Fringe Events
Alright, so there’s no getting around the big event happening right now in Edmonton. The 30th Edmonton International Fringe Festival; Fringeopolis is on this weekend and until August 21. Almost all of the 180 plays will be happening in the Old Strathcona neighbourhood, but watch for venues in other parts of the city, like the Edmonton Public Library, downtown, and 118 Avenue.
We’re posting videos for Fringe plays, so keep your eyes on our “From the Web” category.
Now, that is not the only thing happening in Edmonton. A couple of smaller festival/street party items this weekend:
- Art in the Alley – art, music, an outdoor movie, and more, all happening in the Alley of Light. That’s the backlane that runs from Beaver Hills House Park, past the Sobeys, across 104 Street, over to the U of A’s downtown campus.
- Eastwoodfest – Back for another summer, this celebrates all things Eastwood (118 Avenue, betweem 85 and 87 Street)
- There’s a tea party at the U of A’s environmental students group naturalized site, which was top community garden in the Front Yards in Bloom contest.
In sports…the Edmonton Capitals are back home, hosting the Yuma Scorpions this weekend…FC Edmonton is home to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers…the Oil City Derby Girls’ rookies are taking on the Yukon Roller Girls…northwest of Edmonton, the St. Albert Heavenly Rollers take on the Cold Lake Lakeland Lady Killers (such a good name), on the 76th anniversary of roller derby…this weekend is also the kick off to the Prairie Football Conference season, with the Edmonton Wildcats home to the Calgary Colts, at Clarke Park (beside Commonwealth Stadium)…
In Friday music…it actually kicks serious butt…The Edmonton Show is back for a VIth run (that would be 6th), with Ann Vriend and Liam Trimble leading the way…Whiskeyface kicks off their tour at Brixx with The Sorels…Michael Rault and Sans AIDS are at The ARTery…Romi Mayes is releasing a CD tonight at the Haven Social Club…Carrie Day is at The Carrot (don’t forget about The Carrot!)…All Time Low is at the Edmonton Events Centre…
Saturday…The AwesomeHots get the day going with a Hair of the Dog afternoon show at the Black Dog…Paperplanes and Dragonboats release an EP, with The Paronomasiac, at The ARTery…
You'll be screaming with excitement over The Room.
All weekend…the Edmonton Rock Music Festival, a collaboration of The Rock and Roll Society of Edmonton and K-97, takes over Hawrelak Park. There will be plenty of, uh, rock.
You can always catch a movie in the cool confines of a theatre. And The Room is at Metro Cinema tonight at 11:20pm. If you haven’t seen The Room yet, YOU NEED TO SEE The Room. (Metro Cinema is now in the Garneau Theatre.)
You can hug your way to donated peanut butter, at West Edmonton Mall.
Oh, and if you’re using the LRT this weekend, remember that the train will not stop at Coliseum station because of work on the station platform.
No Fooling With The Weekend
The jokes all done, let’s get us some weekend.
Tonight you’ve got the 3rd annual Gala Guru, at the AGA. It’s the annual gala of Guru Digital Arts College, and a meeting of Edmonton’s digital heroes and cool cats. And me. The big news from Guru is the addition of illustrator Nat Jones, and the new course he’ll be teaching on illustrations, graphic novels and comic books.
On the music side of things tonight, you’ve got Canadian legend Bruce Cockburn, at the Winspear. He’s here as part of The Winspear Presents series which focuses on folk and world artists (the kind you’ll usually see at the summer Folk Fest.)
Actually tonight’s musical lineup just gets better from there (and we’re already talking about Bruce Cockburn)…The Whitsundays are at the Haven Social Club…The Secretaries are at New City…Tupelo Honey has a new album release at the Starlite…April Wine is at the Century Casino…and the B-52s are out at River Cree…
Saturday is a great day for music, with a big lineup for a good cause over at Original Joe’s Varsity. It’s Rhythm for Research and money raised from tickets and a silent auction will help in finding a cure for leukemia and lymphoma.
Also in Saturday music, Weird Canada has a sweet show at the Pawn Shop, presenting Peace, Brazilian Money, Sans AIDS, and Jessica Jalbert. Over at the Starlite it’s the Rural Alberta Advantage, with The Provincial Archive, and Hooded Fang. (If you didn’t snag tickets to this show you can catch The Provincial Archive’s Craig Schram earlier in the day at Rhythm for Research.) And, fresh off their hosting gig at the Edmonton Music Awards, rappers Kemo Treats are at bohemia.
Missing The Room will tear you apart.
If comedy is more your thing, you’ll want to head over to the Roxy Theatre Saturday night for Mostly Water Theatre’s latest guffaw extravaganza.
