Got me some Hot Docs tickets this past weekend. It kicked ass last year — where else can you see 5 good festival movies for $30 each? not at the TIFF, that’s for sure — and I expect it to do the same this year. Details about each of the 5 docs will be posted, beginning late this month.

Just watched MuchMusic’s special on Cobain. Stroumboulopoulos did — as usual — a kickass segment, pointing out the greater significance what was happening in music at the time that Nevermind came out. I’d never really thought about it, but Jaysus, look at some of the CDs that I own that came out in 1991!

• My Bloody Valentine (Loveless)
• Nirvana (Nevermind)
• The Pixies (Trompe Le Monde)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Magik)
• Screaming Trees (Uncle Anesthesia)
• Smashing Pumpkins (Gish)
• Soundgarden (Badmotorfinger)
• Matthew Sweet (Girlfriend)
• Temple Of The Dog (Temple Of The Dog)
• The Tragically Hip (Road Apples)
• U2 (Achtung Baby)

Not to mention 1992:

• Alice In Chains (Dirt)
• Blind Melon (Blind Melon)
• Lemonheads (It’s A Shame About Ray)
• Mudhoney (Piece Of Cake)
• Nine Inch Nails (Broken)
• Nirvana (Incesticide)
• Pearl Jam (Ten)
• Rage Against The Machine (Rage Against The Machine)
• REM (Automatic For The People)
• Rheostatics (Whale Music)
• Screaming Trees (Sweet Oblivion)
• Singles (Soundtrack)
• Sloan (Smeared)
• Sonic Youth (Dirty)
• Sugar (Copper Blue)
• The Tragically Hip (Fully Completely)
• Roger Waters (Amused To Death)

Or 1993:

• Big Sugar (Five Hundred Pounds)
• Juliana Hatfield (Become What You Are)
• James (Laid)
• McLachlan, Sarah (Fumbling Toward Ecstasy)
• Nirvana (In Utero)
• Pearl Jam (Vs.)
• Liz Phair (Exile In Guyville)
• Porno For Pyros (Porno For Pyros)
• Sebadoh (Bubble And Scrape)
• Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream)
• Tool (Undertow)
• Yo La Tengo (Painful)

Watch the segment. Like the man says, let’s get the fuck rid of Britney.

Scraps 31

1. Lenny Kravitz – My Love
2. Beth Orton – Best Bit
3. Folk Implosion – Barricade
4. Tori Amos – Strange Little Girl
5. Fugazi – Brendan #1
6. John Mellencamp – Lonely Old Night
7. Nine Inch Nails – Wish (thirlwell mix)
8. Jesus And Mary Chain – Guitarman
9. Live – Simple Creed
10. Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go
11. Meg Lee Chin – Heavy Scene (radio mix)
12. Massive Attack – Five Man Army
13. Tia Carrere – Ballroom Blitz
14. Placebo – Slave To The Wage
15. Etta James – At Last
16. Reverend Horton Heat – Wiggle Stick
17. Bruce Springsteen – Vigilante Man
18. Sleater-Kinney – Tapping

Scraps 32

1. Eels – Novacaine For The Soul
2. Atari Teenage Riot – Fuck All
3. Beth Orton – Touch Me With Your Love
4. Collective Soul – Shine
5. Chris Isaak – Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing
6. Folk Implosion – Insinuation
7. Garbage – ‘Til The Day I Die
8. Skip James – Devil Got My Woman
9. International Noise Conspiracy – The Reproduction Of Death
10. Massive Attack – Safe From Harm
11. Jesus And Mary Chain – Reverence
12. Versus – Shangri La
13. Manic Street Preachers – Removables
14. Weezer – The Sweater Song
15. Meg Lee Chin – Thing (critter fish mix)
16. Sleater-Kinney – The Day You Went Away
17. Sigur Ros – Bium Bium Bambalo

Scraps 33

1. Les Savy Fav – Tragic Monsters
2. Chris Isaak – Wicked Game
3. Dandy Warhols – Godless (Massive Attack remix)
4. Brendon Canty & Jerry Busher – Semi Detached
5. Collective Soul – Gel
6. Sigur Ros – Danarfregnir Og Jarparfarir
7. Helium – Leon’s Space Song
8. Eels – Rags To Rags
9. Joydrop – Sometimes I Want To Die
10. Gorillaz – Ghost Train
11. Tweaker – Linoleum
12. Pulley – The Ocean Song
13. Zero 7 – I Have Seen
14. Mogwai – Xmas Steps

