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(23/01/02)  

 

Since last spring so many crazy things have occurred I don't even know where to begin. Last January in Edmonton a few of us Headstones fans from as far away as Tennessee rang in the new year together in what we like to call the Headporn 2000 Tour, four days of pornography, alcohol, and rock n' roll.;) March, at the Edmonton Local Heroes Film Festival, I listened to a fascinating discussion panel on writing with the creators of The Associates and Chris Haddock the creator of Da Vinci's Inquest, I first saw Memento, and Suspicious River, and was audience to a live phone Q & A with Callum himself from Vancouver. In September I traveled to the Toronto International Film Festival for the Hard Core Buddies Weekend II, and was amazed to be surrounded by so many favorite Canadian actors. I saw many films, but particularly one stood out, the premiere of Callum's film Picture Claire (originally called Claire's Hat), Bruce Mcdonald's first feature film since Hard Core Logo. Tragically during our stay in T.O. the events of September 11th unfolded, and many of us were left wondering if we would be stranded.

Where Have They Gone?

Now and Forever. Played at the Montreal International Film Festival this September. For more info go to the FFM-Montreal website.

Suspicious River. There have been so many mentions of possible release dates for Canada it makes my head spin. Lynne Stopkewich originally said at the Local Heroes '01 that it would opening in the spring or summer. Then it was fall, then it was winter, and still no sign. There was an article in September's Flare magazine discussing VIFF with Lynne, and mentions "Suspicious River, a feature starring Molly Parker and Callum Keith Rennie...opens in theatres this month." It was spotted by Dawn Arnold opening in Ottawa on December 14th, Ottawa Citizen, but has not been spotted anywhere since. It has opened in various European countries, but so far no American distributor has been found as of yet. Checkout the official French Suspicious River site. There are other numerous SR related sites sussed out by Dawn over time, check them out here:

-http://www.ecrannoir.fr/films/01/suspiciousriver.htm -http://www.ecrannoir.fr/stars/monde/parker.htm -http://www.monsieurcinema.com/commun/film/?id_film=FI012825 -http://www.camerapress.fr/accueil_fichefilm.cfm?ref=33441 -http://www.liberation.com/cinema/200108/20010808river.html -http://www.allocine.fr/films/genere/totalfiche_gen_055006.asp -http://www.hallucinez.com/fichefilm.php3?no=191 -http://www.studiocine.com/cgi-bin/programme.pl?no_semaine=33&id_film=232

&mode=detail&from=semaine&jour=0

-http://www.keyfilms.it

 

Torso. The CTV MOW, has been playing hide and seek since it's original air date of September 11th, but due to two preemptions by the network, the last because of rescheduling of the Emmy Awards, the movie hasn't yet been rescheduled. For more info, checkout the Toronto Sun article, "Notorious Mrs. Dick still MIA" from 11/27/01. For a review of the movie, try reading the Toronto Star from 9/11/01 "Greatish preformances save Torso." "[Mrs. Dick, played by Kathleen Robertson] charms and confounds the cops, especially the lead inspector (Due South's Callum Keith Rennie). But, if there was any chemistry between the two, it's not apparent here." If that doesn't sustain you, check out the official Torso website, and the trailer. To stay on top of rescheduling, stay tuned to the CTV info website.

 

 

2001, A Year In Review:

 

 

January.

 

-HeadPorn 2000, Edmonton, 30th-2nd.

 

February.

 

-Murder Seen shown for the first time on Movie Central.

 

March.

