'Being Erica' Premieres In the USA In Jan. 26

The hit Canadian TV series Being Erica will premiere on Soapnet, an American cable network, in January 26 at 11 PM.

American fans will see the third season of this Canadian TV series in winter.

In this third season, we finally get to see what's behind the mysterious door Erica Strange (Erin Karpluk), an woman from Toronto in her thirties, has to open. Only by opening that door will Erica know where her therapy with Dr. Tom (Michael Riley), a doctor who send people back in the past so that they can fix their regrets.

In her personal life, Erica is facing uncertainty. She's wondering if the publishing house she found with Julianne (Reagan Pasternak) will succeed. In fact, Brent (Morgan Kelly), their former colleague at River Rock Publishing, will stop at nothing to put them out of business. Moreover, Erica also looks out for her mom (Kathleen Laskey) and her sister, Samantha (Joanna Douglas).

The actors returning for this season are Devon Bostick, Joanne Vannicola, Sebastian Pigott and John Boylan. New regular members of the regular cast include Adam Fergus, Brandon Jay McLaren, Kim Roberts, Melanie Scrofano, Jeff Geddis, Bill Turnbull, Michael Northey and Graham Greene.

'Spartacus: Gods of the Arena' Premieres January 21 on Starz

Starz, an American premium cable network, hasn't announced a premiere date for the second season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. However, its prequel, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, will premiere January 21 at 10 PM.

The story of the prequel takes place before the events in the first season of Spartacus: Blood and Sands. Before Spartacus came in the house of Batatius (John Hannah), a owner of gladiators who were to compete in an arena, there was one champion: Gannicus (Dustin Clare). Batatius always made sure that his gladiators were in demand for "entertainment" and could always rely on his wife, Lucretia (Lucy Lawless). Moreover, Lucretia herself has an ace in the hole in the person of her friend Gaia (Jaime Murray).

The show also stars Manu Bennett, Peter Mensah, Marisa Ramirez, Jeffrey Thomas and David E. Woodley.

The show Spartacus: Gods of the Arena will also premiere in Canada on January 23 at 10 PM on The Movie Network, a Canadian premium cable network.

Canadian Remake of 'Being Human' Premieres Jan. 17 On Space

The Canadian remake of the British TV series Being Human will premiere on Space, a sci-fi oriented Canadian cable network, on January 17 at 10 PM.

While the show was shot in Montreal, the story will take place... in Boston. Wow, at least Space is very upfront about it unlike Global, the TV network that broadcast the Canadian TV series Rookie Blue, which epically fails to pass off as an American city.

So, like I said, the show follows three roommates with paranormal powers: Vampire Aidan, played by Sam Witwer (SMALLVILLE, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA); ghost Sally played by Meaghan Rath(I Me Wed, THE ASSISTANTS); and werewolf Josh played by Sam Huntington (Detroit Rock City, Superman Returns); and Mark Pellegrino (LOST, DEXTER) stars as Aidan’s charismatic but menacing vampire mentor, Bishop.

'Republic of Doyle' Season 2 Premieres Jan. 12 on CBC

CBC, a Canadian TV network, announced that Republic of Doyle's second season will premiere January 12 at 9 PM.

The show is a comedy following a private detective, Jake Doyle (Allan Hawco), from St-John's, Newfoundland. In the second season, viewers don't know if Jake's father, Malarchy (Sean McGinley), will come back. Will Christian (Jonathan Goad) return? Can Jake clear him? And are Jake and Leslie (Krystin Pellerin), a constable of the St-John's police department, really over? Is “The One” for Jake gone for good?

Also returning to the Republic are the people that Jake can’t live with — or without: colleague (and defacto stepmother) Rose Miller (Lynda Boyd); vandal turned P.I. apprentice Des Courtney (Mark O’Brien); and enterprising niece Tinny (Marthe Bernard).