Scraps 34

1. Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal
2. Bardo Pond – Highlands
3. By Divine Right – Supernatural
4. Econoline Crush – May I Go
5. JJ72 – Not Like You
6. Fin Fang Foom – Play Dead
7. Mark Lanegan – Low
8. Skating Club – Denver
9. New End Original – Lukewarm
10. Fugazi – Strangelight
11. Timeout Drawer – The Gift They’d Pick If The Choice Were Theirs
12. Visitor Jim – Success Of A Cynic
13. Country Joe MacDonald – The Man From Athabaska
14. Lamb – Gabriel
15. Zero 7 – Give It Away

Scraps 35

1. Damien Jurado – Paperwings
2. Alison Krauss – Wild Bill Jones
3. Buzzcocks – What Do I Get
4. Buddy Guy – Tramp
5. Shiner – Play Dead
6. Cannibal Ox – Iron Galaxy
7. Hives – Hate To Say I Told You So
8. Burnt Sienna – Deuce Deuce
9. Sum 41 – Fat Lip
10. Oceansize – Amputee
11. Gillian Welch – My First Lover
12. Tricky Woo – Liberty Drawl
13. Pixies – I Bleed
14. Chris Thomas King – John Law Burned Down The Liquor Sto’
15. Rheostatics – P.I.N.
16. Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill
17. Primitives – Crash
18. Kiss – Then She Kissed Me
19. Unwound – Corpse Pose

File-sharers donated $1500 (in one day!) to Doctors Without Borders in return for downloading the new Wilco album, at the behest of Jeff Tweedy.

from Pitchfork: Wilco Ask File-Traders for Donations

Zip. Even though I live around the corner from arguably the best DVD rental store in all of Toronto, I’m jonesing for that no-late-fee thing. The list of movies I want to rent is 40 or 50 strong, and growing all the time; if I rent 3 or 4 at a time from these guys, I can watch them whenever I want, even when I come home for lunch or in between playoff games.

scraps 26

1. AC DC – Who Made Who
2. Better Than Ezra – Good
3. Shawn Colvin – Sunny Came Home
4. Limp Bizkit – My Generation
5. Delerium – Aria
6. Dandy Warhols – Hell’s Bells
7. Grandaddy – The Crystal Lake
8. Indians – Bed Of Roses
9. Eurythmics – Missionary Man
10. King Cobb Steelie – Below The Stars
11. Iggy Pop – The Passenger
12. CSN & Y – Suite Judy Blue Eyes
13. Los Lobos – Viking
14. Massive Attack – Karmacoma (bumper ball mix)
15. Weakerthans – Aside

scraps 27

1. Folk Implosion – Nothing Gonna Stop
2. 5 For Fighting – Easy Tonight
3. Buckcherry – Ridin’
4. PJ Harvey & Bjork – Satisfaction
5. Hawksley Workman – Striptease
6. Ben Lee & Liz Phair – Away With The Pixies
7. Fatboy Slim – Ya Mamma
8. I Mother Earth – So Gently We Go (acoustic mix)
9. KMFDM – Kung Fu Fighting (Jackie Chan)
10. Sandbox – Curious
11. LiveOnRelease – I’m Afraid Of Britney Spears
12. Travis – Hit Me Baby One More Time
13. Republika – Ready To Go
14. Nine Inch Nails – Burn
15. Underworld – Cowgirl (bedrock mix)

scraps 28

1. This Mortal Coil – Song To The Siren
2. Black Halos – Some Things Never Fall
3. Bic Runga – Sway
4. Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood
5. Helmet – Unsung
6. Wild Strawberries – Pretty Lip
7. L7 – Shitlist
8. Grapes Of Wrath – A Fishing Tale
9. Marilyn Manson – Disposable Teens
10. Living Color – Cult Of Personality
11. Meg Lee Chin – Thing
12. Tea Party – Paint It Black
13. Nine Inch Nails – Deep
14. Blur – Tender
15. Underworld – Cowgirl
16. Buddy Guy – Baby Please Don’t Leave Me

