Latest News from filmswelike

DOPPELGÄNGER PAUL: Opens in Toronto, Friday, February 24th at The Royal

mike@filmswelike.com — 2012-02-08T11:14:35-05:00

DOPPELGÄNGER PAUL
(Or A Film About How Much I Hate Myself)

A film by Dylan Akio Smith and Kris Elgstrand

Following its Premiere at TIFF 2011 and successful screenings at the 2011 Whistler Film Festival and Slamdance 2012, Dylan Akio Smith and Kris Elgstrand’s feature film DOPPELGÄNGER PAUL (Or A Film About How Much I Hate Myself) will open Friday, February 24th at The Royal Theater, Toronto.

DOPPELGANGER PAUL (Or A Film About How Much I Hate Myself) tells the story of the unlikely relationship of Karl (Tygh Runyan, Snakes On A Plane, 15 Minutes, TV’s Battlestar Gallactica) and Paul (Brad Dryborough, The Cabin Movie, TIFF 2005; TV’s Battlestar Gallactica), two lonely men on the brink of middle age.

Following a near death experience, Karl comes to believe that Paul, a stranger he sees on the street, is his doppelgänger. After stalking him for several weeks, Karl finally makes contact thus setting in motion a bizarre chain of events that will result in the loss of a thumb, the theft of a manuscript, rides on a miniature railroad, a trip to Portland in a 1984 Chevy VanDura and two appearances on a popular morning talk show.

DOPPELGANGER PAUL (Or A Film About How Much I Hate Myself) plays out as a mind-bending human comedy that raises questions about the primacy of authorial ownership, intellectual piracy and man’s seemingly limitless ability to hate himself beyond all reason.

DOPPELGANGER PAUL (Or A Film About How Much I Hate Myself) is directed by long-time collaborators Dylan Akio Smith (also DP/Editor) and Kris Elgstrand (also screenwriter). Co-directing for the first time, they are the award-winning team behind previous TIFF offerings Man Feel Pain (Winner, Short Cuts Canada Award, TIFF 2004), The Cabin Movie (TIFF 2005) and Big Head (TIFF 2009).

For further information: http://doppelgangerpaul.com/
Images: http://filmswelike.com/films/doppelgangerpaul/
Press Notes: http://filmswelike.com/films/doppelgangerpaul/

Media contact:
V Kelly + Associates
416-466-9799, info@vkpr.ca

PAUL GOODMAN CHANGED MY LIFE - Opens Dec 9

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-11-17T14:14:09-05:00

PAUL GOODMAN CHANGED MY LIFE
A film about the most influential man you’ve never heard of

OPENS DECEMBER 9 - THE ROYAL, TORONTO
OPENS DECEMBER 30, 31, JANUARY 1 and 2 - MAYFAIR THEATRE, OTTAWA

“One has the persistent thought that if ten thousand people in all walks of life will stand up on their two feet and talk out and insist, we shall get back our country.”-- Paul Goodman, “Growing Up Absurd”

Following its Canadian Premiere at Doc Soup, and New York Premiere at Film Forum, Jonathan Lee’s highly praised feature documentary PAUL GOODMAN CHANGED MY LIFE will open Friday, December 9 at The Royal Theater, Toronto.

Author of the visionary bestseller GROWING UP ABSURD (1960), Paul Goodman was a poet, writer, pacifist, gay activist and a moral compass for many in the burgeoning counterculture of the 1960s.

PAUL GOODMAN CHANGED MY LIFE immerses you in an era when New York was peaking culturally and artistically; when ideas, and the people who propounded them, seemed to punch in at a higher weight class than they do now.

Unearthing unseen footage of Paul Goodman and his times, director/producer Jonathan Lee and producer/editor Kimberly Reed (Prodigal Sons) have woven together a rich portrait of an intellectual heavyweight whose ideas are long overdue for rediscovery.

Official Website: paulgoodmanfilm.com
High Rez Images
Press Notes

Interviews available with filmmaker Jonathan Lee

Media contact:
V Kelly + Associates
416-466-9799, info@vkpr.ca

LE HAVRE a film by Aki Kaurismäki has it's North American Premiere at TIFF "Masters Programme"

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-08-23T12:27:28-04:00

FilmsWeLike, the independent distribution company headed by filmmaker Ron Mann is pleased to announce that Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki’s acclaimed Cannes 2011 favourite and winner of that festival’s FIPRESCI Prize will premiere at TIFF on Thursday, September 8, 2011, 9:30pm at the VISA Screening Room (Elgin). A political fairy tale that takes inspiration from the French cinema of the 1930s, Le Havre finds Kaurismäki working in France for the first time since his 1992 art house hit La Vie de Boheme.

In this warm-hearted portrait of the harbor city that gives the film its name, fate throws young African refugee Idrissa (newcomer Blondin Miguel) into the path of Marcel Marx (André Wilms, Europa Europa), a well-spoken bohemian who works as a shoe-shiner. With innate optimism and the unwavering solidarity of his community, Marcel stands up to officials doggedly pursuing the boy for deportation. In addition to Wilms and Miguel, Le Havre stars Kati Outinen (The Man Without a Past) and Jean-Pierre Darroussin (A Very Long Engagement). Le Havre was co-produced by Fabienne Vonier (The Barbarian Invasions) and Reinhard Brundig (Winged Migration).

Kaurismäki has cast André Wilms in four of his films; La Vie de Boheme, Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses, Juha and now Le Havre.

FilmsWeLike is Canadian distributor for Le Havre. Founded by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ron Mann, (Grass, Comic Book Confidential) Films We Like is a boutique distributor of documentary, independent and international films in Canada. Recent releases include: Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, Bill Cunningham New York, and the Cannes Palme D'or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Upcoming releases include Pearl Jam Twenty, Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles, A Matter of Taste, and Le Havre.

After TIFF, Le Havre will play at VIFF and festivals in Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax and Montreal. It will begin its Canadian release in Toronto on Friday, November 4 at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Running Time: 93 minutes
French with English subtitles

Press Screenings:
Thursday, August 25, 10:30am, Varsity
Monday, August 29, 11am, TIFF BLB (TBC, restricted to accredited TIFF media)

Press + Industry Screenings:
Friday, September 9, 9:15am, Scotiabank 3

TIFF Screenings:
Thursday, September 8, 9:30pm, Visa Screening Room (Elgin)
Friday, September 9, 1:00pm, Jackman Hall, AGO

To Book Interviews with Andre Wilms on September 8, 9, 10
Media Contact: V Kelly & Assoc, 416-466-9799, info@vkpr.ca

LE HAVRE (Trailer) from filmswelike on Vimeo.

A MATTER OF TASTE Opens at TIFF Bell Lightbox on Thursday, September 29, 2011

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-08-17T16:07:58-04:00

“A MATTER OF TASTE” Serving Up Paul Liebrandt
A film by Sally Rowe

Opens at TIFF Bell Lightbox on Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sally Rowe & Paul Liebrandt in attendance

A Matter Of Taste - Trailer from Sally Rowe on Vimeo.

A MATTER OF TASTE takes an intimate look inside the world of an immensely talented and driven young chef, Paul Liebrandt. At 24, he was awarded three stars by the New York Times for unforgettable and hyper modern dishes such as "eel, violets and chocolate," "espuma of calf brains and foie gras," and "beer and truffle soup."

Critic William Grimes likened Paul to "a pianist who seems to have found a couple of dozen extra keys." Conversely, Gourmet critic Jonathan Gold called Paul's food "the result of a failed science experiment." He soon became a chef critics loved or loved to hate.

The film follows Paul over a decade and reveals his creative process in the kitchen, as well as the extreme hard work, long hours, and dedication it takes to be a culinary artist and have success in the cutthroat world of haute cuisine in New York City. Exploring the complicated relationships between food critics, chefs and restaurant owners, the film delves into the life of an uncompromising, thought provoking, young chef ahead of his time.

A MATTER OF TASTE features Paul Liebrandt, Chef, Croton; Frank Bruni, New York Times food critic 2004 – 2009; Thomas Keller, Chef Per Se; Eric Ripert, Chef Le Bernardin; Heston Blumenthal, Chef, The Fat Duck; Grant Achatz, Chef, Alinea; Drew Nieporent, Restauranteur; William Grimes, New York Times food critic 1998 – 2003.

SALLY ROWE – DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
New Zealand born Sally Rowe began working in film in 1992 as an apprentice
editor, assistant and editor in Thailand, Los Angeles and New York, respectively. In
2001, she returned to set as a script supervisor on numerous independent features,
commercials and the entire run of Comedy Central’s Emmy nominated “CHAPPELLE’S
SHOW.” A MATTER OF TASTE marks her directorial debut.

Running time: 68 minutes Official site: www.amatteroftastethefilm.com

For press notes and images: www.filmswelike.com

For further information, to book interviews w Sally Rowe, Paul Liebrandt
V Kelly & Associates
416-466-9799, info@vkpr.ca

RESURRECT DEAD Opens in Toronto on Friday, September 23, 2011 at The Royal

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-08-17T15:59:15-04:00

RESURRECT DEAD THE MYSTERY OF THE TOYNBEE TILES
A film by Jon Foy

Winner – Sundance 2011 Directing award: Documentary

Opens in Toronto on Friday, September 23, 2011 at The Royal

It’s gratifying to know that in the information age there are still shadowy crevices of the world where mystery and perplexity can still live. These dark corners of the world are diminishing in number, but it’s where magic and imagination can still exist. – Jon Foy

“Toynbee Idea in Movie 2001. Resurrect Dead on Planet Jupiter.” Beginning in the mid-1980s, hundreds of tiles carrying this cryptic message started appearing embedded in the asphalt of city streets throughout North and South America. A young artist named Justin Duerr was living in Philadelphia when he stumbled across one, then many, of these strange creations. What began as an ordinary attempt to discover their elusive creator became an obsessive quest as Duerr discovered an increasingly bizarre set of clues. Duerr spent more than a decade searching for the tiles’ creator, eventually teaming up with other Toynbee tile enthusiasts to gather clues. Crafting an enticing journey from Duerr’s experience, filmmaker Jon Foy invites you to get lost in this incredible real life mystery, a tribute to the fantastic things you can discover if you’re looking. – Sarafina DiFelice, Hot Docs

Filmmaker Jon Foy and Philadelphia-based artist and musician Justin Duerr began planning a documentary film about the Toynbee Tiles in 2000. Five years later, they began filming their investigation of these strange street plaques embedded in the asphalt of major U.S. and South American urban intersections that had held Duerr's fascination for over a decade. Having appeared on hundreds of reported examples from the mid-1980s to present, the cryptic four-line message of the Toynbee Tiles read: "Toynbee Idea / In Kubrick's 2001 / Resurrect Dead / On Planet Jupiter". While the text on the plaques was clear enough, neither Duerr nor the numerous media outlets that had documented the phenomenon knew what these tiles meant, how or why they were installed, or who was responsible for them.

Teaming up with local Toynbee Tile fanatics Steve Weinik and Colin Smith, Duerr began his quest with few clues towards the tiler's identity. The investigation led the team through a series of strange and unexpected turns from the discovery of a Jupiter colonization organization to the David Mamet play “4a.m.” and a TV news hijacker with a cryptic message. Along the way, the team met with the eccentric residents in the deepest reaches of South Philadelphia and dedicated shortwave radio buffs for clues and guidance. As the picture of the Toynbee Tiles' narrative slowly entered into focus, Duerr was shocked by the answers he was uncovering and his unexpected emotional connection to the elusive tiler.

Running time: 85 minutes Official Website: www.resurrectdead.com

For images, production notes and trailer: http://filmswelike.com/films/resurectdead/

For more information contact: V Kelly & Assoc.

“PEARL JAM TWENTY” TO HAVE WORLD PREMIERE AT THE 2011 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, FOLLOWED BY AN EXCLUSIVE ONE NIGHT ONLY PRESENTATION AT PARTICIPATING CINEPLEX THEATRES SEPTEMBER 20

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-07-25T21:26:07-04:00

Pearl Jam: Twenty .

TORONTO, ON – July 26, 2011: In celebration of their 20th Anniversary, Pearl Jam will debut Pearl Jam Twenty, a definitive portrait of the band as told by the Academy Award®-winning filmmaker and music journalist Cameron Crowe, at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival (“TIFF”).

On Tuesday, September 20th following the TIFF premiere, FilmsWeLike and Cineplex Entertainment’s (“Cineplex”) Front Row Centre Events will present this highly anticipated documentary at participating Cineplex theatres across Canada for one night only.

Beginning July 29th, tickets can be purchased at participating theatre box offices, through the Cineplex Mobile Apps and online at www.cineplex.com or the Cineplex mobile site m.cineplex.com. A list of participating Cineplex theatres can be found at: http://www.filmswelike.com/films/pearljam20/screenings/cineplex/.

