July 2009 – Petroglyphs

We got it all on…

The movie “UHF” was released to an unsuspecting public exactly 20 years ago today. #UHF

It sure was. Twenty years ago my friend Bob picked me up on the road in front of my parents’ house—we were in such a hurry, he pulled away before I was fully in the car, which caused me to rip the sole of my shoe as it dragged along the rough asphalt—and tore into London to the Huron Market Place theatre to see a double bill of The Karate Kid, Part III and Al’s magnum opus. (KK3 left so little of an impression in my mind that I had to look up releases from the summer of ’89 to figure out what else was on.) From the shot of the mountain at the beginning to Spatula City to “Supplies!” to “I knew she was gonna say that” I could hardly stop laughing.

Think I’m going to go put in the DVD. Don’t wait up!

And the living is…

Apparently cold, rainy summer days bring the spelling snipers out. (For what it’s worth, I agree with Donald’s assessment of the latter production.)

Son of a…

It’s summer music festival time, which makes this cautionary tale all the more topical:

I have several musical friends who are travelling by air in the near future, to places all across Canada and even into Europe, so here’s hoping none of them end up becoming one of the one or two cases a year where this happens.

It’s not elitism if you’re actually one of the elite

While reading I’m a proud Brainiac, Roger Ebert’s non-apology to those who call him “elitist” for not liking Transformers 2, I was reminded of one of my favourite moments from this year’s Fringe festival. It was during The NO Show, a nightly “talk show” put on by local sketch comedy group Fully Insured and hosted by scriptoris fecundus palmaris Jayson McDonald. The show is traditionally heavily comedy-oriented, including the interviews, just like the televised versions it springs from, and it’s really funny, due in large part to Jayson’s own ability to quickly riff on what his guest has just said.

What impressed me, though, was his interview with the cast and director of Never Swim Alone (Eva Blahut, Meaghan Chenosky, Tyler Parr and Justin Peter Quesnelle). Rather than play the interview for laughs, Jayson and his guests took the time to have an honest, insightful discussion about the show and their craft. It was a few minutes that demonstrated the intelligence of, and mutual respect between, the five people on stage.

Gene Siskel, Ebert’s partner on At the Movies until his death, said “I always ask myself: ‘Is the movie that I am watching as interesting as a documentary of the same actors having lunch together?'” Having now witnessed Eva, Jayson, Justin, Meaghan and Tyler “having lunch”, they’ve set a high bar for themselves and their companies (Passionfool and Stars and Hearts); but knowing the consistently high quality and passion each brings to her/his work, it’s one they’re all easily capable of leaping with room to spare.