scraps 29

1. Marilyn Manson – The Fight Song
2. Ani DiFranco – School Night
3. Death Cab For Cutie – President Of What
4. Bad Company – Feel Like Makin’ Love
5. Swollen Members – Lady Venom
6. Copyright – Rock Machine
7. CCR – Born On The Bayou
8. Tricky – Evolution Revolution Love
9. Rolling Stones – Honky Tonk Woman
10. Prodigy & Tom Morello – One Man Army
11. Stan Rogers – Harris And The Mare
12. Elastica – Stutter
13. Scanty Sandwich – Because Of You
14. Frontline Assembly – Justify My Love
15. Staggered Crossing – Further Again
16. Weezer – Hashpipe
17. Staind – It’s Been A While

scraps 30

1. Brad – Lift
2. 311 – Transistor
3. Crystal Method – Busy Child (uberzone mix)
4. Econoline Crush – Make It Right
5. T Rex – Twentieth Century Boy
6. Jimmy Page – Wasting My Time
7. Sugarcubes – Motorcycle Mama
8. Morganfields – Rainbreaker
9. Reverend Horton Heat – The Devil’s Chasin’ Me
10. Jet Set Satellite – Baby Cool Your Jets
11. Sneaker Pimps – Six Underground (perfecto mix)
12. Tenacious D – Jesus Ranch
13. Foo Fighters – Have A Cigar

scraps 21

1. Ashley MacIsaac – The John Morrison
2. Beth Orton – Someone’s Daughter
3. Foo Fighters – This Is A Call
4. Juliana Hatfield – Bad Day
5. Natalie Merchant – San Andreas Fault
6. No Doubt – Just A Girl
7. Pearl Jam – God’s Dice
8. Varnaline – Meet Me On The Ledge
9. Green Day – Minority
10. Chantal Kreviazuk – Wayne
11. Papa Roach – Last Resort
12. Sonic Youth & Cypress Hill – I Love You Mary Jane
13. Wild Strawberries – Wish
14. Grant Lee Buffalo – The Whole Shebang
15. Jars Of Clay – Flood
16. Nina Gordon – Tonight And The Rest Of My Life
17. Stone Temple Pilots – Sex Type Thing
18. Rolling Stones – You Can’t Always Get What You Want

scraps 22

1. Oasis – D’ You Know What I Mean
2. 311 – Come Original
3. Juliana Hatfield – Swan Song
4. U2 – Elevation
5. Zombies – She’s Not There
6. Rusty – Soul For Sale
7. Limp Bizkit – Break Stuff
8. Keb’ Mo’ – Every Morning
9. Moby – Flower
10. A3 – Too Sick To Pray
11. Dayna Manning – Half The Man
12. Bif Naked – Moment Of Weakness
13. David Bowie & Trent Reznor – I’m Afraid Of Americans
14. Catherine Wheel – That’s When I Reach For My Revolver
15. Lenny Kravitz – Mr. Cab Driver
16. Liz Phair – Supernova
17. REM – Superman
18. Garbage – Milk (massive attack mix)

scraps 23

1. Rolling Stones – Paint It Black
2. ZZ Top – Under Pressure
3. Run Lola Run – Running Two
4. Black Crowes – Jealous
5. Duran Duran – Ordinary World
6. Bob Mould & Vic Chestnutt – Hickory Wind
7. Heart – Crazy On You
8. Cowboy Junkies – Sweet Jane
9. Radiohead – Stop Whispering
10. REM – The Great Beyond
11. Eric Clapton – Walking Blues
12. Nina Simone – Sinnerman

scraps 24

1. Cult – She Sells Santuary
2. Fun Lovin’ Criminals – The View Belongs To Everyone
3. April Wine – Roller
4. Tori Amos – Pretty Good Year
5. Guess Who – American Woman
6. Eric Clapton – Sunshine Of Your Love
7. Robert Plant – Hurting Kind
8. Porno For Pyros – Porpoise Head
9. Matthew Sweet – Milennium Blues
10. Stone Temple Pilots – Still Remains
11. Tragically Hip – Poets
12. Crazy Town – Butterfly
13. Steve Vai – Answers
14. Headstones – And
15. Jerry Cantrell – Cut You In

