Upcoming Film Documents The Making Of A Rockstar’s Winery
January 22, 2010
“Blood Into Wine, the eagerly awaited documentary on Tool/Puscifer front man Maynard James Keenan and his vineyard partner Eric Glomskis mission to bring notoriety and respect to Northern Arizonas burgeoning wine industry, will premiere at the W Hotel in Scottsdale, AZ on Feb. 19 at 7:00 pm.
While the film focuses on Keenans winemaking, Blood Into Wine gives a larger picture of the often reclusive singer. Maynard is as mysterious and complex as rumored so we don’t know exactly why he allowed our cameras and questions into his world for the winemaking year of 2009, explains co-director Ryan Page.
“But once we got past his pitbulls and his crossbows we were surprised that Maynard was open with us challenging the perception of him as a celebrity winemaker and the notion that making wine in Arizona is like making wine on the moon. Maynard and Eric continue to surprise the winemaking world right now,” co-director Christopher Pomerenke adds.
Co-directed by Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke (Moog, The Heart is a Drum Machine), the documentary was shot using multiple Red One cameras, allowing cinematographer Cary Truelick to capture the craggy landscape surrounding Keenans vineyards in stunning detail. Editor Robert Beadle skillfully worked with over 200 hours of footage to help craft the story of two pioneer winemakers in an unforgiving region. Blood Into Wine was Produced by Chris “Topper” McDaniel, Ryan Page, Jason Stall, and Christopher Pomerenke.
Nationwide screenings will be announced shortly with a DVD release coming Spring 2010.Blood Into Wine will hold it’s red carpet World Premiere at the W Hotel in Scottsdale, AZ on Friday, February 19th 2010. Maynard and Eric will introduce the film along with Co-Directors Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke.”
National Film Board Of Canada Enters The 21st Century Online
January 22, 2010
Dig this. The National Film Board of Canada’s screening room has gone High-Def. You can now watch 17 films in HD, including the classic The Cat Came Back and the very Vancouver-centric Carts of Darkness, here. Click play above to watch A Day In Pacific Rim, a 1978 near silent short filmed outside Tofino. Awesome. Via Retro Thing:
Matthew Forsythe says, “What an amazing year it has been for the NFB. It’s been exactly one year since we launched the NFB Screening Room – we wanted to make the NFB more accessible to Canadians and the world and the response has been overwhelming and exceeded our expectations in every way.”
Their online library now includes almost 1,500 titles. The site has served 3.7 million online film views since launch, with 41% coming from outside Canada. All in all, a fantastic way to share a brilliant Canadian film collection with the world.
Click on the “standard quality” link in the embed player to switch to HD. Enjoy.
Score Double Passes To The New Denzel Flick, “The Book Of Eli”
January 13, 2010
Warner Bros. has given us a whole bunch of double passes to The Book of Eli to give away to our readers. The new post-apocalyptic action movie starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman looks pretty dang gnarly. To win, follow us on Twitter and keep a look out for our giveaway tweets, starting today.
Win Double Passes To “Invictus” Beginning Tonight On Twitter
December 10, 2009
A reminder to all of our readers following us on Twitter to keep their eyes peeled for the first of our Invictus trivia tweets tonight. Each winner will score a double pass to the film. We have plenty to give away, so if at first you don’t succeed, yada yada…
Score Free Double Passes To The Incredible Story Of “Invictus”
November 29, 2009
The story of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and his ascension to the South African presidency is well known. It was a feat bested only by his greatest accomplishment: steering the state through a period when the world was anticipating the country to dissolve into a terribly bloody, drawn-out and race-based civil war the likes of which would fittingly punctuate the close of Africa’s horrifying colonial experience. Fun stuff.
I was going to university in Cape Town when this was all going down. In 1995, it was still a pretty sketchy place to be (sorry Mom), and I, like everyone else in the country, took a moment to gasp and hold my breath when the new President arrived at Ellis Park field for an improbable Rugby World Cup final in Johannesburg.
The game – between the South African Springboks and the New Zealand All Blacks – went down as the most remarkable sporting event I’d ever witnessed before or since. I was positively glued. Only the Canucks beating the Leafs in the Stanley Cup final seems a suitable (if personal) emotional marker of compare (and just as unlikely).