Starting July 26th, advance tickets for Pearl Jam fans are available via http://www.cineplex.com/Movies/MovieDetails/Pearl-Jam-Twenty.aspx

Told in big themes and bold colours with blistering sound, Pearl Jam Twenty chronicles the years leading up to the band’s formation, the chaos that ensued soon-after being catapulted into superstardom, their step back from the spotlight with the instinct of self-preservation, and the creation of a trusted circle that would surround them—giving way to a work culture that would sustain them. The film celebrates the freedom that allows the band to make music without losing themselves, their fans, or the music lovers they’d always been.

“We put so much into the film – moments, pieces of footage shot by band members, audio snippets, visual bursts, new and old interviews – many different formats, all meant to show the emotional scrapbook of what it felt like to be a member of the band on this twenty-year journey,” said Cameron Crowe. “The richness of the footage made our path very clear – just tell the story of the band and let the music guide us. It was a joy to make this film, and we’re thrilled to share it with the fans.”

The captivating documentary gives fans and audiences an intimate first glimpse into Pearl Jam’s journey culled from more than 1,200 hours of rarely and never-before-seen footage, over 24 hours of recent interviews with the band, as well as live footage of their spellbinding concert performances.

To coincide with this unique theatrical release, The Pearl Jam Twenty soundtrack, released by Columbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment, is currently available for pre-order at www.PJ20.com for its release date of September 20, 2011. Comprised of a selected track listing by Cameron Crowe—the album is a true companion piece to the film.

In addition, as part of their year-long celebration, Pearl Jam is also releasing a Pearl Jam Twenty book on September 13th. Published by Simon & Schuster in Canada and the U.S. and Atlantic Books in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, the Pearl Jam Twenty book is an aesthetically stunning chronicle of the band’s past two decades. Compiled and written by veteran music writer Jonathan Cohen with Mark Wilkerson, the book includes a foreword by Cameron Crowe (and material from all his own band interviews) as well as original interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and Dave Grohl. The book is also available for pre-order now on Amazon.com and Pearl Jam’s Ten Club at www.PJ20.com.

Pearl Jam Twenty is being distributed in Canada by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ron Mann (Grass, Comic Book Confidential), through his company FilmsWeLike, a boutique distributor of documentary, independent and international films in Canada. Recent releases include: “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop”, “Bill Cunningham New York”, and the Cannes Palm D’or winner “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.”

Pearl Jam Twenty is a Vinyl Films production in association with MonkeyWrench Inc. and Tremolo Productions. The film was produced by Cameron Crowe, Kelly Curtis, Morgan Neville, and Andy Fischer and executive produced by Michele Anthony.

Click here for trailers, clips, photos and additional artwork

Official Film site: www.PJ20.com

FilmsWeLike PEARL JAM 20 PAGE

ABOUT PJ20

2011 is a yearlong celebration of Pearl Jam’s twenty-year history. The band started off the year with the release of a new live compilation album, Live on Ten Legs, followed by the expanded reissues of Vs. and Vitalogy in March. Things kick into high gear in September with the Alpine Valley Labor Day anniversary weekend concert, a ten-date Canadian tour, followed by the theatrical release of Cameron Crowe’s film, Pearl Jam Twenty in September with accompanying book and soundtrack album and subsequent PBS airdate of October, ending the year with the DVD of the film available in October. For the latest Pearl Jam happenings, visit www.pearljam.com.

About Cineplex Entertainment
Cineplex Inc. ("Cineplex") is the largest motion picture exhibitor in Canada and owns, leases or has a joint-venture interest in 130 theatres with 1,351 screens serving approximately 70 million guests annually. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Cineplex operates theatres from British Columbia to Quebec and is the exclusive provider of UltraAVX™ and the largest exhibitor of digital 3D and IMAX projection technologies in the country. Proudly Canadian and with a workforce of approximately 10,000 employees, the company operates the following top tier brands: Cineplex Odeon, Galaxy, Famous Players, Colossus, Coliseum, SilverCity, Cinema City and Scotiabank Theatres. Cineplex shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol "CGX". For more information, visit www.cineplex.com.

About Front Row Centre Events (FRC)
Brought to you by Cineplex Entertainment, Front Row Centre Events bring world class entertainment to your local Cineplex Entertainment theatre and other participating locations! Presented in high-definition with digital surround sound, guests can experience the best in original one-night only and series-based programming. With the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series, Broadway productions, live broadcasts direct from the stage of London’s National Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet performances, classic films, concerts, live sporting events and documentaries, Front Row Centre Events put you in the centre of the action on the big screen!

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Media Contact:

Virginia Kelly, V Kelly & Assoc, 416-466-9799, info@vkpr.ca

Pat Marshall, Vice President, Communications and Investor Relations, Cineplex Entertainment,
416-323-6648, pat.marshall@cineplex.com

Kyle Moffatt, Director, Communications, Cineplex Entertainment,
416-323-6728, kyle.moffatt@cineplex.com

filmswelike Acquires A MATTER OF TASTE

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-07-13T10:39:02-04:00

The film follows Paul over a decade and reveals his creative process in the kitchen, as well as the extreme hard work, long hours, and dedication it takes to be a culinary artist and have success in the cutthroat world of haute cuisine in New York City. Exploring the complicated relationships between food critics, chefs and restaurant owners, the film delves into the life of an uncompromising, thought provoking, young chef ahead of his time.

Featuring: Paul Liebrandt (Chef, Croton), FrankBruni (The New York Times, Food Critic 2004 - 2009), Thomas Keller (Chef, Per Se), Eric Ripert (Chef, Le Bernardin), Heston Blumenthal (Chef, The Fat Duck), Grant Achatz (Chef, Alinea), Drew Nieporent (Restaurateur), William Grimes (The New York Times, Food Critic 1998 - 2003), Mike Colameco (PBS Culinary Host).

A Matter Of Taste - Trailer from Sally Rowe on Vimeo.

VOULEZ VOUS COUCHES AVEC GOD? to debut TIFF Lightbox on Canada Day.

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-06-27T10:14:18-04:00

Michael HIrsh and Jack Christie's lost 1960s underground movie VOULEZ VOUS COUCHES AVEC GOD? to debut TIFF Lightbox on Canada Day.

Michael Hirsh co-founder of the animation studio Nelvana began his career at Toronto's notorious Rochdale College where along with fellow filmmaker Jack Christie, they direct a drug infused experimental film starring counter cultural icon
(and FUGS member) Tuli Kupferberg .

After a few showings at the Roxy Cinema in Toronto, the film disappeared like smoke rings on a windy day... until last year when it was unearthed at the National Archives of Canada by filmmaker / preservationist Ron Mann ( Grass, Comic Book Confidential) who arranged for its restoration on HD at Deluxe Labs.

J. Hoberman, critic for New York's Village Voice wrote the lost 1960s film could have shared status with such cult classics as El Topo had the film actually been distributed.

Now circulating at international film festivals such as Rotterdam and Buenos Aires, VOULEZ VOUS COUCHES AVEC GOD? has its Canadian Premiere on Canada Day at the TIFF BELL Lightbox where it will be introduced by co-director Michael Hirsh.

For more information!

For interviews with Michael HIrsh, please contact Michael Boyuk

BEAUTY DAY goes to Just For Laughs (Montreal)

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-06-16T15:41:38-04:00

15th edition of the Just For Laughs Film Festival brings BEAUTY DAY to Montreal on Tuesday, July 26, 7pm at Cinéma du Parc.

Tickets are on sale now at hahaha.com/film or by calling 1-888-244-3155.

Before there was Jackass... before there was Tom Green... there was Ralph Zavadil. His cable access television show in the early 90’s in southern Ontario, The Cap’n Video Show, showcased Ralph performing a series of idiotic and occasionally dangerous stunts. The advent of the Internet and reality television still years away, his unique brand of gross-out stunt comedy was truly ahead of its time. All it took was a broken neck for him to get noticed.

Beauty Day Trailer from Jay Cheel on Vimeo.

CONAN O'BRIEN CAN'T STOP but he does at Participating Cineplex Entertainment Theatres for One Night Only – Thursday, July 7, 2011

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-06-13T14:00:50-04:00

Theatrical engagement at select Cineplex theatres follows in Toronto and Vancouver from Friday, July 8, 2011

FilmsWeLike and Cineplex Entertainment’s (“Cineplex”) Front Row Centre Events will present the highly anticipated Rodman Flender documentary “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” at participating Cineplex theatres across Canada on Thursday, July 7. In Toronto and Vancouver, the documentary will begin a limited engagement at select Cineplex theatres on Friday, July 8, 2011.

In 2010, after a much-publicized departure from hosting NBC’s Tonight Show, ex-late night host Conan O’Brien hit the road on a 32-city tour with a music and comedy show, ending his 22-year relationship with the network. The “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television” tour was O’Brien’s answer to a contractual stipulation that banned his appearance on television, radio and the Internet for six months following his last show.

Filmmaker Rodman Flender’s resulting documentary, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, is an intimate portrait of an artist trained in improvisation, captured at the most improvisational time of his career. It offers a window into the private writers room and rehearsal halls as O’Brien’s “half-assed show” (the star’s own words) is almost instantly assembled and mounted to an adoring fan base.

At times angry but mostly hilarious, O’Brien works out his feelings about the very-public separation. Throughout the documentary, O’Brien uses comedy and rockabilly music, engaging in bits with on-stage guests such as Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and Jim Carrey. He also, performs a duet with Jack White and sweats out manic Elvis Presley covers with his band and back-up singers. The audience will see a comic who does not stop performing, singing, pushing his staff and himself.

Did Conan O’Brien hit the road to give something back to his loyal fans, or did he travel across the continent, stopping at cities large (New York, Las Vegas) and remote (Enoch, Alberta) to fill a void within himself? Find out July 7th as Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop will be presented at select Cineplex theatres.

Beginning June 17th tickets can be purchased at participating theatre box offices, through the Cineplex Mobile Apps and online at www.cineplex.com or the Cineplex mobile site m.cineplex.com. Cineplex Entertainment presents Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop on Thursday, July 7, 2011 at the following theatres:

BRITISH COLUMBIA
Langley
Colossus Langley Cinemas, 20090 91A Avenue
Nanaimo
Galaxy Cinemas Nanaimo, 213-4750 Rutherford Road
Richmond
SilverCity Riverport Cinemas, 14211 Entertainment Way
Vancouver
Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver, 900 Burrard Street
Vernon
Galaxy Cinemas Vernon, 2306 Highway 6
Victoria
SilverCity Victoria Cinemas, 3130 Tillicum Road

ALBERTA
Calgary
Cineplex Odeon Crowfoot Crossing Cinemas, 91 Crowfoot Terrace NW
Scotiabank Theatre Chinook, 6455 Macleod Trail SW
Edmonton
Cineplex Odeon South Edmonton Cinemas, 1525-99th Street NW
Scotiabank Theatre Edmonton, 8882-170 Street

MANITOBA
Winnipeg
SilverCity Polo Park Cinemas, 817 St. James Street

SASKATCHEWAN
Moose Jaw
Galaxy Cinemas Moose Jaw, 1235 Main Street N
Regina
Galaxy Cinemas Regina, 420 McCarthy Boulevard N
Saskatoon
Galaxy Cinemas Saskatoon, 347 2nd Avenue

ONTARIO
Barrie
Galaxy Cinemas Barrie, 72 Commerce Park Drive
Brantford
Galaxy Cinemas Brantford, 300 King George Road
Burlington
SilverCity Burlington Cinemas, 1250 Brant Street
Cambridge
Galaxy Cinemas Cambridge, 355 Hespeler Road
Guelph
Galaxy Cinemas Guelph, 485 Woodlawn Road W
Hamilton
SilverCity Hamilton Mountain Cinemas, 795 Paramount Drive
Kingston
Cineplex Odeon Gardiners Road Cinemas, 626 Gardiners Road
London
SilverCity London Cinemas, 1680 Richmond Street
Mississauga
SilverCity Mississauga Cinemas, 3055 Vega Boulevard
Newmarket
SilverCity Newmarket Cinemas and XSCAPE Entertainment Centre, 18151 Yonge Street
Niagara Falls
Cineplex Odeon Niagara Square Cinemas, 7555 Montrose Road
Oshawa
Cineplex Odeon Oshawa Cinemas, 1351 Grandview Street N
Ottawa
Coliseum Ottawa Cinemas, 3090 Carling Avenue
SilverCity Gloucester Cinemas, 2385 City Park Drive
Owen Sound
Galaxy Cinemas Owen Sound, 1020 10th Street
Peterborough
Galaxy Cinemas Peterborough, 320 Water Street
Richmond Hill
SilverCity Richmond Hill Cinemas, 8725 Yonge Street
Sault Ste. Marie
Galaxy Cinemas Sault Ste. Marie, 293 Bay Street
Sudbury
SilverCity Sudbury Cinemas, 355 Barrydowne Road
Thunder Bay
SilverCity Thunder Bay Cinemas, 850 North May Street
Toronto
Cineplex Odeon Queensway Cinemas, 1025 The Queensway
Coliseum Scarborough Cinemas, 300 Borough Drive
Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, 259 Richmond Street W
SilverCity Fairview Mall Cinemas, 1800 Sheppard Avenue E
Waterloo
Galaxy Cinemas Waterloo, 550 King Street N
Windsor
Cineplex Odeon Devonshire Mall Cinemas, 3100 Howard Avenue

QUEBEC
Kirkland
Coliseum Kirkland Cinemas, 3200 rue Jean Yves
Montreal
Cineplex Odeon Cavendish Mall Cinemas, 5800 boul. Cavendish
Scotiabank Theatre Montreal, 977 rue Ste-Catherine O
Ste.Foy
Cineplex Odeon Ste. Foy Cinemas, 1200 boul. Duplessis

PRESS SCREENINGS
TORONTO (Tues, June 21 & Wed, June 29, 10am, Cineplex Odeon Varsity and VIP Cinemas)
VANCOUVER (Wed, June 15, 10:30am, Vancity Theatre)
CALGARY (Tues, June 28, 10am, Scotiabank Theatre Chinook)
EDMONTON (Tues, June 28, 10am, Scotiabank Theatre Edmonton)
WPG (Wed, June 29, 10am, SilverCity Polo Park Cinemas)

Running time: 89 minutes
Download hi-res images, press notes, view the trailer

Official Film site: www.conanobriencantstop.com

About Cineplex Entertainment
Cineplex Inc. ("Cineplex") is the largest motion picture exhibitor in Canada and owns, leases or has a joint-venture interest in 129 theatres with 1,343 screens serving approximately 70 million guests annually. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Cineplex operates theatres from British Columbia to Quebec and is the exclusive provider of UltraAVX™ and the largest exhibitor of digital, 3D and IMAX projection technologies in the country. Proudly Canadian and with a workforce of approximately 10,000 employees, the company operates the following top tier brands: Cineplex Odeon, Galaxy, Famous Players, Colossus, Coliseum, SilverCity, Cinema City and Scotiabank Theatres. Cineplex shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol "CGX". For more information, visit www.cineplex.com.