 

-Filming begins on Slapshot II, which Callum is shooting in Vancouver. The movie is sadly going straight to video/DVD, and will be available in March, 2002. ReelWest came out with a August/September 2001 of their magazine which features the Hanson's from the new film on their front cover, and a small picture of Callum in the inside cover. For more reviews checkout these sites:

-http://www.canoe.ca/JamVideo/dec20_slapshot-can.html

-http://www.vancouverprovince.com/newsite/entertainment/010422/5053126.html

-http://www.vancouversun.com/newsite/entertainment/010509/5040137.html

-http://www.vancouversun.com/newsite/entertainment/5062651.html

 

**Spoiler Warning, Synopsis: Slapshot II ** "With the original Hanson Brothers still on the same minor league ice hockey team, the Chiefs are sold to a new owner who give them a female coach and puts them in a league in which they are to be regularly humiliated by a Harlem Globetrotters-like team." (videopremireawards.com) "Baldwin's [Stephen Baldwin who plays the lead captain] story, about a rising star in the major leagues who is suspected of blowing a big game for money." (Globe & Mail 09/05/01, Alexandra Gill) Callum plays the sex crazed alternate captain.

 

-March 22nd, Edmonton Sun article, "Reenie's hot on ice." March 25th, Edmonton Sun "Rennie gets his Due." The former is very indepth, and the latter has a list of twenty questions with Rennie himself. A must read for any fan.:)

 

-Edmonton Local Heroes International Film Festival, 16-23. Suspicious River screening, afterwards Q & A with Callum via phone from Vancouver where he was filming SSII.

 

-Memento is released across north America.

 

April.

 

-Dice the six episode series, each half an hour long, begins filming in Quebec; production shoots over 45 days through to July 5. (Playback, Quebec Scene. 28/05/01) Love this quote mentioned in a review, it's by the lead of the series Martin Cummins; "I stayed in the same apartment block as Callum, and we both have pit bulls, and we'd race them around." (http://www.thestar.ca/) For more reviews checkout these websites:

-http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/5-2-19101-1-3-31.html

-http://www.thestar.ca/

 

**Spoiler Warning, Synopsis: Dice** "Sally Quine is blond, beautiful and dead. Her naked, mutilated body is found just outside a small town called Harmony that, despite its name, seems populated with weirdos hiding terrible secrets. Hmm. Twin Peaks anyone? Dice is a new TV mini-series, filmed in Montreal as a Canada-U.K. co-production, and debuting on The Movie Network and Movie Central next Monday night. It's also destined for Showcase at a later date." .."So, yes, Dice is kinda dreamy, kinda surreal, but also with a contradictory overlay of film noir. It's a bleak and grungy fairy tale. Even the "hero," an alcoholic young police detective played by Martin Cummins, is largely unlikable." .."The title, by the way, refers not to traditional gambling, but to a mythical role-playing game that was described in a British book and TV documentary. Under the concept, people make a list of six life-altering choices, then roll a die and commit to acting on the outcome. In this drama, someone sinister and inscrutable has come to town to enlist weak-minded residents in the addictive life-or-death game. Soon the whole community seems infected, like a drug or a virus."(John McKay, Canadian Press 07/11/01) ..."In the television program, Glenn Taylor, a charismatic psychology researcher played by British actor Aidan Gillen, turns the townsfolk on to the wonders of dicing. As they become increasingly obsessed with it -- it spreads like a disease through the town -- more people start dying and turning on one another. Investigator Patrick Styvesant (Martin Cummins) is taken on a roller-coaster journey of self-discovery and self-loathing as he tries to nail the person responsible for the murder and mayhem. Other cast members include Brendan Fletcher (The Five Senses) who plays Quine's distraught boyfriend; Fred Ward (The Adventures of Joe Dirt), a private eye and Vietnam War vet; Callum Keith Rennie (Picture Claire and Double Happiness), a crazed hair fetishist; Gina McKee (Wonderland), the psycho's last victim; and Mark McKinney (Kids in the Hall), a neophyte who catches his wife in flagrante delicto." (Gayle Macdonald, "Slicing and dicing." Globe & Mail 12/11/01 Page R1)

May.

 

-Leo Awards. Callum is nominated and wins in the feature film category, best performance by a male for Suspicious River.

(Vancouver Sun 14/05/01)

 

July.

 

-Trapped, the two hour USA network MOW aired on July 24th.

