Progressive Recovery Group Victoria BC

Archive for the ‘About Us’ Category

Movie Monday events are by donation at the Eric Martin Theatre (Jubilee Hospital) 1900 Block Fort Street.
Parking on Lee Avenue in the “one hour” zone is not ticketed for our events.
Map and details at http/:www.moviemonday.ca

Monday 6:30 Nov 14 DEFENDOR  Woody Harrelson as a construction worker by day, self-made superhero by night in Defendor, a comedy that takes aim at society’s infatuation with comic-book mythologies.
I was reminded of this film by a recent Jian Ghomeshi interview (http://www.cbc.ca/q/episodes/    Oct 21@ 16:42) with a filmmaker who has found a number of self-proclaimed “real life superheroes” just like Defendor, aiming the make the streets safe for the innocent  public. It can be a difficult calling!  It’s a weird combination of comedy, dark drama, filmed in Hamilton (Hammertown) ON. 2009 101min  R    Some language, violence, sexual and drug use content
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kg8HFQ1xP4

  Monday 6:30Nov 21  EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE
“EVERYDAY SUNSHINE is a documentary about the band Fishbone, musical pioneers who have been rocking on the margins of pop culture for the past 25 years. From the streets of South-Central Los Angeles and the competitive Hollywood music scene of the 1980′s, the band rose to prominence, only to fall apart when on the verge of “making it.”….

“At the heart of the film’s story is lead singer Angelo Moore and bassist Norwood Fisher who show how they keep the band rolling, out of pride, desperation and love for their art. To overcome money woes, family strife, and the strain of being aging Punk rockers on the road, Norwood and Angelo are challenged to re-invent themselves in the face of dysfunction and ghosts from a painful past.”  2010 107min Pg13  Language
http://www.fishbonedocumentary.com/trailer.html
We’ll have co-director Chris Metzler , who brought us PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA, and Fishbone’s eccentric co-founder Angelo Moore with us for a Q&A by telephone!

 Monday 6:30  Nov 28  Battle Of Britain
Not the old 1940 classic but a 2010 documentary with Ewan MacGregor and his aviator bro Colin (who flew combat over Iraq) looking into that remarkable history. It’s such a brilliant take on the story: bright, modern day blokes who were, as kids, inspired by these brave flyboys (those who inspired Colin to become an RAF pilot). They fly historic planes, meet the veterans, explore the tactics and technology mixed with amazing archival footage. 90min 2010 Pg
Thanks to SVP International Sales for permission to screen this remarkable film.
This event is in collaboration with The Churchill Society http://www.churchillvictoria.com/.
Happy 137 Winston! There’ll be cake!
 Ladies (and gentlemen), check out this related film about Spitfire Girls  
http://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=c5lqRUsMHh8&feature=related    (in 10min parts)

 Monday 6:30  Dec 5   Journey On The Wild Coast
This is a film you will not soon forget – once dubbed “a cross between Into The Wild and The Blair Witch Project”!
“A married couple attempt to walk, paddle, and ski under their own power from Seattle to the Aleutians along the wild and remote northwest coast of North America. This documentary was filmed with a tiny hand held video camera by the adventures as they traveled through northern Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. Experience this modern adventure through their eyes as they encounter breathtaking scenery, harsh weather, amazing wildlife, starvation and danger. This modern adventure demonstrates that the most significant aspect of a journey is not reaching the final destination but how the journey changes the trajectory of the rest of a person’s life.”  2010 90min Pg       Warning: don’t try this before watching this film!
Filmmaker Greg Chaney will join us by phone from Juno, Alaska
Trailer @ http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/Movie/  Here you also see further exploits of this amazing couple.

 Monday 6:30 Dec 19  THE CONCERT
The Concert is an entertaining film about an out-of-favour Russian conductor who, Blues Bros-style, gets the old orchestra together for a gig.  Pretending to be the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra they head off to play a concert in Paris, the adventure of their lives.    It’s a comedy/drama with some fabulous music and a terrific surprise subplot. 119min Pg13 2009 French & Russian with subtitles
http://blog.cinemaautopsy.com/2010/04/28/film-review-the-concert-2009/
 