U.S. (or Canadian?) 'Skins' Premieres Jan. 17 on MTV

MTV, an American cable network, is starting to promote the American remake of the British TV series Skins. The show will premiere on MTV in January 17 at 10/9 PM central.

Just like the British version, the American version, will document the life of a group of teenagers who try to balance their life in school, in their family and keep their friendship. Moreover, these teenagers like to party, consume drugs and, above all, get drunk.

The leading cast of the show will be Rachel Thevenard, James Newman, Daniel Flaherty, Jesse Carere, Ron Mustafaa, Britne Oldford and Sofia Black D'Elia.

For the moment, it's hard to determine if this Skins actually is the Canadian remake. On the IMDB page of the show, the Canadian company Entertainment One isn't mentioned as one of the production companies. Moreover, The Movie Network, a Canadian premium cable network, is not mentioned as a "distributor". However, an article by Variety, an American cultural magazine, did identify Entertainment One as one of the production companies behind the remake.

Finally, here's the trailer:

Skins - MTV Shows

Want to know more?
1. Facebook page of the show

2. Official web site

'The Bang Banb Club' Gets a U.S. Distributor

Canadian distributor sold The Bang Bang Club to U.S. distributor Tribeca Film.

While the Canadian release, which was initially expected for October 29, was postponed, the U.S. release in theatres is expected "in the second quarter of 2011, as well as on video-on-demand, and other platforms" according to Tribeca Film.

The film is adapted from the book of the same name written by Greg Marinovich and Jao Silva. Besides, the film also stars Malin Åkerman, Ashley Mulheron and Russel Savadier.

This film directed by Steven Silver (The Last Just Man) takes place during the final years of the apartheid in South Africa during the 1990s. These days are seen through the eyes and lens of four young photographers who, among other things, captured the fight between the National Peacekeeping Force and the African National Congress in the Tokoza township. These photographers are Kevin Carter (Taylor Kitsch), Greg Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe), Ken Oosterbroek (Frank Rautenbach) and Joao Silva (Neels Van Jaarsveld).

Quebecker Films at Paris's Forum des images

A group of Quebecker films have been presented at Paris at the Forum des images for four days.

Until November 28, Parisians and also possible French distributors can see 14 Quebecker feature films.

These films are:

* Une vie qui commence, by Michel Monty.
* L'enfant prodige, by Luc Dionne.
* À l'origine d'un cri, by Robin Aubert.
* Route 132, by Louis Bélanger.
* Piché: entre ciel et terre, by Sylvain Archambault.
* Journal d'un Coopérant, by Robert Morin.
* 10 ½, by Daniel Grou.
* Filière 13, by Patrick Huard.
* The Trotsky, by Jacob Tierney.
* Jo pour Jonathan, by Maxime Giroux.
* Les 7 jours du talion, by Daniel Grou.
* Trois temps après la mort d'Anna, by Catherine Martin.
* Curling, by Denis Côté.
* Incendies, de Denis Villeneuve.

Finally, of all these 14 films, only Incendies has a planned released in France, which will be on January 12, 2011.

'Incendies' Will Be Released In France On Jan. 12

The film Incendies - which is Canada's pitch for the next Oscar ceremony - will be released in France's theatres on January 12, 2011 according to Premiere.fr.

The film, which is based on a play by Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad, had a limited release in Canada. Moreover, a limited release is also expected in the USA on April.

Built in a non-linear way, the film introduces to Simon (Maxim Gaudette) and Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) Marwal, who are twins. After their mother's death, Jean Lebel (Rémy Girard), a notary for whom the twins' mother worked, reads their mother's last wishes. Upon the reading of these, Jean give one envelope to each twin. Jeanne has to give this envelope to a father who apparently didn't die during the Lebanese Civil War and Simon, to a brother he and his sister have never heard of.

