I’m going to need Reed Farrington to re-translate this shit back into English to assure accuracy. Until then, enjoy Klenginem: the Klingon Eminem. Thanks to Charlotte for the heads up on this one.

Thankfully, I’ve had this episode of Cantankerous on hold for a while now, in case of emergencies and such. With Sean in Japan and no Film Junk podcast for this week, I thought it might be a good idea to break the glass and pull the Reed Alarm (a sound so obnoxious it will drive even the most jaded businessmen fleeing out of an office building, fire or not). This week Reed talks about his watermelon popsicles, Beatles rock band, a clogged urethra and the death of MJ, among other things.

It’s time to sit back, remove your pants and light your face on fire. Cantankerous, Episode #9, is here to stay.

NOTE: Unfortunately, I do not have the technical skills to update our many Cantankerous feeds, so until Sean returns from Japan, you will have to simply download the mp3 below. Thanks for your patience dudes.

Download the MP3 (63MB)
Cantankerous Archives

Subscribe to the podcast feed:

Guess what. The trailer for Toy Story 3 is online. I looked at it with my eyes and have come to the conclusion that there is absolutely nothing to say about it. I enjoyed Toy Story 1 and 2 (2 was better) and I imagine I will see part 3, but I find it funny that Pixar seems to be immune to all of the usual hostility thrown at frivolous sequels. I mean, really? We need a Toy Story 3? When talk of a District 9 follow up started floating around the blogo-gine, people stomped their feet in protest, deeming such an act as an unnecessary cash grab that would ultimately detract from the original. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather spend more time exploring Blomkamp’s futuristic Johannesburg then Andy’s college dorm room.

That aside, the colours are bright as usual and Randy Newman’s voice is a tender reminder that I Love LA. Is this shit in 3D? I bet it is. Kiss all of those beautiful colours goodbye my friends. Hopefully our local theatres offer a 2D option on this one. I still think the human characters look like real dolls, even if they might contain more polygons in their eyebrow hairs this time around. On the plus side, I think the original characters might retain enough charm to bring something worthwhile to the screen, as long as Joan Cusack doesn’t shit the bed with another buzzkill song about her debilitating case of separation anxiety. Pixar, I don’t even have to see the film to say ‘you’ve done it again’! Check out the trailer below:

I’ll just come clean right off the top here and admit that this was my first time watching D.A. Pennebaker’s Monterey Pop and although it’s definitely a great film, it’s probably my least favourite of the three big music festival documentaries to come out of the late sixties/early seventies. There’s something about the grandiose cluster-fuck nature of Woodstock that appealed to me — along with the split screens of course — and Gimme Shelter’s cynicism was the perfect end to the short lived era of ‘Peace and Love’. I think the thing that drops Monterey Pop down a notch or two is the fact that it’s too devoted to the performances; an accusation that is obviously a personal one, as I would imagine most people watching this film are hoping for exactly that. Perosnally, I’m more interested in the logistics of the festival and the people who attend it, and although the film does touch upon this, it’s so secondary that it takes up a fraction of the already short 79 minute running time.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s too easy to write off Harmony Korine’s latest film as mere artsy fartsy film school bullshit. I’m the first to call foul on the self-indulgent and pretentious tendencies of some filmmakers, but there’s a fine line between art and shart (shit+fart), and Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers tap dances its way right down the middle, eliciting a wide arrange of emotional responses from those who are willing to embrace the outright chaotic VHS aesthetics.

Trash Humpers made its trash humping world premiere at the Scotiabank Theatre to a partially unsuspecting Toronto International Film Festival crowd. Luckily, Harmony Korine was in attendance and was sure to warn the masses that if they were ‘prone to walkouts’, they might as well do so immediately; a comment that was likely more sincere than the chuckling audience had thought. He then provided a bit of a preface to what we were about to see, insisting that Trash Humpers isn’t so much a movie but rather an artifact of sorts. A fictional piece of found footage that one might come across at a garage sale or discover stashed away in the closet of an abandoned old house. I guess the easiest comparison would be The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield meets Jackass, but I’m more reminded of the period in the 90’s when it seemed like every TV news magazine show featured stories of wild teens going on crazy paintballing, mailbox smashing, home invading rampages, all caught on home video! It was under this premise that I felt Trash Humpers retained its credibility as something beyond a shitty art film. While it’s certainly not accessible in any fashion, it does have its moments of humour, sadness and pure creepiness.

Read the rest of this entry »

The fact that Jacques Tati’s Play Time flopped financially and bankrupted its director into never making a film again is proof that pushing the boundaries of what a film can look like and how it can make you feel requires a bit of risk taking and perhaps, even a bit of an ego. In 1968, Play Time was a film that nobody seemed to want, but Tati had the urge to tell the story (or non-story) and ended burying himself in the process. I suppose that’s what artists need to do sometimes. It’s too bad it has taken all of these years for this masterpiece to finally be recognized as the achievement in fimmaking it truly is.

It’s important to note that I went into Play Time with little to no knowledge of what the film was about or the history of the production. I knew it had comedic elements and I was aware of Jacques Tati’s re-occuring role as Monsieur Hulot; a clumsily endearing, mostly silent, possible prototype for Rowan Atkinson’s Mr.Bean. While Tati’s previous films focused on Hulot, Play Time uses him in moderation. He is one member in a cast of dozens whose motivations and actions are ultimately driven by the “modern” architecture and technology that surrounds them. Paris has been paved over and metallized. Any signs of the old world exist only in the form of tourist souvenirs and brief reflections in the constantly opening and closing ultra-chic pane glass doorways.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cantankerous is an irregular podcast where Jay and Reed Farrington get together to bicker and pick each other’s brains about such random topics as philosophy, science, and Reed’s obsessive collecting.

