Posts Tagged "montréal"

Science Friction: A home-grown Montreal sci-fi

Posted by Alex on 23 Jan, 2013 in Movie Reviews | 0 comments

“Science Friction” (2013, Canada) – Director Liam P Kiernan – sciencefrictionthemovie.com

“Science Friction” is a movie I really wanted to like. When I was invited to the first ever screening of a new Montreal-made sci-fi movie I was very excited. The trailer promised tense drama with lots of action and other-worldly happenings – an asteroid slowing as it approaches the earth; a glowing sphere, arcing with energy; a strange figure in a diving suit wandering through a cave; explosions, blood, and fire.

The narrative of the movie concerns reluctant projectionist Jack, who is tricked into chauffeuring three girls on a drug run across the Mexican border. Deep in the Mexican woods (which look suspiciously like Quebec, but that’s forgivable!), they take a wrong turn and find themselves in trouble, stranded by a dilapidated old house. Inside lives a crazed old man, Billy, and an alien presence lurks in the caves below.

The ideas underlying the narrative are clever: the alien compels each character to each face the demons of their past, to conquer the guilt that is, as one beautiful line of dialogue describes it, “tattooed upon their souls”. Flashbacks and smart Tarantino-style time jumps are used to convey backstory with good effect, and I enjoyed being left with a puzzle to piece together.

Unfortunately, the movie

The English des Québécois

Posted by Alex on 21 Apr, 2012 in Canada | 81 comments

Next Cash Please

Since I moved here three years ago, I’ve been intrigued to listen to the way Montréalers speak. I’ve previously written about my experiences living in a bilingual city, and the bizarre experience of conversations switching back and forth between languages effortlessly.

As a settled Montrealer, having grown in confidence and ability with my French, I find myself doing it too, especially since I started my current job – where the staff are mostly francophones but the business is mostly in English. Most of my daily conversations involve a hybrid of French and English to some degree.

But what I find quite unique is the experience of being in a linguistic minority.

Ten things I miss about Montreal

Posted by Alex on 11 Jan, 2012 in Canada, Lifenotes | 1 comment

My strange start to 2012 has given me plenty of perspective on my life, as well as helping me to learn what’s important in my life, it’s also helping me to figure out what things I value. Which brings me to this, ten things I miss about Montreal, in descending order of importance:

1. Movie night and all my movie night friends
2. The Writers’ Bloc writers group where i get my fortnightly writer’s kick.
3. Working face to face with my coworkers

Fascinating video montage of Montreal in the 60’s

Posted by Alex on 2 Mar, 2011 in My Stream | 0 comments

If boiling water freezes in mid-air, does that mean it’s a cold day?

Posted by Alex on 23 Jan, 2011 in Video Creations | 0 comments

I recorded this video today with my new Panasonic HDC-TM60 camcorder and edited it with iMovie.

Update:

This was picked up by the Montreal Gazette, they came and photographed me and recorded some new video footage which they put on their website here. I was even featured on their front page!