 6:30 Monday Dec 19  (To be confirmed)  BUCK    
   “Buck Brannaman escaped an abusive childhood in Montana and Idaho to become a master teacher of horsemanship and the main inspiration for the book and the movie The Horse Whisperer.”  This completely satisfying documentary “is a portrait that expertly mirrors its subject: Buck is shaped with the same economy, restraint, and unfussiness as the man, to unexpectedly inspiring effect.”
You don’t have to be crazy about horses to love this film. It’s laced with humour and wisdom, and a little dab Robert Redford thrown in too!   
You don’t have to be a horse nut to fall for Buck, one of those rare documentaries whose subject is so inherently fascinating that a fictional character could hardly compete. Audience fave at Sundance. 2011 88min Pg http://www.buckthefilm.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/movies/buck,1205837/critic-review.html

 6:30 Monday Boxing Day Dec 26  The People vs George Lucas
The passion the original Star Wars trilogy inspires in its fans is unparalleled; but when it comes to George Lucas himself-one of the most passionately debated filmmakers of all time-many have found their ardor has cooled into a complicated love-hate relationship. This hilarious, heartfelt documentary delves deep into Lucas’s cultural legacy, asking all the tough questions. Has Lucas betrayed his masterwork? With loads of interviews, stop-motion animation, Super 8 action figure films and puppet rants, The People Vs. George Lucas takes a hard look at the man behind the most popular franchise in film history and asks: What the hell happened? 93min  2010 Pg
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_people_vs_george_lucas/trailers/

Enjoy. Tell your friends. MM works best when we have a full house!
B

Here is the latest calendar for Movie Monday. June 13th will be MM”s 18th anniversary! To celebrate there will be cake a s well as another showing of Chomavision. Come  on out and show your support for this terrific local celebration!!

MM May – June 2011

Apr 29 MI Human Rights As part of the 6th Annual Family Conference in Vancouver. Featuring  Andre Picard- Public Health Reporter for Toronto Globe & Mail News as well as David Eby- ED of  BC Civil Liberties Association. Friday April 29th, 7pm,  Paetzold Theatre, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver.

On Saturday Feb 19th BC Schizophrenic Society Victoria Branch is having their 9th annual “Cafe Berlin”HF Media Promo booklet 2011-a memorial commemorating Hans Fear.

Performers will include Cold Cut Combo, The UVic Jazz Orchestra & Drabbit Plays Pastorious. The event will be held at The Victoria Edelweiss Club – 108 Niagara St. from 7pm onwards. Tickets are $25.00 at the door or $22.00 from various outlets (see poster).

A very special event on Monday – two Vancouver authors with recent books coming from Vancouver to my modest venue – and a Canadian made film Beautiful Dreamers about a real happening, all about the same era when Canadian psychiatric practice took a step forward.Movie Monday events are by donation at the Eric Martin Theatre (Jubilee Hospital) 1900 Block Fort Street.
Parking on Lee Avenue in the “one hour” zone is not ticketed for our events.
Map and details at http/:www.moviemonday.ca            24hr info line 250-595-3542 (flic)

Rip Torn As Walt           Walt himself“to the man who of all men past and present that I have known has the most exalted moral nature – to Walt Whitman”  - dedication of one of Bucke’s books

Feb 21 BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS with Harry Karlinsky and George Fetherling   
http://www.google.ca/search?q=George+Fetherling&tbo=p&tbs=vid%3A1&source=vgc&hl=en&aq=f
http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0010856
www.harrykarlinsky.ca/     

From Wiki: Rip Torn does a magnificent job as American poet Walt Whitman in the fanciful period piece Beautiful Dreamers. The scene is a hellish 19th century Canadian institution for the mentally ill and/or retarded. Compassionate doctor Maurice Bucke (Colm Feore) defies his superiors by treating his patients as human beings rather than animals. He even begins conducting classes for his charges, teaching them basic cognitive and manual dexterity skills. When Whitman champions Bucke’s cause, the doctor is ostracized by those who fear the poet’s reputation as a “wild-eyed” radical. Based on a true story, Beautiful Dreamers is [a great entry into tonight’s visit with two Vancouver authors with recent books related to the film: Psychiatrist Harry Karlinsky, author of The Evolution of Inanimate Objects: the life and works of Thomas Darwin (2010). and George Fetherling with Walt Whitman’s Secret (2010) will be with us to read, discuss the topic, and sign books.]6:30 Monday Feb 28 SOCIAL NETWORK
A very compelling dramatization about Facebook, it’s invention, the legal tangles, and the unusual man behind the phenomena, Harvard University student, Mark Zuckerberg, (played by Jesse Eisenberg).  He shot from introverted geek to riding the wave of a world communication system. “Impeccably scripted, beautifully directed, and filled with fine performances, The Social Network is a riveting, ambitious example of modern filmmaking at its finest.” It may not follow real events closely, there’s much debate about that, but it is a cracking good story.
120min 2010  Pg13 www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com/

