Richard Leacock, 1921-2011

Cinematographer, editor and pioneer of cinéma vérité, Richard Leacock, passed away yesterday. His work spanned seven decades, including the seminal Monterey Pop which captured the groundbreaking rock festival of June 1967, directed by long-time collaborator and friend, D.A. Pennebaker. The film laid the way for all concert docs to follow including Woodstock.

Vérité is simply fly-on-the-wall documentary filmmaking where the camera observes the action without commentary or the presence of the filmmaker. Leacock helped create this style along with director Robert Drew as they discuss in this clip.

Recommended reading:
The Feeling of Being There - the Autobiography of Ricky Leacock (excerpt)
The Real Thing: Filmmaker Richard Leacock

From Monterey Pop:

TIFF Celebrates the Juno Awards

The JUNO Awards at 40: Celebrating Canadian Music on Film

In celebration of the return of the JUNO Awards to Toronto, TIFF Bell Lightbox is hosting a full week of rock docs celebrating Canadian musicians. **** indicates my person picks:

Neil Young: Heart of Gold, Jonathan Demme ****

Introduced by JUNO Award-nominated recording artists Suzie McNeil and Emm Gryner.

Sunday, March 20 at 7:00 p.m.

This Movie is Broken, Bruce McDonald

Introduced by Stuart Berman, author of This Book Is Broken.

Sunday, March 20 at 9:45 p.m.

Look at What the Light Did Now, Anthony Seck

Introduced by Stuart Berman, author of This Book Is Broken.

Monday, March 21 at 7:00 p.m.

Music from the Big House, Bruce McDonald

Introduced with a performance by Rita Chiarelli.

Monday, March 21 at 9:45 p.m.

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, François Girard

Introduced by Brian Levine, Executive Director, Glenn Gould Foundation with a special performance by pianist Claudia Chan.

Tuesday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m.

Hard Core Logo, Bruce McDonald ****

Tuesday, March 22 at 9:45 p.m.

Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen

Introduced by directors and Juno Award winners Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen

Wednesday, March 23 at 9:45 p.m.

Escarpment Blues, Andy Keen ****

Introduced by director Andy Keen and JUNO Award winner Sarah Harmer.

Thursday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m.

Festival Express, Bob Smeaton ****

Introduced by legendary concert promoter and music publicist Richard Flohil, joined on stage by Garth Douglas, Executive Producer of Festival Express.

Thursday, March 24 at 9:45 p.m.

Oscar Peterson: Keeping the Groove Alive (with short Begone Dull Care), Ron Allen

Introduced by Kelly Peterson and with performance by JUNO Award nominee Robi Botos

Friday, March 25 at 7:00 p.m.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil, Sacha Gervasi ****

Introduced by 102.1 The Edge’s Alan Cross and special guests.

Friday, March 25 at 9:45 p.m.

Blue Rodeo: In Stereovision, Ron Mann

Introduced by Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor.

Saturday, March 26 at 7:00 p.m.

Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man, Lian Lunson ****

Introduced by JUNO Award winner Amelia Curran and video introduction by CBC’s Peter Mansbridge.

Saturday, March 26 at 9:45 p.m.

For tickets & further info click.

Funkytown

Now playing in theatres is an ambitious anthology of stories centering on the Starlight, a Montreal disco, North America's first in the seventies. Directed by Daniel Roby (his Peau Blanche is a wickedly clever vampire picture), Funkytown takes audiences from 1976 through 1980 against the backdrop of Quebec separatism, the rise of gay rights, the proliferation of hard street drugs, and the invasion of shag carpeting. There's also a constant stream of disco that acts like a pulse in the lives of nine Montrealers, such as the eponymous 1980 hit by Lipps Inc:

The strongest story belongs to Bastien, the haughty MC of a Quebecois disco show who falls for Adriana (top), an opportunistic bimbo, and loses his wife, daughter and soul.


Bastien spirals into a vortex of booze and drugs, a familiar tale which is rather heavy-handed (drugs are bad, kids). However, Patrick Huard (Bon Cop, Bad Cop) delivers a super performance that holds this sprawling film together.

Another highlight is Raymond Bouchard who perfectly plays Gilles, the veteran, sleazy record producer who bullies his son, the owner of the disco, and steals Adriana from Bastien. Less convincing is Tino, a superb dancer who hails from macho Little Italy but denies that he's gay, even as he's opening his back door to co-host Jonathan (an impressive Paul Doucet). Tino's story is compelling, but Justin Chatwin is miscast and never looks comfortable. The same can be said of Sarah Mutch who certainly looks like a hot model, but can't act.

Loosely based on real characters and a real disco, Funkytown crackles with energy throughout, though it struggles to tie all the storylines together towards the end. In this sense Funkytown recalls 1996's marvellous Boogie Night, another Altmanesque take on the disco age, but the former resonates to Canadians because of the issue of separatism humming in the background like a bassline in a Donna Summer tune. Vive le disco.

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector [film review & director interview]

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector
Directed by Vikram Jayanti

Review & interview by Allan Tong

There's a moment in this film where Phil Spector discusses John Lennon's assassin, but he could be describing himself: a madman who is so "out of it" that he callously takes another life. It's a chilling moment uttered by a deranged man who's now serving hard time for killing B-movie actress Lana Clarkson in his secluded L.A. mansion in 2003.

Spector, of course, is the legendary record producer who built the "wall of sound," constructing Wagnerian pop symphonies for the Righteous Brothers ("You've Lost That Loving Feeling"), Tina Turner ("River Deep, Mountain High"), the Ronettes ("Be My Baby") and ex-Beatles John and George. Spector is also famous for his guns and violent paranoia.... [click to read more at Exclaim! magazine]