A couple of disturbing notes from the CanCon wilderness.
1. Decided to go back to my stomping grounds at the Film Reference Library and watch myself more Canadian movies. Specifically, Canadian films made from the mid-sixties to about 1980, when the groundwork was still being laid and things were up for grabs. There were Quebecois films to see, and hybrid documentary-fiction hoo-has: specifically, things beyond the big names in the CanFlick canon. Unfortunately, a little digging unearthed two unpleasant surprises:
a) most of the Quebec movies were crusty VHS tapes...that were unsubtitled. Nobody in English Canada had cared about them to begin with, and the intervening years had made them more obscure- and nobody was filling the gap with DVD releases with plentiful extras. So a whole avenue of Canadian film (and by all accounts, the superior avenue) was cut off due to apathy.
This left me with the Anglo features. Of which I made the second unpleasant discovery:
b) Aside from the big names, there are about eleven titles from that period in the library. Not an exaggeration. And this is the premier place in Toronto, if not Canada, to do film research. So an entire, crucial period of Canadian filmmaking is more or less lost to human eyes.
But that's not as bad as what happened next.
2. Discovered the minor Canuck thriller The Pyx at my local alternative video store. I was disappointed, however, to find that the print they had secured was disastrously bad: sometimes even broken frames could be seen, and the fading of the image was disconcertin. I was annoyed for a minute, but then decided that that was the luck of the draw.
But then later I wondered: was it? Films as mediocre (or worse) than The Pyx had gotten the royal treatment from major studios- but it was The Pyx that got the bum's rush. And I realized: there is nobody owning a Canadian film library (or more likely, individual sources dribbed and drabbed from here and there) who had the resources to fix up the negative and strike a minty-fresh print. I made a second realization: this is what happens if you're a Canadian film. You get forgotten no matter how good, or good enough, you might be.
Faithful readers of the site know of my annoyance with standard Canuck film practice. But the way to fix what you don't like is to understand it. You have to watch and study; to see what tendency comes from where and how we wound up in this mess. At present, it is next to impossible for someone to get a complete impression of our country's cinema- it sits mouldering in a vault, a little more deteriorated every day, on its way to at best neglect and at worst total disintigration. And if we lose touch with what is about to disintigrate, we lose the ability to understand it and change its course.
We will continue on our one-way ticket to irrelevance if we burn the Library of Alexandria. And I don't see a way to stop it. If anybody has ideas on how to stave off disaster, I'm all ears.
January 11, 2007
January 08, 2007
Max Headroom vs. 1987
Stumbled onto this little beauty earlier this evening.
Apparently, in November 1987, a video pirate in the Chicago area hijacked several local stations (WGN-TV and WTTW, a PBS affiliate) several hours apart, wearing a rubber Max Headroom mask and engaging in vulgar and stupid tomfoolery before dropping his pants and getting spanked with a flyswatter. Direct from YouTube, here's the full version from WTTW, the second and final broadcast, interrupting an episode of "Doctor Who":
Hilarious. Being that he's unavailable on home video, I'm largely unfamiliar with Max Headroom and his TV series, but for a character that appears to be some kind of 1984 thoughtcriminal for the age of modern media, it seems a little hypocritical that he would be pimping for Coca-Cola.
The prank was apparently intended to air over WGN's sports report: Headroom Pirate states that "this guy's better than Chuck Swirsky," referring to another sports reporter for the news station. It worked, but WGN switched transmitters, and the first broadcast only lasted twenty seconds without sound.
A brief look at responses from the "Modem World" found within contemporary hacker mag THE TOLMES NEWS SERVICE (found in transcripts of issues #14 and #15--scroll all the way down on #15) seems to imply that there was some kind of rabid Max Headroom underground. ("We'll strike again," one comments. "I can guarantee it.") Maybe it was just the work of a perturbed fan, angered that Headroom's titular series had just been cancelled? The fact that the rebroadcast interrupts "Doctor Who" seems to fall in step with that theory--if you can't hit your original target, who better to release your frustrations on than the warhorse sci-fi series that outlasted yours? Gotta love the moment where "Doctor Who" re-enters: "far as I can tell, a massive electric shock; he died instantly."
