This Friday sees the release of the much anticipated superhero epic Watchman. For those of you who just can't wait until Friday to see the most acclaimed comic book series of all time adapted to the big screen, the AMC Kanata and the Silver City Gloucester are having midnight screenings Thursday night. (Take note: the film is nearly three hours long; meaning you'll be crawling into bed only a handful of hours before it's time to get up and head to work.)

I've been to several midnight screenings of films of this sort, and the experience has been mixed. Watching Brian Singer's original X-Men film at the stroke of midnight in the theatre full of geeks clutching to their chests the free comic books handed out beforehand was a blast. But watching this summer's X-Files: I Want to Believe in a three-quarter empty theatre on a cold, rainy night was nearly as dismal as the film itself.

Still... everyone deserves to see a midnight movie at some point in their lives, and I think Watchmen is going to surprise a lot of people. With Ironman, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II, the Dark Knight, and now Watchmen all being released this year, we're undeniably in the golden age of superhero cinema. Let's celebrate while it lasts!

Art: There is a free screening of recent works by Wyn Geleynse tonight at Club SAW, Arts Court Building, 67 Nicholas Street. It starts at 7:30 p.m., and it's part of the exhibition Mannish, which is on the Ottawa Art Gallery until March 29. After that, head down to La Petit Mort Gallery (306 Cumberland) between 7 and 10 p.m. for a One Night Stand with new works by Kara Williams.

Cinema: If you really hate yourself, I assume you're going to see Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience. Otherwise you're catching up on Oscar fare or hitting the Bytowne to see either Ce qu'il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life) or Che: Part One. 

Music/Spoken word: Tonight's also the inaugural edition of the capital's newest annual multi-arts showcase, Scribology. It's an annual spoken word/music concert series, and it's on at Library and Archives Canada Auditorium, 395 Wellington St at 7 p.m. Doors open at six. Tickets cost money (don't ask me, they only listed the advance price, and clearly you're not buying in advance now). If you're into the Young Griot Collective, the Kalumnity Vibe Collective, or The Fugitives, this would be your chance to see them. 

Blindness and Passchendaele are among the finalists for the Writers Guild of Canada's Screenwriting Awards. I think I may have made my feelings about Passchendaele known previously (oh, yes I did), so let's move on to Blindness. Okay, seriously? Am I the only person who saw this movie (besides the two people I went with to the Bytowne?)? It's among the worst I've ever seen. It's so "arty"  (read: unnecessary, distracting lighting choices) and "gritty" (read: unnecessary, sickening scenes), and the entire point? I don't have a clue because the movie decided not to make one. I understand that in the novel blindness is a metaphor for the breakdown of communication in modern society, but believe me when I tell you that that does not come across in the movie.

With the release of Zack Snyder's Watchmen film only two weeks away, comic book critic Tom Spurgeon has written an article, "Reading the Watchmen: Ten Entrance Points into the Esteemed Graphic Novel", in which he outlines ten different ways for readers to approach the original comic book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Spurgeon's list includes reading Watchmen as:  a murder mystery, a liminal experience, a love story, and commentary on superheroes.

The article is an excellent example not only of the multiplicity of meaning to be found within Watchmen, but of literary critical theory being practiced.

Danny Boyle's underdog hit Slumdog Millionaire was the big winner at last night's Academy Awards Ceremony, bringing home eight awards, including best picture and best director.

Despite the trepidations expressed by people like Steve Dominey, Hugh Jackman proved himself an excellent host, dancing and singing his way through the ceremony with a charming smile on his face that was totally free from the smug, ironic, distanced cynicism hosts like David Letterman and Jon Stewart brought to the proceedings in past years.

As expected, Heath Ledger was awarded the Oscar for best supporting actor, but the show's highlight came early in the night when an impossibly young looking Dustin Lance Black delivered his acceptance speech for Milk's best original screenplay win.  Black said:

Today marks the ten-year anniversary of film critic Gene Siskel's death.

