Canadian director Bruce McDonald caused quite a stir when his film Pontypool, an adaptation of Tony Burgess’ novel, premiered at TIFF.
The film, which tells the story of a radio DJ who bears “witness” to the spread of a deadly virus through a small Ontario town, sounded like it could be a whole lot of fun and according to Kurt’s review, it’s certainly a film to look out for.
Maple will be distributing the film across Canada in 2009 but we don’t have to wait quite that long for a sneak peek. You see, the guys at JoBlo have posted a teaser for the film and as they say in sports, “It’s good!”
Picture quality isn’t the best but it’s better than nothing. I’ll take it until the official trailer hits the web.
Personally, I thought simply the opening monologue from Mazzy with just an oscilloscope graphic would have made a more unique trailer. Either way, This one ain’t bad, and I hope the word gets out. This is a very very fun and exciting motion picture.
I interviewed Author and Screenwriter of Pontypool, Tony Burgess over at Twitch, (here: http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/an-interview-with-pontypool-author-tony-burgess/ ) and if I ever find a big block of time I’m hoping to transcribe the interview I did with Bruce McDonald at the beginning of October.
Yea, I love this film.
(The thing that bugs me about this trailer is that they are selling it like Zack Snyder’s DAWN OF THE DEAD remake, when the film is a heck-of-a-lot closer to RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR, namely a one-room zombie film. Yet the wild card is Stephen McHattie who rocks the voice as Grant Mazzy, hence I think the ‘classier’ way to sell the trailer is not so much on adrenaline/fear (above) but rather on the voice/humour/smarts that the film has going for it in spades.
(But what do I know about marketing, I thought the best trailer of the past few years was the LITTLE CHILDREN trailer and nobody went to see that film!)
I rarely have anything positive to say about Canadian cinema but this is a great enjoyable romp that by some small mercy actually has some originality to it.
“I rarely have anything positive to say about Canadian cinema”
Really? I take that to mean that you haven’t seen any Canadian films that have impressed you?
I know you are a big fan of Canadian cinema, Marina, but I honestly think it is more miss than hit, and I will not defend something out of a patriotic sense of duty. Now there are exceptions, what little I have been exposed to Guy Maddin is exceptional, Egoyan on occasion knocks it out of the park, but I do not like Cronenberg, and Mehta I have not seen, Podeswa is horrible, anything with mounties or dysfunctional east coast families, ugh. The Canadian cinematic landscape is still entrenched in this self-serving Corner Gas, Passchendale myopic fascination with the idea of Canada, most likely because the films funded by the government require some heritage value before the money doles out. Scripts feel scripted, lighting feels artificial, stories are far too good-natured, its not for me. Generalizations of course but they do play a part in my perception of Canadian films… when films cease to look ‘Canadian’ I get more interested. Polly’s Away from Her, though I have not seen it, has all the hallmarks of a polished sophisticated film.
I am a big supporter of Canadian film but I’m in the same boat with you. There is a whole lot of dreck out there but over the last few years, there have been films that have stepped beyong “being Canadian” and simply being good. Mehta is not for everyone, she has a very (narrow isn’t really the correct word) specific approach to her stories (cultural/female perspective), Natali is working well outside of what’s typically considered “Canadian” and even Podeswa’s most recent (the only I’ve seen) falls outside of that.
I think the real problem with Canadian film today is that there’s still a mentality that the themes of 20 years ago are still the themes being explored today and that’s not accurate. Still, I can definitely understand the hold-back.
I’m a supporter, yes, but if a movie is crap, it’s crap. I won’t defend it even if it is Canadian (most recently Control Alt Delete and Fifty Dead Men Walking).
I’m interested in how you qualify ‘good’. Is this a personal judgement or is this a ‘saleable’ judgement. Boutique film accredited to being ‘good’ Canadian films often are so far off the saleable mark they end up staying on that shelf with all the other Canadian stuff.
Fifty Dead Men Walking is a very strong film that has credibility beyond most North American’s knowledge. Filmed in Ireland and vetted by ‘involved’ participants it’s a terrific credit to the Canadian director who made it happen.
Expect it to get distributed here and be well received as it will around the world.
Why can’t ‘Canadian Films’ become more ‘commercial’? I’d suggest it’s because of supposed support or lack of support from a commercial perspective by the Antunes of this small community who really don’t understand what they are saying when first they identify a film as being Canadian and then make judgement from inside a little fishbowl.
Broaden your mind!
Wow Fred. I think you have made a snap judgment call on a woman with a very broad mind.