A cinema experience wouldn’t be the same without treats to nibble on whilst watching the film. Enjoy cones of Thai snacks from the Suda usherettes, ice cold beer and hedgerow fizz cocktails from Bill’s bar, and free gourmet popcorn for all.

St Martin’s Courtyard is Covent Garden’s newest shopping and dining destination with a unique mix of fashion, beauty and lifestyle boutiques and flagships and six international restaurants. Many shops will be open until 8pm for a pre screening shopping spree and many of the restaurants will be offering late supper deals after the film is finished.

For a chance to get hold of a pair of tickets, visit stmartinscourtyard.co.uk/silentcinema and enter your details. Winners will be contacted one week prior to the screening. For live updates, follow St Martin’s Courtyard on twitter @smccoventgarden.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT SISTER ON +44 (0)20 7 287-9601 OR email nicole.leggett@sisteris.com

Neron, which is set in the typical suburban areas, is an upcoming film about a warm mother who struggles with her fight to save her child or accept his demonic destiny.

One unique aspect that sets this film apart from its other indie, horror competitors according to Patel is, “the visual effects and mystery that lure the audience in and sustain their attention.” Although this film is set to take place in the suburbs, it will be shot in Chicago, New Orleans, and Los Angeles for the scenes that include a big city backdrop.

Patel is not only the writer of his films but directs and produces them as well. He also operates his own production and distribution company called Applied Art Productions which includes his own VFX company.

Patel’s previous film, Man in the Maze (2011), debuted first in India and then the United States triggering an upsurge of excitement, surprise, and acknowledgement for the triple threat filmmaker. This film initiated and uproar of enthusiasm for American films throughout India. With the success of Man in the Maze, Hollywood ought to take notice to Patel’s unique film directing and distinct execution of his movies.

Neron, which will be Patel’s next talked about film, is set to make its debut next year in early spring across theaters in the U.S. and carry on into Indian theaters in late spring. Production for this film will begin September as pre-production is said to wrap up in late summer.

Applied Art Productions was created in 1997 and is based in Los Angeles, CA. It was conceived with the intention of celebrating the art of cinema from all corners of the world. Its mission is to create & distribution “quality” entertainment that appeals to a global audience. We want to produce films and television programming that inspire people to make a positive impact on the world. AAP also manages its own VFX company called Phantom FX. It specializes in distribution and putting movies into theaters. Through these dual endeavors AAP hopes to bring to people everywhere joy, knowledge, and a better understanding of this most essential form of art.

For more information visit www.appliedartproductions.com

1982/color/90 min. | Scr: Sam Fuller, Curtis Hanson; dir: Sam Fuller; w/ Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield, Burl Ives, Jameson Parker

· June 7 at 7:30pm – Brokeback Mountain – Focus Features Anniversary Screening – Conversation with Ang Lee & James Schamus – In 2005, Focus Features released one if its best known and most celebrated efforts: Brokeback Mountain, an adaptation of the Annie Proulx short story of the same name. The story of Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal), and the affair that began between them during a sheep drive in 1960’s Wyoming, has the ragged and deeply felt contours of a classic collaboration between Ang Lee and producer James Schamus, along the same lines as The Ice Storm (which preceded Brokeback Mountain) and Lust, Caution (which followed it). The impact of Brokeback Mountain was such that not only did it win three of the five Academy Awards for which it was nominated (director, screenplay, and score), but it also opened up the conversation about different kinds of love stories that center on the relationship between the protagonists rather than on sexual politics.

2005/color/134 min. | Scr: Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana; dir: Ang Lee; w/ Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michele Williams, Anne Hathaway.

· June 15 at 7:30pm – Los Angeles Film Festival Guest Director – William Friedkin Presents Killer Joe – An iconoclastic filmmaker with a fiercely independent spirit, William Friedkin has bravely forged his own path through the American cinema of the past forty years. Hollywood is still reeling from Friedkin’s one-two punch of The French Connection and The Exorcist, two films that heralded a new era of filmmaking. Raw and visceral, with an authenticity that cannot be denied, his films—including The Boys in the Band, Sorcerer, To Live and Die in L.A., Cruising and his latest, Killer Joe—are bold, exciting works that have frequently courted controversy, only to go on to become contemporary classics. A filmmaker who has never stopped challenging himself or his audiences, William Friedkin is the perfect choice to be this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival Guest Director.