 

**Spoiler Warning, Synopsis: Trapped** "A shifty casino owner, a boxer and a TV reporter are among those awaiting rescue from a burning resort in this formulaic 2001 cable disaster opus. Playing like a cross between "The Towering Inferno" and Survivor, the film is set in a Las Vegas hotel-casino run by embattled Oliver Sloan (Parker Stevenson). Sloan went into debt to renovate the building, and he desperately needs its reopening to pay off. But a sudden fire sweeps through the resort during the festivities, leaving Sloan and several others stranded---along with journalist C. Whitmore Evans (William McNamara), whose probing camera records their every move. Rocker Meat Loaf costars as the building's engineer. Cast: Meat Loaf, Parker Stevenson, William McNamara, Katie Stuart, Callum Keith Rennie, Suki Kaiser, Stephanie von Pfetten, Lina Teal, Martin Cummings, Jodelle Micah Ferland, Roger R. Cross, Sarah Carter, John B. Lowe, Gabrielle Rose, Ian Tracy."

 

September.

 

-Originally Torso was suppose to air on September 11th on CTV, but due to the tragedies which occurred in the United States it has been postponed till a further date.

 

-The Toronto International Film Festival started on the 6th-15th. On Sept 10th was the world premiere of Picture Claire at the Elgin theatre, Callum wasn't in attendance.

For more reviews of the film from the festival, check out these websites:

-http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_09.13.01/film/tiff.html

-http://www.fyiedmonton.com/cgi-bin/niveau2.cgi?s=films&p=42262.html&a=1

-http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20010914/687581.html&

qs=picture%20claire

-http://www.reel.com/reel.asp?node=features/festivals/toronto2001/reviews#

pictureclaire

-http://www.preview-online.com/sept_oct2001/feature_articles/pictureclaire/

index.html

 

**Spoiler Warning for Picture Claire Press Review:** I love this section from a review of the film by Pam Grady, and I totally agree with her, and not just because I am a fan, but because she's right. Callum stole the film from the lead, period. "Callum Keith Rennie steals the picture from his co-star [Kelly Harms]. Whether he's merely sitting in a car bopping to the '60s pop hit "Sweet City Women," declaiming to Culver [Callum's partner] about the predictability of women, or menacing an elderly pawnbroker, Laramie [Callum's character] may be the flipcase getting the most satisfaction from his work since a laughing Richard Widmark pushed the old lady down the stairs in Kiss of Death. He also gets the movie's best lines; listen carefully to Rennie's last speech, a hilarious and wacko variation of Clint Eastwood's .357 magnum monologue from Dirty Harry." She also calls Laramie in the beginning of her review "cheerfully psychotic."

 

October.

 

-Gemini Awards. Many of Callum's fellow colleagues were nominated. Nicholas Cambell won for his guest appearance in an episode of Blue Murder. He also finally earned his first award for Da Vinci's Inquest in a continuing lead in a dramatic role! And, Babz Chula won for her continuing lead in a dramatic role in the series These Arms of Mine. Both were from the CBC.

 

-At the Vancouver International Film Festival on the 10th, Picture Claire was screened at the Vouge theatre, and from what has been reported Callum was in attendance.

 

November.

 

-Callum makes an approx. 2 min. appearance as Bobby Marlow on a Da Vinci's Inquest episode entitled, "Ugly Quick."

 

-Dice begins airing on Movie Central on the 12th all the way to December 17th.

 

-Articles begin to appear in Vancouver newspapers on Callum, mentioning his filming the new movie Flower & Garnet which started near the end of the month in Ashcroft, B.C., and goes until December 17th. Take a look:

 