From this day on, Jeanne begins her personal investigation in an unidentified Middle Eastern country (read: Lebanon) in order to gather informations about who her mom really was and where her father is. While Simon loathes his mom and doesn't want to bring the envelope to the mysterious brother, he joins Jeanne in her trip because of his bond with her. Together, Simon and Jeanne will try to understand why their mom had remained silent on her dark past.

Manhattan (1979)

Woody Allen's Manhattan is considered as one of his best films. The only way for us to appreciate it is to watch it as if we're living in the 1970s.

Isaac (Woody Allen) is man in his forties who has been divorced twice. His latest wife, Jill (Meryl Streep), left him for a woman and she intends to write "an honest account of our (Isaac's and Jill's) mariage". Moreover, Isaac works as a comedy writer, a job he loathes, and dates Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), a seventeen-year-old girl. One day, he meets Mary (Diane Keaton), an intellectual woman. Moreover, she's also the mistress of Yale (Michael Murphy), Isaac's best friend.

Because he's married, Yale no longer dates Mary. Which leaves to Isaac the opportunity to date her and to break up with Tracy much to her surprise. Moreover, by that time, Isaac had also quit his job in order to find happiness. However, as time goes by, Yale gets back his interest for Mary, which creates a conflict between him and Isaac.

As a person from the twenty-first century, you might feel that Manhattan is just a mere film in which there are more romantic betrayals - so to speak - than in any film from Atom Agoyan. Allen's Manhattan, despite being praised by many of his fans, might just be dismissed as a very predictable soap opera. On a second thought, one has to think about the evolution of our mentality in the 1970s to understand Manhattan's small charm. This is because talking about divorce was less and less a taboo in Hollywood and our society. Thus, this gives Allen the opportunity to depict with humour the fact that men no longer find it easy to get in a relation with a woman in contemporary history. Unfortunately, the film misses a few opportunities to elaborate on this point, because the sub-plots involving Jill's desire to be with another woman and Isaac's fascination are too small. Therefore, the film probably needed to be a little longer to give us the feeling that we're living in the 1970s.

In all fairness, Manhattan is a charming and entertaining film that is a little bit overrated. What makes the film very appealing is most definitely the fact that the cast delivers its performance with a tangible enthusiasm.

Rating: 3.5/5

Origin:	USA (1979)
Length:	96 minutes
Genre:	Romantic comedy
Screenplay:	Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
Director:	Woody Allen
Starring:	Woody Allen, Diane Keaton and Mariel Hemingway

Second Trailer of 'The Bang Bang Club'

The second trailer of The Bang Bang Club is now online and the Canadian release has been postponed.

This film directed by Steven Silver (The Last Just Man) takes place during the final years of the apartheid in South Africa during the 1990s. These days are seen through the eyes and lens of four young photographers who, among other things, captured the fight between the National Peacekeeping Force and the African National Congress in the Tokoza township. These photographers are Kevin Carter (Taylor Kitsch), Greg Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe), Ken Oosterbroek (Frank Rautenbach) and Joao Silva (Neels Van Jaarsveld).

The film is adapted from the book of the same name written by Greg Marinovich and Jao Silva. Besides, the film also stars Malin Åkerman, Ashley Mulheron and Russel Savadier.

Winners at the 25th Gemini Awards

Yesterday, the winners at the 25^th Gemini Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy Awards, were revealed as Corey Monteith (Glee) was hosting that night. Moreover, Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi: The Next Generation was crowned by the public as the best Canadian TV series of the last 25 years.

Without further ado, here's the list of winners.

Best Animated Program or Series:
Glen Martin, DDS

Best Children or Youth Fiction Program or Series:
Overruled!

