Pittsburgh
Even though Jeff Goldblum has blockbuster credits such as Jurassic Park and Independence Day on his résumé, his latest project is a straight-to-DVD mockumentary. Why did he do it?

Goldblum told the Straight he realized that with the release of the Blair Witch Project, technology had caught up with his ambition. “I thought ‘Gee, you can make something handcrafted and it could be presentable.’?” Soon enough, he started to “fool around”; a feature film slowly developed. “Having a career is nice, but real black-belt acting involves having the opportunity to enhance your life with it every day,” Goldblum said in a telephone interview.

The film follows Goldblum as he struggles to keep his young Canadian fiancée in the United States. The quest for a green card leads to a starring role in a regional theatre production of The Music Man. This project takes Goldblum backs to his real-life hometown of Pittsburgh, and into the hands of a demanding director, a furious agent, and a possible disaster. Along the way, life is further complicated by run-ins with fellow celebrities, including Alanis Morissette, Craig Kilborn, and a pornography-obsessed Moby.

Throughout the film, Goldblum’s agent leaves him several desperate voice mails, warning him his career is going to shambles, but it’s ambiguous if the warnings were staged or real. Goldblum admitted he did worry at times, but claimed that any such thoughts were immediately banished. “The hell with it!” Goldblum said. “I pledge my devotion to art and my romance.”

The film does indeed comes off as a work of passion. The production is minimal, the acting is funny, and many scenes are enjoyable improvisations. The ending drags a little and one or two scenes appear forced, but it’s a welcome break from a summer of predictable blockbusters.

(To read more from Goldblum's interview about Pittsburgh, visit the Views Blog.) 

A Dog’s Breakfast
Vancouver-based actor David Hewlett’s film debut as a writer-director, A Dog’s Breakfast, is a dark comedy of lighthearted murder. It’s the story of Patrick, a guy who has never been good at anything, and his quest to drive a wedge into his sister’s impending marriage.

A Dog’s Breakfast is a “zany, old-fashioned kind of comedy”, Hewlett told the Straight in a telephone interview from the set of the TV sci-fi hit, Stargate: Atlantis, where he plays Dr. Rodney McKay. “I really just wanted to make something that people would have a good laugh at.” Hewlett said that the film never could have happened without the enthusiasm of Vancouver’s “Stargate guys”: during seasonal breaks in shooting, the cast and crew jumped onboard. “This was Stargate,” Hewlett said. “The money I made saving the universe got put into making the movie.”

The best part was giving a “mutt” a second chance, Hewlett said. The film’s lead role, Mars, or “my Coquitlam pound rescue”, as he calls him, “just completely steals the show, the little bastard”, Hewlett said.