Guest edited by Owen Livermore, SYNOPTIQUE 10 is devoted to Asian Cinemas. It features:

Hou Hsiao-hsien and the development of a Pan-Asian style, KUNG FU HUSTLE, Wong Kari-wai’s Hong Kong (x2), GHOST IN THE SHELL, Copyright law and Anime culture, Fantasia Festival 2005 Report, Hollywood Orientalism revisited, Tomoko Matsunashi, “Squalid Infidelities” Part 4, a review of IZO, and splinter reviews.

And the layout by Marcus Benigno is incredibly beautiful. Worth a serious look.

http://www.synoptique.ca

On Friday, MAY 13, 2005 we’ll be celebrating the release of SYNOPTIQUE 9 with a benefit concert and short-film programme (curated by Brett Kashmere) at Main Hall, 5390 St. Laurent, Montreal.

When: Friday May 13th, 2005; doors go at 8:00

Where: Main Hall, 5390 St. Laurent. Just below St. Viateur.

What: At 8:30 a film program selected by Concordia’s Brett Kashmere, entitled Original Copy will be screened. Then, music with Alden and Adam, The Remains of Brian Borcherdt, and The Besnard Lakes.

Tickets are cheap ($5 in advance and $7 at the door) and on sale at: CD Esoterik and Cheap Thrills.

*** PRESENTED BY CJLO ***

ORIGINAL COPY
PROGRAMMED BY BRETT KASHMERE

EYE MYTH EDUCATIONAL :: STAN BRAKHAGE
BACKSTROKE :: TROY RHOADES
CINEMA AND VISUAL PLEASURE :: ANNIE MACDONELL
CHIASMUS :: DAICHI SAITO
BREATH :: KELLY EGAN
CHASMIC DANCE :: DAICHI SAITO
BUFFALO LIFTS :: CHRISTINA BATTLE
PLANE :: KARA BLAKE
WATERWORX :: RICK HANCOX
PARADISE FALLS, NEW MEXICO :: CHRISTINA BATTLE

AND MORE

Preparations are still underway for the SYNOPTIQUE BENEFIT: A night of short film screenings, music, indecorum, cinema community. We received this pithy e-mail from Brett Kashmere, the curator of the short film programme he calls Original Copy:

ORIGINAL COPY
Rework, re-edit, reroute. Transform, translate,
disrupt the surface. Speed up, slow down, zoom in,
superimpose. Multiply, magnify, erase. Repeat.
Start over.

Films by Christina Battle, Kara Blake, Stan Brakhage,
Kelly Egan, Rick Hancox, Annie MacDonell, Troy
Rhoades, Daïchi Saïto and more.

Advance tickets are cheap: 5 bucks at CD Esoterik and Cheap Thrills. $7 at the door.

So, this is Montreal’s new cinema events blog. SYNOPTIC CINEMA MONTREAL (or synopticinemontreal as we affectionately prefer to type it) is part-blog-part-events-calendar: it’s designed as a one-stop-shop for a comprehensive view of what’s happening week by week in Montreal’s cinema community. It is currently maintained by staffers of Synoptique, the film journal that hosts the site. But that’s just for starters. We’re looking for blogger-meisters from all over Montreal. We want different perspectives, fresh perspectives. The idea is to provide a synoptic sense of cinema happenings in Montreal.

If you have a cinema event you’d like posted (including casting calls), please e-mail us at events@blog.synoptique.ca

If you’d like to become a blogger on this site, please e-mail a short letter to info@blog.synoptique.ca telling us why cinema is worth sharing.

We publish in both French and English.

Two things happen on this site:

1. Events posting. Those appear in reddish/pinkish. Clicking on any day on the calendar to the right will list events for that day. Above the calendar is a list of all the upcoming events. Events are “posted” to appear on the day they occur.

2. Announcements/Commentary/Everything else. Our cinema related blogging appears in yellow. We’ll be posting extra information on events, commentary on past events, commentary on current films and DVDs, picks of the week, interesting sites to check out, and just about anything that crosses our minds.

And this will also be a forum for long and hard looks. Funding for the arts, government policy, institutional bottlenecks, stagnant scenes, what-were-they-thinking?. Cinema is art, entertainment, politics. This is a place to keep informed. To keep inspired.

Enjoy. And we look forward to reading your comments. (Click here to leave your comments).