Best Children's or Youth Non-Fiction Program or Series:
Canada's Super Speller

Best Comedy Program or Series:
Less Than Kind

Best Cross-Platform Project - Children’s and Youth:
Taste Buds

Best Cross-Platform Project - Fiction:
Being Erica Webisodes

Best Cross-Platform Project - Non-Fiction:
Kraft Hockeyville 2010

Best Documentary Series:
Licence To Drill

Best Dramatic Mini-Series:
The Summit

Best Dramatic Series:
The Tudors

Best General/Human Interest Series:
Tosca: Flexing at 49

Best History Documentary Program:
Paris 1919

Best Original Program or Series produced for Digital Media - Fiction:
The Vetala

Best Original Program or Series produced for Digital Media - Non-Fiction:
Love Letters to the Future

Best Reality Program or Series:
The Cupcake Girls

Best Talk Series:
Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...

Best TV Movie
She Drives Me Crazy

Best Achievement in Casting:
John Buchan (CSA), Jason Knight - The Summit

Best Achievement in Main Title Design:
Kevin Chandoo - Durham County - Little Lost Children

Best Achievement in Make-Up:
Eva Coudouloux and Adrien Morot - Durham County - Surviving the Fall

Best Costume Design:
Joan Bergin - The Tudors - Episode 307

Best Direction in a Children's or Youth Program or Series:
Stefan Brogren - Degrassi: The Next Generation - Beat It, Part 2

Best Direction in a Comedy Program or Series:
Ian MacDonald - Pure Pwnage - The Day the Lan Centre Stood Still

Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series:
Sudz Sutherland - Guns

Best Direction in a Dramatic Series
David Frazee - Flashpoint - One Wrong Move

Best Direction in an Animated Program or Series
Ken Cunningham - Glenn Martin, DDS - The Tooth Will Set You Free

Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Program, Mini-Series or TV Movie:
Tom Third - The Summit

Best Original Music Score for a Program or Series
Trevor Morris - The Tudors - Episode 304

Best Original Music Score for an Animated Program or Series:
Jonathan Evans and Gerard Tevlin - Guess With Jess - How Can We Decorate the Christmas Tree?

Best Photography in a Comedy Program or Series:
Paul Sarossy - Kids In The Hall: Death Comes To Town - Cause of Death

Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series:
Glen MacPherson - Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story

Best Visual Effects:
Mario Rachiele, Marie-Ève Bédard-Tremblay, Benoît Brière, Raphaël Hubert and Pierre-Simon Lebrun-Chaput - Ben Hur

Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series:
Trevor Cameron - Wapos Bay - The Hardest Lesson

Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series:
Marvin Kaye, Chris Sheasgreen - Less Than Kind - Third Death's The Charm

Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series:
Jennifer Holness, Sudz Sutherland - Guns

Best Writing in a Dramatic Series:
Jeremy Boxen - Cra$h & Burn - Sunday Bloody Sunday

Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series:
Cathy Jones, Gavin Crawford, Mark Critch, Geri Hall, Shaun Majumder - This Hour Has 22 Minutes - Episode 8

Best Individual Performance in a Comedy Program or Series:
Benjamin Arthur - Less Than Kind - That's Somebody's Knish!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role:
Robert Carlyle - Stargate: Universe - Human

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series:
Clé Bennett - Guns

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series:
Clé Bennett - The Line - Episode 203 / Episode 206

Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series:
Michael Riley - Flashpoint - Coming To You Live

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
Jared Keeso - Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story

Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role:
Caroline Cave - Cra$h & Burn - Forget to Remember

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series:
Debra Lynne McCabe - Guns

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series:
Catherine Disher - The Border - The Dead / Dark Ride

Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series
Tatiana Maslany - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - All Souls

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
Sun Li - Iron Road

Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series:
Charlotte Arnold - Degrassi: The Next Generation - Somebody

Best Performance in an Animated Program or Series:
Kim Cattrall - Producing Parker - The Skinny on Parker

Source: Full list of winners at the 25^th Gemini Awards.

NFB Unveils New Original Documentary 'Children of Soldiers'

The National Film Board (NFB) of Canada has launched online a new original documentary on war as the nation celebrates Remembrance Day.

