The Movie:

Michael Ironside (Scanners) stars in Mindfield, a 1989 Canadian action thriller with a conspiracy theory bent. Ironside plays Kellen O'Reilly, a Montreal police detective haunted by the legacy of his cop father. He is also haunted by invasive memories of medical experimentation and brainwashing. Christopher Plummer appears as the brainwash doctor, Satorius, successfully dodging prosecution due to lack of hard evidence -- and a bit of string-pulling by the CIA. Class of 1984's Lisa Langlois is a bleeding heart lawyer who is simultaneously trying to sue Satorius for his misdeeds and facilitate a labor strike for the c...Read the entire review

The Collection:
The new Blu-ray company Canadian International Pictures (CIP) has the mission to shine a light on the neglected homegrown cinema of the Great White North. Their debut disc was the '60s production The Ernie Game, and the follow-up release is dubbed The Other French New Wave, Vol. 1, collecting three '60s flicks from acclaimed Montréal-based filmmakers. As the set's title suggests, there is a kinship with the work of Godard, Truffaut, Rohmer, et. al., but the directors represented here also have a strong foundation in documentary filmmaking. Their fiction films include a hint of fly-on-the-wall actualities.

The set kicks off with Gilles Groulx's The Cat in the BagRead the entire review

The Movie:

The Ernie Game is a neglected gem of late-'60s Canadian cinema, and the new Blu-ray shingle Canadian International Pictures has made it their debut offering. The disc also includes a generous collection of director Don Owen's short films and documentaries.

The Ernie Game is an unusual character study, a tragicomedy whose settings in cramped, white-walled apartments and on the streets of Montreal suggest the influence of the French New Wave and early New York indies.

Alexis Kanner plays Ernie Turner, a would-be writer recently discharged from a mental hospital. He's on the make for someone to love -- or just something to do. He ends up bouncing back and forth between single mom Donna (Judith Gault) and his ex, Gail (Jackie Bu...Read the entire review