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It's going to be hard to be objective about this review because we've wanted to give a big wet kiss to Bruce McDonald since we saw his movie Highway 61 years ago. And then he made Hard Core Logo and cast Hugh Dillon and we realized that kiss might have to involve tongue.
Hugh Dillon is back, as obnoxious late-night talk show host Bobby Tomahawk who interviews/taunts (intertaunts? We're just making up words here all over the place) Gillian Guess - a juror who slept with the defendant of the trial she was on. Gillian Guess is a real person - we remember the story from our time in the motherland - but very little about this movie is real, more like surreal. As it examines some of the events in Gillian's life that make her hunger for attention the movie uses comic book sound effects, animation, and musical numbers to get at the heart, and into the panties, of Gillian's motives.
Despite our blind love for McDonald, we need to be straight about this one - it's not linear, it's at best wacky and at times kind of annoying and the pacing is all over the place. If any of those things drive you mad, then this movie is probably not for you. But we really liked it because it takes chances and McDonald's used whatever techniques he needs to to advance his plot and his point.
The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess has one more screening Monday the 7th at 5pm.
Photo from Spitfire Films.
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H61 and HCL are two absolute faves of mine. You might want to hunt down "Dance Me Outside" - Dillon's first acting role, in a Bruce McDonald film. It's based on a series of short stories (which I've really enjoyed reading over the years) by W. P. Kinsella (who wrote Shoeless Joe, filmed as Field of Dreams). Excellent film.
Dillon doesn't seem to have much of a range - he played an old-timey evil priest in Ginger Snaps Back (http://www.ginger-snaps.com/part_3_the_prequel.htm) and was just incredibly unbelievable
But if you like Hugh Dillon you may want to check out The Headstones, his band that put out several absolutely incredible albums, a couple of meh ones, and then broke up, and now he's doing the Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir - http://www.thehdrc.com/
I left out reference to Dance Me Outside just because I don't really like it. Though, to be fair, I did see it when it came out so I'd be willing to give another, more mature me, shot.
Hugh Dillon is just always Hugh Dillon and bless him for that. I met him a couple of times back in his Headstones days (I recently re-bought "Picture of Health" on CD but have the others on cassette... somewhere) and he always scared me a little in this way that I kind of liked but didn't know how to respond to and that's pretty much how he is on film too. I think back then he was seriously into the heroin so that could have accounted for my wariness. Which is too bad really - I regret being a bit of a chicken and not saying more than a brief hello.
I haven't heard anything from the new project but I'm anxious to check it out - thanks for the tip.
Ah - didn't realize you were also from Canada - explains a lot!
I only met Hugh once, we both were urinating at the same time (different urinals) at the Trasheteria in Guelph during a setbreak from their Picture of Health tour - the early days were quite incredible.
I moved away a couple of years later, and have had to keep up to date via email or friends or whatever; not getting to see the bands like Headstones or whoever come through my local club.
I did happen to be back in Canada visiting family when Bruce McDonald's episode of Degrassi: Next Generation showed - it was the premiere, and did not feature Hugh Dillon or Callum Keith Rennie but Don McKellar was in it. Besides making me feel really old, it was just tragically bad.
BTW, I have an unopened VHS of Hard Core Logo (I bought the DVD) that I'd love to pass along to someone that might potentially become a convert to The Cause? I think you can pick one up for $0.49 on Amazon or something, but meanwhile, I have this one sitting here that I'd love to find a home for.
If this violates some SFist comment policy, please delete with my apologies.