronicle Herald (via ThePlaylist), where the director reveals that he’s attempting to lock down Nicolas Cage as the lead of the film, now called Dark Highway. Casting on the project was said to be in advanced negotiations when we last reported on the film, though we can’t say for certain if those talks involved the actor himself.
And, as we also said at the time, the story centers on “a man being chased who is trying to get to a certain place in one day,” all the while unsure of “whether the situation is real or his imagination.
And, as we also said at the time, the story centers on “a man being chased who is trying to get to a certain place in one day,” all the while unsure of “whether the situation is real or his imagination.
- 1/17/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
There are few other directors -- Canadian or otherwise -- to whom music plays such a key ingredient in their work than Bruce McDonald. Joining the select ranks of folks like Cameron Crowe, Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino (though with an much more mixed output) McDonald's films are as identifiable by their musical milieu as they are by anything else. And lately, he's been rocking it pretty hard. In 2010, the ever prolific director delivered three movies: the prison centered documentary "Music From The Big House"; the Broken Social Scene powered concert film/romance "This Movie Is Broken" and the rock 'n roll reunion tale "Trigger." Heading into this year, McDonald didn't stop, with "Hard Core Logo 2" a sequel of sorts to his cult classic hitting theaters as well as the short film "A Love Supreme" whose title should be famililar to any music fan. But that's not all.
- 11/28/2011
- The Playlist
Release Date: Nov. 22, 2011
Price: DVD $24.95
Studio: Wolfe Video
Tracy Wright (l.) and Molly Parker rock out in Trigger.
The music-filled 2010 film drama Trigger stars avant-garde actress Tracy Wright (Highway 61) in her final performance before her death from cancer that same year.
Wright and Molly Parker (TV’s Deadwood) portray two female rockers who reunite 10 years after their friendship — and band — has fallen apart. Coming together for a benefit concert following their long estrangement, the two begin with a dinner, followed by the gig, and finally the after-party, all with the hope of recapturing their once-magical connection.
Directed by Bruce McDonald (This Movie is Broken), the unrated Canadian movie also stars Don McKellar (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Sarah Polley (Splice) and Callum Keith Rennie (TV’s The Killing).
Trigger was first seen at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was selected as one of the fest’s Top Ten films.
Price: DVD $24.95
Studio: Wolfe Video
Tracy Wright (l.) and Molly Parker rock out in Trigger.
The music-filled 2010 film drama Trigger stars avant-garde actress Tracy Wright (Highway 61) in her final performance before her death from cancer that same year.
Wright and Molly Parker (TV’s Deadwood) portray two female rockers who reunite 10 years after their friendship — and band — has fallen apart. Coming together for a benefit concert following their long estrangement, the two begin with a dinner, followed by the gig, and finally the after-party, all with the hope of recapturing their once-magical connection.
Directed by Bruce McDonald (This Movie is Broken), the unrated Canadian movie also stars Don McKellar (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Sarah Polley (Splice) and Callum Keith Rennie (TV’s The Killing).
Trigger was first seen at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was selected as one of the fest’s Top Ten films.
- 10/31/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Variety reports that director Bruce McDonald is set to helm the supernatural thriller, 'Dark Highway.' It's a change of pace for the Canadian born director who is often attached to either low-budget films or television series. The film is described as: "Story follows a man being chased who is trying to get to a certain place in one day. He doesn't know whether the situation is real or his imagination." Sounds wacky and befitting of the director if you're familiar with some of his other works. 2008 saw the release of his low-budget zombie film, 'Pontypool.' As opposed to having buckets of blood and violence, the film focused on the way a small-town radio station staff reacted to words themselves becoming infected, causing a sort of mental breakdown. With an estimated budget of only $1.5 million, the film managed an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The director's other work includes films,...
- 9/12/2011
- LRMonline.com
If you are not familiar with Broken Social Scene than you most likely don’t listen to the same type of music as me. The Canadian supergroup includes as few as six and as many as nineteen members with contributions by such artists as Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Bill Priddle, Leslie Feist, Jessica Moss and Evan Cranley, Amy Milan, Andrew Whiteman, Jason Collett, and Emily Haines—to name a few. The band’s music features a very large number of sounds, grand orchestrations featuring guitars, horns, woodwinds, and violins, unusual song structures, and an experimental, and sometimes chaotic production style. Since wooing fans and critics alike with their 2003 Juno Award-winning album You Forgot It in People, the band’s popularity has made them such big stars that in 2010, Bruce McDonald made This Movie Is Broken, a film about the band’s Harbourfront show during the 2009 Toronto strike.Their newest video...
