heaven's gate | t-bone burnett + david mansfield

One of the most effective scenes in Michael Cimino's leisurely western epic Heaven's Gate (1980) is the roller skating sequence set in the dance hall of the title. The Heaven's Gate band includes both T-Bone Burnett and David Mansfield - the latter stealing the show in an extended fiddling and fancy skating feature. Mansfield also composed the film's soundtrack. Burnett and Mansfield toured together on Bob Dylan's 1975/76 Rolling Thunder Revue, after which they formed the Alpha Band (1977/78). Burnett's first solo album, "Truth Decay," was released in 1980, the same year as Heaven's Gate.

may 29 | the sound of music | cineplex classic films

The Sound of Music (1965)
"The Happiest Sound In All The World!"
Directed by: Robert Wise
Cast: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker
Plot: A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to a Naval officer widower.

Sunday, May 29, 12:30pm

Presented in HD. All tickets five dollars. SilverCity Riverport, SilverCity Coquitlam, Colossus Langley, Scotiabank Theatre. The Classic Film Series presents one great title each month on the big screen from September 2010 to August 2011: details here.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC is available on DVD an VHS at Videomatica

watching for... gunnar goes god

Movie buddy Rosie Perera saw this one, and says "Gunnar Goes God was amazing. I highly recommend it if you get a chance to see it ever. I think it's supposed to be coming out on DVD sometime this year, though it's hard to tell. I can't read Norwegian. But according to Google Translate, I think this site gives you the possibility to pre-order it.

Gunnar Goes God
(2010, Norway, Gunnar Hall Jensen, 85 min)

Saturday May 14 | 2:30 PM | Pacific Cinémathèque

What is the meaning of life? For filmmaker Gunnar Hall Jensen, trapped in the woes of middle-class, financially affluent, consumerist culture, the question becomes more than a navel-gazing solipsistic exercise in this pointedly funny film. Gunnar is not alone in his quest for meaning; his entire film crew is stuck in a similar spiritual malaise, over-worked, stressed out and drinking like proverbial fish in order to cope with the demands of modern life. Is this what it's all about, asks Gunnar, "Sacrificing myself for a way of life that leaves me dead?"

When Gunnar reads a magazine article about a desert monastery that has been in existence since the 4th century, he and his entire crew decamp for the Sahara in search of answers. Along the way, he ponders the idea of God and his own lack of faith. . . .

Gunnar tries to fit into monastic life but finds himself lonely, bored and craving junk food. When he asks the monks about death, they state unequivocally: "Death for us is a just a passage from this life to eternal life." But Gunnar isn't quite ready to slip this mortal coil....

Gunnar Goes God is an inspiring, humorous and ultimately joyful meditation on the biggest question there is. —DW

Tickets and complete blurb - including spoilers - at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival website

...thanks, rosie

may 18 & 29 | the sound of music | cineplex classic films

The Sound of Music (1965)
"The Happiest Sound In All The World!"
Directed by: Robert Wise
Cast: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker
Plot: A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to a Naval officer widower.

Wednesday, May 18, 6:30pm
Sunday, May 29, 12:30pm

Presented in HD. All tickets five dollars. SilverCity Riverport, SilverCity Coquitlam, Colossus Langley, Scotiabank Theatre. The Classic Film Series presents one great title each month on the big screen from September 2010 to August 2011: details here.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC is available on DVD an VHS at Videomatica

videomatica: the sequel

Philanthropist poised to save Videomatica collection
excerpted from Business In Vancouver
May 10, 2011

Videomatica, Vancouver’s iconic video-rental store, will not hold a clearance sale to liquidate its 30,000-film inventory in the lead-up to its closure this summer. Philanthropist Yosef Wosk will contribute $100,000, if need be, to ensure the collection remains intact, either:
•with the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF);
•at an academic institution such as the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University or Capilano University; or
•at a new British Columbia Film Archive.

Processing costs and suggestive content in some films seem to have kiboshed efforts to get the VPL to buy Videomatica’s collection.

Wosk told Business in Vancouver May 9 he hopes the institution that receives the collection is able to contribute money to buy the VHS tapes and DVDs. He said if that is not possible, he would contribute the $100,000.

The next step is a meeting on May 12 with the academic institutions and represenatives from VIFF. “There’s somewhat of a pressure now because Videomatica needs to give up their lease and move out,” Wosk said. “They would prefer that the collection go directly to where it’s going to go instead of having to first go in storage.”

And here's a link to another article on the closing and the shop. This is a good bit;

When the store celebrated its 25th birthday they compiled a list of Videomatica's top rentals. No. 1 was the British comedy Withnail and I. The top 10 was rounded out by Wings of Desire, Down By Law, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Betty Blue, Blood Simple, The Decameron and Baraka. The top rentals in recent years are 8 ½, City of God and The Lives of Others.

videomatica's final reel

Saddest movie news of the year.