Matt Johnson Archives | Otaku No Culture

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie: No, This Film Is Not About Teen Spirit

Time-hopping musicians, a DeLorean-style RV, and a desperate quest for a discontinued drink fuel this proudly Canadian mockumentary. Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie thrives on balancing between nostalgia and improvisation to make it a must-see.

Elevation Pictures

Once a certain word drops in any summary about where the time travel device is housed in
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, this film instantly reveals itself as the perfect tribute to an old pop sound. Part The Beatles, part loving nod to a certain Robert Zemeckis classic from decades past, there’s a lot to like.

If you don’t want to know too much, here’s the abridged take: This Canadian mockumentary, directed by Matt Johnson,
delivers plenty of fun-filled moments and wears its cinematic tribute proudly. The script was co-written by Jay McCarrol, and together they play fictionalized versions of themselves as two musicians trying to land a bar gig despite never having recorded anything together. It’s a concept fuelled by nostalgia and awkward, self-aware laughs.

Rather than riffing on The Blues Brothers, what’s presented here is Canadiana through and through. Shot around Toronto, Ontario, the locations are real, the energy is grounded, and the familiarity adds to the charm. It is best not to know more before the spoiler wall, so consider this your courteous pause point.

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Charting the Rise and Fall of the Blackberry in a Near Perfect Biopic

What makes this movie special is in how it celebrates the victories and the impact the Blackberry had. It’s a shame it couldn’t adapt with the times.

Blackberry Movie Poster Playing May 5th at the Chicago Critics Film Festival (tickets) before opening worldwide May 12th.

Jay Baruchel must love playing the underdog. I’ve seen a lot of movies he’s starred in, and these characters may seem meek at first, but by the end, they’ve come out on top in one way or another. In Blackberry, he’s Mike Lazaridis, the father of the smartphone, and what I see is a person being pushed around by greedy b*astards. Had he partnered with other people who were just as visionary, I’m sure this device might have evolved with the times instead of becoming a relic of early century.

Although his company, Research in Motion, created the first generation of smartphones, what’s presented in Matt Johnson‘s film is about three figures who led this research house through all its ups and downs. That is, not everyone has a good sense for business, and I believe that was key to this company’s eventual demise. However, this movie is not about what they did. Instead, it’s about how he and Doug Fregin (played by Johnson) would struggle to be the true heart of the company, while another individual attempts to usurp them. If this plot sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve seen it in The Founder (movie review).

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