- 6/9/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
[Sad news from organizers: Though the rest of the night will be rolling as planned Bruce McDonald himself has been roped into an unavoidable obligation and has had to cancel out his appearance.]I just bumped into Bruce McDonald who had kids in tow for Twitch's Back to The 80s presentation of Dark Crystal, but I wasn't aware at that moment, that he is showcasing one of his four 2010 feature films (stop for a second, you read that right: Four!) at UofT's Cinssu "An Evening With..." series on March 9th (That is next Wednesday, folks). The film they are screening the romance/concert with Canadian indie-superband Broken Social Scene, This Movie Is Broken (review is in the archives below). There will be an intro and a Q&A with Bruce, followed...
- 3/9/2011
- Screen Anarchy
The films Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage, a documentary by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, along with This Movie Is Broken, a feature film directed by Bruce McDonald, received a nomination at the Junos (Canada's Grammy Awards) for the Best Music DVD of the Year.
Other nominees include:
* The Lost Tapes, a music DVD by Ferry Corsten.
* The Virtual Haydn.
* Celine: Through the Eyes of the World, a documentary about Céline Dion's 2008-2009 Taking Chances world tour.
Below are the trailers of Rush: Beyond Lighted Stage and This Movie Is Broken.
Other nominees include:
* The Lost Tapes, a music DVD by Ferry Corsten.
* The Virtual Haydn.
* Celine: Through the Eyes of the World, a documentary about Céline Dion's 2008-2009 Taking Chances world tour.
Below are the trailers of Rush: Beyond Lighted Stage and This Movie Is Broken.
- 2/4/2011
- by anhkhoido@gmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
If you’re like me, you only know Canadian musician Feist from her third album, The Reminder. When the song “1234″ was featured in an iPod commercial, it got stuck in just about everybody’s head before the album sold over 1,000,000 copies worldwide and went gold in the U.S. Now Feist has a movie coming out, and it’s looking to shape up to be more than your average music documentary. It’s called Look At What The Light Did Now. I’ll let the official synopsis speak for itself:
Look at What the Light Did Now documents the journey of Feist’s Grammy nominated album The Reminder. This poetic film pulls back the curtain to reveal intimate partnerships with the people Feist calls her ‘amplifiers’: The photographer who helped her hide within the frame, shadow puppeteers in hockey arenas, an artist who built a thread-radiating mural, the video director who conducted fireworks,...
Look at What the Light Did Now documents the journey of Feist’s Grammy nominated album The Reminder. This poetic film pulls back the curtain to reveal intimate partnerships with the people Feist calls her ‘amplifiers’: The photographer who helped her hide within the frame, shadow puppeteers in hockey arenas, an artist who built a thread-radiating mural, the video director who conducted fireworks,...
- 10/11/2010
- by James Battaglia
- The Film Stage
This may be the first post on Twitch about Bruce McDonald not written by a fellow Canadian of his. But you don't have to be Canadian to be a fan, and if anything the guy is quite eclectic in his output, and one never quite knows when he's gonna strike next, 'cause damn he is always working on something. Well here's the teaser for his latest Trigger, which stars Molly Parker and Tracey Wright in her last performance, as two former punk rock band mates who reconnect over an evening.
While probably well known in these parts for his entry into the horror genre with Pontypool, McDonald is no stranger to the music scene, what with the legendary Hardcore Logo, it's upcoming sequel, and the Broken Social Scene concert film This Movie Is Broken, as well as having a hand in the television series City Sonic. ...
While probably well known in these parts for his entry into the horror genre with Pontypool, McDonald is no stranger to the music scene, what with the legendary Hardcore Logo, it's upcoming sequel, and the Broken Social Scene concert film This Movie Is Broken, as well as having a hand in the television series City Sonic. ...
- 9/12/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Torontonians are a strange lot. We’re often accused of being uptight, snobbish and centrist by fellow Canadians. As a born and bred local, I’ve always felt that maybe we’re a little uptight because we get shat upon so much by the Roc (seriously, do you know any other nation that hates their biggest city so much?) and I think that hometown pride is mistaken for snobbery; spending a lot of time on the east coast, I’ve met my fair share of snobs. Everyone thinks that their city is the centre of the world; I’ve heard nothing worse of out a Torontonian than I’ve heard from Haligonians, Vancouverites or Montrealers.
