Bad Monster Films has unearthed an extremely rare 35mm print for an extremely underrated and rarely seen Canadian slasher from the 80’s. It’s never been released on DVD and has been impossible to find on VHS, but we’re showing in on the big screen to a brand new audience! Behind Every Curtain, Someone Is Waiting …Someone Is Watching!

“CURTAINS” The Ultimate Nightmare! – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoxhyBpQP-8

And not only that, but we’re pairing it up with another film to make it a double-feature WHERE YOU GET TO PICK THE SECOND FLICK!

That’s right! We’re letting YOU VOTE for what you wanna see along with “Curtains!” So head on over to http://www.badmonsterfilms.com to vote! Voting ends Friday Feb. 5th at midnight! And then come down to the Broadway Theatre on Saturday Feb. 20th to see two great, and extremely rare, films on the big screen!

Your choices include:

• Alligator (1980) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgby2AXt1kA
• The Grim Reaper (aka Anthropophagus) (1980) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGIiMp3jtJQ
• Mausoleum (1983) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxDiQHbHgb0
• They Call Me Bruce? (1982) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymEnfvz2wbU
• The Doberman Gang (1972) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMupA9_wLcw

So again, visit http://www.badmonsterfilms.com to vote!

As always, we’re giving away prizes, you can buy concession items, we’ve got t-shirts for sale, and our famous 35mm trailers before the feature!
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CURTAINS | 1983 | Canada | Rated R | 89 + 90 (second feature) mins | 35mm
Saturday February 20th, 2010
11:00 PM screening at the Broadway Theatre
715 Broadway Ave, Saskatoon, SK
$15 / advance tickets available at the Broadway Theatre box office

After its Canadian Premiere at the Fantasia Festival, and its Toronto Premiere at Toronto After Dark, BLACK will finally screen in Saskatoon at the BROADWAY THEATRE from February 7th through to the 18th!

*Synopsis
Black, a Senegalese bank-robber born and raised in France, is getting over a disastrous heist in which he lost nearly all of his men. He’s seriously thinking of going straight when his cousin Lamine calls him from Dakar: a briefcase full of contraband diamonds has just been deposited in the bank where he works. Thinking this will be an unbelievably easy coup, Black assembles a new gang and quickly flies to Africa, where he’s never set foot. What they haven’t planned, however, is that they are far from being the only ones interested in that briefcase. The corrupt director of the bank, an arm dealer suffering from suppurating psoriasis, a gang of mercenaries from Chechnya and an Interpol agent are also set to get their hands on those diamonds. With a funky soundtrack, BLACK delivers a heist film filled with action and peppered with comedy and mysticism.

*Credits
Director: Pierre Laffargue
Actors: MC Jean Gab’1 (Banlieue 13), Carole Karemera, François Levantal, Anton Yakovlev.

*Festivals
SXSW presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight – SXSW Film Festival 2009
Seattle International Film Festival
Fantasia International Film Festival
Toronto After Dark Film Festival
Karlovy Vary Fresh Film Fest
London Film4 FrightFest

*Award
Bronze Audience Award – Best European or American Film – Fantasia International Film Festival

*Reviews
****
Eye Weekly

“Kitchen-sink filmmaking at its most sublime… …a righteously bombastic musical soundtrack… …the film is a rolling ball of smooth energy… Black is all about pounding out tunes while transitioning from one badass heroic action set-piece to the next”
Kurt Halfyard, Twitchfilm

“Black is a heist film like no other, a film that marches to the crazy beat of its own drum and funkadelic tunes. Ambitious and groovy, Black is a big gooey gobstopper rolling at breakneck speed in its swirling colorful glory, picking up these random characters and antagonists on its perilous plight.”
Andrew Mack, Twitchfilm

“…Pierre Laffargue manages to nearly reinvent the genre… Black’s balance of humour, action, and exoticism is undeniably energizing. It’s slick without being too flashy, and MC Jean Gab’1 turns in an immensely likeable performance.”
Al Kratina, The Gazette’s Ciné File

“…Black stands up remarkably well as a psychedelic homage to ’70s era B-movies. …a bumping soundtrack that brings as much to the film’s atmosphere as Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.”
Christopher Sykes, The Montreal Mirror

“BLACK is a superior French / African exploitation film – and its director, Pierre Laffargue, is somebody to watch. … recalls the conceit of Blaxploitation films, but in a thoroughly modern and artistic way. (…) The soundtrack is napalm f*cking hot! (…) Jean Gab’1’s performance and character just screamed – I’M A STAR!”.
Harry Knowles, Ain’t it Cool News

“It’s gloriously lunatic. (…) BLACK percolates like that first, strong cup of coffee in the morning – with no bitter aftertaste.”
Peter Martin, Cinematical

“… anyone who genuinely enjoys black-American cinema of the ‘70’s in all its forms is in for a huge treat, a movie that manages to mix African mysticism, blaxploitation, and the heist thriller into something that felt truly original. (…) I loved it… and I’m willing to bet others will, too. Once again, Fantastic Fest and SXSW have uncovered another gem.”
Drew McWeeny, Hitfix