About Front Row Centre Events (FRC)
Brought to you by Cineplex Entertainment, Front Row Centre Events bring world class entertainment to your local Cineplex Entertainment theatre and other participating locations! Presented in high-definition with digital surround sound, guests can experience the best in original one-night only and series-based programming. With the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series, Broadway productions, live broadcasts direct from the stage of London’s National Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet performances, classic films, concerts, live sporting events and documentaries, Front Row Centre Events put you in the centre of the action on the big screen!

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Media Contact: Virginia Kelly, V Kelly & Assoc
416-466-9799, info@vkpr.ca

Kyle Moffatt, Director, Communications, Cineplex Entertainment
416-323-6728, kyle.moffatt@cineplex.com

filmswelike Acquires THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-05-03T15:29:30-04:00

:::::FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ::::::
FILMS WE LIKE ACQUIRES

MARIE LOSIER'S "THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE"

Deal Happens Preceding Premiere at Hot Docs on Wednesday

Toronto, Ontario (MAY 3, 2011) – Films We Like proudly announced it has acquired Canadian distribution rights to Marie Losier's touching documentary THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE, which premieres Wednesday evening at the Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto. Films We LIke will handle distribution of the film which is slated to open in October across Canada.

The festival favourite and award-winning documentary has screened at top international festivals including Berlin (winning Teddy and Caligari Awards) SXSW, Tribeca and BAFICI (winning the audience award ) will make its Canadian premiere at Hot Docs on Wednesday.

THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE is an intimate, affecting portrait of the life and work of ground-breaking performance artist and music pioneer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV) and his other half and collaborator, Lady Jaye, centred around the daring sexual transformations the pair underwent for their “Pandrogyne” project.

Filmmaker, artist and curator, Marie Losier, was born in France in 1972, and has been living and working in New York City for the past seventeen years. She creates singular portraits of vanguard filmmakers, musicians, composers and artists including Guy Maddin, Tony Conrad and the Kuchar Brothers.

“More then a portrait of an artist”, said Ron Mann, doc vet and distributor, “it is an epic love story that is emotionally arresting. I'm thrilled Films We Like will be able to bring THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE to Canadian audiences.

Films We Like is handling five films at Hot Docs including : Jay Cheels BEAUTY DAY, Jon Foy's RESURRECT DEAD THE MYSTERY OF THE TOYNBEE TILES, David Weissman's WE WERE HERE and recently announced CONAN O’BRIEN CAN'T STOP.

For more information please contact : mann@sphinxproductions.com

The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye // Trailer.

News Flash!!! filmswelike Acquires CONAN Doc for Canada!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-04-29T12:03:23-04:00

Deal Happens Preceding CONAN O’BRIEN CAN’T STOP’S Premiere at Hot Docs on Saturday

Today, Films We Like proudly announces it has acquired Canadian distribution rights to Rodman Flender’s comic documentary CONAN O’BRIEN CAN’T STOP, which premieres Saturday evening at the Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto. Films We LIke will handle theatrical distribution of the film which is slated to open this July across Canada.

In 2010, after a much-publicized departure from hosting NBC’s Tonight Show – and the severing of a 22-year relationship with the network – O’Brien hit the road with a 32-city music-and-comedy show to exercise his performing chops and exorcise a few demons. The “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour” was O’Brien’s answer to a contractual stipulation that banned his appearance on television, radio and the Internet for six months following his last show. Flender’s resulting documentary, CONAN O’BRIEN CAN’T STOP, is an intimate portrait of an artist trained in improvisation, captured at the most improvisational time of his career. It offers a window into the private writers room and rehearsal halls as O’Brien’s “half-assed show” (his words) is almost instantly assembled and mounted to an adoring fan base. At times angry, mostly hilarious, O’Brien works out his feelings about the very-public separation with comedy and rockabilly music, engaging in bits with on-stage guests such as Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and Jim Carrey, duetting with Jack White and sweating out manic Elvis Presley covers with his band and back-up singers. We see a comic who does not stop—performing, singing, pushing his staff and himself.

“Ron and Films We Like have shown tremendous passion for our film and we’re really happy they have come on board. We love that they share our vision and we fully support their future plans for the film” said the film’s two producers Gavin Polone and Rachel Griffin.

Films We Like, headed by doc vet Ron Mann (Grass, Comic Book Confidential) said “CONAN O'BRIEN CAN'T STOP is hands down the most entertaining and funniest film at this year’s Hot Docs, and I’m thrilled that my company will be able to release it theatrically across the country.

The deal was negotiated by Liesl Copland at WME Global on behalf of the filmmakers, with Ron Mann of Films We Like.

Films We Like is currently releasing in theatres the box office sensation "Bill Cunningham New York" by Richard Press.

For more information contact filmswelike : mann@sphinxproductions.com

The New BEAUTY DAY Poster!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-04-26T14:44:15-04:00

filmswelike Acquires Package of Films from Submarine Entertainment for Canadian Distribution

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-04-04T11:17:10-04:00

Distribution Label acquires 4 Feature Documentary Films

Submarine Entertainment announced today that it has sold a suite of films to Ron Mann's filmswelike distribution label in Canada. The deals were negotiated by David Koh, Josh Braun, and Dan Braun on behalf of Submarine Entertainment along with Ron Mann of filmswelike. The deals include all rights in Canada for Bill Cunningham New York by Richard Press, Blank City by Celine Dahnier, The Last Mountain by Bill Haney, and Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles by Jon Foy. filmswelike plans to release all of the films Theatrically in Canada followed by a DVD & Digital Release on the filmswelike label.

Bill Cunningham New York is about the 80+ year old New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham. For decades, this Schwinn-riding cultural anthropologist has been obsessively and inventively chronicling fashion trends and high society charity soirées for the Times Style section in his columns “On the Street” and “Evening Hours.” Documenting uptown fixtures (Anna Wintour, Tom Wolfe, Brooke Astor, David Rockefeller—who all appear in the film out of their love for Bill), downtown eccentrics and everyone in between, Cunningham’s enormous body of work is more reliable than any catwalk as an expression of time, place and individual flair. In turn, Bill Cunningham New York is a delicate, funny and often poignant portrait of a dedicated artist whose only wealth is his own humanity and unassuming grace. The film is being currently released theatrically in the USA by Zeitgeist Films.

Blank City is an Insurgent Pictures & Pure Fragment Release in association with Submarine Entertainment and was Directed by Celine Danhier, Produced by Aviva Wishnow and Vanessa Roworth; Executive Produced by Dan Braun, Josh Braun, Andrew Karsch, and Fisher Stevens. Blank City chronicles New York's underground and experimental filmmaking scene circa 1977-1987. The film features Jim Jarmusch, Steve Buscemi, Lydia Lunch, Richard Kern, Nick Zedd, John Waters, Jonas Mekas, John Lurie, Amos Poe, Lizzie Borden, Eric Mitchell, Thurston Moore, Debbie Harry, Bette Gordon, Glenn O'Brien, among many others. Cinematography by Ryo Murakami, Peter Szollosi. Edited by Vanessa Roworth. The film is being released by distributor Insurgent Pictures and opens next week at the IFC Center in NY.

The Last Mountain by Bill Haney (The Price of Sugar) was written by Haney and Peter Rhodes. Produced by Clara Bingham, Eric Grunebaum, Bill Haney, and Executive Produced by Tim Disney and Tim Rockwood. Cinematography by Jerry Risius, Stephen McCarthy, Tim Hotchner. Edited by Peter Rhodes and Co-Produced by Laura Longsworth. The Last Mountain is the uplifting story of the power of ordinary citizens to remake the future when they have the determination and courage to do so. Bill Haney's film focuses on the devastating ecological effects of the Mountaintop Top Removal in West Virginia's Coal River Valley. With strong support from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and grassroots organizations, awareness is rising in the battle over the last great mountain in Appalachia. Superb storytelling and exquisite photography combine to remind us that this environmental calamity impacts us all. Dada Films is releasing the film Theatrically in the USA followed by a DVD and Digital Release by New Video.

Resurrect Dead: the Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles by Jon Foy recently won the Directors Award for US Documentary Competition at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Beginning in the early 1980s, hundreds of tiles carrying this cryptic message "Resurrect Dead" were found embedded in the asphalt of city streets as far apart as New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Santiago, and Buenos Aires. Street art? A prank? A message from space? Filmmaker Jon Foy recounts how young artist Justin Duerr became fascinated with the strange plaques and, with two other "Toynbee tile" enthusiasts, Steve Weinik and Colin Smith, spent years trying to discover what they meant and who made them. The unlikely investigators uncovered increasingly bizarre clues: a newspaper article, a David Mamet play, a Jupiter colonization organization, and a Toynbee message that "hijacked" local news broadcasts. That the origins of a street tile can be so captivating is testament to both Duerr’s passion and Foy’s filmmaking. A domestic deal will be announced shortly by Submarine.

Ron Mann of filmswelike stated, "One often hears at film festivals that documentaries played better than the fiction films. Case in point: these documentaries, which all played major film festivals struck us as really the best in contemporary cinema. And we're honored to be able to present them to audiences in Canada."

David Koh, Josh Braun & Dan Braun of Submarine stated, "filmswelike is a perfect home for our films and our filmmakers & producers and we are excited to work with Ron Mann and his team on the successful release of these great films."

RESURRECT DEAD: THE MYSTERY OF THE TOYNBEE TILES goes to HOT DOCS!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-04-01T11:19:28-04:00

The best conspiracy is one that is actually true. Such is the case of the fascinating Toynee Tile phenomenon. Director John Foy creates a magnificently suspenseful and engrossing investigative Sherlock Holmes-worthy mystery following three young men, equally obsessed, as they go about solving the urban mystery and surreal meaning of hundreds of cryptic tiled messages that, since the early 1980s, have been appearing enbedded in the asphalt of seemingly random city streets. Primarily in Philadelphia, but as far apart as New York, St. Louis, Santiago, and Buenos Aires, each tile has a similar wording:

Toynbee Idea
In Kubrick's 2001
Resurrect Dead
On Planet Jupiter

For over 20 years a cult has developed around these messages, which still remains unsolved.

Street art? A prank? A message from space?

That the origins of a street tile can be so captivating is testament to both the men's passion and Foy’s filmmaking. Resurrect Dead thrusts us into the black hole of this fantastic mystery, a collection of leads, false leads and red herrings. Believe it or not, weaving into the evidence is an old David Mamet one act play from 1983, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the literature of American philosopher Arnold Toynbee, shortwave radio fanatics as well as a group of fascinating neighbourhood Philly folk who help the threesome uncover the mystery.

There is no public or private agency dedicated to conserving Toynbee tiles. Many tiles now exist only as photographs taken before their destruction. Despite this, the tiles have enjoyed attention from major American and European media outlets.
Resurrect Dead won the Directing Award at the 2011 Sundance Festival / U.S. Documentary category.