This documentary directed by journalist Claire Corriveau gives a voice to children who have parents in Canada's army. The documentary was shot at the military base of Petawawa as the troops are preparing to be deployed in Afghanistan.

The documentary is also available on DVD.

Comedy 'La sacrée' In Theatres In Summer 2011

This French-speaking comedy from Ontario will be in theatres in summer 2011.

The first stills of the Canadian comedy La sacrée are now online and the film, which was made with a budget of $1.2 million, is now in post-production.

The film talks about a crook (Marc Marans) who wants to marry a rich business woman. This man has to regain his fertility. However, in order to get it back, this crook has to go back in his hometown in Ontario. Once there, the man launches a brewery. Will he manage to boost his village's economy?

This first film in French from Ontario also stars singer Damien Robitaille, Louison Danis, Marie Turgeon, Roch Castonguay, Luc Thériault and Geneviève Bilodeau.

Source: Facebook page of La sacrée

Trailer of Sci-Fi Film 'Paradox'

Kevin Sorbo leads the cast of this Canadian sci-fi film.

For the moment, no release date has been announced for this film, which is based on a comic book by Canadian writer Christos N. Gage.

The story is about a detective, Sean Nault (Kevin Sorbo), who investigates on a series of weird murders that were committed with the help of science. Because he lives on a parallel Earth, Nault only knows what magic is. In his investigation, he's helped by Leonore (Steph Song), a person who believes that science has its place in society. During their mission, both will be led to another dimension and they must hurry before both Earths get destroyed.

The film also stars Christopher Judge, Alan C. Peterson, Alisen Down, Jerry Wasserman, Michael St. John Smith, David Richmond-Peck, Vladmir Moskovchenko, Kanji Nimet, Keith Dallas, Adrian Holmes, Jeny Cassady, Sean Tyson and Gerry Durand.

Lauren Holly's Role In 'Rookie Blue' Revealed

Holly will play mother of Gail Peck (Charlotte Sullivan).

Actress Lauren Holly (Covert Affairs) will guest star in the second season of the Canadian TV series Rookie Blue as Elaine Peck, the Superintendent in charge of Operations at the Metropolitan Police Service who might become the first female Chief of police.

The second season, which is currently in production in Toronto, will be back on Global and ABC in summer 2011.

This season will follow five former rookies (Missy Peregrym, Gregory Smith, Enuka Okuma, Travis Milne and Charlotte Sullivan) of the Toronto police department with a special focus on Andy McNally (Missy Peregrym), a woman with a good heart.

The show also stars Eric Johnson, Ben Bass, Matt Gordon, Noam Jenkins, Melanie Nicholls-King and Lyriq Bent.

Source: TV Fanatic

'Incendies': Limited U.S. Release on April 1

Denis Villeneuve's Incendies will be released in New York City and Los Angeles on April 1^rst.

Built in a non-linear way, the film introduces to Simon (Maxim Gaudette) and Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) Marwal, who are twins. After their mother's death, Jean Lebel (Rémy Girard), a notary for whom the twins' mother worked, reads their mother's last wishes. Upon the reading of these, Jean give one envelope to each twin. Jeanne has to give this envelope to a father who apparently didn't die during the Lebanese Civil War and Simon, to a brother he and his sister have never heard of.

From this day on, Jeanne begins her personal investigation in an unidentified Middle Eastern country (read: Lebanon) in order to gather informations about who her mom really was and where her father is. While Simon loathes his mom and doesn't want to bring the envelope to the mysterious brother, he joins Jeanne in her trip because of his bond with her. Together, Simon and Jeanne will try to understand why their mom had remained silent on her dark past.

'Wrecked' Acquired by IFC Films

IFC Midnight, the genre branch of American film distributor IFC Films, acquired the Canadian thriller Wrecked at the American Film Market (AFM), an event where film distributors from the world meet. The film will be released in the USA in spring 2011.