“…the second craziest movie of this year’s SXSW Film Festival. (…) BLACK is the latest cinematic salvo from France, and once again you’ll be wondering what the hell is in their drinking water. (…) … it’s definitely a wild and unpredictable ride. Laffargue is a director to watch, and I’m curious to see what he’ll do next.”
Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects

Many of you may know by now that on February 5th & 6th, the Riversdale Business Improvement District will be presenting 7:00pm screenings of Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent classic “Metropolis“. This “Silence Is Golden” Film Festival is in honour of the Riversdale BID’s 20th Anniversary. Metropolis will be played with a beautifully restored 35mm print, and the score will be performed LIVE by the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, lead by conductor Victor Sawa.

Tickets are available in advance for $25.00, and available at the following link via Picatic.
http://www.saskatoonsymphony.org/index.php/component/content/article/20/107-silence-is-golden.html

It has been a while since there has been any movement here on the website but do not worry. The Dark Bridges team has been meeting and we are currently setting up the film submission procedure for the first Dark Bridges Film Festival. An official announcement will be coming on February 1st concerning submitting your feature or short film to the festival.

I’m quite happy with the way things are working out. I came up with the idea of doing a Launch Party shortly after coming up with the idea for the festival and I tried to keep fairly quiet about it. This meant that there hasn’t been much news about what I’ve been doing to get the festival off the ground. First off the boring stuff like figuring out how to become incorporated, securing a name and all that stuff is underway. I’ve got some people here in Saskatoon who are willing to help out and I’ve contacted a few people who know a bit about running a festival and asked if they want to help out in an advisory role and pretty much every single one agreed. Either I’m just a really charming fun guy to chat with or else festival people are just good people who want to help out. I’m guessing it is the latter but I like to think the first. While this was all going on I started up the facebook group, set up a youtube channel and started the website which will go live around midnight Thursday.

Now that I have figured out the location, gotten a couple of people to step up and say they will help run this thing, it is now time to start looking at what we need to do to make this happen. Our first step is figuring out how we are going to raise money. We have a few fund raising ideas but none of them will happen unless we can find some volunteers. If you are at interested in volunteering please send me an email at john@darkbridges.com. After we raise approximately $250 dollars we will be able incorporate as this is the first step in becoming a non-profit organization it is pretty important that we get to work on this quickly. We will also be looking at getting our name out around Saskatoon. I’ve already laid plans for an initial event which will hopefully happen around Halloween but as it is still in the very initial stages of planning I can’t mention it.

There will be a meeting in the next couple of weeks. The Roxy Theatre has agreed to let us use their board room for meetings so it will likely take place there but I have not set a time or date yet. Keep watch here and on the Facebook Group for the time and date. I would love to see a bunch of film fans come out and show their support because the success of the festival is really dependent on the fan base here in Saskatoon. I am sure that there are enough of you that we can create one of the best Genre Film Festivals in Western Canada.

Finally, we will be looking at setting up the webpage (which includes creating a design for this blog also) in the next couple of weeks. So keep watch and check back often. We are in the initial stages and things are happening quite quickly for now. I’m sure they will slow down a bit later in the year but for now there should be news quite often.

Last night I met up with the events person from the Roxy Theatre here in Saskatoon. We discussed generalities of the festival, a bit of costs involved and a lot of just general movie and theatre running talk. I liked everything I heard and I can’t wait till late September or Early October next year when we have the first annual Dark Bridges Film Festival at the Roxy. For those of you who don’t get to Saskatoon much or don’t venture out to movie theatres other than The Galaxy you are really missing something special. The atmosphere in the Roxy is amazing.

The Roxy Theatre is located in the Riversdale neighborhood of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Built during the onset of the Great Depression. The interior was decorated in a Spanish Villa style with the walls covered with small balconies, windows and towers that gave the impression of quaint Spanish village. The ceiling was painted in an atmospheric-style (dark blue and had twinkling lights set in the plaster) to give the impression of the night sky. The Roxy was for a time called the Towne Cinema, then closed in 1995. It was purchased and restored by Rainbow and Magic Lantern Cinemas, and reopened under its original name in 2005. (Source: Wikpedia)

After talking to the Roxy people I realized that something along the lines of the festival I have planned means more than just showing some really cool under seen and under appreciated films, it is another step in revitalizing Riversdale area. Suffice it to say I am even more pumped than I was originally was.

You can check a few more shots of the theatre over at our facebook group. While there I would suggest joining. I will be providing more information about the festival there as well as here on the site.

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to welcome you to my chronicle of setting up a genre film festival here in Saskatoon. I’m not going to provide much information right yet as everything is up in the air. The main thing I will mention for tonight is that as of right now the festival will be called Dark Bridges Film Fest. Saskatoon is known in the West as the City of Bridges and I thought this was a neat play on that. I should also mention that I am meeting with a theatre tomorrow night to discuss the festival and I should have more news to mention after the meeting.