 6:30 Monday Mar 7  LEAVE THEM LAUGHING  
This film is about to win the Genie for Best Documentary March 10
“Leave Them Laughing is a musical comedy about dying, starring Carla Zilbersmith, a Vancouver native, singer and comedienne, Artistic Director at a California college drama dept., who has ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. It’s ninety riveting minutes of songs about life and quips about death from the wheelchair of a woman who vows to exit laughing.”  89min 2010  Pg13
6:30 Monday March 14 IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY  
A clinically depressed teenager checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward. What results is a sixteen year olds look at the strange, scary, wonderful world as an “in-patient” and out of the “real” world. It’s a lot different from the 19th century but still pretty hair-raising and life changing. A lot of cool people pass through these places. You’ll meet some. And we’ll talk. Wonderfully acted by Keir Gilchrist as the young man and Zach Galifianakis as his peer guide.
101min 2010 Pg13

And coming up – March 21  EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP


 A very special event on Monday – two Vancouver authors with recent books coming from Vancouver to my modest venue – and a Canadian made film Beautiful Dreamers about a real happening, all about the same era when Canadian psychiatric practice took a step forward.Movie Monday events are by donation at the Eric Martin Theatre (Jubilee Hospital) 1900 Block Fort Street.
Parking on Lee Avenue in the “one hour” zone is not ticketed for our events.
Map and details at http/:www.moviemonday.ca            24hr info line 250-595-3542 (flic)

Rip Torn As Walt           Walt himself“to the man who of all men past and present that I have known has the most exalted moral nature – to Walt Whitman”  - dedication of one of Bucke’s books

Feb 21 BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS with Harry Karlinsky and George Fetherling   
http://www.google.ca/search?q=George+Fetherling&tbo=p&tbs=vid%3A1&source=vgc&hl=en&aq=f
http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0010856
www.harrykarlinsky.ca/     

From Wiki: Rip Torn does a magnificent job as American poet Walt Whitman in the fanciful period piece Beautiful Dreamers. The scene is a hellish 19th century Canadian institution for the mentally ill and/or retarded. Compassionate doctor Maurice Bucke (Colm Feore) defies his superiors by treating his patients as human beings rather than animals. He even begins conducting classes for his charges, teaching them basic cognitive and manual dexterity skills. When Whitman champions Bucke’s cause, the doctor is ostracized by those who fear the poet’s reputation as a “wild-eyed” radical. Based on a true story, Beautiful Dreamers is [a great entry into tonight’s visit with two Vancouver authors with recent books related to the film: Psychiatrist Harry Karlinsky, author of The Evolution of Inanimate Objects: the life and works of Thomas Darwin (2010). and George Fetherling with Walt Whitman’s Secret (2010) will be with us to read, discuss the topic, and sign books.]6:30 Monday Feb 28 SOCIAL NETWORK
A very compelling dramatization about Facebook, it’s invention, the legal tangles, and the unusual man behind the phenomena, Harvard University student, Mark Zuckerberg, (played by Jesse Eisenberg).  He shot from introverted geek to riding the wave of a world communication system. “Impeccably scripted, beautifully directed, and filled with fine performances, The Social Network is a riveting, ambitious example of modern filmmaking at its finest.” It may not follow real events closely, there’s much debate about that, but it is a cracking good story.
120min 2010  Pg13 www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com/

 6:30 Monday Mar 7  LEAVE THEM LAUGHING  
This film is about to win the Genie for Best Documentary March 10
“Leave Them Laughing is a musical comedy about dying, starring Carla Zilbersmith, a Vancouver native, singer and comedienne, Artistic Director at a California college drama dept., who has ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. It’s ninety riveting minutes of songs about life and quips about death from the wheelchair of a woman who vows to exit laughing.”  89min 2010  Pg13
6:30 Monday March 14 IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY  
A clinically depressed teenager checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward. What results is a sixteen year olds look at the strange, scary, wonderful world as an “in-patient” and out of the “real” world. It’s a lot different from the 19th century but still pretty hair-raising and life changing. A lot of cool people pass through these places. You’ll meet some. And we’ll talk. Wonderfully acted by Keir Gilchrist as the young man and Zach Galifianakis as his peer guide.
101min 2010 Pg13

And coming up – March 21  EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

Presented in our psychiatric hospital setting, it is a little challenging to get people aware and out for an event like this but it should provoke some thoughtful discussion. Please pass this around.