The first film by Canadian director by Michael Greenspan follows a man (Adrian Brody) who wakes up in a car wreck at the bottom of a cliff. He's injured and has no recollection of who he is or even what he's done. His only companion is a radio. The voice of the news reader talks about a bank robbery that has gone awry. Moreover, a wallet he has identifies him as one of the robbers.

The film also stars Caroline Dhavernas, Ryan Robbins, Adrian Holmes and Jacob Blair. Moreover, Wrecked will be distributed in Canada by E1 Entertainment.

'The Whistleblower' Finds a U.S. Distributor

Samuel Goldwyn Films bought the U.S. distribution rights for the Canadian film The Whistleblower and the film will be released in August 2011, reported Deadline.com.

This film by Canadian director Larysa Kondracki tells the true story of Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz), a police officer by trade hailing from Nebraska. In 1999, she becomes part of a team of DynCorp, a private corporate army, and is sent to Bosnia, a country that had been torn by war. This American private corporate army's duty is to train Bosnian police officers.

As times goes by, Bolkovac notices alarming signs regarding the existence of an underground sex industry. Afterwards, Bolkovac finds a woman who escaped from a human trafficker who sell sex slaves to hidden brothels in the area. As she gathers more evidence, she discovers that UN officers and employees of DynCorp are involved in the sex slavery that has been lucrative after the war in Bosnia. Besides, to top it all, Bolkovac finds that UN officers and employees of DynCorp can't be held accountable for their actions. Will she manage to expose the truth?

The film also stars Monica Bellucci, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn, David Hewlett, Liam Cunningham, William Hope and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Sortie 67 (2010)

Jephté Bastien's Sortie 67 is his first feature film. It's also the first Canadian film ever to deal with the problems of street gangs in the St-Michel and North-Montreal, two poor districts of Montreal. Hopefully, the film doesn't glorify crime.

A dead black mom. A white father (Sylvio Archambault) in prison for the murder of his wife. These are the two reasons that brought Ronald (Henri Prado), a young guy from St-Michel, in thirteen foster families. Because he hates school, Henri gets recruited by a new family: a street gang led by Brooklyn (Benz Antoine). After he had passed Brooklyn's loyalty test, which consisted in killing someone, Henri adopts the nickname of Jecko. As he commits a plethora of crimes, Ronald waits for the day when his father will get out of prison and to kill him. However, because he has a daughter and a wife who's ashamed of him, Ronald contemplates leaving criminality.

Sure, the theme of criminality has been explored a lot of times. Moreover, because Sortie 67's leading character, Jecko, tries to get out, the story is a little bit predictable and similar to other movies cut from the same cloth. Despite not that, Jephté Bastien's first film is nonetheless an important film for Quebec's cinema. Without glorifying the lifestyle of a street gang, the film offers an interesting analysis of how some people become attracted by criminality in St-Michel and North-Montreal, a reality that most of us hopefully never knew. Moreover, with its honest tone, Sortie 67 perspicaciously lambastes that belief shared by a few Montrealers of Haitian heritage that one's blackness is an obstacle to success in life.

Finally, the film's script isn't perfect. However, Sortie 67 relies on solid actors who need to be seen more often in Quebec's films rather than some other countries'.

Rating: 3.5/5

Origin:	Canada (2010)
Length:	103 minutes
Genre:	Drama
Screenplay:	Jephté Bastien
Director:	Jephté Bastien
Starring:	Henri Prado, Benz Antoine and Natacha Noël

'Daydream Nation' Gets Its First Foreign Distributor

Michael Goldbach's first film, Daydream Nation, will be distributed in the USA, UK and Australia/New Zealand by Anchor Bay Films, reported The Hollywood Reporter. The film will be released in 2011.