You can always catch a movie.
Speaking of movies…The movie event of the weekend is at Metro Cinema though. The Turkey Shoot is presenting the greatest film of our generation: The Room.
On Sunday, Metro Cinema begins screening movies in the Edmonton Jewish Film Festival.
The Edmonton Rush are home to the Colorado Mammoth Friday night.
Two new plays begin at the Citadel Theatre this Saturday. The Three Musketeers is in the MacLab theatre and Rick: The Rick Hansen Story is in the Shoctor.
And Sunday night kicks off a week of evening LRT delays. Enjoy! (Enjoy the weekend, not the LRT delays.)
Failure is the only option
Sometimes there’s nothing funnier than unintentional humour. Take, The Room, or other B-movies, for example.
The people involved in the movie are really trying. They just happen to stink. The resulting humour is glorious.
Now, how about watching some of the worst possible writing and acting, on purpose?
That’s what tonight’s “FAILURE!” is all about.
FAILURE! – a kind of fundraiser (in which Edmonton’s best do their worst) is taking place at The Next Act pub (my favourite pub) at 8pm. Thanks to one of the participants, Morgan Smith, for tipping me off to the groan-inducing night of hilarity.
It really is some of Edmonton’s best (Stewart Lemoine, Chris Craddock, Human Loser, Jill Pollack, the Mostly Water Theatre guys) reading selections from terrible plays they’ll never actually produce. Some of the great (awful) play names include “LARRY ALWAYS WINS!” and “Brown Chowder! Sing It Louder!”
There’s a suggested donation of $15, and a silent auction. Money raised helps pay for Mostly Water Theatre’s “15 Minutes” and Human Loser/Allspice Theatre’s “Game Face” at this summer’s Fringe Festival.
Go ahead, they want you to laugh at their pitiful efforts.
May 28 Edmonton Headlines
Good morning, Edmonton.
Dave Clarke interviews "Tommy Wiseau" (Jeff Page) before The Room stars blowing minds.
I’m sure my brain will return to normal function soon. It just has to solidify after the mind-melting experience of seeing The Room at Metro Cinema last night.
I know, we talk about this movie all of the time. And this was the second time the Turkey Shoot team showed it in Edmonton. But the movie is so bad/good that it deserves all of this coverage.
I was happy to have brought along friend Brittney, who, despite meeting the movie’s director/writer/producer/lead actor and securing us a signed copy of the movie’s DVD, had yet to experience The Room. There’s something special about subjecting someone you know to this cinematic freakshow.
Turkey Shooters Dave and Jeff play some tuxedo football with Brittney, wearing her The Room t-shirt from ComicCon.
It makes all the awful, hilarious, terrible parts of the movie that much funnier when the first-time watcher reacts with laughter, shock and horror.
The Turkey Shoot boys think they’ll make The Room a regular screening in our city. Which actually does make Edmonton world-class, since that happens in places like Los Angeles and New York.
I’m sure I’ll write about The Room whenever it’s shown again. And I’m sure I will implore you to make the time to see our generation’s greatest B-movie.
I’ll even bring my football for a little short-catch.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Group calls on you, me, everyone to keep city safe
Edmonton’s Valleyview Manor protected as a historic site (Our first high-rise, and the home of the Winspears.)
Quesnell Bridge construction to cause major delays
Alberta Cabinet roadshow stops in Edmonton (These jet-setting rock stars hit the capital city, leaving screaming teen girls in their wake. I bet all of their events were sold-out phenomenons.)
Energy industry cheers royalties rollback
Edmonton retailers prepare for iPad frenzy (Do you think, as I write this, that they are already sold out?)
from the Edmonton Sun:
ETS security faces up to challenges of youth crime
Landlord slapped with multiple fines (If it’s so hard to make your utility payments when tenants aren’t paying rent, evict them. That’s kind of, uh, your job.)
Indigenous Health Initiatives Program produces new grads
from Metro Edmonton:
A quick look at Edmonton’s city election candidates (Alex did a more thorough look at the councillor possibilities.)
Changing of the guard at Edmonton Garrison
from the Edmonton Examiner:
West-end neighbourhoods need a plan: Leibovici (She doesn’t like how west LRT has been planned to this point.)
Family housing a must on airport lands
Community leagues vie for $15,000 prize (If you want to help me help Strathcona Centre win, let me know.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Important Oilers announcement at 11:30 (Will Rod Phillips be calling the games next season? Will it be his last?)
from CBC Edmonton:
Final York Hotel tenant checks out
Thomas Svekla declared a dangerous offender (The killer goes to prison without a release date.)
from CTV Edmonton:
Katz group hopes province will chip in for downtown arena project (Alright, so we’ve got $100-million from Daryl Katz, he wants $400-500-million from the city for the arena. That only leaves another $400-500-million to pick up.)