One of the main goals of Movie Monday has always been to educate and reduce stigma about mental illness. This is a capital event in that direction.

It’s kind of special too that we’ll be exploring an experience of a current psych stay 3 weeks later with It’s Kind Of A Funny Story. How things have changed in 120 years, but there are similarities too…
B

 

Seasoned documentary maker, Vancouver based John Zaritsky:
“It all started on December 31, 2008, when I was reading two pages of memorable quotes from that year in the Globe and Mail. And there in the midst of these quotes was a joke about dying that I actually found funny, a real “lol”. Curious, I Googled the author of the joke and discovered Carla Zilbersmith, an incredibly talented and gifted singer, songwriter, comedienne, performance artist and writer….. A few days later when I phoned Carla and explained that I wanted to do a musical comedy about dying based on a beautifully written blog she had authored, it was apparent that she and I were immediately on the same artistic wavelength.
….I love all my films like children. But the one I love most, my favourite child, is “Leave Them Laughing”. Why? Because every time I see it, it puts me back to the joyous time I spent with Carla, the funniest person I ever met.”
From an interview at VIFF by eFilmCritic’s Jason Whyte http://efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=3129
You’ll love this film too. It’s a heart-wrenching rollercoaster of humour and pathos, but the what you’ll walk out of the theatre with is a huge appreciation of life and the good and funny people that make it livable.
http://www.leavethemlaughingfilm.com/

Presented in our psychiatric hospital setting, it is a little challenging to get people aware and out for an event like this but it should provoke some thoughtful discussion. Please pass this around.

One of the main goals of Movie Monday has always been to educate and reduce stigma about mental illness. This is a capital event in that direction.

It’s kind of special too that we’ll be exploring an experience of a current psych stay 3 weeks later with It’s Kind Of A Funny Story. How things have changed in 120 years, but there are similarities too…
B

 

Seasoned documentary maker, Vancouver based John Zaritsky:
“It all started on December 31, 2008, when I was reading two pages of memorable quotes from that year in the Globe and Mail. And there in the midst of these quotes was a joke about dying that I actually found funny, a real “lol”. Curious, I Googled the author of the joke and discovered Carla Zilbersmith, an incredibly talented and gifted singer, songwriter, comedienne, performance artist and writer….. A few days later when I phoned Carla and explained that I wanted to do a musical comedy about dying based on a beautifully written blog she had authored, it was apparent that she and I were immediately on the same artistic wavelength.
….I love all my films like children. But the one I love most, my favourite child, is “Leave Them Laughing”. Why? Because every time I see it, it puts me back to the joyous time I spent with Carla, the funniest person I ever met.”
From an interview at VIFF by eFilmCritic’s Jason Whyte http://efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=3129
You’ll love this film too. It’s a heart-wrenching rollercoaster of humour and pathos, but the what you’ll walk out of the theatre with is a huge appreciation of life and the good and funny people that make it livable.
http://www.leavethemlaughingfilm.com/

Presented in our psychiatric hospital setting, it is a little challenging to get people aware and out for an event like this but it should provoke some thoughtful discussion. Please pass this around.

One of the main goals of Movie Monday has always been to educate and reduce stigma about mental illness. This is a capital event in that direction.

It’s kind of special too that we’ll be exploring an experience of a current psych stay 3 weeks later with It’s Kind Of A Funny Story. How things have changed in 120 years, but there are similarities too…
B

 

Seasoned documentary maker, Vancouver based John Zaritsky:
“It all started on December 31, 2008, when I was reading two pages of memorable quotes from that year in the Globe and Mail. And there in the midst of these quotes was a joke about dying that I actually found funny, a real “lol”. Curious, I Googled the author of the joke and discovered Carla Zilbersmith, an incredibly talented and gifted singer, songwriter, comedienne, performance artist and writer….. A few days later when I phoned Carla and explained that I wanted to do a musical comedy about dying based on a beautifully written blog she had authored, it was apparent that she and I were immediately on the same artistic wavelength.
….I love all my films like children. But the one I love most, my favourite child, is “Leave Them Laughing”. Why? Because every time I see it, it puts me back to the joyous time I spent with Carla, the funniest person I ever met.”
From an interview at VIFF by eFilmCritic’s Jason Whyte http://efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=3129
You’ll love this film too. It’s a heart-wrenching rollercoaster of humour and pathos, but the what you’ll walk out of the theatre with is a huge appreciation of life and the good and funny people that make it livable.
http://www.leavethemlaughingfilm.com/