Film Reel

Take Denmark in the dead of winter, a homemade teeth straightening device, a prisoner, an eccentric neighbour, a young, awkward romance, and a mother who always says the wrong thing at the wrong time. Stir things up and you have the makings of the award-winning Danish comedy, Max Embarrassing.

Director Lotte Svendsen winds a lovely, humorous story of Max, played by the talented young Samuel Heller-Seiffert, as he tries to impress Ofelia, the new girl in class.

He is the least cool person in school and believes he has the most embarrassing mother (Mette Horn) in the world. Max makes a series of blunders and bad decisions, and when his well intentioned mother steps in to help, things only escalate.

Based on the popular TV series Max, this amusing coming-of-age tale is full of pleasant surprises. It's a well crafted script and an insightful look into the teenage transition.

It may jump around a little in the wrap up, but still delivers a storybook ending. A must see for families and children of all ages.

I had the great honour of talking with the inexhaustibly talented Terry Gilliam about his latest film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

WD: Let's start at the beginning. I'd love to ask you how you developed the ideas behind this film.

What was your starting point?

TG: God came to me at night and said “do this or die.” When you've got a god that wants to watch movies and is bored with the shit that's being produced these days, he gets angry. He forced me to do it and it was as simple as that, and how simple it can be. He's a god that I don't even believe in, which is even more extraordinary.

You're going to get one of these interviews that won't be like any of the others (laughs). You can check the answers on the other interviews.

WD: This is exactly what I'm looking for (laughs)!

So perhaps I should ask you then, what inspires you? What gets you to decide “I'm going to make another movie.”

Canadian Mixed Martial Arts champion, undisputed Canadian Muay Thai champion, stuntman, actor, pro wrestler and broadcast journalist Paul Lazenby, gives the scoop on Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and what they could mean to a city like Vancouver, soon to be in the spotlight of the world. 

WD: Could you tell us a bit about yourself and what you're involved in at the moment. 

PL: For the past nine years I've been a professional stuntman and actor in Vancouver. I'm currently working on The A-Team, and stunt doubling for former wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin on his movie. It's something I kind of fell over backward into after leaving a career in pro-wrestling and it's been a hell of a lot of fun. It's beat the hell out of me at times, but it's been a lot of fun. 

WD: Could you tell us about your fighting background. 

PL: I actually went into fighting with no intention whatsoever of being a fighter and I got into it extremely late. I originally wanted to be a professional wrestler.  

VO: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself personally and as a filmmaker?

RW: I primarily come from an acting background and have been an actor in Toronto for nine years. I studied acting and was always interested in making my own stuff. I wrote my own plays and performed them and would tour them, as a way of learning and to cut my teeth as a writer and creator, with the eventual goal of making a film.

I'm really keen on the type of movies that are written directed and starring the same person because I think they come across very personal. Quite different from watching a movie even written and directed, but not starring that person. For example, we know Woody Allen's movies. You watch them and because it's he who wrote it and directed it and is playing the character, you feel closer to him. You feel like it's kind of like his life on screen in a way which I find more personal, and more my cup of tea. Something I would keep endeavouring to make. I don't think there's anyone in Canada who does that currently.

VO: Could you tell us about Son of the Sunshine?