Which brings me to Broken Social Scene, a bit of a strange band, like the city that spawned it. It expands and contracts its numbers, so it can be either 5 members or 20. The members come and go,...
Which brings me to Broken Social Scene, a bit of a strange band, like the city that spawned it. It expands and contracts its numbers, so it can be either 5 members or 20. The members come and go,...
- 6/26/2010
- by Shelagh
- DorkShelf.com
With the Canadian theatrical release of Bruce McDonald's This Movie Is Broken - a hybrid concert film / indie drama built around a live performance by Broken Social Scene - I had the chance to sit down last week with McDonald and Bss co-founder Kevin Drew to talk about the film. It was conducted round table style with a writer from Torontoist joining me in my questioning, but I present the full interview (pretty much) here:
Twitch: Let's start at the beginning. What were the origins of This Movie Is Broken? How did you guys hook up and what was the thinking behind doing it this way? Because it's not really a conventional concert film or a conventional narrative but a hybrid of the two.
Bruce: Well, we met at Soundscapes record store a number of years ago and, you know, went for coffee ...
Kevin: He had finished Picture Claire...
Twitch: Let's start at the beginning. What were the origins of This Movie Is Broken? How did you guys hook up and what was the thinking behind doing it this way? Because it's not really a conventional concert film or a conventional narrative but a hybrid of the two.
Bruce: Well, we met at Soundscapes record store a number of years ago and, you know, went for coffee ...
Kevin: He had finished Picture Claire...
- 6/14/2010
- Screen Anarchy
I have just finished up a round table interview with Bruce McDonald and Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew for their soon-to-be-released This Movie Is Broken but before we got to the meat and potatoes of that film - and I promise to have the interview transcribed and posted asap - I fired off a couple of unrelated questions about upcoming projects to McDonald.
On the matter of Lucky Ho, McDonald's upcoming women-in-prison exploitation throwback, he says he's just received the final script, he's very happy with it, and is hoping to shoot in the fall.
And on Hard Core Logo 2 - the long rumored sequel to his breakout slice of rock and roll nihilism - McDonald dropped this little nugget. Production is complete. They shot quick and quiet in Saskatchewan, the film has wrapped, and is now being edited. Here's how McDonald described the project to Toronto's Eye...
On the matter of Lucky Ho, McDonald's upcoming women-in-prison exploitation throwback, he says he's just received the final script, he's very happy with it, and is hoping to shoot in the fall.
And on Hard Core Logo 2 - the long rumored sequel to his breakout slice of rock and roll nihilism - McDonald dropped this little nugget. Production is complete. They shot quick and quiet in Saskatchewan, the film has wrapped, and is now being edited. Here's how McDonald described the project to Toronto's Eye...
- 6/9/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? This Movie Is Broken Trailer "Favourite." Silly Canadians. The way I came across the writer of This Movie Is Broken, Don McKellar, was almost a...
- 6/4/2010
- by Christopher Stipp
- Slash Film
The trailer of the Canadian film This Movie Is Broken, the next film from director Bruce McDonald, is online. Besides, the film will be released in Canada this summer.
According to the dudes at Twitch, the story can be described like this:
Unbelievable! Bruno (Greg Calderone) wakes up in bed next to Caroline (Georgina Reilly), his long time crush. But tomorrow she's off for school in France, and maybe she only granted this miracle as a parting gift for her long time friend. So tonight -- tonight is Bruno's last chance. And tonight, as it happens, Broken Social Scene, her favourite band, is throwing a big outdoor bash. Maybe if Bruno, with the help of his best pal Blake (Kerr Hewitt), can score tickets and give Caroline a night to remember, he can keep this miracle alive.
Besides, the film also stars Stephen McHattie, Tracy Wright, Lyndie Greenwood and Mayko Nguyen.
According to the dudes at Twitch, the story can be described like this:
Unbelievable! Bruno (Greg Calderone) wakes up in bed next to Caroline (Georgina Reilly), his long time crush. But tomorrow she's off for school in France, and maybe she only granted this miracle as a parting gift for her long time friend. So tonight -- tonight is Bruno's last chance. And tonight, as it happens, Broken Social Scene, her favourite band, is throwing a big outdoor bash. Maybe if Bruno, with the help of his best pal Blake (Kerr Hewitt), can score tickets and give Caroline a night to remember, he can keep this miracle alive.