Vancouver Province 25/11/01 "Ramblin' Rennie gets rooted," Glen Shaefer. "Callum Keith Rennie's nomad days are behind him. The one-time wild man of Canadian acting has bought a Vancouver loft and is learning golf." ..."That's why I got a loft in Vancouver, so at least I'd have my stuff in the same place." ...[Of Flower & Garnet] "It's a really sophisticated, complicated tale of the trials of a family," he says. "Very sweet and very beautiful, moments of lightness and hope." The softer side of Callum Rennie? "I guess there's an attempt at that. I'm trying to keep it not as heavy as other stuff, move away from the darkness."But he says his work hasn't been as dark as people have thought, citing Last Night, Double Happiness and Hard Core Logo."The truly only dark movie I've done is Suspicious River," the sexual-dysfunction drama from Vancouver's Lynne Stopkewich set for release early in the new year." ..."As soon as I moved [to Los Angelas] I had a terrible time, because somehow it agreed with some sociopathic part of myself," he says. "If I go down on work junkets, do a bit of golfing, see how many meetings I can do and then get out, then I'm happier." Oh yes, the golf. Rennie got hooked on the game during a visit to his grad student brother in Europe last May. "I really would prefer to golf most of the time now."Kind of a metaphor for the new Rennie."I'm trying to get my handicap a bit lower -- and that's in all aspects."

 

Vancouver Province 27/11/01 Aisle Seat, Glen Shaefer. "What was the last movie you watched at home? "Saint of Fort Washington, a Matt Dillon-Danny Glover movie about two homeless characters trying to make their way in the world. It was great, actually. It was trying to reaffirm the human spirit, that people move on through stuff, a challenge to the viewer to live without judgment." What was the last movie you saw at the theatre? "Sexy Beast. I loved that, a smallish, great film. Ben Kingsley is great playing a person you never want to spend any time around, a needy psychopath." What movie could you watch over and over? "Withnail and I. It's one of those actor movies that actors like to watch. The actor's life, the bitching and the griping. I saw that a bunch of times." What movie do you wish you'd never seen? "Battlefield Earth. I was almost in it, but no. Maybe it will become one of those cult classics. The Island of Dr. Moreau, that one was so appallingly bad it was laugh-out-loud funny. Battlefield Earth was just another bad movie." If you could spend the day with one movie personality, who would it be? "Brando, 'cause he's a fascinating character. He's had a full run at it for a long time. He's always had his own particular take on everything. He's politicized, quite confusing. He's enduring."

 

**Spoiler Warning, Synopsis: Flower & Garnet** Callum appears to be playing a single father in the story, probably Flower's. "Shot in Ashcroft and the Lower Mainland, it's the story of Flower, a young girl for whom first love and an unexpected pregnancy rocket her to womanhood." (Vancouver Sun 09/01/02 "There's something about Lin.) "The coming-of-age story about love and family ties stars...busy young Vancouver actress Jane MacGregor as Flower and first timer Colin Roberts as Garnet. Vancouver writer/director Keith Behrman who recently completed a residency at the Canadian Film Centre, has won awards for his short films. His Flower and Garnet script was selected from among more than 200 other feature submissions and workshopped as part of the CBC Television Arts Performance Showcase in 1999." (Vancouver Sun 17/11/01 "Flower Power.")

 

December.

 

-Filming of Flower & Garnet raps on the 17th.

 

 

Magazine Issues:

 

 

-ReelWest, August/September 2001 issue. Hanson brothers on the front cover, with the lead "Hockey Schtick." No mention of Callum, although on the inside cover there is a picture of him in a hockey jersey looking particularly hoser like with Stephen Baldwin and the Hanson brothers.

-TakeOne, Winter 2002 issue. Callum graces the front cover, as long with a four page interview, and one full page black/white photo.

 

Other:

 

-Flare, September 2001 issue. Interview with Lynne Stopkewich during the VIFF, talks about Suspicious River.

-Elmstreet, September 2001 issue. Front cover and main article feature Molly Parker.