It’s that time again! What a wonderful treat! Cantankerous #8! I just checked the archives to find out when our first show was recorded: December 2007. We’ve done 8 episodes — INCLUDING the video special — in almost a year and a half! That’s gotta be some sort of record for the least prolific podcast on the internet. Anyways, it’s time to get down to business. This week/month/year we talk about, among other things, Reed’s physical deformities, the benefits of plastic surgery, the best way to preserve Star Trek waffles and Reed tries to figure out why Asian people’s eyes are the way they are. Stimulating, yes? Go ahead and give’r a listen and let us know you’re thirsty for more!

Download the MP3 (80MB)
Cantankerous Archives

Subscribe to the podcast feed:

It’s way overdue, but our short film project ‘Colore Non Vedenti’ is now officially complete and online! What started off as a ten minute Film Junk short for Halloween of ‘08 slowly grew into something a little bigger than expected, resulting in a months long process that was definitely a fun learning experience. A big thanks to all of those who helped get this thing finished — be sure to read the end credits! — and a big thanks to the Film Junkies who waited patiently for this to finally come to fruition! I hope you guys enjoy it. You can check out the final film embedded below or head to www.colorenonvedenti.com, where you’ll also find multiple commentary tracks — featuring Jay, Sean, Reed (Gerry), Tom Baychuck, Roman and star David Tompa — and some behind the scenes video diaries! This whole thing was basically an exercise in no-budget filmmaking that gave us an opportunity to be creative and experiment, and I love the idea of throwing these things up online for everyone to see. I hope you enjoy!

I’ve been meaning to remedy my ignorance when it comes to the work of Roman Polanski. For some reason, I’ve never really gotten past his ‘hits’ and explored any of his earlier works like Knife in the Water or The Tenant. Thanks to the Criterion Collection’s recent blu ray release of ‘Repulsion’, Polanski is, in my eyes, no longer simply the old cop guy from Rush Hour 3.

I’m not even sure what Polanski is ‘known for’. Wait…let me ammend that. I do know what he’s known for. I’m not sure what Polanski is known for in regards to the themes and stylistic choices prevalant in his film work. I have read about such things, but I haven’t seen enough of his films to formulate my own opinion on what makes a Polanski film a Polanski film. However, I’m not a complete idiot. I have seen Rosemary’s Baby and it’s pretty clear that Repulsion is culled from the same brand of suspense driven surrealism. For starters, they even both have female leads! (An observation I made completely on my own, independent of any online research.) In Repulsion, the majestic Catherine Deneuve plays Carol; a quiet and repressed young beauty salon assistant that seems unusually shy and clearly has some issues with intimacy. Her constant day dreaming results in a number of unhappy snooty clients and simply makes her look like a total flake. When Carol’s sister decides to head out of town with her boyfriend, she’s left alone; a helpless French girl in London dealing with her building anxieties as the walls literally start to crack and cave in around her.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s easy to forget how much of an accomplishment the Apollo moon missions were. Looking back on it now, it seems like the entire event is represented by the same over-saturated stock clips and sound bytes, robbing it of any sense of passion, adventure or danger. Let’s just think about this for a second; these men were strapping themselves to the end of a 36 story rocket and being shot into space…in the 60’s. The moon landing pre-dated the invention of the VCR. If I have yet to blow your mind, Al Reinhert’s For All Mankind might just do the trick.

Although there’s been a recent boom in space documentaries, For All Mankind was one of the first that took the steps to revisit the hundreds of hours of NASA footage filmed by the astronauts throughout the moon missions. The result is a stunning collection of never-before-seen images that give audiences a whole new perspective on the Apollo missions, ranging from the awe of space or the flight control room minutia. Some of the most interesting images come from camera angles initially created for the single purpose of observation by project engineers. It was Reinert’s good sense of visual storytelling that convinced NASA that this footage, previously considered uninteresting to the general public, actually contained an element of beauty worth sharing with audiences.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was already sold on the idea of a Quentin Tarantino WW2 film, but after the release of the second trailer for Inglourious Basterds, I’m even more solder! This time around we get a little more info on the plot and a good look at Mike Myers in full on Brit mode. Am I the only person who is actually happy he’s in this film? I’m also totally down with Brad Pitt’s characterization and I’m totally fine with the little I’ve seen of Eli Roth. He seems to be holding his own here.

The thing that excites me the most is the idea of the climax (I’m assuming it’s the climax) taking place at a movie premiere. It looks to be Tarantino channeling Brian DePalma at his best. I seriously love a good set piece. One that totally indulges in the geography of the scene and analyzes every single detail. Also, the X-Ray vision bomb shot speaks volumes and excites me to no end. Check it out and share your thoughts in the comments!

It’s that time again! This week’s Weird Web Wednesday © is dedicated to all of those people out there who have put up with whining, screaming, crying children ruining dining experiences and disrupting movie theatres the world over. That’s right; it’s time that the kids get theirs. We’ve got some falling, head hitting and christmas prank goodness! Also, in honour of Father’s Day, we’ve got some wonderful video’s of someone’s Dad’s homemade music videos. We may not shower him with praise, nor mention his name in song. And sometimes it seems that we forget the joy he spreads as he goes along. But it doesn’t mean that we don’t know the wonderful role that he has had. And away down deep in every heart there’s a place that is just for…Weird Web Wednesdays©, only on Film Junk®!!!

Xbox Xmas Prank

Read the rest of this entry »