If you read last week’s web column, in which I bemoaned the fact that Terry Gilliam’s new film The Zero Theorem was going directly to disc without a Toronto theatrical engagement … well, I’ve got some really great news for you.
Based on the public reaction – most of which was due to Gilliam himself posting about this on Facebook last Sunday – Mongrel Media announced earlier this week that it’s reversed its straight-to-video decision and would be booking the film into Canadian theatres after all. In Toronto, it begins a two-week run at The Royal next Friday, August 1. Please go and see it. Don’t make me look like a dick.
In other Mongrel Media news, if you’ve seen their Boyhood ads, you’ll know the distributor has brought in Ellar Coltrane for the weekend, and he’s doing Q&As after selected screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox and the Varsity today (Friday July 25) and tomorrow (Saturday July 26). It was my pleasure to moderate Coltrane’s surprise appearance at one of last night’s screenings, and we’ll be doing it again after Saturday’s 8:20 pm screening at the Varsity. It’s a terrific movie, and he’s a terrific person. Please join us.
What? You still want more? Well, on Wednesday (July 30), MDFF and The Seventh Art are holding another of their buried-treasure screenings at Camera on Queen West. This time it’s Frank V. Ross’s excellent 2012 indie drama Tiger Tail In Blue, which makes its Canadian premiere at 9 pm.
Ross and Rebecca Spence co-star as Christopher and Rebecca, a couple living on opposite schedules due to the demands of their jobs. Before too long, they find themselves increasingly at risk of drifting apart, even if neither of them will acknowledge it. And not acknowledging the issue becomes an even bigger problem once Christopher starts working with another woman (Megan Mercier) who might be interested in him.
It’s a modest but absorbing character piece, with fine work from all three actors and a sense of focus and concentration that pays off in small, subtle ways. Ross will be present for a Q&A following the film. (If you go, ask him where to find his 2010 drama Audrey The Trainwreck, which is also very good.)
Oh, and if you’re not doing anything Thursday (July 31)? Check out the special 50th anniversary restoration of A Hard Day’s Night at the Revue Cinema.
If you’ve seen Richard Lester’s triumphant rockumentary, you know it’s the joyous, slyly witty movie that codified The Beatles and more or less invented the music video. If you’ve never seen it – well, you know that vague, gnawing sense that we’re all alone in the universe and something profound is missing from your personal experience of life? That goes away while you’re watching A Hard Day’s Night.
Yes, this is the same new presentation of the film that appears on the Criterion Collection Blu-ray released last month – and which is glorious, by the way. But this is the only theatrical screening of the new restoration in town, and the Revue is making a night of it by bringing in Beatles expert Mark Lewisohn, author of the expansive Fab Four biography Tune In, for a Q&A that marks the sole Canadian date of his book tour.
The event is called for 6 pm, with the screening getting underway at 7 pm. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 at the door. I’ll see you there.
