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Out of this world >> Dimension SF makes an auspicious debut
by MATTHEW HAYS Sidebar: Metropolis The eyes glaze over at the concept: yet another film festival in Montreal's already overburdened film fest landscape? But here it is, and the first annual Dimension SF: The Montreal Science Fiction Film Festival offers an intelligent and crucial overview of this too-often-overlooked film genre. Fest organizers chose the perfect spot at which to hold the event. Though many of the films featured are available on video, the big-screen glory of the Imperial is the very best way in which to behold these works. Dimension SF programmers have taken a historical approach to sci-fi, beginning with early works like pioneer George Méliès' A Trip to the Moon, a charming and whimsical 20-odd minute short about an early lunar landing. Also at this screening, John S. Robertson's silent adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in which John Barrymore makes the switch from good guy to evil guy without the help of any makeup. Some of the best campy film moments come in sci-fi form, and those fine moments are represented well here. Them! (1954) was the first in a cycle of giant nuclear-mutated insect-on-the-loose movies. As the insects approach, the dialogue gets zanier and zanier--and look for Leonard Nimoy in a supporting role.
Super oddities
In the oddities department, Dimension SF will present a rare opportunity to see Solaris, Andrei Tarkovsky's existential sci-fi epic, called a Soviet version of 2001 (French version only). Three years after Kubrick's film was unleashed, Solaris would take the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 1971. Rock & Rule is a strange animated entry from Canada, which has attained a certain cult status but is rarely seen. Featuring the music of Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop and the voices of Paul Le Mat and Catherine O'Hara, Rock & Rule makes for an excellent complement to the better-known Heavy Metal, also playing at the fest.
Sci-fi Cancon Vincenzo Natali's Cube didn't do particularly well when it was released North-America-wide a year ago. But Entertainment Weekly reported two weeks ago that the film is getting an afterlife with its video release, as sci-fi fans are tuning into the film's relentlessly dark tone. Ditto in Paris, where the film is enjoying a solid theatrical engagement due to positive reviews and excelllent word-of-mouth. Montreal audiences will get a sneak peak at The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, the new series which is being shot in and around Montreal. The show's premise is that Jules Verne wrote all his fantastical novels from personal experience; Verne is depicted here as a young man travelling around the world in a flying machine, each week battling various evil types. Finally, a film I've always wanted to see: The War Game (not to be confused with the Matthew Broderick vehicle War Games) is Peter Watkins' ultra-controversial 1965 mockumentary on the effects of a nuclear strike on London, England. It was so horrifying to the BBC suits who produced it that they pulled the plug on the broadcast of the film. A rare opportunity to see this precursor to films like The Day After, Testament and Threads. Sidebar: Metropolis
Dimension SF: The Montreal Science Fiction Film Festival runs from this Friday, June 4 to June 20 at the Imperial. See repertory listings for details. Info: 848-0300 |
Perhaps one of the best (or worst) moments of the '70s comes with Logan's Run, otherwise known as The Final Nail in the Coffin of Michael York's Career. In the future, everyone lives in a domed-in environment (sort of like West Edmonton Mall). At the age of 30, everyone is deemed unworthy and killed off (sort of like Circuit Parties). Oh, and everyone wears really bad one-piece jumpsuits (sort of like the ones sold at Le Château in the 1980s). See Michael York battle the evil oppressive government! See Farrah Fawcett jiggle her way through the film! See Peter Ustinov deliver the hammiest performance ever!
Fans of the Man of Steel will appreciate the screening of the 1978 Richard Donner film, Superman: The Movie. Christopher Reeve brought a good deal of grace to the role, being every bit as believable as Clark Kent as he was as the caped fellow. The film will be preceded with a special treat: four serials from the 1940s animated Superman shorts, directed by Dave Fleischer. There has never been an animated version of Superman that has looked this good.