Posts Tagged ‘LARRY WEINSTEIN’

THE DEVIL’S HORN: 4 STARS. “the wild and woolly history of the saxophone.”

Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 12.07.54 PMEverybody loves the sound of the saxophone. Smooth and sexy, it is as close to the cooing voice of a loved one is any instrument can be. Yet, for that very reason the instrument has had a long and storied past complete with more intrigue than an Agatha Christie thriller. In “The Devil’s Horn” director Larry Weinstein walks us through the wild and woolly history of the saxophone.

The premise of the film is simple. The sax is a cursed instrument that dooms its players to lives of torment and despair.

Sounds outrageous doesn’t it? Consider the evidence.

The sax’s inventor Adolphe Sax dodged death at least seven times, barely escaped at least one known assassination attempt, went bankrupt three times fighting with his rivals, developed lip cancer and died penniless.

Sax icons Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, John Coltrane and many other players of the devil’s instrument battled heroin addiction, creating sounds so carnal and voluptuous they were outlawed by everyone from the Nazis (who banned the sax from the Earth) to the Vatican. Movie studios barred it from soundtracks and it put the sex in sex, drugs and rock n’ roll.

Of course the instrument isn’t cursed. Once Weinstein gets past that catchy concept he makes a compelling case for the sax as more than a symbol of depravity and immorality. Using a mix of archival footage and new interviews with musicians like Colin Stetson, Jimmy Heath and Giuseppi Logan, he reveals not only the wild past of the instrument, but it’s importance in the future of music as well.

VICTORIA FILM FESTIVAL: RICHARD HOSTS IN CONVERSATION WITH…

Screen Shot 2016-02-03 at 2.51.03 PMRichard will host two events at the Victoria Film Festival, February 6 and 7.

IN CONVERSATION WITH… LARRY WEINSTEIN

February 7 / 11 AM / The Vic Theatre
Welcome to the wonderfully inventive world of Larry Weinstein, a unique documentary filmmaker whose 25 films captured the lives of great composers, the former Ambassador to Iran Ken Taylor, and the mystery of Hana’s Suitcase.

Weinstein will look at the anatomy of a documentary from inception to completion while expanding on his thoughts by screening raw and completed footage of his recently completed project Devil’s Horn.

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IN CONVERSATION WITH… SEMI CHELLAS

February 6 / 11 AM / The Vic Theatre
Semi Chellas discusses writing for film and television – and what credentials she has for that! Chellas was Co-Executive Producer and writer for Mad Men, running the room for the final two seasons.

Garnering six Emmy nominations she has shared the WGA award with Matthew Weiner for co-writing the episode The Other Woman. Chellas has written for indie features, kids movies, television movies and directed several award-winning short films. Chellas is currently working as an Executive Producer of Steve McQueen’s HBO miniseries Codes of Conduct.

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