 

Siskel first teamed with fellow Chicago Sun-Times contributor Roger Ebert in 1975 for a local movie criticism television series. Their "thumbs-up, thumbs-down" method of review quickly became part of the cultural lexicon, and the duo moved to national syndication and mass recognition.

We've finally hit that mid-winter wall where literally nothing of interest is coming out in theatres. Which is fine, really, given that it's mid-winter, and I can see even more snow coming down as I type this. So, you've got options:

 If you do want to go out, Dan Campbell has a one night only exhibit from 7-10 pm tonight at La Petite Mort Gallery (306 Cumberland). As Campbell explains, "I try to show the human body and the emotions it conveys in as simple and striking way I can, being high contrast. Contrast in the shapes and colours, but also with the sharp lines of the subjects on the hand weathered and distressed backgrounds where they find themselves." 

 If you only want to go as far as your local video store, do yourself a favour and pick up Zombie Strippers!. I cannot recommend this little parody enough. Strippers become zombies, which makes them super-strippers, so no one cares when they start eating the patrons. If you don't laugh at the rapid-fire patter between the soldiers in the opening minutes, I don't know what to do with you. 

It's Oscar weekend ladies and gentlemen; also known as Christmas for Movie Geeks - a full weekend where the world-at-large obsesses over all things Hollywood!

Didn't get invited to an Oscar party this year? Interested in seeing the 81st Academy Awards on the big screen?

I love Tomato Nation for a variety of reasons (the Vine, movie reviews, true crime novel obsession), but I mostly just love it for the writing. Sars (a.k.a. Sarah D. Bunting) has this great no bullshit attitude that's witty and honest and sometimes quite moving. She's a feminist, a couch potato, and a pop culture junkie, which makes her my kind of people. More importantly, she and other fantastic peeps (many from her Television Without Pity days, and did I mention she co-founded that site, too?) are tackling The Crushed Film Festival. What are they writing about? The shitty movies they watch just to see a favourite hottie. Aw, who hasn't been there?

Actually, if you'd rather read something than go out (not that these things take a equivalent time, mind, but it's a starting point), I'd recommend the latest entry in "The New Cult Canon:" The Limey. Scott Tobias' weekly feature rocks my world anyway, but this entry especially vibrates with a love of film. It's the kind of writing that gets you excited to see the movie, listen to the track, and then go back to see if you really agree with Tobias. He's just on. 

There's not much to see this weekend, so it might be a good time to catch up on other stuff. Waltz with Bashir, for example, is still playing at the Bytowne, and I can now tell you that it's pretty good. If you are looking for something new, why not check out The International? What seemed like ridiculous hysteria when the trailer came out last summer now seems relevant, doesn't it? Banks are evil. They will apparently use an ATM to murder you or something.

The Genie nominations were announced yesterday, and normally I have little to say about them because I see so few Canadian films (boo hiss, I know). Ce qu'il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life) is playing at the Bytowne later this month, and, as thoroughly depressing as it looks, I'll see that. But my real quibble: six nominations for Passchendaele. Six? Are they kidding me with that? Did anyone else see that movie? It's not good, people. It starts out jarring (good), then it moves to Canada for an extended period (still good), then it goes back to the war (expected, given the title), then it gets briefly sexy (v. good), and then it gets all crazy operatic and over the top to the point of embarrassment. No, really, I was embarrassed for Paul Gross. But the time you get to the slow pan . . . ugh. Couldn't we have nominated, I don't know, Just Buried instead?

Another foreign language nominee opens this weekend at the Bytowne: Waltz with Bashir. Who likes their war movies animated? The Academy! (We guess)

The fine folks over at the Bytowne are opening Entre les murs (The Class) tonight, France's official competitor Best Foreign Language Film this year. It's already beat out Canada's longlisted title, Ce qu'il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life), which opens at the Bytowne later this month. January's a cinematic wasteland, so I'd suggest that you jump at the chance to get caught up on something worth seeing.