Still, the whole incident seems more orchestrated as a big fuck-you to the cultural establishment--the way that Headroom Pirate takes the piss out of the Cola Wars and Headroom's sell-out involvement (misappropriating Coke slogan "catch the wave" to Pepsi, then indifferently tossing the can), how he invokes nostalgia, presumably out of escapism (he sings the theme from anti-animation classic "Clutch Cargo"), and of course, how he flips society off--with a dildo on his middle finger, no less. He's aware of the low humor, so when he mimics "piles" and comments that he just "laid a giant masterpiece," he implies that maybe the '80s just needed to be dumped on. Headroom Pirate did indeed craft something of a little masterpiece: he's a rebel without a cause, so desperate to express discontent in his cultural era that his "allegiance" switches sides countless times--between channels, programs, and brand names--until he finally concludes that it's all just screwed up.
Here's a CBS news report filed the following night:
In a lot of ways, it's funnier than the clip itself. Dan Rather's stiff, humorless intro; the fact that the only scenes from the clip featured are those that could potentially offend audiences (dildo flip-off and flyswatter spanking); the Marv Albert lookalike who got so upset that he wanted to bust the TV set. (He really did.) THE TOLMES NEWS SERVICE lodges in a few more examples of public outrage and FCC threats. So in other words, the plastic-fantastic '80s receive disruption in their status quo with a massive electric shock of flyswatters smacking buttocks, and they die instantly. He was never caught, and he's still unidentified; I'm sure Headroom Pirate beams with pride.
On the mothersite: Overwhelming! Incredible! Told the untamed way! THRILL as Travis Hoover attacks a schlocky double-bill of King Dinosaur and The Jungle; meanwhile, Walter goes head-to-head with Takeshi Kitano's ego and Takeshis'. If you missed it, be sure to check out the post below this one -- Friday talkback, Alex's year-end wrap-up, and discussion of the nature and necessity of Bottom 10 lists.
Apparently, in November 1987, a video pirate in the Chicago area hijacked several local stations (WGN-TV and WTTW, a PBS affiliate) several hours apart, wearing a rubber Max Headroom mask and engaging in vulgar and stupid tomfoolery before dropping his pants and getting spanked with a flyswatter. Direct from YouTube, here's the full version from WTTW, the second and final broadcast, interrupting an episode of "Doctor Who":
Hilarious. Being that he's unavailable on home video, I'm largely unfamiliar with Max Headroom and his TV series, but for a character that appears to be some kind of 1984 thoughtcriminal for the age of modern media, it seems a little hypocritical that he would be pimping for Coca-Cola.
The prank was apparently intended to air over WGN's sports report: Headroom Pirate states that "this guy's better than Chuck Swirsky," referring to another sports reporter for the news station. It worked, but WGN switched transmitters, and the first broadcast only lasted twenty seconds without sound.
A brief look at responses from the "Modem World" found within contemporary hacker mag THE TOLMES NEWS SERVICE (found in transcripts of issues #14 and #15--scroll all the way down on #15) seems to imply that there was some kind of rabid Max Headroom underground. ("We'll strike again," one comments. "I can guarantee it.") Maybe it was just the work of a perturbed fan, angered that Headroom's titular series had just been cancelled? The fact that the rebroadcast interrupts "Doctor Who" seems to fall in step with that theory--if you can't hit your original target, who better to release your frustrations on than the warhorse sci-fi series that outlasted yours? Gotta love the moment where "Doctor Who" re-enters: "far as I can tell, a massive electric shock; he died instantly."
Still, the whole incident seems more orchestrated as a big fuck-you to the cultural establishment--the way that Headroom Pirate takes the piss out of the Cola Wars and Headroom's sell-out involvement (misappropriating Coke slogan "catch the wave" to Pepsi, then indifferently tossing the can), how he invokes nostalgia, presumably out of escapism (he sings the theme from anti-animation classic "Clutch Cargo"), and of course, how he flips society off--with a dildo on his middle finger, no less. He's aware of the low humor, so when he mimics "piles" and comments that he just "laid a giant masterpiece," he implies that maybe the '80s just needed to be dumped on. Headroom Pirate did indeed craft something of a little masterpiece: he's a rebel without a cause, so desperate to express discontent in his cultural era that his "allegiance" switches sides countless times--between channels, programs, and brand names--until he finally concludes that it's all just screwed up.