New cardiac procedure comes to Alberta
from Vue Weekly:
(It appears Vue’s website is still down.)
And I’ll give you a heads up, for June 1. The City’s parking meters are going to cost you an extra 50-cents an hour. You’ve been warned, now stock up on quarters. Rates go up next Tuesday.
Going back into The Room
Turkey Shoot is bringing it back.
Missing this movie will TEAR YOU APART!
I’m talking about The Room, of course.
We love that crazy movie around these parts, and any chance to talk about we are going to jump all over it like a fumbled football in a game of tuxedo football.
All that football and tuxedo stuff not making sense to you? It will. Once you come to Metro Cinema tonight and see The Room.
It will change your life.
That you’ll be in a theatre with all your new friends and the Turkey Shoot boys only makes it better.
What’s Turkey Shoot? Also something that makes life better.
Dave and Jeff (not me) sit down in front, with microphones, and zing the hell out of awful movies. It’s a live Mystery Science Theatre 3000 here in Edmonton.
The Room is so bad there isn’t enough time for all the zingers, and observation of terrible movie-making, so the Turkey Shooters encourage live-tweeting during the event to allow for maximum hilarity.
When Dave isn’t dressing up as Zardoz (the movie Turkey Shoot screened Wednesday night) he’s talking to me about The Room. Well, he’s doing a lot of other things in his life too, but right now he’s talking with me.
We, here at the edmontonian, can not get enough of this movie.
“If we get a decent turnout for this Thursday, we’re hoping we can run THE ROOM as a regular monthly event starting in the fall. And if that happens (holding breath) we will bring Tommy himself to E-Town to host the film himself. Which will be quite brilliant.”
Brilliant doesn’t begin to describe it. I’ve mentioned before that screening The Room put Edmonton into great company, with cities such as Los Angeles and New York. Having T-Wise come to Edmonton would really make us world-class.
As for why the Turkey Shoot guys would subject Edmonton to the agony of this movie again…Dave writes: “It just gets better and better with repeat showings. And THE ROOM has to be experienced with a group of people to be truly appreciated. Part of the fun is bringing people who haven’t seen it and watching their reactions. Like Two Girls, One Cup, but without the girls and the cup :)
Tonight I think you should be following @Turkey_Shoot on Twitter. And watch for folks like me to be live-tweeting the greatest movie of our generation. Follow the hashtag #turkeyshoot for that fun (No Twitter account required).
Tickets are only available at Metro Cinema tonight. $10, or $8 for students and seniors.
—–
If you’re not going to The Room, I suggest The Sadies and Pack A.D. show at The Starlite (I am REALLY conflicted about missing this) or the Bronze Leaf album release, with dinner, at Rutherford House
Edmonton enters The Room
If you come across people today who are giggling to themselves, or staring off like nothing makes sense to them anymore, they may have been at Metro Cinema last night.
You might want to ask them if they were there, in case they aren’t the kind of giggling to themselves person you want to be around.
Yes, last night Edmonton was just like Los Angeles or Toronto or New York. We watched “The Room” on the big screen. That’s what I call “world class.”
What’s “The Room?” Only the greatest B-movie since ever.
It’s a terrible movie, rumoured to have cost $6-million, touted with an everlasting billboard in L.A. by the film’s lead actor/director/producer/writer, Tommy Wiseau. As we heard last night, it’s not known where Wiseau came from, how he got the money, or what his deal is.
He marketed the movie as a serious, emotional drama. It’s pure unintentional hilarity, full of re-used shots, unnecessary footage, plenty of small talk, gratuitous sex scenes (after sex scenes), atrocious acting, and football breaks.
Thanks (BIG THANKS) goes to the guys at Turkey Shoot.
Thanks to Dave and Jeff for a great Turkey Shoot. Sorry for my awful photo.
What’s Turkey Shoot you ask? Only Edmonton’s own Mystery Science Theater 3000.
What’s Mystery Science…oh, forget it here’s a link.
Having experienced The Room previously, I was a little worried the Turkey Shooters would step on too much of this masterpiece. They did not. They knew when to let that Wiseau-dialogue capture our attention. They also had fantastic zings. And the audience really got into things with comments of their own, and lots and lots and lots of laughing.
The Tommy Wiseau impersonation contest was just more icing on the cake.
Extra props to resident movie-genius Paul Matwychuck (follow him on Twitter here, download his podcast with Vue’s David Berry here) for being a part of the skewering team. And kudos, as we heard, for introducing the Turkey Shooters to the movie. Bravo!
