Judgement Day (Special Edition) – 33rd Annual Atlantic Film Festival: Opening Night Gala!!

It’s hard to believe, but its September and the leaves are changing colour once again, making way for fall and eventually winter. The month of September is my favourite time of year for many reasons: my birthday (9/8), the beginning of my favourite season, and most of all, the promise of another fantastic week at the Atlantic Film Festival.

As a regular patron of the festival, I always buy a festival pass so that I have freedom to see as many films as I want to, and to change my mind about screenings as I go. (For anyone that has never experienced four or five film screenings in near back-to-back succession, you would be surprised how very exhausting it can be!)

I also have been known to temporarily swear-off the Opening Gala film, as it is the one screening that a festival pass is not good for. On top of that, the screening always costs a significant amount more than a regular screening, with or without the added price of attending the swanky after party.

That being said, I like to think I’m a fair fellow, and while this article may, thus far, seem like a gripe-fest, I admit that as an AFF regular I see the dozens and dozens of festival employees and volunteers who pour their hearts and souls into our ever-growing celebration of film. I see the screenings that are attended by only a few, lucky individuals and all of the beautiful design work that goes into each years visuals; the program guide, the projections and posters and advertisements. The frugal film fan in me has to take a back seat to the business-minded me that my career has developed and I realize how much it makes sense to have a higher ticket price on a sure-to-sell-out screening (this year, in three theatres simultaneously) in order to continue offering all of the less popular, less glitzy moments that make the festival such a diamond to behold. It’s truly a pleasure to support a cause that has brought me such happiness and inspiration every year since I moved to my fair Halifax some thirteen years ago, and (as long as the film interests me) I always suck it up, attend the opening night film, and have yet to ever be disappointed.

Judgement Day (Special Edition): 2nd Annual Out East Queer Film Festival (Halifax N.S.)

The 2nd annual Out East Queer Film Festival was held from June 20th to 23rd at the Neptune Studio Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Last year I wasn’t able to attend, but after catching a bit of the Inside Out Film Festival when I visited Toronto this past May, I decided that I would try and take in as much of OutEast this year as I could, and that equated to pretty much all of it! My bestie (Heather) and I, purchased an AllOut Festival Pass (granting access to all events and screenings) and set out on a weekend-long journey through a wide-range of LGBTI cinema!

It was an exciting and action-packed, but still delightfully intimate affair. In addition to movies, there were champagne toasts, disco dance parties, art exhibits, retro dance nights, a Big Gay Prom, extremely dreamy visiting artists (who also sang Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey songs), pink popcorn, a festival-exclusive hanky code and an awards brunch. All of this, squished into four humid days in downtown Halifax!

As for the films, they consisted of mostly documentaries this year, three straight-up docs, one explicit doc/drama hybrid, a program of shorts, and a hilarious teen comedy.

More on each of the feature films screened at the festival, after the jump…

Judgement Day (Special Edition): Atlantic Film Festival 2012 pt. 2

The 32nd annual Atlantic Film Festival here in Halifax, Nova Scotia, came to a close on September 20th! I’ve seen loads of wonderful films and over the next week or two I’ll be continuing to post my thoughts on all of the screenings I took in! Along with a written review of each screening, the Pop Gods will also decide if each film should be allowed passage into Pop Heaven, banished to Pop Hell or forgotten about in the dreary fogs of Pop Limbo (arguably the worst fate of all, as at least those who go to Pop Hell have made a lasting impression!)

On my second night at the festival, I set out to take in a total of five screenings starting at 2:00pm and finishing up by 2:00am! In a moment of Deja Vu, I totally wussed out of the late night screening yet again due to sheer exhaustion, but I did take in four very different and very cool films. One dark and moody piece from Atlantic Canada, a documentary on the Disco era, a charming coming-of-age piece about acting your age and a somewhat oddball comedy about a gay man and his female best friend trying to make a baby the “old fashioned” way.

More on each of these films, after the jump…

Judgement Day (Special Edition): Atlantic Film Festival 2012 pt. 1

While I have yet to post much about my love of film on the blog since starting it last November, I have always wanted PopMessiah.com to be about popular culture at large and not just popular music. In realizing a goal I have had over the last few years (but have yet to actually achieve), I present the first of many posts to come this week reviewing the films I’ll be catching at the 32nd annual Atlantic Film Festival here in Halifax, Nova Scotia (running September 13th to 20th)!

In my first night at the festival, I set out to take in three screenings, but since I’m an old man now it seems I’m not cut out for the late nights like I used to be, so I ended up skipping the midnight screening of Jennifer Lynch’s “Chained.” Along with a written review of each screening I did take in, the Pop Gods will also decide if each film should be allowed passage into Pop Heaven, banished to Pop Hell or forgotten about in the uncertainty of Pop Limbo (arguably the worst fate of all…)