1984: Bangers and Mosh Revisited!
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
We’re fortunate to be blessed with a vibrant cultural scene here in T.O., so much so in fact that often exceptional events get lost in the voluminous shuffle. Hopefully that won’t be the case next week at the ReelheART Film Festival, where it’s cheap movie night every night. For $6, you can check out a few indie films at Southern Accent, maybe even treat yourself to a bourbon sour and some jambalaya while you’re there. Click HERE to find out more about the festival.
I’m looking forward to one film in particular and not just because it’s set in my hometown of Winnipeg in 1984. Kevin Doherty’s Black Bridge ‘84: Year of the Banger, according to Canuxploitation.com, “starts out like another take on FUBAR [but] quickly unfolds into something entirely original, an engaging tragedy rooted in the media fascination with heavy metal as a doorway to drugs, suicide, Satanism and murder. Though a few false acting notes are hit, Black Bridge still manages to weave several naturally unfolding stories into a decisively emotional narrative, even working in some very funny flashes of dark humour.” Playing on Thursday night, it sounds like an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours, but I won’t lie - I’m going mainly for the mullets and the metal (insert goat horns here).
As I say, I haven’t seen the film yet, but it got me thinking about great movies that are unjustly relegated to obscurity. A few years back, I came across a copy of Richard Crouse’s book The 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, so my ex and I vowed to see them. Sadly, the list outlasted the relationship, but we did get to view some entertaining flicks that we otherwise would never have known existed.
What unknown or unpopular films have you enjoyed? Maybe they were foreign, independent, went straight to video or simply bombed at the box office and you can’t understand why. Share your list and what you liked about each by clicking on the No Comments/Comments link below. Today’s Jack Nation bonus code is BLACKBRIDGE. It’s valid until Friday, June 13th.