(BTW, as I type, I wish there was a way to make myspace playslists so I can listen continually without calling up that window and clicking all the darn time).

Anyway, here’s a few pics. This is me with Cathy Falkner, filmmaker David Vaisbord and Sheril Gelmon. Man, his hair is getting fabulous, like some movie star in a cartoon. Notice I took one more kick at the “I fuck the man” / Monkey Warfare t-shirt can.

Alright, moving along, I’m tiring of the blog life, let’s get this over with! Let’s show you just how much FUN this party was. FUN FUN FUN!

This is Suzanne Ward, who assisted with video setup at the opening and closing VIFF galas. She is clearly having too much fun!

That machine was making enough smoke to scare people away. I wish i had got video of the wafting dance that Suzanne and i had to do to spread the smoke around… it was hilarious to us at least. We almost fell over, from the combo of the actual tricky wafting dance itself, with our laughter, plus the free booze.

Alright, it was a great party, the Rocky Mountaineer is a great space (it’s a big cavernous room but there are a few surprising nook and crannies which make a party interesting). I’m glad the VIFF is over, simply so I can get some rest, although I only saw 5 films (and I think two of them were Monkey Warfare, since I was doing Q & A). Dang, it’s hard to watch media while you’re too busy making it.

Le Petit Lieutenant was my favourite film this year. It’s a classic policier, with good character drama, an interesting murder investigation, and procedural shenanigans. I liked it when the rookie cop in homicide walked down to the narcotics office and found them playing with seized AK-47′s, drinking and taking pictures. Jalil Lespert is a new cop, fresh from the provinces, excited to hit the Paris streets, but leaving behind a hot, loving wife who wants to keep her old job instead of following his.

Nathalie Baye is absolutely amazing as the ex-alcoholic commanding officer. Her performance is very subtle, without the cigar-chomping that American cop bosses need to engage in. She takes command of crime scenes simply by her strong presence, and she has a relationship sub-plot that feels very real and intense. Lespert is good in his modern, charming French way, not like a gimmicky Jean-Paul Belmondo cool but smoother and more earnest. I really like his choices; the cocky, drunken bar scene is particularly good in relation to his more serious moments. He’s a versatile dude.

There’s also some politics – the mystery evolves among homeless immigrants, there’s a bar (!) in the police station that cranks up the alcohol issues, and one of Lespert’s co-workers is often singled out for being Muslim (France has like a million muslims). As I’m writing this it sounds maybe like art-film formulaism but it really was a lovely flick. It’s all in the mise-en-scene, the chemistry between the performers, and the shooting / editing choices, all made with an understated realism and style that really made me happy after seeing, for instance, Lenz, the Swiss / German drama which played too heavily on the hand-held-camera / improv / documentary thing, i.e. creative gambling, rather than sticking to a clear vision.

The party was at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Georgia in the main ballroom. This picture is Cathy Falkner with Sandy Buck. Sandy planned the whole event which is an insanely big job. Cathy was helping do the decoration on the night.

In the background you can see my visuals! They were on two giant odd-shaped fabric backdrops on either side of the band, plus one little projection on the escalator outside the ballroom. It was fantabulous, in my opinion.

The worst thing about this gig was having to look at this dog over and over again. Especially when it was blown up twenty feet high at the party. It’s the cover of the 3rd VIFF guide and hoooo boy, it’s as bad aesthetically as Alan Franey’s hair inside the book (thankfully I didn’t have to scan that).

The first VIFF guide, I learned, was actually a RIDGE theatre guide which simply got filled up by the first fest. An odd sight to see. As you can see, by #3 they had added the Vancouver East Cinema and then soon after that added the Hollywood.

The Gala lacked Sushi but I’m sure there’ll be plenty floating around VIFF.

Suzanne Ward helped me install and hang the projectors, which resulted in no Telefilm executives being crushed by falling hot DVD players. My past weeks’ nightmares concerning such scenarios are over.

Here’s Suzanne and Cathy looking fab.

Reg and I did the Critical Mass ride on Friday. It was great fun riding around downtown Vancouver blocking traffic and generally promoting the end of automobiles. There were naked lesbians, as is par for the Critical Mass course, and surprisingly, even when those folks weren’t in sight, the drivers we blocked seemed generally supportive. Maybe they thought it was a parade or something.

We did happen to bike past the Telefilm Party at the Vancouver Film Centre, which was hilarious. We screamed “MONKEY WARFARE!” at Wayne Clarkson, the head of Telefilm Canada. He smiled broadly back at the streaming godless hordes on their anarcho-cycles and easily spotted the gigantic Reg who’d been shouting at him.

Neither Reg nor I made it to the Anza for the likely screening of clips from Monkey Warfare. As of this date I’ve not heard if they actually showed or not; hopefully they weren’t cheesed off that the DVD’s arrived without us.

I tell you this though – I’m gonna do critical mass every month. It was amazingly fun.