atellite Short-film Festival 2005

Press Release

VANCOUVER—Armadillos and Hybrid
Forms are on show in the Satellite Short-
Film Festival screening at Pacific
Cinémathéque on Wednesday, March 9.
This touring exhibition of films, put
together by Cineworks Independent
Filmmakérs’ Society, celebrates the short-
film form and features two distinct
programs showcasing filmmakers from
BC and around the world.

Hybrid Forms highlights the best in
contemporary, international, short-film
production. It offers a glimpse of new
trends and developments, with short films
combining different genres in creating
new and unclassifiable forms. This cos-
mopolitan line-up consists of films from
Germany, Great Britain, Taiwan, Sweden,
Iran and Cuba, and includes the MEDIA

New Talent-winning film from Cannes
last year, Love Me or Leave Me Alone.

Little Armadillos features some of
British Columbia’s most creative filmmak-
ing talents, each exploring themes dealing
with human relationships, belonging, mul-
ticulturalism, and statehood. All of the
films in this program have enjoyed con-
siderable festival success and together
they show the diversity and vitality of the
short-film format throughout — the
province. A number of the BC filmmak-
ers will be in attendance at the screening.

The Satellite Short-Film Festival is
being presented at venues throughout
southwestern’ BC, with the intention of
inspiring new filmmakers, to introduce
audiences to up-and-coming Canadian
directors, and to showcase the artistry and

possibilities inherent in the short-film for-
mat. It is presented by Cineworks
Independent Filmmakers’ Society with
support from the

Canadian Heritage Arts Presentation

Department of

Canada Program, the Province of British
Columbia—Ministry of Public Safety and
Solicitor General, and the National Film
Board of Canada.

The screening will take place Mar 9,
7:30pm at Pacific Cinémathéque, 1131
Howe Street, Vancouver. Special pricing
in effect, $6 Adult Single Bill/$10 Adult
Double Bill. Buy tickets online at
www.cinematheque.be.ca

For details of the full itinerary and
film descriptions, visit www.cineworks.ca

 

The Grappiest Piece of Grap in Craptown

Son of the Maska mess of pee jokes and slapstick

Asia Szkudlarek, The Gateway (University of Alberta)

 

March 2/2005

EDMONTON (CUP)—Charming! Fun!
Hysterically surprising! These are all
adjectives that a reviewer would like to
work with when writing a movie review,
because the thesaurus has more alterna-
tive words for “great” than it does for
“the worst cinematic failure of all time.”

But none of those delightful descrip-
tors could be attached to Son of the Mask,
one of those poor films banished to the
latter category.

Son of the Mask is the not-so-anticipat-
ed sequel to 1994’s The Mask, in which Jim
Carrey plays a mild-mannered bank clerk
who transforms himself into a rambunc-
tious alter ego by wearing an ancient mask
said to belong to Loki, the Norse god of
mischief. A decade later, the mysterious
artifact finds its way into the hands of
Tim Avery (Jamie Kennedy).

Tim’s a burnt-out animator looking for
his next big break while simultaneously
being pressured into having a kid with his
successful wife, Tonya (Traylor Howard).
Anxious to impress his boss, but with
nothing to wear to the office Halloween
party, Tim settles for an old mask that his
dog has dug up from a creek bank and
surprises his co-workers by turning into a
charming, cartoonish wild man. That
night, while still wearing the mask, Tim
opts for a healthy romp with Tonya,
which nine months later results in Alvey,

the Avery’s first son.

Not your ordinary baby, Alvey is
found to have inherited the naughty char-
acteristics of Loki, who throughout the
course of the movie is on a quest to
recover his lost mask. To make a long
story short, magical baby plus lost mask
multiplied by very pissed-off god equals,
apparently, “hilarious” consequences.

It’s a challenge to explain the many
things wrong with this production. Jamie
Kennedy’s performance, while amusing in
a quasi-cute way, will likely put a damper
on his reputation as Hollywood’s sarcasti-
cally sophisticated funny man.

While the movie is obviously targeted
towards your average seven- to 12-year-
olds, it makes lame attempts at adult wit
that, among the older demographic, will
likely achieve more eye rolling than gen-
uine chuckling. Combined with an
overabundance of fart jokes, pee inci-
dents, and slapstick humour, it’s no
wonder that Son of the Mask is less likely to
appeal to you and more likely to appeal to
your little sister or less-than-intelligent
frat buddy.

But perhaps best
described not in the words of an objective

the movie is

reporter, but by one of the movie’s own
lines, “This is the crappiest piece of crap
in Craptown!”

www.theotherpress.ca | 11