The experiences that came with the day, still startlingly vivid in my memory, were more than just electrifying in the “I hope my team wins” kind of way. I knew I was witnessing moment after moment of tremendous significance for the embattled nation I’d temporarily adopted, ones that I would be able to tell my grandchildren about one day.
When South Africa won and the new “rainbow nation” remembered what euphoria felt like, Mandela strode out onto the field wearing a Springbok jersey, a loathesome symbol to all black South Africans, one that screamed of legislated and brutal Afrikaner oppression, but now – from that moment on – one that represented a country united. As Mandela (“Madiba”) handed the trophy to the Afrikaner captain of the Boks, Francois Pienaar, it felt like a chapter had closed, finally, and a new one had begun. It sealed the country’s affections for their new President, who most whites had once considered a “terrorist” and who’d only recently been freed after 27 years in prison on Robben Island. I know of no political masterstroke in history that even comes close in comparison. Today, still, the man makes Obama look like Chevy Chase.
There have been books and essays a-plenty written about that day, most notably John Carlin’s authorative “Playing The Enemy”, on which a new movie – and the subject of this post – is based. It’s called Invictus, and it stars Matt Damon as Pienaar and Morgan Freeman as Mandela (HD trailer above). The early reviews have been kickass.
Scout has many double passes to Invictus to give away, valid for the film’s run of engagement here in Vancouver. For those of you following us on Twitter, keep your eyes peeled for ticket tweets.
PS. For extra goosebumps, watch the clip after the leap that shows the footage from the day of which I’ve been writing, including the moment of the victory, the trophy presentation with Mandela and Pienaar, and the crowd cheering as the traditional African folksong Shosholoza plays after the victory…plus a mini documentary on the same subject narrated by none other than Morgan Freeman…Amandla! Read more
New Restaurant Comedy Not Exactly A Recruitment Drive…
November 6, 2009
Sigh. When are we going to get our own Top Gun?
Scout Presents Advance Reveal Of “Where The Wild Things Are”
October 2, 2009
At 7pm on October 14th, two days before the world premiere, Scout, Jack FM, and The Georgia Straight will present an advance screening of the highly anticipated Spike Jonze film adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s timeless children’s book, Where The Wild Things Are.
For our dear readers, we have a whole bunch of double passes to give away, starting tonight. Check after the leap for details and the trailer… Read more
Score A Double Pass To Watch Matt Damon In “The Informant!”
September 30, 2009
We are giving away double passes to The Informant! to ten subscribers of “The Dope”, our super extra double cool weekly newsletter. Our readers are a cultured lot, so just tell us (in the comments) the name of the composer whose music plays at the start of the trailer. If your email address matches the one that you subscribed with and you’re one of the first ten to do so – bingo – you win. If you haven’t yet signed up, then this would be the very definition of an opportune time.
Watch/listen to the trailer and comment after the leap… Read more
Facebook Film Gets Green Light, Will Star Justin Timberlake…
September 28, 2009
I’m having a very hard time believing this, but it’s no joke. From the seldom referred-to Scout Department of Oh Hell No comes terrifying news that a dramatic, feature length film about the formation of Facebook has been greenlit by Columbia Pictures. For real. David Fincher will direct “The Social Network”, written by Aaron Sorkin, the wordsmith behind the multi-Emmy winning series,”The West Wing”. Variety has details on the cast:
Jesse Eisenberg will play founder Mark Zuckerberg, Justin Timberlake will play Sean Parker, the Napster co-founder who became Facebook’s founding president, and Andrew Garfield will play Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook co-founder who fell out with Zuckerberg as the social network became a financial juggernaut.
Sounds like a romantic comedy.
“Tron” Sequel Set To Spawn New Generation of Virgin Nerds…
July 26, 2009
Feast your eyes (and pre-pubescent memories) on the trailer for the long awaited Tron: Legacy. The movie – due in 2010 – is a sequel to the 1982 sci-fi cult classic film Tron. Bonus: not only do light cycles make a reappearance, it also stars Jeff Bridges. Yup, The Dude is reprising his role (28 years later!) as Kevin Flynn (makes me really wanna nerd it up, maybe break out my Monster Manual and my 24-sided dice).
Watch the trailer to the original after the jump. Read more
