Movies

Hot Docs Preview – Tiger Next Door [2009,Camilla Calamandrei]

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Ricky in Hot Docs, Movies | Leave a comment

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Toronto – There’s an epidemic in the US, and no it is not the Swine Flu (yet). Experts claim that there are more captive Tigers in the US then there are in the wild. Most of them are housed in shoddy conditions by breeders and despite the love that their owners have for them, many people have a different opinion. The documentary Tiger Next Door explores this issue, focusing on a particular individual named Dennis Hill, a self proclaimed tiger lover who houses 24 Tigers as well as cougars, black bears and lions on his acreage. The documentary explores why people like Dennis would house so many wild animals on their land as well as what the general reaction is of the people around him. Would you want to live beside someone who houses upwards of 50 man eating beasts in their backyard? Probably not.

The documentary is a fascinating one. You can see why an animal lover like Dennis would want to keep animals beasts captive (he loves them, there is no doubt), but at the same time, it’s incredibly frustrating to see such magnificent animals housed in small cages. A good documentary addresses the issues from all angles, and Camilla Calamandrei does that rather well, interviewing law enforcement agencies, nature types, other breeders and also friends and family of the breeders. The lead character Dennis also has an interesting back story that I will let you discover (no, it was not as an extra for zz top). All in all, a good documentary on a topic that not many people are aware of. Next time you drive by a road side zoo, you might think twice before going.

Hot Docs Link

Schedule
10:00 pm Fri, May 8 – Royal Cinema
1:30 pm Sun, May 10 – Bloor Cinema

$4 Haircut on YouTube

Posted on December 8, 2008 by Wade in Everything, Hot Docs, Movies | 2 Comments

For those of you who missed the world premier of my documentary this past April at Hot Docs, you can check out $4 HAIRCUT below. I finally got around to posting it. Be sure to watch it past the credits too. Enjoy. $4 Haircut also fulfills my mandatory Asian content quota here at the Panic Manual for the month of December.

Hot Docs: White Vans with Carts Of Darkness

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Wade in Everything, Hot Docs, Movies | Leave a comment

Two movies from Vancouver. Lets start with White Vans

I love short films. White Vans is everything that a short film or short documentary should be. It was fun, to the point, had a beginning, middle, end and left you wanting to watch it again.

This is a story of Aren Hansen who had his bike stolen. He is so angry that he decides to set up a sting operation using a planted bike in a high bike theft area of Vancouver. He catches his bike thief on camera and in the act, but then something weird happens. These bike thieves who you hate for the entire film suddenly get compassion from you. As you watch this guy try and steal Arens’ bike, you end up wanting him to get away with it. This movie ultimately ends up being about compassion and trying to make the world a better place by doing what is right. Not bad for a 13 minute short.

Bad Boogie Balling from the Pink Mountain Tops was a nice surprise too.

Carts of Darkness

This movie was billed as being about homeless guys who race shopping carts down hills in Vancouver. But really, it has nothing to do with shopping carts and/or hills.

The movie starts out all about the extreme sport of cart racing and the homeless bottle collectors that do it. Then the movie shifts to focus on the lives and struggles that these men face and the choices they have made in their lives. The director, Murray Siple, told us during the Q&A that he made this movie with the National Film Board. During the process the NFB told him that he had to make the movie WITH his homeless bottle collecting cast, rather than ABOUT them. He did exactly this and it worked.

This movie is about Murray and how he connects to his homeless cast. In the final shot of the movie, it all comes together when Murray is able to give something back to his film friends who have given so much of themselves during the filming process. It is an inspiring moive that everybody can find something that connects to the struggles in their own lives.

Also some great Ladyhawk and Black Mountain in the soundtrack.

5/5

If you are keeping track, that is a grand total of 10/10 for these two Vancouver flicks. A solid program to see. The next showing is happening Thursday, April 24th at 12:00 PM at the Isabel Bader

Hot Docs: Junior

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Ricky in Hot Docs, Movies, Sports | 1 Comment

Toronto – As most people know, hockey is more or less religion in Canada. You might not see it in such an ethnically diverse urban metropolis such as Toronto, but travel to any small town anywhere else in Canada and you will see that people there live and breath hockey. Most of these little towns primarily follow their junior teams as NHL teams are for the big boys. These junior teams are the heart and soul of the cities – which leads to the documentary I saw on Sunday – Junior.

Junior chronicles a year in the life of a junior hockey team – Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the QMJHL, one of the major factories in creating NHL players. The documentary chronicles most of the things you would want to know about life as a junior hockey – the pressure, the business side of things, the scouts, the wear and tear – pretty much everything of interest happens during the course of the year. The documentary focuses on a few players – the superstar on the team, the new hot shot, the bully and a homesick kid. As cliche as some of these are, you know they exist within the fabrics of most sport teams and it makes for a compelling look at the industry.

The film never shows any hockey clips, and primarily relies on events and peoples reactions to gather emotional momentum. Being a hockey fan, I found this documentary quite intriguing and it provided the public with inside access to all the factors that plague a hockey team and if you are a sports fan, its well worth the effort to go and see it.

4.5/5

Junior plays today at 4:30 at Innis Town Hall, wherever that is.

I hate to end articles on a down note, so here is a song. Call it an ode to these junior players, as they have to grow up quickly and stuff. Or something.:

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