October 6, 2007

Yesterday was a day of events. Production wrapped. We said goodbye (for now?) to friends and colleagues. And Martin Gero’s Young People F**king debuted here as part of The Vancouver International Film Festival. I was among 50 or so Stargate veterans who showed up to support golden boy Marty G., making up only part of the sold-out crowd that packed the Ridge Theater for the 9:30 p.m. screening.

Now I enjoyed the movie the first time I saw it as a rough, unfinished cut without any music. I found it clever, funny, even touching at times. But as I settled into my seat at the Ridge, I briefly wondered how much of my enjoyment may have been colored by my friendship with the co-writer/director. Was I perhaps being less critical of the movie because I (and pretty much everyone else at Stargate) supports Martin and really wants to see him succeed? Probably not. I’ve had no problem criticizing the works of my friends and co-workers in the past. Still, if there was any doubt, it would certainly be put to rest (or raised even more) on this night because Fondy was also in attendance and she’s a pretty tough audience when it comes to movies. As much as she loves the guy, I knew that if Martin didn’t deliver, I’d hear about it. Turns out any inkling of doubt was put to rest very quickly as Fondy was laughing out loud and clearly enjoying the movie along with the rest of the 300+ theater-goers. On the walk home, she admitted that she went in expecting to be entertained given Martin’s penchant for delivering laughs, however the movie even surpassed her expectations. Great to hear. And from the sounds of the audience reactions throughout, I have a feeling this movie is going to entertain many, many others.

Alas, the screening was not without its hiccups. A third of the way through, the movie went out of focus eliciting shouts of “Focus! Focus!!” from the audience. The movie went back into focus but, about a minute later, it went out of focus again. I saw Martin get up from his seat and quickly make his way up the aisle. Obviously, this was more than a simple lens issue. Seconds later, the screen went dark. The audience’s groans and catcalls were interrupted by Martin who stepped up to addressed them from the front of the theater, informing then that he had decided to stop the movie and fix the problem before the upcoming sex scene because that was something that really needed to be seen in focus. And so, as the projectionist worked on it, Martin fell back on his stand-up skills to entertain the delighted audience until the problem was solved.

Eventually, YPF will be making its way to a theater or DVD store near you and, when it does, I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good relationship comedy.

Today’s pics: Our wonderful pre-movie meal at Fuel (chilled tomato soup, organic salad with house made ricotta and fireweed honey, roasted ling cod with smoked pork belly, prime ribeye with béarnaise sauce, pommes frites, Manjari chocolate mousse with peanuts and malted milk ice cream, apple beignet with crème fraiche, and Tahitian vanilla crème brulee).

Today’s video: Click on the date to (probably not) see and hear Martin Gero entertain his audience during an impromptu intermission.