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To begin with, this film is actually a music video. The song is "Bad Luck" by the now defunct, Guelph-based band Royal City. I had the good fortune of seeing this video on the television station Bravo!. Regardless, this music video feels more like a film, so I will refer to it as one. Here goes: "A Tale of Bad Luck" is another eerie, atmospheric film by Brad Peyton ("Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl"). It is a tale of love and loss starring a teddy bear and a doll. The animation is absolutely gorgeous, and the art direction and colour scheme have a great contribution to the overall tone of the film. It is a very tragic and lovely little romance. The bear meets the doll, and they obviously fall in love. Unfortunately, a tornado comes along, and separates them. The bear then starts to look for his lost love. He eventually finds her, but she is dead. He does not accept the death well, and begins to dig down into her grave in order to be with her. He literally goes to the other side of the earth to find her. It is truly an odd love story, but a beautiful one nonetheless. It will break your heart, and make you re-examine the way you look at love. Or, it did that for me at least.

Most of all, "Bad Luck" is a fantastic song. It can be found on Royal City's second album "Alone at the Microphone". The video suits the song extremely well, as the song also has an eerie and foreboding feeling to it. I would recommend both this short film, and Royal City's album. Neither will leave you disappointed.

I caught "Public Domain" one afternoon, and I was not disappointed. Although I am a fan of indie Canadian films, this one was particularly good.

It is an accurate depiction of our reality-TV obsessed society.

Public Domain is a game show. A game show that follows the lives of various people. These people have no idea they are being filmed, which, of course, makes it more "real". Surveillance cameras have been set up around their houses so that every aspect of their lives is on TV. The winner of "Public Domain" receives $50 000 in "cold, hard cash" for simply having the most miserable life. The contestants are selected completely at random. They are then screened to see if they are appropriate for the show. The criteria that allows them to be part of the show includes: blighted hope, misery, anguish, futility, desolation, mortification, fear, doubt, and loathing. The three finalists fit these criteria quite well. The first is Bonnie (Nicole De Boer). She is a 35-year old teenager. She is stuck in the past, and she has alienated herself from society, and her own son. Her son is very damaged, but she fails to see that. The second finalist is Peter (Mike Beaver), who is agoraphobic. He is too afraid to leave his house, but he desperately seeks company. The third, and possibly worst in my opinion, is Terry (Nadia Litz). She is a seventeen-year old private school girl who lives in misery. Her mother is confined to her bed, and she constantly criticizes her. Still, Terry's not an innocent victim. She pimps her friends out in order to get drugs.

Sad, aren't they?

The acting in Public Domain is quite good. The whole premise is incredibly interesting to watch. The films cuts between the lives of the three characters. As their lives get worse and worse, the amount of viewer votes increases. The seedier they are, the more popular they become. The film also shows the hosts and viewers on the street commenting on the characters' behaviour.

What is so striking about "Public Domain" is the fact that it is so similar to our society. Everyone watches reality TV, whether they like to admit it or not. It's addictive. The more horrific the concept, the better the ratings. "Public Domain" is an incredibly witty, and darkly funny film. It is truly a perfect satire, and it has a very edgy, dark feel to it. Like reality TV, you get sucked into the lives of the characters, and you can't help but watch. Things get progressively worse when the "winner" is declared. The tag line describes the film perfectly: "Some of you might think that we've gone too far, but after you see their lives, you'll be glad it's not yours!!"

9/10

This film was absolutely adorable. The gist of the story is that Phoebe is a 21-year old girl about to graduate from college. She has a long list of things she wants to accomplish before she graduates in hopes of receiving a special award. She drags her roommate along with her for all the of things she does, and after a while, her roommates gets so annoyed that she leaves. When her roommate leaves, she mentions that Phoebe has never had a boyfriend. So, she adds this to her list of things she needs to accomplish, and she goes about it in a very amusing way. At first, Phoebe is not very likeable, as she is so meticulous about everything, but she turns out to be a very charming and likeable character. The acting, particularly by Nadia Litz (Phoebe)and Adrien Dixon (Frazer) was fantastic, and the direction was very good. Overall, the film was well-paced and interesting. It is very enjoyable, and is the type of film that anyone could watch. It was funny and lighthearted while maintaining a seriousness to it. If you are lucky enough to get the chance to see it, I would recommend you do so, as it is absolutely charming. 9/10

By chance I caught this film late last night, and I am still thinking about it. It was a very sad, but interesting film. The three characters of Stevie, Boy, and Darla meet at a party, and seemingly they have very little in common. As the movie progresses, we find this is not true. They all come from broken homes, and are very troubled. The strong friendship they form helps them face their problems head on. I was very impressed by the lead actors in this film. They played their roles with such true emotion that it was impossible not to sympathize with them. I would definitely recommend this film. 8.5/10