by SARAH ROWLAND and MARK SLUTSKY

Elephant Shoes

The first time I saw Christos Sourligas’s debut feature was in 2004 at Montreal’s World Film Festival, where critics from across the country gushed about the $10,000 romcom. Still, as I sat down to screen it again, I couldn’t help but wonder: was this Montreal-made sleeper such a stand-out only because so many of the other films screened at WFF were such shite? Well, I’m happy to report that no, that’s not the case at all. In fact, I like Elephant Shoes even more after watching it a second time.

Sourligas breaks down every stage of a long-term relationship by using a12-hour date as a model. Alexis (Stacie Morgain Lewis), a Toronto photojournalist in town for the day, bumps into Montreal cock artist Manny (Greg Shamie) on the street. The two proceed to speed through their first fuck, first fight and first fart. These oh-so quirky characters can be a little irritating at times, but that’s only because they’re so real. You’ve met these two before. You may not have liked them, but you’ve definitely met them. The acting here is flawless and the dialogue will ring true for anyone who has ever dated someone as filler until something better comes along.

But the real genius of this sweet and understated film is in the premise itself. And first-time filmmakers could learn a thing or two from Sourligas: when you’ve only got 10 grand to play with, keep it simple. (SR)

Next: A Primer on Urban Painting

A documentary by Montreal filmmaker Pablo Aravena, on the subject of graffiti, a truly worldwide phenomenon. The film follows the art form from its birth in the 1970s in the burnt-out devastation of the South Bronx, through to today, where you can find “urban painting” in almost every city on the planet. And it almost feels like the film takes you to every city, with stops in New York (of course), Montreal, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, London, Paris, Amsterdam and beyond, where local artists discourse on the medium and their own area’s particular, idiosyncratic styles.

But Next isn’t all talking heads; there are quite a few stretches with very little talking at all, as Aravena lets the visuals tell the stories, from excursions in the Paris catacombs to simple street painting scenes. Focusing on the images is definitely the right approach to a subject as purely retinal and colourful as graffiti, and the music by Sixtoo, Moonstarr, Quantic and—full disclosure—the Mirror’s own Scott C, complements them well.

Still, you meet a lot of artists in a relatively short period of time, and the loose organization and lack of a strong overriding narrative causes the film to suffer a bit from its own hyper-density. It’s ambitious though, and the presentation of that sheer global volume of street art makes Next feel almost like a sequel, decades later, to movies like 1983’s Style Wars, that documented the burgeoning New York scene and introduced it to the world. (MS)

What the Bleep!?– Down the Rabbit Hole

Save for the introduction of a corny animated character called Captain Quantum, there really isn’t too much new here to warrant an extended director’s cut of What the Bleep Do We Know!? Producers of the 2004 surprise hit would have been better off stuffing all the so-called extras into in a special edition DVD.

As with the original docu-drama, What the Bleep!?–Down the Rabbit Hole stars Academy Award-winner Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God) as a self-loathing, pill-popping, cellulite-riddled divorcee on the verge of a breakdown. Her light-hearted vignettes are woven in between scenes of physicists, neurologists and physicians theorizing about the laws of possibility.

Where the first cut is an accessible exploration of the daunting world of quantum physics, this latest version is not. The biggest difference is the way Down the Rabbit Hole is cut. With the expedited intro, the film basically assumes viewers have already dealt with their natural (and warranted) fear of spiritual cinema. And by letting the experts veer off into all sorts of disconnected self-indulgent ramblings, they seem somewhat less credible. Which is a shame because it’s almost enough to turn you off the whole What the Bleep franchise. (SR)

Elephant Shoes, Next: A Primer on Urban Painting and What the Bleep!?–Down the Rabbit Hole open Friday, March 17

>> Movie Listings