Urgent Update!

Canada's new national soccer team jersey!

What do you think?

I don't want alarm anyone, but this is the truck they're delivered in:



Remember this? I correctly predicted the Superbowl attendees back in... just before October. Week three. Not bad considering I was guessing...and got the Grey Cup wrong. I wish I'd put money on that.

I've put off talking about the movies I saw with Steve: Rare Exports and The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. In part because I think Steve may be the only one reading regularly, and because I'm not sure what to say.

Rare Exports is the kind of economic and original fun movie that Canada should be able to make but seldom does. It comes from Finland and is about a pagan Santa Claus that is unearthed by fortune seekers and descends on a local rural town. It starts off scary and then sort of transitions into more madcap escapades. The culture clash is a large part of the appeal of the movie; as all our characters are gun-toting men or boys living in the wintery wilderness of Finland. I think this is a good example of a director able to put together a good looking and simple movie on a budget while almost never giving that budget limitation away.

The movie ramps up the fear by keeping you in the dark and using exposition like a picture book to fuel the imagination. There's a significant twist and the weirdness of the whole dangerous Santa is played up in a way that exploitation movies from the US don't. I mean, Goldberg in a Santa Suit or some 80s slasher psycho in a Santa suit aren't exactly as creepy as a naked old guy who bites people, can smell gingerbread and children, and doesn't talk or look anybody in the eye. It's a lot less brazen even though one could argue that it's a similar inspiration to that of Santa's Slay. (Both are black comedies too) Where one was an adventure, the other was just a crass parody.


The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is a movie that is built on the ironic enjoyment of b-movies. Its funny in a very dry way. Intentionally poor acting, dialogue, effects, and strange plot choices aren't all that it has though. The writers are able to add in some bits that aren't really ironically funny:

In one scene, the aliens impersonating humans and an evil scientist and his human-animal hybrid companion Animala are both trying independently to lower the guard of the scientist and his wife by posing as guests; (Wow that's a lot of exposition...) As they settle into dinner, the confused aliens figure they can just do whatever the other humans do to eat. Animala promptly puts her face to the plate to eat hands-free and the aliens imitate her. Of course, the actual humans are all taken aback by the genuinely unrelated people all doing the same bizarre thing.

The dinner scene may actually be the highlight of the movie as it contains all of the best elements of the movie. The scientist has another classic deadpan dialogue moment where he brushes off the aliens' crazy theory about lost skeletons. While the evil scientist (who's in league with the skeleton) coughs and tries to cover up his nervousness, the aliens are just baffled. It's funny not just because the scientist is doing that classic mocking superstition-that-turns-out-to-be-true, but more so because what the aliens never said anything about skeletons and have no idea what he's talking about. As if the scientist is on a script full of holes and they are merely in character caught totally unawares.

The Skeleton himself also telepathically interjects with his trademark casual rudeness and complete lack of gravitas. It is as if the voice actor (intentionally of course) is phoning in a very brusque performance that matches the cheap skeleton...'effect'. (Strings are effects right?)

Really good movie.