I had the opportunity to attend the premiere of Rhinoceros Eyes, a first film by Aaron Woodley, son of Denise Cronenberg (who did costumes for the show). The movie rolled casually between comedy, mystery, and brooding psychological suspense. Was it succesful? Everybody in the theatre laughed at the jokes, and the air became sombre during the darker moments. I suppose it would be easy to say the film was a clone of Donnie Darko, but that wouldn't be fair to the playful camera work, which was more akin to Tim Burton. In any event, I enjoyed myself.

The opportunity for seeing the film arose through a contest. I don't think I've ever won a contest before, but I was able to name the director faster than anybody else -- so two free passes. I've done a few film reviews of Canadian movies so I was contacted by the First Weekend Club as somebody who might be interested in their group. From what I gather (I haven't been in it for more than a few weeks), they are a volunteer organization dedicated to spreading word about Canadian films in the theatres. I habitually complain about missing the one night when Robert LePage's latest movie shows outside of Quebec, so I thought a few extra emails in the inbox wouldn't be such a bad thing. In the weeks I've been a member (no charge), I think I've gotten 3 emails (including the contest).

Incidentally, the world's first conference on the work of Robert LePage is being held this May in London and Manchester. My first question was, why London and Manchester? My second question, why is this just the first conference on his work? My third question was, how the hell am I going to get over there? I would love to go, but the financial barriers are daunting. Even with that new airline, it would still be over 6 bordens. I would still like to go, though, and, I would really appreciate somebody organizing a follow-up conference on the same subject. There is simply too much to say about this national treasure, and somebody has to get on it.