Posts Tagged ‘Mark McKinney’

ROOM FOR RENT: 3 STARS. “light-hearted dark comedy and cautionary tale.”

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you won the lottery? Mitch Baldwin’s (Mark Little) didn’t have to. He won the Mega Max Lotto as a high school senior. “Room for Rent” is his story, a cautionary tale about the high cost of having and losing money.

$3.5 million is a lot of money. The kind of money that seems like it will last forever. But, as Mitch learned, when you spend like a drunken sailor it only lasts about twelve years. Forced to move back in with his parents Warren and Betty (Mark McKinney and Stephnie Weir) he is humiliated; a guy who had it all and blew it. Even worse, his father wants to retire and insists Mitch starts to pay his fair share. Unwilling to get a job Mitch decides to move to the garage and rent out his bedroom.

The first person to show up is Carl Lemay (Brett Gelman). He’s a smooth talker with a pocket full of cash, willing to pay the several months in advance. Aggressively friendly, he soon ingratiates himself into Warren and Betty’s lives and gives Mitch life advice. Things get weird around the house when some of Carl’s stories turn out to be lies. “I will grind you down into a tiny little knob of a person,” carls tells Mitch as hostilities rise.

“Room for Rent” is a light-hearted dark comedy about the consequences of frittering away a fortune. Carl is a character but he’s also a metaphor of Mitch’s comeuppance. Gelman plays Carl for all he is worth. He’s mysterious, obnoxious and the catalyst for a story that gets weirder and weirder as it threatens to turn into a horror movie. Writer-director Matthew Atkinson finds a happy mix between the humour and the domestic horror, creating a film that is as fun as it is unique.

Times Colonist: Flashbacks as the 21st Victoria Film Festival wraps

Screen-Shot-2015-02-09-at-11.29.28-PMRead Michael D. Reid’s Times – Colonist wrap of The Victoria Film Festival HERE!

“Festivals like this make people aware there are things other than superhero and comic book movies,” said Richard Crouse, CTV’s Canada AM film critic, back for his fifth time.

“Hollywood is only in the business of giving people what they want, so every time you buy a ticket to Guardians of the Galaxy after seeing it 25 times you’re tacitly saying ‘This is all I want to go and see.’ What you need to do is support smaller, more interesting films, particularly if you’re ever going to complain that Hollywood’s all out of ideas.”

Before Crouse interviewed James and Mark McKinney onstage last weekend, he did the extensive research he’s known for.

“By the time I get onstage I’ll know more about Whoopi Goldberg than Whoopi Goldberg does,” said Crouse, who’s reading books and watching her movies before interviewing the actress and comedian at the Banff Centre next weekend.

RICHARD SAYS Thanks to everyone at this year’s Victoria Film Festival!

Richard hosted two “In Conversation” long form on-stage interviews during the Victoria Film Festival and judged a BravoFACT Pitch Competition which awarded $35,000 to Vancouver based filmmaker Mary Galloway. Read about it HERE!

Thanks to Ron James ‏@TheRonJamesShow Feb 8 for the tweet: “Had best interview ever with @RichardCrouse yesterday AM @VicFilmFestival, praising the hidden boons of our road less travelled.#VICTORIA”

Thanks to Ratfish Comedy ‏@RatfishComedy Feb 8 for the tweet “@RichardCrouse and @Mark_DMcKinney in fascinating chat at @VicFilmFestival” and Mark McKinney @Mark_DMcKinney Feb 9 for tweeting, “@RichardCrouse U were an awesome interviewer. I owe you a Tiki head.”