In the lead up to the 7th Canadian Film Festival in Australia (August 2012), join us as we countdown the Top 100 Canadian Films of the past 30 years. We'll be posting one film a day leading up to Canada Day on July 1st 2012. Do you agree with our staff favourites? Let us know your thoughts!
Where to even begin talking about Bruce McDonald? A man notorious for (allegedly) raising money for his first films from the profits of illicit funding sources; for literally passing around the ten-gallon hat he constantly wears to raise money for his next; and for being so prolific, talented and firmly nestled in the early Canadian underground filmmaking scene that if you aren’t already familiar with his films, you need to get on that trolley and fast!
Hard Core Logo, a film that constantly finds itself high up on lists of the best films to come out of Canada, is a good place as ever to start!
This mockumentary, about the largely influential and fictional punk rock band Hard Core Logo (HCL), follows their regrouping five years after their original split for a benefit concert in aid of HCL’s lead singer, Joe Dick’s, idol and mentor, Bucky Haight. They decide to roll off the back of the success of the reunion show and hit the road on a tour with McDonald shooting as the director both inside and outside the film.
It’s filled with live shows from real and fake bands, interviews, a cameo by Joey Ramone (be still my beating heart!), footage of HCL performing live, and all the juicy on-the-road footage and fights you’d want from a real punk rock doc.
Hard Core Logo uses the documentary format to portray the quite literal self-destruction of the punk rock scene and questions the roles and responsibilities of documentary filmmakers. Because it is played so straight, and Hugh Dillon as Joe Dick is so magnetic, it’s easy to immerse yourself into it all and forget it isn’t real; quite unique for the mockumentary genre.
It’s dirty, it’s rough, and it’s loud. Watch it that way.
-Karina Libbey
"Like the best 'mockumentaries', this often feels like the real thing - unlike the obvious parody that was SPINAL TAP." (Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com)
To see the other films in the countdown so far, click here.