Hot Docs: Tues May 3 (9pm) @ TIFF Bell Lightbox
Hot Docs: Wed May 4 (11:45pm) @ Bloor
Hot Docs: Sat May 7 (9:15pm) @ Cumberland

Theatrical release coming Summer 2011

WE WERE HERE goes to HOT DOCS!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-04-01T11:14:24-04:00

WE WERE HERE instantly leaps to the front rank of films about the AIDS epidemic. In the early 1970s, in the shadow of the Stonewall riots and the free-love movement, gay men and lesbians flocked to San Francisco to find acceptance.

They formed a thriving, tight-knit community until the arrival of AIDS in the early 1980s drove them under siege. David Weissman and Bill Weber (who co-directed the 2001 documentary, The Cockettes, chronicling San Francisco’s legendary theater troupe of hippies and drag queens, 1969 – 1972) revisits San Francisco a decade later, as its flourishing gay community is hit with an unimaginable disaster. It takes a reflective look back at the arrival and impact of AIDS through the stories of five individuals who lived through the best and the worst of the era. The film speaks to our capacity as individuals to rise to the occasion, and to the incredible power of a community coming together with love, compassion, and determination.

It has the force of a great war documentary. There are moments that are almost unbearable. These are followed by still other moments, equally unbearable, until the emotional strain of hearing of other people's sorrow and tribulation becomes simply too much - certainly too much for words. And always, there's this thought: If just hearing this is so devastating, what must it have been like to live through it. Or not live through it.

Hot Docs: Tues May 3 (9:30pm) @ TIFF Bell Lightbox
Hot Docs: Thurs May 5 (1:45pm) @ ROM Theatre

Theatrical release coming Summer 2011

WE WERE HERE (trailer) from David Weissman on Vimeo.

BEAUTY DAY goes to HOT DOCS!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-03-30T11:06:04-04:00

Before JACKASS, TOM GREEN, TRAILER PARK BOYS and YOUTUBE, and before wrecking stuff, performing insane stunts and brutalizing your body were high art (and profitable), THERE WAS RALPH ZAVADIL...

CANADIAN PREMIERE: HOT DOCS
Fri April 29 (6:45pm) & Sat May 7 (4:15pm) @ Isabel Bader Theatre
Wed May 4 (7:30pm) @ London Tap House Rooftop (250 Adelaide West @ Duncan)

SEE THE TRAILER

His St. Catherines cable-access television show, The Cap'n Video Show, ran from 1990 to 1995, spawning a small but loyal cult following. Each week Ralph performed a series of idiotic and occasionally dangerous stunts, challenging the sensibilities of his small Southern Ontario audience.

With the advent of the internet and reality television still years away, his unique brand of gross-out stunt comedy was truly ahead of its time. All it took was a broken neck for him to get noticed.

OPENS ACROSS CANADA: MAY 27

LiTTLEROCK and BEESWAX: These hyper-realist films we like will make you feel like a reel voyeur...

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-03-17T11:23:48-04:00

2 FILMS @ THE ROYAL, STARTS FRI APRIL 8

LiTTLEROCK a film by mike ott
Watch the Trailer!

WINNER "BEST-FILM-NOT-PLAYING-AT-A-THEATRE-NEAR-YOU" -Gotham Independent Film Awards

"Littlerock, which seems like nowhere you'd want to be from, or end up in, and yet people are from there and people end up there." - Anisse Gross/THE RUMPUS

A couple of Japanese students on a pilgrimage become stranded in Small-Town USA. Only, Atsuko doesn't feel stranded. Littlerock absorbs her into its bleak landscape and beautiful, dead-end kids. When her brother takes off, frustrated, she's left to figure out that America can be a bit of a shit-hole.

BEESWAX a film by Andrew Bujalski

A tale of two sisters, one in a wheelchair, one not, both mid-30s, both in and out of beds
and jobs in Austin, Texas... it's weirdly gripping, an authentically banal slice of life." -THE GUARDIAN

"ONE OF THE TOP FILMS OF THE YEAR" - NEW YORK TIMES

“Perhaps the most refreshing element of Beeswax is that Jeannie's paraplegic condition is never a focus in the script; she ably moves around in her wheelchair, disassembles and reassembles the chair to drive, and gets leg massages at the end of a tiring day…Disabled advocacy groups around the world will welcome Beeswax as a ground-breaker. – Mike Goodrich

COSMONAUT Opens THE ROYAL on March 18th

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-02-24T15:53:15-05:00

WHEN SHE WAS 9, SHE ATTEMPTED TO FLEE HER FIRST COMMUNION IN A PRECOCIOUS EFFORT TO REJECT THE CATHOLIC OPIATE OF THE PEOPLE...

NOW IT'S 1963, AND 15 YEAR-OLD LUCIANA IS ON HER OWN SORT OF SPACE RACE.

As capitalist America and communist Russia compete for ideological pre-eminence through conquest of the heavens, Luciana grows up an Italian female communist, struggling to affirm her identity amidst a bourgeois family, chauvinism, and... oh god.... teenage lust.

The Soviet Union's technological victory with Sputnik 1 launched an incredible propaganda victory, whereupon the Italian daily L'Unita ran the headline "Socialist technology defies the force of gravity".

Director Susanna Nicciarelli creates an ironic short circuit by juxtaposing this public phenomenon on the amplified, convoluted teenage experience.

Comedic, but with grounding drama, Nicchiarelli calls it "the story of an adolescence set against the backdrop of a cultural war between two alternative societies, made up of myths that have disappeared today."

THE ROYAL - Showtimes
Friday March 18 @ 7:00 PM
Friday March 18 @ 9:00 PM
Saturday March 19 @ 4:30 PM
Saturday March 19 @ 7:00 PM
Saturday March 19 @9:00 PM
Sunday March 20 @ 3:30 PM
Sunday March 20 @9:15 PM
Wednesday March 23@ 7:00 PM
Thursday March 24 @ 7:00 PM

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! now, THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!!!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-02-10T13:25:09-05:00

Exploring filmmaking in the Philippines during the Marcos era, when miniature James Bonds, karatekicking soul sisters, snake-loving babes, anorexic Rambos and gun-toting nuns were the rage.

"MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! might just be the funniest, fastest, most shocking film you'll see all year." -FANTASICFEST

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED!
MARCH 4-10 @ THE BLOOR

EXTRA ADDED ATTRACTION,
courtesy of THE RIO, Toronto's late great home of 3-BIG-HITS, VINTAGE EXPLOITATION MOVIE POSTER EXHIBIT now on display inside SONIC BOOM, just w/ of The Bloor.

Interviews available with OZ DIRECTOR MARK HARTLEY and interviewees ALLAN ARKUSH, CELESTE YARNALL, MARRIE LEE, ROSANNE KATON (see below).

Contact Gary Topp for Interview Requests!

Director Mark Hartley, wowed audiences in 2008 with NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF OZPLOITATION!,

ALLAN ARKUSH is an Emmy-winning television director who began his career in the New World trailer department editing cheap and cheerful B-movies for an appreciative drive-in audience. Allan worked his way up through the New World ranks to co-direct HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD with Joe Dante and achieved cult immortality when he directed the Ramones in ROCK' N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL. He is currently producing the American cheerleading comedy-drama TV series, HELLCATS.

Boasting a CV full of ultra cool cult TV credits (including THE WILD, WILD WEST, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. and STAR TREK) as well as roles in BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE and LIVE A LITTLE, LOVE A LITTLE, CELESTE YARNALL went from being wooed by both Elvis Presley and Captain Kirk to being terrorised by a paper-mâché-faced monster in BEAST OF BLOOD (1971). Celeste didn't think of this as a career hiccup until she discovered her dressing room in the Philippines was a cave that also doubled as the men's latrine!

Marrie Lee's career began at age 17 when she answered an advert in the paper asking, "Are you smart, sexy and seductive?". She auditioned in a miniskirt and won the title role in Bobby A. Suarez's THEY CALL HER CLEOPATRA WONG. Marrie braved all manner of injuries as she reprised the role in two sequels of decreasing quality and safety conditions (DYNAMITE JOHNSON and THE DEVIL'S ANGELS) before hanging up her karate kicking Go-go boots for good.

Playboy playmate turned exploitation Queen, ROSANNE KATON journeyed to the Philippines to karate kick her way to freedom in a couple of Cirio Santiago adventures, EBONY, IVORY & JADE and THE MUTHERS. Her other genre credits include MOTEL HELL, THE SWINGING CHEERLEADERS, and ZAPPED!

From the early-'70s to the mid-'80s, The Philipines was in the grip of a brutal dictatorship and under martial law. Fighting back was forbidden. Chaos was contained. Indecency was punished. There was no sign of revolution. EXCEPT IN THEIR MOVIES!

And during the classic grindhouse era of that same period, independent producers began turning out more and more exploitation features for less and less money. As the cycle wore on, there was a demand from audiences for more variety in settings and situations, and a demand from producers for lower budgets. Since it already had an infrastructure conducive to the making of inexpensive films, the Philippines fit the bill to a T. Labor was cheap, there were skilled technicians and equipment and, possibly best of all, the military dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos looked upon the enterprise favorably, contributing everything from tactical assistance to military firepower. One interviewee refers to the Philippines at this time as the "wild east", and that assessment certainly seems apt as we hear story after story of gunfights in hotel lobbies, rats the size of poodles and the most insane, irresponsible stunts imaginable. As shocking and lurid as many of the women-in-prison, jungle action, mad scientist and martial arts movies made in the Philippines were, the back stories may actually surpass the films in their shocking details. But when the films being discussed and shown in Hartley’s trademark montage style are as wildly entertaining as FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY, MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND, THE TWILIGHT PEOPLE, THE BIG DOLL HOUSE and TNT JACKSON, it may be a tie.

DOGTOOTH leaves bite-marks in Oscar Foreign Film Category

mike@filmswelike.com — 2011-01-26T16:27:28-05:00

DOGTOOTH is the first Greek picture to be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film since 1977. Don’t miss it at The Royal starting January 28.

“There's uncomfortable, there's cringe-worthy, there's assaultive, and then there's Dogtooth…” (Alex Navarro, screened.com)

A hyper-stylized mixture of physical violence and verbal comedy “…played with a tone and tenor that vaguely resembles what might happen if Michael Haneke directed Napoleon Dynamite.” (screened.com)

The father, the mother and their three kids live at the outskirts of a city. There is a tall fence surrounding the house. The kids have never been outside that fence. They are being educated, entertained, bored and exercised in the manner that their parents deem appropriate, without any influence from the outside world. They believe that the airplanes flying over are toys and that zombies are small yellow flowers. The only person allowed to enter the house is Christina. She works as a security guard at the father’s business. The father arranges her visits to the house in order to appease the sexual urges of the son. The whole family is fond of her, especially the eldest daughter. One day Christina gives her as a present a headband that has stones that glow in the dark and asks for something in return.

“DOGTOOTH is like a car crash. You cannot look away.” –Roger Ebert

John Waters calls it “by far the most original film I’ve seen in a long time.”

filmswelike Acquires MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-12-13T11:25:07-05:00

A fast-moving, no-holds-barred exploration of the blood-drenched and action-packed world of Filipino genre filmmaking.

Karate-kickin’ midgets! Paper-mâché monsters! Busty babes with blades! Filipino genre films of the '70s and '80s had it all.

Boasting cheap labour, exotic scenery and non-existent health and safety regulations, the Philippines was a dreamland for exploitation filmmakers whose renegade productions were soon engulfing drive-in screens around the globe like a tidal schlock-wave!

At last, the all-too-often overlooked world of drive-in filler from Manila gets the Mark Hartley (NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD) treatment in Machete Maidens Unleashed!. This is the ultimate insiders' account of a faraway backlot where stunt men came cheap, plot was obsolete and the make-up guy was packin’ heat!

Machete Maidens Unleashed! features interviews with cult movie icons Roger Corman, Joe Dante, John Landis, Sid Haig, Eddie Romero and a large assembly of cast, crew and critics, each with a jaw-dropping story to tell about filmmaking with no budget, no scruples, no boundaries and - more often than not - no clothes.

Strap yourselves in - and join us for a non-stop Filipino femme-fest, all the way from the jungles of the Pacific via the trash cans of the critics!

Opening March 2010 Across Canada.

Official Website

I WISH I KNEW - Press Release (Toronto)

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-11-09T11:47:12-05:00

A film by Jia Zhang-Ke

Opens in Toronto on Thursday, November 11, 2010 at TIFF Bell Lightbox

Critically acclaimed Chinese director Jia Zhang-Ke (24 City, Still Life, The World) turns to the history and people of Shanghai in his newest film I Wish I Knew, a poetic tribute to Shanghai that looks back at the city’s many pasts with both wistful nostalgia and tragic clarity.

Shanghai, a fast-changing metropolis, a port city where people come and go. Shanghai has hosted all kinds of people – revolutionaries, capitalists, politicians, soldiers, artists, and gangsters. Shanghai has also hosted revolutions, assassinations, love stories. After the Chinese Communists' victory in 1949, thousands of Shanghaiers left for Hong Kong and Taiwan. To leave meant being separated from home for thirty years; to stay meant suffering through the Cultural Revolution and China's other political disasters.