In this twisted dark comedy based on Tracy Letts’ play, William Friedkin serves up a heaping murder story on a Texas-sized plate can hold. Matthew McConaughey shines as Joe Cooper, a dirty copy hired to take out the hated matriarch of a trailer park family for her $50,000 life insurance policy. Chris gives up his sweet and innocent sister Dottie to Joe as collateral until they get the cash—and Joe can’t resist this young object of desire. Killer Joe is an audacious, sexy thriller that will make you gasp while wanting to bite down on some deep-fried cookin’.

2012/color/103 min. | Scr: Tracy Letts; dir: William Friedkin; w/ Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon

· June 21 at 7:30 pm – Los Angeles Film Festival Summer Showcase Screening – Beauty Is Embarrassing – You may not know Wayne White by name, but you are unquestionably familiar with his work. A guiding force behind Pee-wee’s Playhouse, White made an indelible mark on ‘80s and ‘90s pop culture by creating some of the decades’ most arresting and iconic images. Beauty is Embarrassing chronicles his ongoing struggles to find peace and balance between his work and his art. Director Neil Berkeley captures White at home, on the road and onstage doing his one-man show, resulting in a funny, irreverent and joyful documentary that inspires us all to follow our own passions.

2012/color/89 min. | Dir: Neil Berkeley; w/ Wayne White, Matt Groening, Paul Reubens, Mark Mothersbaugh, Todd Oldham, Gary Panter, Rick Heitzman, Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, Woodrow White, Lulu White, Mimi Pond.

Ticketing for White Dog and Brokeback Mountain screenings:
$5 for Film Independent, LACMA Film Club, and New York Times Film Club Members. Pre-sale tickets are available Thursday, May 24 at 5 pm. To purchase, please call 323 857-6010 or visit www.lacma.org. Members of these groups will be required to show proof of membership when retrieving their tickets.

$10 for the general public, $7 for LACMA members, seniors (62+) and students with valid ID. Tickets are available Thursday, May 31 at 5 pm.

Gerhard Richter Painting trailer from Kino Lorber on Vimeo.

“It’s pointless to talk about painting.” — Gerhard Richter (1965). Richter, considered one of the world’s greatest living painters and now nearly 80 years old, agreed to talk about his work, as a small film crew documents his creative process. Blunt, provocative, unashamedly curmudgeonly and iconoclastic (but never cynical), the artist says he’s “interested in things he doesn’t understand,” that “painting is a secretive business,” and that “each painting is an assertion that tolerates no company.” “You have to distrust your parents and see through them.” Born in 1932 in Dresden (which became East Germany), he left for the West nearly 30 years later. When his American gallerist Marian Goodman visits, they recall a 1984 show which began their relationship. Extensive contemporary scenes of the artist painting and interviews from the 1960s and ’70s give a sense of his creative development — his colorful abstractions, photorealist portraits, and paintings inspired by politics and history as well as more intimate statements. His final words as he applies and then scrapes off vast globs of paint: “Man, is this fun.”

to Serve as Lab Mentors

LOS ANGELES (March 15, 2012) – Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, has announced the filmmakers and projects selected for its second annual Documentary Lab, sponsored by Latino Public Broadcasting. Starting this week and continuing through the end of April, the Documentary Lab is an intensive seven-week program in Los Angeles, with the main focus of assisting documentary filmmakers on their works-in-progress and providing creative feedback. All of Film Independent’s Artist Development Labs are designed to support strong, original voices in developing their projects in a nurturing, yet challenging creative environment. This year’s Lab Mentors include filmmakers Laura Gabbert (No Impact Man), Doug Blush (The Invisible War), Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer Caroline Libresco and producer Eddie Schmidt (This Film Is Not Yet Rated). Guest speakers include filmmakers Ava Duvernay (The Middle of Nowhere), Laura Walker (Waste Land), Katy Fairfax Wright (Call Me Kuchu) and Malika Zouhali-Worrall (Call Me Kuchu).

“We had such a rewarding experience in our first year of the Documentary Lab, and the filmmakers learned so much. The stories they tell have the potential to influence major global issues or expose audiences to fascinating people and subject matters,” said Josh Welsh, Film Independent’s Co-President. “It’s truly an honor to be working with such a talented sophomore class of filmmakers, as well as our Documentary Lab alumni, mentors and guest speakers. We can’t wait to see their finished projects and have them shared with the world.”

