Stargazer heads-up

You already know celebrity-to-the-stars Joan Rivers (Spaceballs, Shrek 2) is performing here at the NAC Sept 12, but there are a few other film stars landing in Ottawa in the near future.

The 2nd Annual Capital Hoedown at LeBreton Flats Park features singers-seen-on-screen Kenny Chesney (The Color Orange: The Condredge Holloway Story, Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D) on Aug 11, and Carrie Underwood (Soul Surfer) on Aug 12.

capitalhoedown.net/en

In the same vein, Scotiabank Place brings The Who front man Roger Daltrey (Tommy, The Legacy) to the capital on Sept 28, and guitar legend Jeff Beck (The Pope Must Die, Rock Prophecies) on Oct 16.

Elsewhere in town, Centrepointe Theatre spotlights funnymen Greg Proops (The Nightmare Before Christmas, West Is West) and Ryan Stiles (Hot Shots!, Hot Shots! Part Deux) on Sept 23, and comedy legend Andrea Martin (How to Eat Fried Worms, Wag the Dog) on Oct 14.

centrepointetheatre.com

Thanks for checking in.

Tiffany's comes to town

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of director Blake Edwards' Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - those folks who annually dish out the Oscars - is celebrating that early Audrey Hepburn romantic comedy with a screening of it in Manhattan Monday, Aug. 8, 2011.

Hepburn's sixteenth feature, Breakfast at Tiffany's was adapted from renowned American author Truman Capote's bestselling 1958 novella and reportedly premiered in New York City on Oct. 5, 1961. The film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Leading Actress, and won for Best Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Song (Moon River, by Mancini and Mercer).

Recently, the film has been met with controversy.

A free public screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's slated during a 2008 film festival in Sacramento, California was cancelled following Asian-American-led protests of famed actor Mickey Rooney's notoriously cringe-inducing, pointless and racist caricature Mr. I.Y. Yunioshi featured in the movie. A similar protest is currently underway against its screening in New York, at Brooklyn Bridge Park's free public film festival Movies With A View, this month. Years after the film's premiere, both Edwards and Rooney apparently expressed their regret for the inclusion of and outrage over the Yunioshi character.

However, if you're a fan of Breakfast at Tiffany's and don't already have your ticket to the AMPAS's glitzy sold out East 59th Street event, you can still slip on your favourite little black dress by Givenchy, grab a tasty breakfast pastry to nibble, and yellow cab it over to the film's screening at Billings Bridge Shopping Mall the same day*.

billingsbridge.com

Co-presented by the mall and the Ottawa International Film Festival leading up to OIFF 2011 beginning on Thursday, Aug. 18, Breakfast at Tiffany's is the first of four screenings scheduled for this week-long local event, entitled Box Office Billings. Tuesday features the classic 1952 musical comedy Singin' in the Rain, followed by grim animated comedy Corpse Bride (2005) on Wednesday and the cult Canadian spoof Bollywood Hollywood (2002) on Thursday. Friday hosts the free Billings Bridge Anime Workshop for tweens and teens. You also get a chance all this week to win tickets to OIFF 2011 by submitting a ballot there.

Find more info (hopefully including screening times at Billings Bridge) at billingsbridge.com/box-office-billings, oiff.ca and perhaps the festival's Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/The-Ottawa-International-Film-Festival/116708135013441.

Thanks for checking in.

* Nope, no screenings at Billings after-all.

Cruisin' back to Route 66

Stepping back in time and escaping into a movie becomes a full body experience tonight, thanks to the Rideau Lakes Chapter of the Antique and Classic Car Club of Canada and the Port Elmsley Drive-In.

Not only will this clutch of gear heads and automobile enthusiasts from Eastern Ontario & Western Quebec be showing off their prized collection of sweet and bitchin' four-wheeled beauties at the closest Drive-In on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River, but they're screening the American cult classic road trip flick Two-Lane Blacktop.

The 1971 film directed by Monte Hellman stars venerable Hollywood character actor Warren Oates and singer-songwriter James Taylor. Here's more info about it at IMDB.

According to Wikipedia, "Esquire magazine declared the film its movie of the year for 1971 (...) Two-Lane Blacktop is notable as a time capsule film of U.S. Route 66 during the pre-Interstate Highway era, and for its stark footage and minimal dialogue. As such it has become popular with fans of Route 66."

The classic car cruisin' is slated to start at 6:30pm at the Port Elmsley Drive-In, 333 Port Elmsley Road, Port Elmsley, Ontario, and the movie starts at dusk. Check out portelmsleydrivein.com and rideaulakes-acccc.com/index.php for more details. Here's the picture's trailer:




Thanks for checking in.

CFI's free spicy treat

It was a blast watching the recent broadcast of the International Indian Film Academy Awards ceremony held in Toronto last month.

Hot on the heels of that amazing celebration of easily the world's most prolific movie industry comes the Canadian Film Institute's 8th Annual Indian Film Festival beginning August 11 here in Ottawa. Twenty-three films are slated for screening this year, featuring a wealth of Raj Kapoor classics, a handful of Rabindranath Tagore inspired flicks, plus IIFA Awards-winners 3 Idiots and Black - the latter being one of my all-time Big B (and Rani Mukerjee) Bollywood faves, coincidentally.

Here's the scoop:

SCREEN: CFI 8th Indian Film Festival, Aug. 11 - Oct 1, 2011

Auditorium, Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington St., Ottawa

"Presented in collaboration with the High Commission of India, the Canadian Film Institute is proud to present the 8th annual Indian Film Festival. Given the fact that this is the The Year of India 2011 in Canada, this year’s Festival has been expanded into three exciting and cinematically enriching parts." Free admission.

http://www.cfi-icf.ca/index.php?option=com_cfi&task=showevent&id=75

Thanks for checking in.