Like his last film, 2008's 24 City, Jia Zhang-Ke’s I Wish I Knew (Hai Shang Chuan Qi), which screened at 2010 Cannes in Un Certain Regard, and TIFF 2010, is a documentary/fiction hybrid about modern-day China. Where 24 City took a personal focus on the citizens of a Chinese town affected by the construction of a high-rise condominium, I Wish I Knew takes a broader view, examining the history of Shanghai as viewed from the present. Eighteen people from Shanghai, Taipei and Hong Kong recall their lives in Shanghai. Their personal experiences, like eighteen chapters of a novel, tell stories of Shanghai lives from the 1930s to 2010.

Jia Zhang-Ke said “I came to Shanghai with my movie camera and traced the footsteps of Shanghaiers who left this city for Taiwan and Hong Kong. Shanghai is closely tied to the lives of almost every important historic figure in the modern history of China. And events of national significance in the life of the city also destined Shanghaiers for lives of painful, life-long separation. When I sat face-to-face with characters in my film, and listened to them talk every so calmly about the hair raising events in their pasts, I suddenly realized what it was that I captured with my camera: a dream of freedom twinkling in their eyes. This moved me to tears”

Running time: 119 minutes

To download images, press notes and to a trailer http://www.filmswelike.com/films/iwish/

Media Contact: V Kelly & Associates, 416-466-9799, info@vkpr.ca

filmswelike Acquires VOULEZ VOUS COUCHER AVEC GOD?

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-11-01T12:31:08-04:00

VOULEZ VOUS COUCHER AVEC GOD?
a film by Jack Christie, Michael Hirsh
1972 / 69 min/ New high-definition transfer from original 16mm elements

Canadian-made experimental flick featuring a groundbreaking potpourri of live action and animation, backed by a rollicking soundtrack of 1960s hits. As portrayed by Kupferberg, there’s no messing with this Yahweh who’d just as soon enjoy a blow job from an inflatable schmoo as mastermind a presidential election from the cozy confines of his bathtub in Hashish Seventh Heaven, where a cast of pipe-dreaming souls journeys to be reborn. All hell breaks loose when the angel of the Lord attempts to cover up his failure to avert the sacrifice of young Isaac by his father, Abraham.

Watch the trailer!

Screening at Anthology Film Archives Nov 14th!

filmswelike Acquires LENNONNYC, a film by Michael Epstein

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-10-27T11:18:45-04:00

LENNONNYC a film by Michael Epstein

As the world remembers John Lennon on what would have been his 70th birthday, and the 30th anniversary of his death, LENNONYC takes an intimate look at the time Lennon, Yoko Ono and their son, Sean, spent living in New York City during the 1970s. LENNONYC features never-before heard studio recordings from the Double Fantasy sessions, never-before-seen outtakes from Lennon in concert, and home movies that have only recently been transferred to video. Featuring exclusive interviews with Ono - who cooperated extensively with the production and offers an unprecedented level of access - and with artists who worked closely with Lennon during this period (including Elton John and photographer Bob Gruen), LENNONYC paints a revealing portrait of the legend’s momentous years in Manhattan, the final years of a remarkable life cut remarkably short.

Hot Docs Screenings
Wednesday, 11/3/10 6:30PM & 9:15PM
Purchase Tix!

LennonNYC is available for benefit screenings only.
Also available for television sales and will be coming to DVD in January 2011.

filmswelike Acquires ATTENBERG, a film by Athina Rachel Tsangari

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-10-15T12:37:38-04:00

ATTENBERG a film by Athina Rachel Tsangari
2010 / 95 min
Original language: Greek (with English Subtitles)

Marina, 23, is growing up with her architect father in a prototype factory town by the sea. Finding the human species strange and repellent, she keeps her distance. Instead she chooses to observe it through the songs of Suicide, the mammal documentaries of Sir David Attenborough, and the sexual- education lessons she receives from her only friend, Bella. A stranger comes to town and challenges her to a foosball duel, on her own table. Her father meanwhile ritualistically prepares for his exit from the 20th century, which he considers to be “overrated.” Caught between the two men and her collaborator, Bella, Marina investigates the wondrous mystery of the human fauna.

UNCLE BOONMEE Opens at TIFF Bell Lightbox on Thursday, September 23, 2010

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-09-13T15:41:43-04:00

filmswelike presents

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES
(Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat)
Cannes 2010 Palme d’Or Winner by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Opens at TIFF Bell Lightbox on Thursday, September 23, 2010

After its North American premiere in the Masters program at TIFF 2010, acclaimed Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives opens at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Thursday, September 23, 2010.

Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s magical-surrealist film tells the story of an old man suffering from kidney failure who prepares to die and encounters his dead wife, his missing son (who's been transformed into a laser-eyed monkey ghost) and a princess who has sex with a catfish. Inspired by a book by a Buddhist abbot recording accounts of people who remembered their past lives, the film was shot in Isan, in Thailand’s north-east where Weerasethakul spent his childhood.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul tells about the meeting that inspired the film; “A few years ago, when I was living in the north-east, I came across Uncle Boonmee. An abbot at a monastery near my house told me that there was an old man who had arrived at the temple to help out with the temple’s activities and to learn meditation. One day this man, Boonmee, came to an abbot and told him that while he was deep in meditation, he could see his past lives playing behind his closed eyes like a movie. He saw and felt himself to be a buffalo, a cow, even a body-less spirit that roamed around the north-eastern plains. The abbot was impressed but not surprised, because Boonmee was not the first person to tell him about such experiences.

From near and far, he had collected stories from villagers who shared their past lives with him. Later, he published a little book. On its cover one could read: A Man Who Can Recall His Past Lives.”

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is the final installment in Weerasethakul’s multi-platform art project called Primitive. Previous installments include a seven-part video installation and the two short films A Letter to Uncle Boonmee and Phantoms of Nabua.”

Working outside the

strict confines of the Thai studio system, Apichatpong Weerasethakul is an independent Thai film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He trained as an architect in Thailand before earning an MFA in filmmaking at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. “I believe I was lucky to be in this place,” he told an interviwer. “I was encouraged to experiment with the idea that nothing was wrong. That’s the opposite from Thailand’s education system.” His feature films include Tropical Malady, which won a jury prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Blissfully Yours, which won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard program at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, and Syndromes and a Century, which premiered at the 63rd Venice Film Festival and was the first Thai film to be entered in competition there.

Apichatpong Weerasethukal is the subject of a TIFF Mavericks session hosted by Dennis Lee on Saturday, September 18 @ 4pm at TIFF Bell LIghtbox where the film opens on Thursday, September 23, 2010. In the session, film critic Dennis Lim will interview Weerasethakul onstage and take the audience through his career, illustrated with film clips.

Running time: 114 minutes

High rez images, downloadable materials and press notes!

Media Contact
V Kelly + Associates
416-466-9799, info@vkpr.ca

CIFF Screening Times: UNCLE BOONMEE, WAKE OF THE FLOOD, THE LIGHT THIEF

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-08-31T16:33:57-04:00

filmswelike are pleased to announce times for 3 great films which will appear at the 2010 CALGARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL.

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

The surprise winner of the Palme d'Or at this year’s Cannes film festival, the latest masterpiece from Thai master Apichatpong Weerasethakul—whose previous feature Syndromes and a Century was voted TIFF Cinematheque's #1 film of the past decade—is also the final segment of his multi-platform film/installation project Primitive.

Calgary International Film Festival: Buy Tix Online!
Friday, Oct. 1, 07:15pm - Eau Claire Market - Cineplex Odeon - #1

THE LIGHT THIEF by Aktan Arym Kubat

A funny and touching portrait of small-town politics in a rapidly globalizing world that follows Svet-ake, an electrician in a small Kyrgyz village who has been stealing electricity to help the impoverished local residents. When Bekzat, a wealthy land developer and former villager arrives to buy up the land for a group of Chinese investors, Svet-ake shares with him his dream to populate the valley with modern windmills—but soon Svet-ake realizes that not everyone has the best interests of the village community at heart.

Calgary International Film Festival: Buy Tix Online!
Sunday, Oct. 3, 04:45pm - Eau Claire Market - Cineplex Odeon - #2

IN THE WAKE OF THE FLOOD by Ron Mann

Canadian documentary film icon Ron Mann (DREAM TOWER, GRASS, KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS) uses his trademark mix of vérité style intercut with animation and archival film to follow literary superstar Margaret Atwood on her paradigm-shifting book tour for THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD. After decades as an author, Atwood decides to turn the sometimes stuffy and reverential tone of a book tour inside-out by creating a travelling theatrical spectacle in hopes that her literary prophesy of an environmentally compromised world doesn’t become a reality.

To help bring the words off the page, Atwood collaborated with Orville Stoeber to compose a new style of devotional music infused with elements of gospel, jazz, folk and the country ballad—songs which help further turn traditional readings literally on their ear. Mix the excitement of a book tour with the power of theatre and advocacy and you have a film that captures an “old dog” with new tricks.

Calgary International Film Festival: Buy Tix Online!
Thursday, Sep. 30, 07:15pm - Eau Claire Market - Cineplex Odeon - #1

TIFF Screening Times: UNCLE BOONMEE, THE LIGHT THIEF, I WISH I KNEW

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-08-31T12:19:26-04:00

filmswelike are pleased to announce the schedule for 3 great films which will appear at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

The surprise winner of the Palme d'Or at this year’s Cannes film festival, the latest masterpiece from Thai master Apichatpong Weerasethakul—whose previous feature Syndromes and a Century was voted TIFF Cinematheque's #1 film of the past decade—is also the final segment of his multi-platform film/installation project Primitive.

Toronto International Film Festival (North American Premiere)
Sept 16th @ ISABEL BADER THEATRE - 10:30pm (1st Public Screening)
Sept 18th at AMC 5, 9:15am (2nd Public Screening)

THE LIGHT THIEF by Aktan Arym Kubat

A funny and touching portrait of small-town politics in a rapidly globalizing world that follows Svet-ake, an electrician in a small Kyrgyz village who has been stealing electricity to help the impoverished local residents. When Bekzat, a wealthy land developer and former villager arrives to buy up the land for a group of Chinese investors, Svet-ake shares with him his dream to populate the valley with modern windmills—but soon Svet-ake realizes that not everyone has the best interests of the village community at heart.

Toronto International Film Festival
Friday September 10 @ 6:00PM - AMC 4
Saturday September 11 @ 9:30AM - AM AMC 3

I WISH I KNEW by Jia Zhan-Ke

Commissioned to commemorate the 2010 World Expo, this documentary on Shanghai portrays a chapter of modern Chinese history through interviews and scenic views of a city in continuous evolution. I Wish I Knew is directed by one of the youngest masters of cinema, Jia Zhanke.

Toronto International Film Festival
Wednesday September 15 @ 9:45PM - SCOTIABANK THEATRE 4
Friday September 17 @ 5:00PM - JACKMAN HALL - AGO

filmswelike Announces Line-Up of International Films to Open at Bell Lightbox

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-08-18T14:03:14-04:00

Toronto, Monday, August 16, 2010

FilmsWeLike, the independent distribution company headed by filmmaker Ron Mann is pleased to announce that the 2010 Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat); I Wish I Knew (Hai Shang Chuan Qi) - the new film from master Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhang-Ke; The Light Thief (Svet-Aki) a delightful gem from Kyrgyzstan’s Aktan Arym Kubat and Tamra Davis’ Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child will open at the Bell Lightbox this fall.

Opening on Thursday, September 23 at the Bell Lightbox - Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s magical-surrealist film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat) - the story of an old man suffering from kidney failure who prepares to die and encounters his dead wife, his missing son (who's been transformed into a laser-eyed monkey ghost) and a princess who has sex with a catfish, took the Palme d’Or at the 63rd Cannes film Festival. Inspired by a book by a Buddhist abbot recording accounts of people who remembered their past lives, the film was shot in Isan, in Thailand’s north-east where Weerasethakul spent his childhood.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is the final installment in a multi-platform art project called Primitive. Previous installments include a seven-part video installation and the two short films A Letter to Uncle Boonmee and Phantoms of Nabua.”

Working outside the strict confines of the Thai studio system, Apichatpong Weerasethakul is an independent Thai film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His feature films include Tropical Malady, which won a jury prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Blissfully Yours, which won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard program at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, and Syndromes and a Century, which premiered at the 63rd Venice Film Festival and was the first Thai film to be entered in competition there.

Opening on Thursday, October 7 at the Bell Lightbox is Tamra Davis’ Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child. In his short career, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a phenomenon. He became notorious for his graffiti art under the moniker Samo in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side scene, sold his first painting to Deborah Harry for $200, and became best friends with Andy Warhol. Appreciated by both the art cognoscenti and the public, Basquiat was launched into international stardom. However, soon his cult status began to override the art that had made him famous in the first place.

Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary but also delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as a successful black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage, but it is Basquiat's own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique and allure of both the artist and the man.

Opening on Thursday, November 11 at the Bell Lightbox, critically acclaimed Chinese director Jia Zhan-Ke (24 City, Still Life) turns to the history and people of Shanghai in his newest film I Wish I Knew.