As Sally wrote about the other day, this was also the Turkey Shoot‘s first attempt at live tweeting a movie. I think it went well. They were tweeting while commenting from near the screen, I was tweeting, Sally was tweeting, people in the crowd were tweeting. Lots of people were following on Twitter. I hope #theroomyeg is but the first live tweeting Turkey Shoot does.
He loves us!
May I suggest #drmoreauyeg or simply #yegturkey for next month’s viewing of the Marlon Brando classic “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” Maybe just #yegturkey so we can use it again and again.
As one person tweeted, we should probably all return next year, to remember our evening, the night so many lives changed by viewing The Room.
While I own a copy (thanks to Brittney’s trip to Comic-Con last summer) I could only show the movie to 6 or 7 people at a time. Maybe I’ll start a list so all of Edmonton can enjoy this cinematic gem.
Oh, and the next time this is shown in Edmonton, mark my words, I’m showing up in a tuxedo. Hey, Turkey Shooters, you bring the football.
The Room Comes to #YEG!
Listen you guys, over lo these many years of adulthood, I’ve grown accustomed to some degree of disappointment. As the old saying goes, you can’t always get what you want, and believe me, many a dream has been thwarted in my 70+ years on the planet. But today, I am so, so pleased to tell you that one of my dreams is coming true.
You'll be screaming with excitement over The Room.
That’s because Tommy Wiseau’s masterpiece, “The Room”, is finally hitting the big screen in Edmonton.
So who is the genius responsible for this? Who are these kings among men who finally made it happen?
Let’s all thank the Turkey Shoot guys. If you’re not familiar, Turkey Shoot has been around since 2008, and is a bit of an Edmonton tradition at this point. Each month, Dave Clarke, Jeff Page and friends watch and heckle the very best of the very worst movies, sort of in the tradition of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Anyway, this Wednesday, they’re taking on The Room, and Dave has even signed up on Twitter strictly for the occasion, just so he can live tweet the whole cinematic debacle. And in that spirit of livetweeting, I asked that Dave (who describes himself as a complete twitter “noob”) answer my questions in 140 characters or less.
SALLY: Tell me what Turkey Shoot is and/or how it started.
DAVE: Turkey Shoot, which for brevity I’ll call TS, started in 2008 at the Metro Cinema. It’s a live version of MST3K. Wait, only 14 left fuck wh
DAVE: K. TS is monthly event we make fun of movies,eg,top gun,ice castles. I’m Dave – actor & musician – the other guy is Jeff. Next THE ROOM!¥€•
SALLY: Why MUST folks come to the screening?
DAVE: Reasons to come. Only $10. 35mm print, Wiseau as MEANT to be seen. Share joy with other fans. Plus you r ENCOURAGED to txt during movie.
SALLY: What is “The Room?”
DAVE: The Room is a 2003 movie with a fast growing cult following. Coz it’s so good. Facebook Turkey Shoot has links. Sal you are mega fan I’m out
I don’t know about you jackals, but I’m sold.
Obviously Jeff and I are going to be there tomorrow night, so if you plan on coming, make sure to drop us an email and say hello. And if you can’t make it, watch for the live-tweeting frenzy that will unfold under hashtag #theroomyeg. The Turkey Shoot guys are even going to give Twitterville a heads up right before the movie rolls, just in case you, say, own an autographed DVD copy of The Room and would rather watch that while reading the live comments on twitter.
Edmonton loves The Room
I am sealing this DVD case in a vault.
Or, Edmontonians need to love The Room.
Seriously, I will wait for you to come back and read the rest of this story after you go watch the trailer for the movie of our generation.
Go. I know you’ll be back.
It’s so good, right?
Wait, you’re saying, this is just some crappy B-movie. But, I reply, there’s a story (or rather, a billboard) behind this movie that takes it to all new levels.
This is a movie that is so amazing, I would endorse you hosting viewing parties. I would endorse you watching it so many times you could act it out. I would endorse you taking tuxedo-football breaks during the day.
Thanks to our good friend, Brittney, we now hold in our hands a copy (autographed by the star/writer/director/producer and another actor, no less!) and couldn’t be happier.
If I was rolling in money I would pay whatever it took to get Tommy Wiseau here for a screening. I would love to share The Room with you that much, Edmonton. Maybe I can just invite you over, in groups of 5 or 6, to watch this over a period of consecutive Friday nights. You’ll have to bring your own snacks though.
Who cares about Robert Downey Jr. when there are real stars around. (Photo: Brittney Le Blanc)
I’m also jealous that Brittney was so close to a sleeveless Tommy Wiseau. She also snagged a sweet t-shirt (full of your favourite The Room quotes) at Comic-Con. Lucky!