The Documentary Lab was established last year to expand Film Independent’s programs which serve filmmakers working in the non-fiction arena. It is provided free to accepted filmmakers, and upon completion, they become Film Independent Fellows, receiving year-round support, including access to Film Independent’s annual educational offerings, on-staff Filmmaker Advisor and the Los Angeles Film Festival.  Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Kouhali-Warall’s Call Me Kuchu, which was developed in the 2011 Documentary Lab, went on to world premiere at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival where it received the prestigious Teddy Award. The filmmakers also received the Chaz and Roger Ebert Fellowship at this year’s Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Upcoming submission deadlines for Film Independent’s other Artist Development programs include Screenwriters Lab (March 26), Project Involve (April 30), Producers Lab (July 9) and Directors Lab (October 1). To apply for these programs, please visit www.filmindependent.org.

The 2012 Film Independent Documentary Lab filmmakers and their projects are:

1. American Revolutionary – A 96-year-old revolutionary philosopher in Detroit offers a voice of hope and a program of action for transforming her city, the United States and the world.

Grace Lee is a director/producer whose most recent feature film, American Zombie, premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival, screened at SXSW and Sitges Fantastic Film Festival and was released by Cinema Libre in 2008. Prior to that, she produced, wrote and directed The Grace Lee Project, a feature documentary that was called “ridiculously entertaining” by New York Magazine. The film opened theatrically in several cities, was broadcast on Sundance Channel and is distributed by Women Make Movies. Grace received her MFA in Directing from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television where her thesis film Barrier Device won a Student Academy Award and Directors Guild of America award, screened in dozens of festivals, aired on Sundance Channel, and is distributed by Shorts International. She is the recipient of the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Digital Media, a Rockefeller Media Arts grant, the PPP Pusan Prize, as well as funding from the NEA, Center for Asian American Media, UCLA Institute for American Cultures and others. Other documentary credits include Best of the Wurst, which is permanently featured at the Currywurst Museum in Berlin and Camp Arirang. Grace is currently in post-production on the feature documentary American Revolutionary.

1. Billy Mize & the Bakersfield Sound – A performer on the brink of fame, Billy Mize’s story is a spectacular tale about identity and sacrifice in the music industry woven between acts of personal inspiration and horrible tragedy.

William J. Saunders is a director/producer and has written, directed, edited and produced features and documentaries for broadcast and cable networks such as HBO, FOX, ABC, CBS, ESPN, MTV, NFL Network and the BBC.  As a Director, William has received many awards, including an Emmy® Award for his documentary Big Charlie’s. He has enjoyed success in non-fiction, as well as fiction and animated filmmaking. His short film Dash Cunning, received the 20th Century Fox/Farrelly Brothers Award for outstanding achievement in comedy. William’s first feature film, Sweet Little Lies, won several awards on the festival circuit before being distributed by Film Works Entertainment in the spring of 2012.  He currently works for Mark Osborne on the animated feature adaptation of The Little Prince.  After obtaining a B.A. in cinema from Southern Methodist University, William received his Masters degree in Directing from Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

3.   Boone – Three goat farmers in Southern Oregon are transformed by the physical and emotional grit of living a life of self-reliance in Boone, an exploration of what is possible when personal beliefs are aligned with action.

Christopher LaMarca is the director/cinematographer of Boone and is a first time filmmaker and professional photojournalist. He published his first monograph, Forest Defenders: The Confrontational American Landscape, in 2008 with Powerhouse Books. His work has been shown at the International Center of Photography’s triennial exhibition and published in both Aperture and Art and Review. His awards include NPPA’s Best of Photography and PDN’s 30 emerging photographers. Editorial clients include Rolling Stone, GQ, Time, Newsweek, New York Magazine and London Sunday Times Magazine.

Katrina Taylor is the producer/assistant editor of Boone and is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Portland, Oregon. She was assistant editor for the Academy Award-winning The Empowerment Project, as well as the grassroots coordinator for distribution. As associate producer for the Discovery Channel Global Education Project, she created and customized educational programming for an international audience. Katrina most recently acted as Director of Acquisitions for Collective Eye, spearheading the acquisition of socially engaging documentaries, as well as marketing and digital delivery to the educational market. She contributed to the success of the company’s latest film Queen of the Sun, through assistance with educational distribution and strategy.

4.   Cocaine Prison – From inside Bolivia’s craziest prison, a cocaine worker, a drug mule and his little sister reveal the country’s relationship with cocaine.