scraps 25

1. Red Rider – Lunatic Fringe
2. Matthew Sweet – Faith In You
3. Stone Temple Pilots – Unglued
4. Tori Amos – Cornflake Girl
5. Tragically Hip – Fireworks
6. Emerson Lake & Palmer – Lucky Man
7. Cult – Wildflower
8. Porno For Pyros – Kimberly Austin
9. Guess Who – No Sugar Tonight; New Mother Nature
10. Fun Lovin’ Criminals – We Are All Very Worried About You
11. Alice In Chains – No Excuses
12. Lifehouse – Hanging By A Moment
13. REM – Be Mine
14. Steve Vai – Blue Powder
15. Van Morrison – Gloria
16. Robert Plant – Your Ma Said You Cried
17. Paul McCartney – Hey Jude

I think the film industry is taking lessons from record labels in how to treat the customer. From the Globe and Mail.

Cinema chains drop the curtain on cheap tickets
Tuesday and matinee discounts ending as theatres move to charging one price

By JANE ARMSTRONG
Friday, April 2, 2004 – Page A6

VANCOUVER — Discount Tuesdays at the movies — once among the cheapest of dates in the country — won’t be coming to theatres near you much longer.

Canada’s two largest cinema chains are phasing out discount movie prices in most major cities, ending a 20-year tradition that drew hordes of film lovers into darkened theatres every Tuesday night.

Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. and Famous Players Inc. say the change is part of what they call a plan to “flatten” prices — slightly lowering the price for some adult tickets, but cutting discounts on Tuesdays and for some matinees. Discounts for some seniors and children will also be reduced. Industry analysts say the changes appear to be an attempt to increase revenues to cover rising costs and draw new moviegoers.

At their cheapest, Tuesday prices were as low as $2.50, but in recent years the savings weren’t that significant; $9 compared with the average $12 to $13 range.

Toronto filmmaker Gail Singer said the demise of cheap Tuesdays is the end of an era. “How could you not hate it?” asked Ms. Singer, whose 1991 film Watching Movies examined film-viewing habits. “Maybe those people will stay home and watch TV.”

Ms. Singer said Tuesday-night discounts created an excitement. “It’s full of people. It’s always the best time to go . . . because you have a sense of humanity and you have a sense of the excitement it generates, and that was certainly true of Tuesdays.”

Cheap Tuesday prices started in the mid 1980s as a way to lure audiences to theatres during one of the slowest nights of the week.

Industry analyst Howard Lichtman said the end of cheap Tuesdays isn’t a surprise. Film production and distribution costs have risen dramatically in recent years, while theatre chains have spent billions upgrading movie theatres with improvements to concession stands, seating and sound.

“It’s almost because of people’s love of the movies that they feel they have an inalienable right to see a movie inexpensively,” he said. “Where in reality, the cost of producing and marketing a film has gone up dramatically, coupled with an enhanced experience.”

Compared with other entertainment options, movies are still one of the best deals for under $20, Mr. Lichtman said.

“Your options are to go to a movie, go to a play, go to a basketball game, go to a baseball game,” he said. In the past 10 years, he noted, ticket prices for movies have increased 46 per cent, while professional football and baseball game prices have shot up 90 per cent.

Beginning today, discount Tuesday nights will no longer be offered in Famous Players theatres in Calgary and Vancouver, spokesman Andrew Sherbin said.

From Victoria to Montreal, discounts have already ended. They will continue for now at the chain’s Toronto theatres.

Mr. Sherbin said the chain is looking for other ways to attract new customers.

Cineplex, meanwhile, has eliminated discounts for seniors and children at some theatres in the Vancouver area, charging a flat rate of $8.95. In the past, children and seniors paid $7.95 while adults paid more than $11.

From The Globe & Mail: Simpsons humans want more d’oh

New York — Homer and the rest of The Simpsons are holding out for more “d’oh.”

Variety says the cast hasn’t shown up for two rehearsals in the past few weeks, which is holding up production of the next season of the hit Fox animated show.

The cast is reportedly asking for $360,000 (U.S.) an episode — nearly triple what they make now.

The Pixies are putting out 15 new discs.

From NME: PIXIES TO RELEASE 15 ALBUMS!