Like his last film, 2008's 24 City,, Jia Zhan-Ke’s I Wish I Knew (Hai Shang Chuan Qi), which screened at 2010 Cannes in Un Certain Regard, is a documentary/fiction hybrid about modern-day China. Where 24 City took a personal focus on the citizens of a Chinese town affected by the construction of a high-rise condominium, I Wish I Knew takes a broader view, examining the history of Shanghai as viewed from the present. Jia Zhan-Ke’. Eighteen people from Shanghai, Taipei and Hong Kong recell their lives in Shanghai. Their personal experiences, like eighteen chapters of a novel, tell stories of Shanghai lives from the 1930s to 2010. Jia Zhan-Ke said “I came to Shanghai with my movie camera and traced the footsteps of Shanghaiers who left this city for Taiwan and Hong Kong. Shanghai is closely tied to the lives of almost every important historic figure in the modern history of China. And events of national significance in the life of the city also destined Shanghaiers for lives of painful, life-long separation. When I sat face-to-face with characters in my film, and listened to them talk every so calmly about the hair raising events in their pasts, I suddenly realized what it was that I captured with my camera: a dream of freedome twinkling in their eyes.”

Opening Thursday, November 18 at the Bell Lightbox is Krygyz filmmaker Aktan Arym Kubat’s third feature, The Light Thief (Svet-ake). Completed before the April 2010 popular uprising against the deeply corrupt regime of Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the failures of post-Soviet Kyrgyz democratization come to roost in a remote village in Kubat’s tragi-comic fable. Unfolding in short vignettes The Light Thief is stylistically similar to his earlier works "The Adopted Son" and "The Chimp"

Played by the director, Svet-ake (the film's original title, which literally means "Mr. Light") is the electrician of a remote, impoverished village in the Kyrgyz mountains. The villagers turn to him for help with their constantly short-circuiting electricity (which he often steals for them from the town hall) and personal problems. For his part, the kind, spirited father of four daughters has two dreams: to have a son and to bring cheap, wind-powered energy to the valley.

Although not specified, the film is set in early 2005, during the Tulip Revolution that overthrew the government. There are no demonstrations in Svet-ake's little village, but the changing times are felt nonetheless.

Progress, good and bad, is personified by Bekzat (Askat Sulaimanov), a dubious young tycoon who has returned to his native village looking to buy land and go into business with even shadier Chinese investors. He promises to finance Svet-ake's surprisingly modern windmills if the latter works for him. Initially trusting of Bekzat, the electrician soon realizes that the changes he is bringing go hand in hand with the death of centuries-old traditions.

-30-

Apichatpong Weerasethakul, director of Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is available in Toronto for interviews on September 16, 2010

Press kits and images for all 4 films are posted on the FilmsWeLike website:

http://www.filmswelike.com/films/uncleboonmee/
http://www.filmswelike.com/films/basquiat/
http://www.filmswelike.com/films/wish
http://www.filmswelike.com/lightthief

For further information on Uncle Boonmee, I Wish I Knew and The Light Thief please contact:
V Kelly & Associates

For further information on Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child please contact:
Gary Topp

filmswelike scores with summer sleeper! 12th Week for Smash Comedy

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-08-03T17:04:16-04:00

Mid-August Lunch

"Good food, feisty ladies and unlikely friendships," are a recipe for success with Toronto audiences as they sate themselves on the cinematic feast that is "Mid-August Lunch".

Now heading into its 12th week, the little film that could continues to satisfy the cravings of Toronto audiences at the Mt. Pleasant Theatre.

Peter Seroc, who owns and operates the historic independent theatre south of Eglington, said that word-of-mouth accounted for the films phenomenal success "Audiences love the film, and they tell their friends about it ".

"These days its unusual for a film to sit stay in a movie theatre longer then one week " quipped filmmaker and distributor Ron Mann of Films We LIke.

"You have to admire the Mt. Pleasant Theatre for taking an old school approach to exhibition. Nowadays films are released simultaneously on TV and don't give a film a chance to find its audience."

"At the outset we didn't think "Mid-August Lunch" would be playing in August - but here we are - and at this rate we'll be playing through
September".

For more information, please contact :
V Kelly & Associates / 416 466 9799 / info@vkpr.ca

Trailer, press kit, images are posted here.

filmswelike Delivers, Service with a Smile!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-07-16T14:46:10-04:00

filmswelike Acquires JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-06-23T16:07:26-04:00

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD a film by Tamra Davis

In his short career, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a phenomenon. He became notorious for his graffiti art under the moniker Samo in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side scene, sold his first painting to Deborah Harry for $200, and became best friends with Andy Warhol. Appreciated by both the art cognoscenti and the public, Basquiat was launched into international stardom. However, soon his cult status began to override the art that had made him famous in the first place.

Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary but also delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as a successful black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage, but it is Basquiat's own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique and allure of both the artist and the man.

Featuring interviews with Julian Schnabel, Larry Gagosian, Bruno Bischofberger, Tony Shafrazi, Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Glenn O'Brien, Maripol, Kai Eric, Nicholas Taylor, Fred Hoffmann, Michael Holman, Diego Cortez, Annina Nosei, Suzanne Mallouk, Rene Ricard, among many others.

Mid-August Lunch (Pranzo di ferragosto) - Opens Toronto May 21

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-05-10T16:30:45-04:00

Mid-August Lunch (Pranzo di ferragosto), a film by GIANNI DI GREGORIO
Opens in Toronto (The Royal) on Friday, May 21, 2010

Inspired by director and lead actor Gianni di Gregorio’s real life, Mid-August Lunch centers around Gianni, a middle-aged man and the only son of his widowed mother, with whom he lives in an old house in central Rome.

Living under the tyranny of this impoverished aristocrat, his life drags on between housework and going to the bar.

The day before the August bank holiday the condominium manager asks him to take his own mother into his home for the two days he has off. In exchange, he will knock some money off the condominium debts Gianni has run up over the years.

Gianni is forced to accept.

The manager treacherously turns up with two women - not knowing where to take his aunt, he brings her along too.

Gianni is overwhelmed and crushed by the clash between these three dominant characters, but heroically does his best to make them happy. At a certain point he feels faint and calls a friend of his who is a doctor. The doctor not only reassures Gianni, but foists his own elderly mother on him, since he is on shift at the hospital.

Gianni goes through 24 hours of hell.

But when at last it’s time to say goodbye, the women have other ideas…

About GIANNI DI GREGORIO

Gianni Di Gregorio was born in Rome in Trastevere, where he still lives and works.

He fell in love with cinema when he was still a child, spending his mornings at school and his afternoons in the local cinemas, sometimes watching up to three films a day.

After studying classics at high school he went to university to study literature, but before graduating dropped out to go to the Accademia di Arti Sceniche in Rome, run by Alessandro Fersen, where he took a diploma in directing and acting.

In 1986 he wrote the screenplay for the film Sembra morto ma è solo svenuto by Felice Farina, with Sergio Castellitto and Marina Confalone, which won the Premio FRIPRESCI at the Settimana della Critica, at the 1987 Venice Film Festival.

In the same year he wrote the story and screenplay for the film Carefree Giovanni by Marco Colli, with Sergio Castellitto, Eleonora Giorgi, Aldo Fabrizi, Franco Fabrizi and Luca De Filippo. Presented at the Quinzaine des Realizateurs at Cannes 87, it was awarded the Gran Prix du juri at the festival of Annecy.

He met Matteo Garrone after seeing his first film, Terra di Mezzo. He started working with him, as assistant director, in 2000 with Roman Summer, and continued with The Embalmer and First Love. In 2007, with Braucci, Chiti, Gaudioso, Saviano and Garrone, he co-wrote the screenplay for the film Gomorrah, directed by Matteo Garrone.

Italian w/English subtitles/ 75 mins

EXAMINED LIFE & JERICHOW: Now Available on DVD

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-03-22T11:53:31-04:00

Order them online at dvdswelike.com!

EXAMINED LIFE a film by Astra Taylor
EXAMINED LIFE takes philosophy out of the darkened corners of academia and into the hustle and bustle of the everyday, a visual reminder that great ideas are born through profound engagement with the world around us. Featuring the “rock star” philosophers of our time, including Cornel West, Peter Singer, Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler, Avital Ronell, Michael Hardt, Anthony Appiah and Martha Nussbaum.
Buy it now! ($22.99)

JERICHOW a film by Christian Petzold
Off the beaten path of life, three people stumble into a fateful encounter. Thomas, young and strong, as been dishonorably discharged from the army. Ali, an affable Turkish businessman, has seen some hard times, but now his primary concern is making sure the employees of his snack-bars don’t cheat on him. Laura, an attractive woman with a dark past, seems to find refuge in the shadows of her marriage to Ali.
Buy it now! ($22.99)

TRUNK SHOW: One Week Only, The Royal - Toronto

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-03-11T11:04:42-05:00

Starting March 26 @ The Royal; WATCH THE TRAILER

A SONGBOOK SPANNING DECADES

NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW, the second in Jonathan Demme’s planned film Neil Young
trilogy is an unconscious, raw, in-the-moment concert movie. The words Trunk Show conjure another time when people moved across the country, displaying unique and precious goods from old chunky leather-strapped luggage.

Taking his cue from this image, Young surrounds himself with his favorite instruments, played at whim on a stage-set filled with personal icons: a small-scale model of a guitar shop, a red phone and other items. “I always tell people,absolutely and sincerely, if you’re not a Neil Young fan, don’t waste your time,” Demme remarks.

“Second of all, if you don’t love electric guitar, don’t go." Trunk Showis subtitled “scenes from a concert”, specifically from a pair of shows Young performed at the 1927-built Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, as part of his intimate 2007 Chrome Dreams theater tour. He performed a full acoustic set, followed by a full electric one with bandmates Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, Ralph Molina, Anthony “Sweetpea” Crawford and wife Pegi Young.

He also had painter Eric Johnson creating on-the-spot works for each song. Demme says knew the set list, but says nothing was planned for the film. Shot on hand-held cameras (HDCam, HDV and Super-8mm), his team included director of photography Declan Quinn (Rachel Getting Married, Leaving Las Vegas) and camera operators he’s worked with before.

JONATHAN DEMME:

A prolific American film director, producer and screenwriter, his credits include:

Caged Heat (1974); Crazy Mama (1975); Melvin and Howard (1980)
Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads concert film, 1984)
The Perfect Kiss (New Order music video, 1985)
Swimming to Cambodia (1987); Haiti: Dreams of Democracy (1987)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991); Philadelphia (1993)
Storefront Hitchcock (1998); The Truth About Charlie (2002)
The Agronomist (2003); The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006); Rachel Getting Married (2008)

UPCOMING CANADIAN SCREENINGS:
Vancity, Vancouver: March 5 (preview), opens March 26 - April 1
The Royal, Toronto: Opens March 26
Cinematheque Winnipeg: March 26, 27, 28, 31, April 1, 2, 3, 7, 8
Princess Cinema, Waterloo: April 8-12
Broadway Theatre, Saskatoon: April 16-29
Mayfair, Ottawa: April 16, 17 & 18
Cinema du Parc, Montreal: May 13 (preview), opens May 21-27

Press and Publicity: Gary Topp

WHITE STRIPES: The Edge - Radio Spot

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-02-23T16:55:00-05:00

A TOWN CALLED PANIC selected for CESARS

mike@filmswelike.com — 2010-01-25T12:56:47-05:00

A TOWN CALLED PANIC has been selected in the best foreign film category of the CESARS (the French equivalent of the Oscars) alongside such names as Michael Hanneke, Clint Eastwood and AVATAR!

BEST FOREIGN FILM CATAGORY
Avatar, d. James Cameron, USA
Gran Torino, d. Clint Eastwood, USA
J'ai tué ma mère [I Killed My Mother], d. Xavier Dolan, Canada
Milk, d. Gus Van Sant, USA
Panique au village [A Town Called Panic], d. Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Belgium/Luxembourg
Das weiße Band [The White Ribbon], d. Michael Haneke, Austria/Germany

ANVIL Wins 2009 International Documentary Association Award

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-12-02T10:51:18-05:00

ANVIL took home the IDA music prize (The alternative to the Oscars) and remains in contention for the feature prize which will be announced at the ceremony itself, Friday at the Directors Guild Theatre.

Read the CBC.ca article!

Black Friday comes to dvdswelike.com

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-11-25T12:19:42-05:00

FOR 2 WEEKS ONLY!

Purchase anything at DVDSWELIKE.COM and get 25% off the original price!

Starts FRIDAY NOV 27th, 2009
Ends FRIDAY DEC 11th, 2009

24 CITY: Now on DVD!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-11-16T14:12:13-05:00

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24 CITY by filmmaker Jia Zhang-Ke is now available on DVD!

Synopsis: Chengdu, nowadays. The state-owned factory 420 shuts down to give way to a complex of luxury apartments called "24 CITY". Three generations, eight characters: old workers, factory executives and yuppies, their stories are the History of China.