This Canadian film follows a seventeen-year-old girl, Caroline (Kat Dennings), who moves with her dad in a small town. Life isn't too fun for her. At school, most students only think about partying or getting high. Caroline finds joy in "having great sex with Mr. Anderson (Josh Lucas), my by far favourite teacher". As she develops a friendship with one of her schoolmates (Reece Thompson), Mr. Anderson becomes jaleous.

The film also stars Andie MacDowell, Natasha Calis, Landon Liboiron, Genevieve Buechner, Katie Boland, Ted Whittall, Quinn Lord, Calum Worthy, Luke Camilleri, Cole Heppell, Patricia Isaac and William J. Phillips.

Trailer of 'Die'

The trailer of the Canadian thriller Die is already online. Its distributor, E1 Entertainment, hasn't confirmed a release date for Die.

This is what the story looks like as provided by the distributor:

Six people, each of them is on the road to self-destruction. They wake up in cells in a surreal facility, without knowing how they got there or why. Are they in denial? Are they crazy? What happened? As they try to figure things out, a mysterious man forces the six abductees to participate in a distrubing experiment called the Trials. During the experiment, the unwilling participants will come to face disturbing truths about themselves and decide each others' fate in a game of dice. As the storyline unfolds, we discover that something greater connects them all.

The story of this Canadian-Italian co-production was penned by Nick Mead and Domenico Salvaggio. The film will be helmed by Canadian director Dominic James.

The stars are Emily Hampshire, Elias Koteas, John Pyper-Ferguson, Caterina Murino, Patricia McKenzie, Patricia McKenzie, Karl Pruner, Simone-Elise Girard, Fabio Fulco, Peter Miller, Alexander Bisping, Ruth Chiang, Larry Day, Jayne Heitmeyer, Debbi Larkins, Elliott Larson, Vincent Messina and James Stevens.

Trailer of 'Jaloux'

At last, the trailer of Patrick Demers' Jaloux is finally online. No release date has been announced, but the film is currently looking for foreign distributors at the American Film Market (AFM).

This is the story according to the Toronto International Film Festival:

Thomas and Marianne, a feuding couple whose relationship has hit a wall, decide to spend a weekend at Thomas’s uncle’s lakeside cottage. This is their last chance to save their relationship, which has been jeopardized by Marianne’s meaningless flirtations and Thomas’s uncontrollable jealousy. As they arrive, a restless yet charming neighbour welcomes them into their house and, realizing that Thomas’s uncle and girlfriend will not be showing up for days, suggests they share the dinner he has prepared. The drunken night that follows – with this man, who might not be who he seems to be, pushing his charms on Marianne – leads to a weekend of blurred emotions and events, where loyalties, guilt and a shared secret will test the young couple’s ability to survive.

Along the way, flashbacks shed light on events that unfold, as Demers – who won the prize for Best Canadian Short Film at the Festival in 1999 for Décharge – begins to introduce information about each character in order to build doubt and ramp up the tension. Jaloux is a tour de force in both its European mood and style and its North American subject and nature, a result which could not have been achieved without the self-assured skills of an expert filmmaker.

The film stars Sophie Cadieux, Maxime Denommée and Benoît Gouin.

Trailer of Web Series 'La déséducation'

Does Quebec's educational program have a problem? That's what Mathieu Côté-Desjardins, the creator of the web series La déséducation and a disillusioned 26-year-old teacher, believes.

The sixteen-webisode series will premiere this Thursday on the website ladeseducation.ca.

Each webisode should lasts about 10 minutes. They're a mix of fiction and documentary. Moreover, the story of the web series is told through the eyes of teachers, parents, politicians, public pundits and even kids. Speaking about politicians and pundits, expect to see Françoise David, one of the two leaders of the political party Québec Solidaire, Gilles Proulx, a TV/radio host, Benoît Dutrizac, another TV/radio host, and even philosopher Jean Bédard.

The webseries was shot throughout Quebec with a budget of $65,000 at a time when Côté-Desjardins stopped working.

