Hot Docs ’11: El Bulli – Cooking in Progress

Last year, one of my top Hot Docs selections was Kings of Pastry, a documentary about the world’s top pastry chefs competing for the Meilleur Ouvrier. It was “one of the most delicious films ever committed to celluloid.” When I saw El Bulli – Cooking in Progress in this year’s program, I was immediately drawn to the film. Unfortunately, lightening didn’t strike twice and director Gereon Wetzel didn’t capture the same magic as D.A. Pennebaker.

New on DVD & Blu-ray: April 26, 2011

This week’s releases include: the true story of world famous fraud and corruption; the tale of a young woman’s search for love and freedom; a documentary about the impact of a miracle; and a thriller about the ultimate intrusion.

Series Scoped: Scream edition

**Spoiler alert**

Genres, like many other systems, experience cycles: first is the primitive stage, which is the most basic form of the genre; second is the classical stage, which tends to last the longest as it performs on the established conventions and formulas; third is the revisionist stage, in which the recognized standards are questioned or reversed; and the final stage is parody, in which conventions are satirized. The first Scream exists in the third phase (nearing the fourth) as it was pretty original and incredibly self-referential. It earned our affections by turning the genre on its head, laying out and rejecting the conventions and formula horror fans had embraced for decades. It also opened the door for the Scary Movie franchise (stage four), but that’s a whole other conversation.

New on DVD & Blu-ray: April 19, 2011

This week’s releases include: a government agent continues to harbour an alien whose become a member of his family; a world of tiny people that teaches an oversized man a lesson; and a look at the struggle and triumph of a man who would lead a nation.

Review: Scream 4

It’s been ten years since ’90s scream queen Neve Campbell – a.k.a. Sidney Prescott – defeated Ghostface for what was then thought the final time in Scream 3, the last instalment of an incredibly entertaining horror trilogy. Then it was announced a fourth film would be released in spring 2011, which was both concerning and exciting. At least the 72-year-old original director of the trilogy, Wes Craven, was returning along with the original writer (Kevin Williamson) and surviving cast.