by MARK SLUTSKY

Festival Express

In 1970 promoters Ken Walker and Thor Eaton put together a music festival featuring some of the hottest acts of the time. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Band, Buddy Guy and a bunch of others were all corralled to play shows across Canada. The interesting twist was that they'd all travel across the country by train, and not just any train - a specially equipped railway ride that was well-stocked with booze and musical gear so they could jam their hearts out on the long stretches between cities. A documentary crew was on hand to witness it all. Now, years later, the lost footage has been assembled by director Bob Smeaton into a pretty entertaining rockumentary, if '60s rock is your thing.

The film covers the scene on the train, which is definitely the most fun, as well as the outdoor live performances and the minor controversy that erupted when some kids started to protest against the high price of admission ($14, which actually was a chunk of change in those days). Funnily enough, the musicians weren't very sympathetic to the protesters' demands, actually siding with the cops, who were apparently "boss." There's a lot of very good footage of the musicians involved in Festival Express, but I gotta say, if you're not really into that kind of music, you're going to find a lot of this movie pretty boring.

Going the Distance

Hard to believe it's been 22 years since Porky's, one of the most successful Canadian movies ever made, and, let's face it, probably one of the best. So the only surprising thing about Going the Distance is how long it took for producers to cop to the fact that Canadians are probably much more likely to go see a homegrown teen sex comedy than another boring smalltown drama with Molly Parker and Callum Keith Rennie.

Going the Distance stars Christopher Jacot as Nick, a bit of an uptight dickwad (main characters in these road trip movies always come across as total assholes, don't they?). His girlfriend Trish (Katheryn Winnick) is spending the summer interning in Toronto with sleazy record producer Jason Priestley. So, as these things go, Jacot and his two wacky buddies (Shawn Roberts and Ryan Belleville) pile into a camper and head out from their homes in B.C. on an outrageous trip to the MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto. As is de rigueur, they also pick up a couple of hot hitchhikers (Mayko Nguyen and Joanne Kelly) along the way. Wait - did I say "MuchMusic Video Awards?" Yes, Going the Distance is funded by Much, and to be honest, the massive product placement is a little weird.

Well, at least there's nudity, and one funny scene involving a farmer's daughter, but ultimately there's not much else on display in this fairly competent comedy.

The Samsara

Director Nalin Pan's epic-length film traces the spiritual voyage of a Buddhist monk lured by worldly temptations. As the film begins, we see Tashi (Shawn Ku), a young man who has lived in a monastery all his life, emerging from three years of solitary meditation. Soon after, Tashi is drawn away from his religious pre-occupations by the glimpse of a woman's breast. Reasoning that even Buddha lived in the world before renouncing it, he goes to live in a nearby village and marries a local beauty (played by Christy Chung, Miss Chinese Montreal 1992 and former Mirror cover girl). However, events lead Tashi to question his choices, and he's torn between his new family and his spiritual commitments.

Set and shot in the Himalayas, The Samsara is a stunning movie, really otherworldly in its bleak beauty. It's a captivating depiction of a way of life very removed from time. (Not until three-quarters of the way through do we realize it's set in the present day.) And for a movie so concerned with the spiritual, it's surprisingly sexy. But at two-and-a-half hours, it's a little too long and not quite rewarding enough to sit through. Still, a very beautiful film in its own right.

Festival Express, The Samsara and Going the Distance open Friday, Aug. 20

>> Movie Listings