Here are the questions that will be asked throughout the web series:

• What does it mean to be a parent?
• Are our teachers well trained by our universities?
• Does our educational system really think about our kids?
• What's wrong with our bureaucracy?
• What's wrong with Quebec's public schools?

While the first 8 episodes will talk about the problems of our schools, the last 8 ones will propose ideas to fix them.

Source: Le Devoir

Trailer of 'Complexity'

The official trailer of Adam Bogoch's Complexity is now online and it will be released next year.

In this film directed and written by Bogoch, we follow Clara (Emilie Ullerup), a young woman stuck in a place of complete uncertainty. Although she has a job, she lives with the pressure of meeting a man. When she meets Scott, a man who will turn her world upside down and make her question her decisions, things turn from bad to worse.

In order to help the film go through its post-production, you can fund it on its IndieGogo.com's page. So far, this independent Canadian film has raised $1,160. For more information, you can go on the film's Facebook page.

Camille Sullivan Joins Global's 'Rookie Blue'

As Global's Rookie Blue is shooting its second season in Toronto, The Hollywood Reporter reports that Camille Sullivan has joined the cast.

Sullivan will play detective Jo Rosati. Besides her, Lauren Holly will also guest-star in Rookie Blue.

Obviously, the ensemble cast of this show about five young police officers who got out of the academy will be back: Missy Peregrym, Gregory Smith, Charlotte Sullivan, Enuka Okuma, Travis Milne, Ben Bass, Eric Johnson, Matt Gordon, Noam Jenkins, Melanie Nicholls-King and Lyriq Bent.

Prior to Rookie Blue, Camille Sullivan has appeared in feature films such as Mount Pleasant, Mothers and Daughters and Normal. As for her TV credits, they include CBC's Intelligence and Shattered, which is currently airing on the Canadian TV network Global.

Source: Matt Gordon's Twitter page [1] and [2].

Gunless (2010)

After the war drama Passchendaele, Paul Gross comes up with another populist blockbuster. While some may find Gunless funny, Paul Gross's latest action film is also a little bit mindless. That's too bad, because Canada's own conquest of the West is replete with interesting stories to tell.

So, "once upon a time... in the North", a severely wounded American gunslinger rides into a small Canadian frontier town after he had been involved in a confrontation. Before he can leave the town, the Montana Kid (Paul Gross) must wait for the local Chinese seamstress to fix his clothes. In the meantime, he borrows some Chinese clothes. As for the local blacksmith (Tyler Mane), after he had taken care of the Kid's horse, he called the Kid a "common". Provoked, the Montana Kid defies the blacksmith into a duel.

Unfortunately, the only gun available in the town belongs to Jane Taylor (Sienna Guillory) and it needs to be repaired. Before she gives him the gun, Jane wants the Montana Kid to help her build a windmill and get it to function. In the meantime, the American bounty hunters - led by Cutler (Callum Keith Rennie) - are still after the Kid and eventually, they'll have a stand off in the town.

The film pretty much looks like a bad sitcom from the 1990s with its use of very few (and real-life) locations and also supporting characters who serve a specific purpose such as being a comic relief. As a historical drama, Gunless is quite hard to believe. This is because through the exchanges the Kid and the townspeople have, the film pokes fun at ideas that many Americans supposedly have about Canadians: politeness, niceness and non-violence. Unfortunately, that kind of humour didn't make me laugh. Besides, the film is really predictable. Nonetheless, despite a very light script, the film is competently made if you don't have difficulties to stand commercial flicks. The first reason being that the actors seem to be delighted to play their part, especially Sienna Guillory and Callum Keith Rennie. Secondly, the film can be seen as a good entertainment by others if you're waiting for the final action scene.

Rating: 2.5/5

Origin:	Canada (2010)
Length:	86 minutes
Genre:	Western comedy
Screenplay:
Director:
Starring:	Paul Gross and Sienna Guillory