Besides, the film also stars Stephen McHattie, Tracy Wright, Lyndie Greenwood and Mayko Nguyen.
- 5/23/2010
- by anhkhoido@hotmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
Bruce McDonald's This Movie Is Broken is, in essence, the perfect convergence of nearly all aspects of Toronto's independent arts scene. There is McDonald himself, of course, the helmer of Hardcore Logo, The Tracy Fragments and Pontypool arguably the most influential independent film maker in the English speaking part of Canada. Then there is writer Don McKellar, himself a talented director and actor, lately best known for his massive Broadway success as the author of The Drowsy Chaperone, a musical originally written and performed as a wedding present in lieu of a physical gift that has since gone on to win multiple Tony awards. And then there is the musical component of this concert doc / romantic drama hybrid. Appearing on stage: Feist, Emily Haines from Metric, Amy Millan from Stars and the titular Broken Social Scene. The gang's all here, apparently.
Unbelievable! Bruno (Greg Calderone) wakes up in bed...
Unbelievable! Bruno (Greg Calderone) wakes up in bed...
- 5/21/2010
- Screen Anarchy
See that picture above? It's a bad representative photo because that is not what this movie is. This was buzz-worded around SXSW as a documentary about the Canadian band Broken Social Scene. The problem is that it's not a documentary at all, but rather a film that uses a concert as a backdrop. You don't get to find out who the band is, you don't explore how they formed, they don't talk about the offshoots and other groups who join in. You might already know that stuff if you're steeped in the current music scene, but I'm so tragically unhip that I didn't even who they were.
However, I am now a convert. The music is terrific, and that makes you ache for an actual documentary about these people. Who are they? How did they get together? Why are there so many band members? How bad is it when they fight?...
However, I am now a convert. The music is terrific, and that makes you ache for an actual documentary about these people. Who are they? How did they get together? Why are there so many band members? How bad is it when they fight?...
- 3/25/2010
- by Kevin Kelly
- Cinematical
I feel like such a musically ignorant cuss, but I'd never really heard of Broken Social Scene before watching the latest movie by Bruce McDonald (Pontypool, Hard Core Logo). And now I'm a fan, both of Broken Social Scene and of the film, which takes place in and around a free concert by the group in Toronto last summer.
This Movie is Broken captures the warmth and vitality of a percolating musical performance in the great outdoors, topped by the champagne buzz of an affair reaching a turning point. The script by Don McKellar fabricates a longtime relationship between Bruno (Greg Calderone) and Caroline (Georgina Reilly). We meet them as they're waking up in bed together on a makeshift rooftop bed. Their friendship stretches back to childhood; for Bruno, it is the realization of a lifelong dream to have sex with Caroline.
Looming over the next step in their relationship,...
This Movie is Broken captures the warmth and vitality of a percolating musical performance in the great outdoors, topped by the champagne buzz of an affair reaching a turning point. The script by Don McKellar fabricates a longtime relationship between Bruno (Greg Calderone) and Caroline (Georgina Reilly). We meet them as they're waking up in bed together on a makeshift rooftop bed. Their friendship stretches back to childhood; for Bruno, it is the realization of a lifelong dream to have sex with Caroline.
Looming over the next step in their relationship,...
- 3/18/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Back when Pontypool was tearing up the festival circuit in late 2008, I managed to have a couple hour sit-down with director Bruce McDonald that started in his office and carried over into the bar across the street. While still in the office of Shadowshows, his production company, besides admiring a personal letter from Terrence Malick (holyshit!) that was framed on the wall, I noticed a script on the desk labeled Hard Core Logo 2 and I asked Bruce about it at the time. He was vague about the details, but Eye Weekly, a local (Toronto) entertainment paper, has a piece on all of the projects the iconic Canadian director is juggling, from his Broken Social Scene movie (This Movie Is Broken) to the recently announced Trigger, which apparently was inspired by Louis Malle's My Dinner With Andre.
The details on Hard Core Logo 2 are clipped below, but check out the full piece at EW,...
The details on Hard Core Logo 2 are clipped below, but check out the full piece at EW,...
- 2/9/2010
- Screen Anarchy
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.