Here's a CBS news report filed the following night:
In a lot of ways, it's funnier than the clip itself. Dan Rather's stiff, humorless intro; the fact that the only scenes from the clip featured are those that could potentially offend audiences (dildo flip-off and flyswatter spanking); the Marv Albert lookalike who got so upset that he wanted to bust the TV set. (He really did.) THE TOLMES NEWS SERVICE lodges in a few more examples of public outrage and FCC threats. So in other words, the plastic-fantastic '80s receive disruption in their status quo with a massive electric shock of flyswatters smacking buttocks, and they die instantly. He was never caught, and he's still unidentified; I'm sure Headroom Pirate beams with pride.
On the mothersite: Overwhelming! Incredible! Told the untamed way! THRILL as Travis Hoover attacks a schlocky double-bill of King Dinosaur and The Jungle; meanwhile, Walter goes head-to-head with Takeshi Kitano's ego and Takeshis'. If you missed it, be sure to check out the post below this one -- Friday talkback, Alex's year-end wrap-up, and discussion of the nature and necessity of Bottom 10 lists.
January 05, 2007
By Popular Demand: Friday Talkback
I guess it's somewhat redundant this week, but consider this the institution of the Friday Talkback. Here's your chance to sound off on the past five days' worth of content--or anything remotely germane, really:
In subsequent editions, this may get more elaborate.
On a side note: did anyone catch "The Office" last night? Poor Pam. Poor, delicious Pam.
UPDATE: Our own Alex Jackson has just posted his personal best/worst list at I VIDDIED IT ON THE SCREEN. Y'know, Alex is pretty punk; I'm honoured to have him on the team.
Children of Men + Letters from Iwo Jima (Walter Chaw)
Dane Cook's Tourgasm (Ian Pugh)
A Star is Born (1976) (Travis Mackenzie Hoover)
That's My Bush!: The Definitive Collection (IP)
Conversations with Other Women (TMH)
In subsequent editions, this may get more elaborate.
On a side note: did anyone catch "The Office" last night? Poor Pam. Poor, delicious Pam.
UPDATE: Our own Alex Jackson has just posted his personal best/worst list at I VIDDIED IT ON THE SCREEN. Y'know, Alex is pretty punk; I'm honoured to have him on the team.
January 02, 2007
December 20, 2006
Hoho
If you ask me, Christmas has come early at FFC, as this past week has truly been one of our finest in recent memory. In case you missed any of these, allow me to draw your attention to Travis' Revolutionary twofer comparing La Commune and 1900 as well as the final instalment in his series of Gary Cooper reviews, Sergeant York. Meanwhile, Walter says Dreamgirls is something of a nightmare and newcomer Ian gives the old Yuletide smackdown to Ron Underwood's live-action version of The Year Without a Santa Claus.
This Friday may be light on theatrical reviews as Walter recuperates from a minor but no less incapacitating injury.
This Friday may be light on theatrical reviews as Walter recuperates from a minor but no less incapacitating injury.
December 10, 2006
Something About Inmates and the Asylum
Hello fellow Film Freaks:
If you've been reading this blog for long, then maybe you know me as the anonymous "ian" fellow who's always posting responses to the missives that appear here, usually a dashed-off paragraph or a humorous shot in the dark at the latest screencap contest. However, contrary to popular belief, I do actually have a last name and, what's more, write professional criticism; I've been peddling my wares to various publications lately, and as you may have already guessed, I've landed what amounts to a real dream gig. So with great excitement, I'd like to introduce myself: I'm Ian Pugh, and I'm the newest staffer here at FILM FREAK CENTRAL.
Never fear, I'm not going to be the Dick Sargent to anyone's Dick York around here in any way, shape or form, but I will be specializing in TV on DVD. Finally, an opportunity to fully delve into the pleasures and pains of the boob tube without having to live by the networks' clock. Suffice it to say that this means fewer commercials that try to call Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest the "film of the decade," or try to pass off an Air Bud sequel by way of Look Who's Talking as anything less than goddamn terrifying. At the very least, I'll be armed with a "skip" button. Wonderful invention, this "dee-vee-dee."
My deepest thanks go to Bill, Walter, Travis and Alex in allowing a relative greenhorn like me to join their ranks. After leaving comments here for so long, I feel a little like Mark Wahlberg in Pittsburgh epic Rock Star... or maybe its Philadelphia counterpart, Invincible. (Memo to Marky Mark: I'm onto your diabolical plan to control Pennsylvania's inspirational film market.)