 

 

And finally...Now:

 

 

-Once again, STARTV is running it's "Canada's 25 Most Beautiful People." Not that we're judging Callum by his appearance, no, no..we wouldn't do that now, would we? Especially on a channel that he's been known to be not particularly fond of.. but if you are of a some what competitive elk, anyway's, like myself, you can go and nominate here: startv.com

 

-I'd just like to mention at this time that the 2002 Edmonton Local Heroes Festival is being held this March from the 6th to the 16th. I've contacted the organizers and they tell me that they are already attempting to get Picture Claire for the festival. Some fans are already interested in attending, and I'm trying to get us altogether for some meetings of the mind. If you're interested, give me an e-mail at: rebelwithoutacomb@yahoo.ca

 

-A last minute inclusion, Dawn just found this article; "Callum Keith Rennie is Mr. Cool" Vancouver Sun 23/01/02. It has some more info on Flower & Garent, but Callum seems to be good humoured about himself during disccusion about his career 'coolness' factor, he denies it, yet the irony seems to be smucking him the face anyways.<g> The reporter must have been checking out the net as well, because he mentions Purple Toast, Callum's little known first indie film. (Well done ladies.) Once again, another must read.

 

 

Future Projects:

 

 

-Bliss. It's been reported that Callum will be appearing in this new erotic tv series, eight half hour episodes to be shown on the Movie Network this year, and next year on Showcase called Bliss. It's brought to you by Montreal based Galafilms (Lilies, Hanging Garden), and produced by Janis and Adrienne Mitchell.

 

**Spoiler Warning, Synopsis: Bliss** "We realized there was a lot of sex on TV, but most of it was from a male perspective. Would anyone be interested in a women's erotica TV series?"..."We wanted to come up with something that was more reality-based, and explore the characters and what happens to them as they go through this erotic moment. This is the focus of the story, the characters and how these things change them -- most of the time it's glossed over."The team behind Bliss has managed to collect an impressive array of talent, from thespians such as Adam Beach (Mystery, Alaska), Torri Higginson (The City) and Callum Keith Rennie (Last Night, Due South), Daniel Pilon (Dallas, Suspicious Minds), Jennifer Levine and Quebec pop sensation Mitsou, who will all appear in various episodes, to writers such as Sharon Riis, Carol Lazare and Laurie Finstad."To us, it was important to pull together as many different, varied female voices as we could," says Mitchell, who is also directing one of the show's eight 30-minute episodes. Directors also include Lynne Stopkewich (Kissed), Penelope Buitenhuis and Holly Dale." ..."Also, we have wonderful actors here and I don't want to take them to places they're not comfortable. It's not about taking off your clothes and exposing your body -- it's about exposing your mind and your vulnerability and your emotions."(Globe & Mail 08/11/01, Matthew Hays)

 

Getting Off Topic, is always the best part:

 

 

-Looks like Bruce McDonald's next directing foray will be on the story of former NHL Toronto Leaf's enforcer John Kordic's troubled life. Shadow Shows, Bruce's film company is developing the movie based on the book, John Kordic Story: The Fight of His Life. http://www.fyiedmonton.com/

 

-Paul Gross's Men With Brooms is poised to be unleashed across Canada on March 8th, 2002.

 

-Can you say six degrees of Callum? Mina Shum director of Double Happiness started filming on November 14, 2001 on a project for Massey Productions and Shaftesbury Films (the guy's who are bringing you Torso), a drama called Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity starring, Sandra Oh.. Wow. That made me almost dizzy with connections.

 

-The Headstones came out in October with the greatest fits CD. Buy it. Help the band in their continuing quest for food, clothing, and shelter, and making a livin' and havin' fun. And of course Canadian & world domination. It has two new singles, "Blowtorch" and "Come on" and all of their greatest hits re-mastered. Hmmm..., maybe Cal should put out a CD, you know, so he could cover that whole food, clothing, and shelter thing. ;^>

What's New To The Site:

 

(23/01/02)    I'll just say I've updated the newspage and homepage, (and it took me more than three days, and more than a few cups of coffee and tea) not what I'm going to do, cause it's all too likely I'll never get around to it then. What I wish for the page on the other hand; is finally to update everything else, put up a few pics from headporn, local hero's last year, but most importantly what I'm working on next is the Toronto '01 diary/picture page. That will be up soon, I promise, *lots* of goodies there to share. Any boo boo's as usual, rag on me please, asap. I'll blame the coffee and university. And a purple toast tour page, ooh, that would be fun. One of these days.