Pretty good start to the Hot Docs festival. Last night we saw Murderball (hot docs | imdb | rotten tomatoes) at the Isabel Bader theatre. It had gotten a lot of hype from the local newspapers & weeklies, but we weren’t disappointed. Far from it, in fact. It was even better than advertised: funny, intense, inspirational, informative, engaging…everything you want from a film, and everything you wish TV could be on a regular basis. The characters in this film will stay with me for a while. They have issues, just as we all do; theirs are bigger, but that means they’ve had to do more to overcome them and get on with their shit, and that makes them compelling. The filmmakers did an incredible job to show us that.

To steal a term from Bill Simmons, there were a few “chill moments” in Murderball, but another occurred after the credits during the Q&A (captured perfectly, as always, by Sam at Daily Dose Of Imagery) when one of the directors acknowledged Jeff Adams in the crowd. It was something to see him in person, and nice to see him give the film a thumbs up.

So write this one down now. When it comes to theatres or gets released on DVD, put down your money. It’s worth it. Speaking of money, last night confirmed something for me: a festival pass for Hot Docs is, hands down, the best $60 you can spend on entertainment in this city.

I gave it 5 out of 5 on my ballot. If I’d had a pen I’d have written in a 6 and circled it.