For those interested seeking out more of my critical work beyond the blog comments, check out my biweekly article "What's at the Movies" at The River Reporter of Narrowsburg, NY (this week it's Deja Vu) or The Triangle, the student newspaper of my collegiate alma mater, for which I still write the occasional review of a theatrical release. A brief cross-section from the past few months: Death of a President, Poseidon, Open Season, The Queen.
But my love affair with television is a lifelong one, and to tackle it head-on like this will be a fascinating endeavor. I look forward to trading barbs and ideas with all of you good folks here at the blog, who have been immeasurably helpful in my critical escapades. Look for my first FFC article soon.
But until then, let's open the floor for a somewhat generic question: with much of the water-cooler fare on holiday hiatus, what has everyone been watching on the old idiot box lately?
Update - 12/13/06
Feel the sting of The Monarch with my review of The Venture Bros.: Season One. Meanwhile, Walter documents the slow, painful decay of Anglo-American relations in The Holiday. In case you missed them: Bill checks the specs on the Little Miss Sunshine DVD, and Travis continues his Gary Cooper odyssey while tackling oddly-named DVD collections with The Taking of Porky's 1 2 3.
Update - 12/15/06
Walter takes on a weekend of movies that went without a spell checker with Eragon and The Pursuit of Happyness.
R.I.P. Peter Boyle -- for as many great moments you could find in the man's career, my personal favorite is a throwaway from Taxi Driver: his weary salutation, "Char-lie T..."
And despite the news reports, the Golden Globe nominations fail to surprise anyone.
If you've been reading this blog for long, then maybe you know me as the anonymous "ian" fellow who's always posting responses to the missives that appear here, usually a dashed-off paragraph or a humorous shot in the dark at the latest screencap contest. However, contrary to popular belief, I do actually have a last name and, what's more, write professional criticism; I've been peddling my wares to various publications lately, and as you may have already guessed, I've landed what amounts to a real dream gig. So with great excitement, I'd like to introduce myself: I'm Ian Pugh, and I'm the newest staffer here at FILM FREAK CENTRAL.
Never fear, I'm not going to be the Dick Sargent to anyone's Dick York around here in any way, shape or form, but I will be specializing in TV on DVD. Finally, an opportunity to fully delve into the pleasures and pains of the boob tube without having to live by the networks' clock. Suffice it to say that this means fewer commercials that try to call Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest the "film of the decade," or try to pass off an Air Bud sequel by way of Look Who's Talking as anything less than goddamn terrifying. At the very least, I'll be armed with a "skip" button. Wonderful invention, this "dee-vee-dee."
My deepest thanks go to Bill, Walter, Travis and Alex in allowing a relative greenhorn like me to join their ranks. After leaving comments here for so long, I feel a little like Mark Wahlberg in Pittsburgh epic Rock Star... or maybe its Philadelphia counterpart, Invincible. (Memo to Marky Mark: I'm onto your diabolical plan to control Pennsylvania's inspirational film market.)
For those interested seeking out more of my critical work beyond the blog comments, check out my biweekly article "What's at the Movies" at The River Reporter of Narrowsburg, NY (this week it's Deja Vu) or The Triangle, the student newspaper of my collegiate alma mater, for which I still write the occasional review of a theatrical release. A brief cross-section from the past few months: Death of a President, Poseidon, Open Season, The Queen.
But my love affair with television is a lifelong one, and to tackle it head-on like this will be a fascinating endeavor. I look forward to trading barbs and ideas with all of you good folks here at the blog, who have been immeasurably helpful in my critical escapades. Look for my first FFC article soon.
But until then, let's open the floor for a somewhat generic question: with much of the water-cooler fare on holiday hiatus, what has everyone been watching on the old idiot box lately?
Update - 12/13/06
Feel the sting of The Monarch with my review of The Venture Bros.: Season One. Meanwhile, Walter documents the slow, painful decay of Anglo-American relations in The Holiday. In case you missed them: Bill checks the specs on the Little Miss Sunshine DVD, and Travis continues his Gary Cooper odyssey while tackling oddly-named DVD collections with The Taking of Porky's 1 2 3.
Update - 12/15/06
Walter takes on a weekend of movies that went without a spell checker with Eragon and The Pursuit of Happyness.
R.I.P. Peter Boyle -- for as many great moments you could find in the man's career, my personal favorite is a throwaway from Taxi Driver: his weary salutation, "Char-lie T..."
And despite the news reports, the Golden Globe nominations fail to surprise anyone.
December 08, 2006
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