Tech specs: 2008/ Colour/ 108 Mins/ In Mandarin with Optional English Subtitles/ Aspect Ration 1.77.1 - 16:9 Widescreen/ Stero with 5.1 Option

Purchase it directly through DVDSWELIKE.COM for only $24.95!

THE HORSE BOY: Q&A with Autism Canada

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-11-11T13:48:54-05:00

filmswelike invites you to join us for a Q&A with AUTISM CANADA following the opening night screening of THE HORSE BOY.

When: Friday November 13th following the 6:40pm screening at Canada Square.

AUTISM CANADA Mission Statement:
* Support Canadians by providing biomedical and behavioural treatment information to help those affected by autism.
* Expand health care professionals’ knowledge and awareness of autism as a treatable illness affecting the whole body.
* Work to influence policy within governments to provide public health initiatives and policy change.
* Enable research into the causes and treatments for autism.

More info about AUTISM CANADA.

filmswelike Picks up NEIL YOUNG - THE TRUNK SHOW

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-10-21T15:33:13-04:00

Trunk Show: a traveling display of unique goods, packed and unpacked along the way - in Neil Young's case it's a display of soul in the musical and spiritual sense.

Jonathan Demme presents NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW, with Young in the middle of a stage full of personal icons, at times alone in the center of a circle of his beloved acoustic guitars, at others in the midst of a handful of much-beloved musicians Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, Ralph Molina, Anthony 'sweatpea' Crawford and wife, Pegi Young.

There are delicately offered piano/guitar/voice numbers like "Ambulance Blues" and "Mexico"; mesmerizing electric travelogues into the artist's psyche ("No Hidden Path"); searing, chaotic anthems like "Hurricane" and 'Spirit Road"; and rarely performed pieces, like 'Harvest" that provide glimpses of Young's less public persona.

Shot with a mix of video and film cameras, mostly handheld, the NYTS follows the assembling and presenting of a concert in breathtakingly intimate fashion, catching lighter moments backstage and between songs with Neil, the band and the crew. On stage, at times using dramatically long takes, Demme allows the audience to experience Young opening up his heart song by song, and then blowing it all away in heated, uninhibited displays of rock and roll power.

AVAILABLE MARCH 2010!
Visit trunkshowmovie.com

filmswelike at Vancouver International Film Festival

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-09-15T14:27:59-04:00

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Below is the confirmed screening schedule for our 4 films at the VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, 2009.
Hope you can join us!

INFERNO
Sat, Oct 3rd 9:45pm, Vancity Theatre
Oct 6th 11:30am, Empire Granville 7, Theatre #1

POLICE, ADJECTIVE
Sun, Oct 11th 9:15pm, Empire Granville 7 Theatre #3
Wed, Oct 14th Noon, Empire Granville 7 Theatre #3

MID-AUGUST LUNCH
Wed, Oct 7th 11:40am, Empire Granville 7, Theatre #4
Sat, Oct 10th 6:20pm, Empire Granville 7, Theatre #4

THE HORSE BOY
Tue, Oct 13th 11:40am, Empire Granville 7 Theatre #4
Wed, Oct 14th 6:00pm, Empire Granville 7 Theatre #4

Cinefest Sudbury honours filmmaker RON MANN, "Tribute Canadiana"

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-09-08T15:11:10-04:00

Cinefest Sudbury honours filmmaker RON MANN with a retrospective of his works.

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Flak - Tuesday, September 22, 4:00pm
Ron Mann, Canada, 1976, 30 Minutes
Made by Ron Mann when he was only 16 years old, FLAK captures the apolitical spirit of the 1970s – a drastic change from the intense activism of the 1960s – by following a group of roommates as they wander the city, work, play street hockey, and sit around debating political change.

Echoes Without Saying - Tuesday, September 22, 4:00pm
Ron Mann, Canada, 1983, 28 Minutes
ECHOES WITHOUT SAYING celebrates the development of Coach House Press, an innovative Toronto-based publishing and printing house that since 1965 has produced distinctive and experimental books of poetry, fiction and visual art.

Dream Tower - Tuesday, September 22, 4:00pm
Ron Mann, Canada, 1994, 47 Minutes
Rochdale College was one of the most controversial experiments ever to have taken place in Canada. Intended to be a radical educational institution, Rochdale rapidly became a meeting place for North America’s burgeoning drug culture and a focal point for the best and worst dreams of the Canadian generation of baby boomers.

Grass - Monday, September 21, 3:30pm
Canada, 2001 80 Minutes
Ron Mann’s much-celebrated GRASS presents a humorous and surprisingly balanced history of recreational marijuana use. The most controversial drug of the twentieth century – smoked by generations of musicians, students and workers to little discernible ill effect – marijuanacontinues to be reviled by the vast majority of governments around the world. With a rueful yet incisive script, extraordinary production values, narration by Woody Harrelson and an impressive soundtrack featuring original songs by Mark Mothersbaugh, GRASS charts the terrible loss in imprisoned lives and billions of dollars wasted fighting a drug that refuses to go away.

Know Your Mushrooms - Sunday, September 20, 3:30pm
Canada, 2008 73 Minutes English
In Ron Mann’s latest feature documentary, we follow uber myco visionaries Gary Lincoff and Larry Evans (two of the more expert and unforgettably mercurial characters in the community) as they lead us on a hunt for the wild mushroom and the deeper cultural experiences attached to the mysterious fungi. Combining material filmed at the Telluride Mushroom Fest, along with animation and archival footage and a neo-psychedelic soundtrack by the Flaming Lips, KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS opens the doors to perception, takes the audience on a longer, stranger trip and delivers them to a brave new world where the fungi might well guide humanity to a saner, safer place... with extra cheese...

KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS: Special Edition - Now Shipping!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-09-01T14:07:12-04:00

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The first film released on a 4GB re-usable USB flash drive!

includes:
• Mushroom Themed Mimobot
• Alaska Morel Mushroom
• Special Edition Booklet
• Hand-Crafted Collectable Wooden Box

Buy it only through dvdswelike.com!

FWL at the Toronto International Film Festival 2009

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-08-18T12:40:32-04:00

Below is the Confirmed Screening Schedule for our 3 films:

L'ENFER DE HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT (INFERNO)
35mm, Real to Reel
94 min.

Film archivist Serge Bromberg uncovers a treasure trove of imagery from an unfinished film called L’Enfer starring Romy Schneider and directed by the French master Henri-Georges Clouzot, known for Wages of Fear and Diabolique.

Festival Screenings:
- Thursday, Sept. 10, 7.15PM, Varsity 1
- Saturday, Sept. 12, 3.45PM, Jackman Hall-AGO
- Friday, Sept. 18, 6.15PM, Varsity 4

Press & Industry Screening:
- Friday, Sept. 11, 9.15AM, Varsity 5

POLICE, ADJECTIVE
35mm, Contemporary World Cinema
113 min.

A witty portrait of life in the small town of Vaslui, the sophisticated Police, Adjective builds on the promise of Porumboiu’s debut 12:08, East of Bucharest.

Festival Screenings:
- Sunday, Sept. 13, 10PM, Bader
- Thursday, Sept. 17, 2.30PM, AMC 6
- Saturday, Sept. 19, 9AM, Varsity 4

Press & Industry Screening:
- Saturday, Sept. 12, 12PM, AMC 4

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpAbFoWwjJY
Press book: http://filmswelike.com/films/police/presskit/
Stills: http://filmswelike.com/films/police/highrez/

A TOWN CALLED PANIC
35mm, Midnight Madness
75 min.

“Oh non! Mon Dieu!” The feature version of A Town Called Panic (Panique au village), the demented Belgian television-animation sensation of the same name, has arrived! The first stop-motion animated feature selected to Cannes, A Town Called Panic smashes out of the toy chest to deliver a spastic joyride full of slapstick violence and manic energy in a topsy-turvy world populated by cheap plastic figurines of cowboys, Indians, farmers, police officers, horses, cows and pigs.

Festival Screenings:
- Friday, Sept. 18, 11:59PM, Ryerson
- Saturday, Sept. 19, 3.45PM, AMC 3

Press & Industry Screening:
- Tuesday, Sept. 15, 12PM, Varsity 3

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3uG8LLuVPQ
Synopsis: http://www.filmswelike.com/films/panic/
Press book: http://www.filmswelike.com/films/panic/presskit/
Stills: http://www.filmswelike.com/films/panic/highrez/

FWL Picks up POLICE ADJECTIVE

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-07-31T15:43:28-04:00

Cristi is a policeman who refuses to arrest a young man who offers hashish to two of his school mates. “Offering” is punished by the law. Cristi believes that the law will change, he does not want the life of a young man he considers irresponsible to be a burden on his conscience. For his superior the word conscience has a different meaning…

A film by Corneliu Porumboiu.

A TOWN CALLED PANIC: Coming to TIFF!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-07-21T14:54:25-04:00

“Oh non! Mon Dieu!” The feature version of A Town Called Panic (Panique au village), the demented Belgian television-animation sensation of the same name, has arrived! The first stop-motion animated feature selected to Cannes, A Town Called Panic smashes out of the toy chest to deliver a spastic joyride full of slapstick violence and manic energy in a topsy-turvy world populated by cheap plastic figurines of cowboys, Indians, farmers, police officers, horses, cows and pigs.

When an attempt to surprise their pal Horse with a homemade brick barbecue for his birthday goes terribly awry, Cowboy and Indian must find a way to deal with the fifty million bricks they mistakenly ordered. Unfortunately, their effort to hide the bricks results in their house being destroyed. Trying to rebuild it, the oddball trio contends with an avalanche of bizarre obstacles and surreal situations: a voyage to the centre of the Earth; a giant snowball-throwing mechanical penguin; parachuting cows; pointy-headed sea creatures from a parallel underwater world; giant waffles and even bigger slices of toast; and madcap music lessons for barnyard animals taught by the comely red-maned horse Madame Longray. Even Père Noël makes an appearance!

A Town Called Panic was originally a television series made up of frenetic short episodes. The creators and directors, Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, have perfected their unique visual style and proven beyond a doubt that their brilliantly absurd concept can sustain its chaotic pace and profound silliness for a feature-length adventure.

The Panic crew are no strangers to Midnight Madness. One of the film’s producers, Vincent Tavier, produced Calvaire (04) and co-wrote and acted in the notorious Midnight Madness hit Man Bites Dog (92). And Benoît Poelvoorde, who played that film’s serial-killer anti-hero, voices the shouty neighbouring farmer Steven here.

Playfully charged with Belgian surrealism and a rock ’n’ roll sensibility, A Town Called Panic feels as though Jacques Tati led the crew of Monty Python's Flying Circus to hijack the world of Pingu. The resulting mayhem sounds like a grade-school French teacher, jacked on amphetamines, reading a storybook while huffing helium from a balloon.

- Colin Geddes

Visit A TOWN CALLED PANIC on the Toronto International Film Festival website!

KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS: Limited Special Edition Collector’s Box

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-06-17T16:25:44-04:00

Download the PDF Press Release!
In celebration of the highly-anticipated release of Ron Mann’s latest film Know Your Mushrooms, comes a Limited Special Edition Collector’s Box.

For the first time in North America, a feature film is being released on a 4-gigabyte re-usable Mimobot(R) USB flash drive!

Ron Mann has always been on the cutting edge of film distribution. He worked with the Voyager Company, which pioneered CD-ROM production in the 1980s and early 1990s, and published The Criterion Collection, a pioneering home video collection of classic and important contemporary films. As digital technology began to revolutionize the film distribution model, Mann’s seminal documentary Poetry in Motion was one of the first films to be digitized with Quicktime.

“We fight piracy every day,” says Mann. “So we figured, why not cut out the middle-man (DVDs) and give the media-pirates exactly what they want? A movie as a digital download. DVD and Blu-Ray are simply optical disc storage. So why not use a Mimobot(R) flash drive? It’s more compact and you can re-use the stick after you transfer the film to a hard drive device.”

In a revolutionary move, Mann and his independent distribution company Filmswelike are releasing Know Your Mushrooms on commercial DVD as well as a Special Edition Collector’s Box.

a Mushroom-themed 4 GB reusable USB flash drive (plugs into your computer’s USB port) Portable, re-usable and great for storage!
Flash drive contains the feature film Know Your Mushrooms, Formatted for Mac and PC. AppleTV and iPod. Quicktime 7 required.
Dried Alaska Morel mushrooms hand-picked by the film’s star, Larry Evans, the “Indiana Jones of Mushrooms”
A booklet with an original essay about the film by Canadian film critic, Jennie Punter
Packaged in a hand-crafted collectable wooden box

Spread the Spores! Coming August 2009

ROCKSTEADY: Now Available for Booking!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-06-11T12:40:04-04:00

NOW AVAILABLE: July 2009!

Bob Marley began his career in the Rocksteady eras as a singer & songwriter. Emerging from the ghettos of Kingston, he became the Third World’s first international superstar.

“Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae” brings together the last of the great singers and musicians of Jamaica’s Golden Age of music, Rocksteady. Forty years after the Rocksteady era, they gather to record and album of greatest hits, to perform at a reunion concert and to tell their story.

A musical romp through the artists’ memories and stories of the 1960s social scene in Jamaica. The film features a mix of recording sessions at Tuff Gong Studios, archival footage from the period and interviews with the performers at home or at places on the island that had profound effects on their music and lives.

Featured singers include Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths, Dawn Penn, Hopeton Lewis, Streager Cole, Derrick Morgan, Ken Boothe, Leroy Sibbles and U-Roy. Among the musicians are Ernest Ranglin, Sly Dunbar, Jackie Jackson, Gladstone Anderson, Hux Brown and Scully Simms. A featured guest is Rita Marley.

These Rocksteady greats helped develop the buoyant rhythms, prominent base pulse, soulful vocals and socially conscious lyrics that gave Reggae its power.

Bookings & Print Traffic: Mike Boyuk
Publicity: Sandra Chwialkowska

OF TIME AND THE CITY: Now On DVD!

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-06-09T11:05:35-04:00

The wait is over! OF TIME AND THE CITY is now available on DVD!

Terence Davies returnes to his native liverpool and to his film making roots to caputure a sense of the City today and its influences on him growning up in the late 40's and early 50's.

Purchase the DVD at dvdswelike.com

IN THE MOMENT - DVD Drops April 14th

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-04-02T11:12:33-04:00

a documentary about the Canadian Improv Games, by Sandra Chwialkowska

BUY THIS DVD!

This briskly paced and enthusiastic doc follows 6 high school improv teams as they work their way through local and regional tournaments to get to the pinnacle of the sport, the Canadian Improv Games. The movie, which hurtles along breathlessly across the country to keep up with its youthful subjects, takes an occasional break to interview former Canadian Improv Games champ Sandra Oh and Games founder David Shepherd. But mostly, this is a movie about the high schoolers and their dream: 3,000 kids compete in improv games across Canada each year, and every one of them wants to be on one of the top 20 teams to go to the National Games, and to take home gold.

85 min. Colour. Stereo. In English. 4:3

SPECIAL FEATURES:
-Audio commentary with filmmaker
-Outtakes
-Deleted scenes
-Theatrical trailer

DOWNLOAD THE PRESS KIT
HIGH REZ STILLS
OFFICIAL SITE

DIED YOUNG STAYED PRETTY - DVD Drops April 14th

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-04-02T11:12:33-04:00

a movie about rock posters, by Eileen Yaghoobian

DIED YOUNG is a candid look at the underground rock poster culture in North American and a unique film that examines the creative spirit that drives the indie graphic artists that create these works of art. The film chronicles both the giants of this modern subculture but also the underground art movement that is happening now on our city streets.

94 min. Colour. Stereo. In English. 4:3

SPECIAL FEATURES:
-Movie Poster Gallery
-Five Original Tracks
-Deleted Scenes
-Trailer

DOWNLOAD THE PRESS KIT
OFFICIAL WEBSITE WITH PRODUCTION STILLS

Philosophers Invade Montreal Screenings of EXAMINED LIFE

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-03-27T14:36:15-04:00

EXAMINED LIFE
CINEMA DU PARC, April 3 - 9

Following each 7pm screening of EXAMINED LIFE, joing us for a discussion with a philosophy professor from a Montreal university.

APRIL 3RD - DAVID MORRIS
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University
PhD: The University of Toronto (1997) MA: The University of Toronto (1992) BA: The University of Toronto (1991)
"My main interests are in Continental Philosophy (especially Phenomenology, Merleau-Ponty and Bergson) and Hegel, with a focus on the philosophy of the body, mind and nature in relation to current biology and cognitive science. "

APRIL 4TH - OLIVIER MATHIEU
Ph.D. candidate, McGill University (2003-2009)
2008-2009: founder and organizer of Ateliers Montréalais de Réflexions sur l’art et l’esthétique bringing together researchers affiliated with four Montreal universities working in various research fields (philosophy, the history of art, cinematography studies, etc.)

APRIL 5TH - JUSTIN SMITH
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University
Ph.D. in Philosophy, Columbia University, 2000. MA in Philosophy, Columbia University, 1996. BA with Honors in Philosophy and Highest Honors in Slavic Linguistics, University of California, Davis, 1993.
"My principal research focus is on the philosophy of G. W. Leibniz. I have a book forthcoming; entitled Divine Machines: Leibniz's Philosophy of Biology (Princeton University Press, 2009), and am currently preparing a critical edition and translation, with François Duchesneau, of the Negotium Otiosum and related texts pertaining to the controversy between Leibniz and Georg Ernst Stahl, for the Yale Leibniz series. "

APRIL 6TH - ERIC LEWIS
Professor, Dept of Philosophy, McGill
BA, Cornell PhD, University of Illinois, Chicago
PI (The Project on Improvisation/Projet sur l'improvisation)
"I am presently researching the philosophy of improvised music. I am the McGill Site coordinator for the MCRI project, Improvisation, Community and Social Practice, a major international interdisciplinary research project, and a founding editor of the journal Critical Studies in Improvisation. My research focuses on the intersection of the aesthetics, metaphysics and ethics of improvised music."

APRIL 7TH - SHEILA MASON
Professor and Undergraduate Advisor, Concordia University
Ph.D. 1972 Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN M.A. 1965 Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN B.A. 1965 McGill University
Sheila Mason teaches and publishes in several areas of Ethics: Virtue Theory, Feminist Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Narrative Ethics, the Ethical dimensions of Leisure Studies. She has also taught and published with colleagues in Psychology [Center for Research on Human Development] and in Accountancy.

APRIL 8TH - DOMINIQUE LEYDET
Director, Department of Philosophy, UQAM
1990 : Ph.D., École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris. Mention très honorable.
1984 : Diplôme d’Études Approfondies (DEA), philosophie, Université Paris IV.
1983 : M.A., philosophie, Université Paris IV, mention très bien.
1982 : B.A. political science (First class honours), McGill University
"My primary areas of interest are political philosophy, and the philosophy of law. I am particularly interested in the theory of democracy, public deliberation in pluralist societies and in the constitutionalist approach."

JERICHOW Opens in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-03-20T14:56:18-04:00

filmswelike presents
JERICHOW by Christian Petzold

Off the beaten path of life, three people stumble into a fateful encounter...

Year: 2008 / Running Time: 93 min.
Colour/ 35mm / Germany/ German with English Subtitles

Vancouver Dates: Vancity Theatre: March 27 - April 2, 2009
Toronto Dates: AMC Yonge/Dundas: April 10- April 16, 2009
Ottawa Dates: Mayfair Theatre: May 22 - 24 + 26

Thomas, young and strong, has been dishonorably discharged from the army. Ali, an affable Turkish businessman, has seen some hard times, but now his primary concern is making sure the employees of his snack-bars don’t cheat on him. Laura, an attractive woman with a dark past, seems to find refuge in the shadows of her marriage to Ali.

Thomas, Ali, and Laura keep an eye on each other and keep their secrets to themselves. This love-triangle is a classic cinematic constellation but with a daring new interpretation: Caught between guilt and freedom, between passion and reason, there are wishes whose fulfillment can only mean escape.

HIGH REZ IMAGES
http://filmswelike.com/films/jerichow/highrez/index.html

DOWNLOAD THE PRESS KIT

Publicist Contact
Sandra Chwialkowska
filmswelike
24 Mercer Street
2nd Floor
Toronto, ON
M5V 1H3
T: 416.971.9131
F: 416.971.6014
sandra@filmswelike.com

ANVIL! Opens AMC Dundas Square - Friday April 3

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-04-02T11:12:37-04:00

ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL
A film by Sacha Gervasi with

Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Lemmy (Motorhead), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Slash (Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revoler); Tom Araya (Slayer)
and……. Anvil

Opens in Toronto at AMC Dundas Square on Friday, April 3, 2009

Meet ANVIL at the 8:15pm and 10:30pm shows Fri, April 3!

Meet ANVIL and director Sacha Gervasi at the 8:15pm and 10:30pm shows Sat, April 4!

Richard Crouse hosts the Anvil Q&A (1st evening show) and Intro (2nd evening show) on Fri April 3 at AMC Dundas Sq!

PLEASE NOTE: FULL REVIEWS ARE EMBARGO’D UNTIL FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2009 OPENING

March 30, 2009: Toronto’s favourite sons of rock return in triumph to the city they love after an unforgettable year on the road performing and presenting screenings of the award-winning feature documentary by Sacha Gervasi “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” - opening at the AMC Dundas Square Cinemas on Friday, April 3, 2009.

The success of Anvil! The Story of Anvil at festivals around the world has re-introduced the band to its legions of fans, introduced Anvil to new fans and re-charged Anvil’s career.

Before the commercial opening of Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the band will be honoured as the 2009 inductees into the Indies Hall of Fame, Fairmont Royal York Hotel, on Saturday, March 14th as part of the 9th Annual Independent Music Awards at Canadian Music Week (CMW), Toronto. Anvil will be performing at Canadian Music Fest, a part of Canadian Music Week (www.canadianmusicfest.com/www.cmw.net), along with Prestorika and Dead Sexy Sheila at the Velvet Underground, 510 Queen Street West, $15 Advance. 19+. All wristbands-passes accepted.

After a smashing World Premiere at Sundance and Canadian Premiere at Hot Docs in 2008 Anvil! The Story of Anvil continued to find friends, and delight critics and audiences at festivals around the world racking up awards including Best Documentary Feature at the Galway, Calgary and Edmonton film festivals and being honoured with Audience Awards at the Los Angeles and Sydney Film Festivals. The film was also a nominee at this year’s prestigious Independent Spirit Awards.

24 CITY Opens March 20 @ The Royal

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-03-12T17:35:47-04:00

filmswelike presents...
24 CITY by Jia Zhang-Ke

Chengdu, nowadays. The state-owned factory 420 shuts down to give way to a complex of luxury apartments called "24 CITY".

Three generations, eight characters: old workers, factory executives and yuppies, their stories are the History of China.

HIGH REZ IMAGES / DOWNLOAD THE PRESS KIT

March 20-25 @ The ROYAL CINEMA, Toronto

A Note from Director Jia Zhang-Ke:

Ron Mann’s “Know Your Mushrooms” selected for SXSW March 13-21, 2009

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-02-03T16:04:58-05:00

We're elated to announce Canadian director Ron Mann’s “Know Your Mushrooms” is selected for the 2009 SXSW Film Festival.

Every March, thousands of film fans, industry and press descend on Austin, TX for the SXSW Film Festival for the very best of international independent cinema, essential docs and cutting-edge storytelling. Over
9 days, from March 13-21, 108 features, including 54 world premieres, will screen over various sections and sidebars.

Know Your Mushrooms is one of three films to represent Canada, along with RIP a remix manifesto and Iron Maiden: Flight 666.

Mann’s mushroom doc, a surprise critical hit, is currently playing in movie theaters across Canada.

For more information contact :
Sandra Chwialkowska Sandra@sphinxproductions.com

KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS: Fundraiser

mike@filmswelike.com — 2009-01-09T13:19:25-05:00

KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS - FUNDRAISER
January 31st, 8pm Downward Dog Yoga Centre
735 Queen Street West, 2nd Floor

Special Guests: Ron Mann (Director "Know Your Mushrooms"), Ron Obadia and Nadine Artemis (Living Libations) plus more to be announced.

Tickets: ($25) Twenty Five (includes screening, Q+A, and scrumptious cook + taste!) Available in advance at Downward Dog Yoga Centre.

Space is limited and tickets are sold on a first come basis.

KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS

mike@filmswelike.com — 2008-12-19T10:46:53-05:00

filmswelike presents
Opening Night Co-Presented by Hot Docs

KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS
A film by RON MANN

Opens in Toronto at The Royal on Friday, January 30, 2009

From the award winning director of Comic Book Confidential, Grass, Go Further and a host of paradigm-shifting films reappraising the backwaters of popular culture, Ron Mann investigates the miraculous, near-secret world of fungi with his newest piece of cinema, Know Your Mushrooms.

EXAMINED LIFE

mike@filmswelike.com — 2008-12-18T12:52:59-05:00

filmswelike presents

EXAMINED LIFE
A film by Astra Taylor
A Thoughtful Way to Begin the New Year

Opens in Toronto at The Royal – Friday, January 23, 2009

Thurs Dec 18, 2008: An intimate, engaging conversation with some of the greatest minds of our era, Examined Life conveys the wonderment and curiosity that drive philosophical thought. This feature length documentary also introduces the world's most formidable thinkers and some of the most compelling theoretical debates taking place today.

ABEL RAISES CAIN

mike@filmswelike.com — 2008-11-28T22:14:27-05:00

filmswelike presents a doublebill...

ABEL RAISES CAIN & IS THERE SEX AFTER DEATH?
The Bloor Cinema - Sunday December 7, 2008
Abel Raises Cain (1pm & 5:15pm) / Sex After Death (3pm & 7:15pm)