Violeta Ayala is an award-winning filmmaker, accomplished writer and theatre actress. In 2006, Violeta and Dan Fallshaw established UNITEDNOTIONS FILM to create thought-provoking media. They started their work in North Africa on a short film about corruption in the oil industry. In 2009, their first feature documentary Stolen premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, screened at IDFA in competition and has been shown in more than 70 prestigious international festivals, winning 14 awards along the way. Violeta is currently working on her latest films, Cocaine Prison and The Bolivian Case. She is a Tribeca Film Institute Fellow, and is also writing a screenplay called El Comunista, based on her grandfather’s life, with the support of the Australian Film and Television Radio School. She gives master-classes at the National Film School in London and the Edinburgh College of Art. Accolades include Best Feature Doc at the 2010 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, Grand Prix at the 2010 Art of the Document Film Festival in Warsaw, Golden Oosikar Best Doc at the 2010 Anchorage International Film Festival, Best Film at the 2010 Festival Internacional de Cine de Cuenca in Ecuador and many, many more.

Daniel Fallshaw is the producer/director of photography for Cocaine Prison and is an award-winning producer with international experience. He produced, shot and edited the feature documentary Stolen, which has garnered much press worldwide and will be broadcast on public television in the US in 2012. Dan’s films have been selected to pitch at international forums from AIDC to Sheffield and IDFA. His projects have received funding from Screen Australia, Screen NSW, the Norwegian Film Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, IDFA’s Jan Vrijman Fund and Fond Sud.

5.   Dancing in Jaffa – Pierre Dulaine, an internationally renowned ballroom dancer, is fulfilling his lifelong dream of returning to his birthplace, Jaffa, to teach Palestinian and Israeli children to dance together. The film explores the stories of four children forced to confront issues of identity, segregation and racism as they dance with their enemies.

Hilla Medalia is a George Foster Peabody Award-winning director and producer, and has received 3 Emmy Award nominations and won the Paris Human Rights Film Festival Jury Award, Fipa Biarritz Jury Award, Golden Warsaw Phoenix Award, Faito Doc Grand Jury Award, and more. Hilla directed and produced the documentary After the Storm, a film about a group of New York Broadway actors who travel to New Orleans to offer the remedy of art and expression to thirteen kids in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The film aired on MTV/Logo, broadcast on Ch8 Israel, participated in film festivals around the world, including the Los Angeles Film Festival, and won the Audience Award at the Woodstock Film Festival and Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival. Hilla directed and produced To Die in Jerusalem, a story about a Palestinian suicide bomber and her unlikely Israeli doppelganger, who died at only 17 years of age in a Jerusalem market. It was broadcast in the United States on HBO and has aired on television globally, including YES in Israel, RAI is Italy, M6 in France, NHK in Japan, and numerous others. Hilla was a senior producer on 39 Pounds of Love (2005-HBO and Cinemax film), which was a Winner of the Ofir Award (Israeli Oscar) and shortlisted for an Academy Award. Other titles include Happy You’re Alive (ch1 Israel), Caught In The Net (Impact Partners, Tribeca Gucci, Chicken & Egg, YES Israel), which is currently in production and Dancing In Jaffa. Hilla has a Master’s Degree in Film and Television from Southern Illinois University.

6.  Gore Vidal’s America – The film dramatizes Gore’s political and social views using recent interviews and historical footage and draws powerful conclusions on the fate and future of the nation through the eyes of one of its fiercest critics.

Nicholas Wrathall is an award-winning director first recognized for his documentary Abandoned: The Betrayal of America’s Immigrants, which won the 2000 Alfred I. Dupont Columbia Award for Broadcast Journalism. Nicholas also directed the documentary Haitian Eksperyans and produced and directed several short documentaries, including the story the New York Times picked up of modern-day gulags operating in Far East Russia. He has worked as a series producer on Surgery Saved My Life for the Discovery Network. For the past 10 years, he also produced television commercials and music videos for many high-level clients. Nicholas attended the Film Independent Producers Lab with this project at its inception.

7.   Journey Into Africa – An Atlanta charter school 8th-grade class travels to Ghana, Africa to explore and connect with their ancestral roots. Through seeing life outside of America, they discover a new world inside themselves.

Redelia Shaw is a director/producer and began working professionally in entertainment in 2000 while completing post-graduate work in Atlanta as a development and production executive for Point 7 Entertainment. She worked closely with the Production and Development Teams to scout talent, pitch ideas to networks, and develop content and was also responsible for supervising and coordinating the production of original programming in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Redelia relocated to Los Angeles in 2005, and has been working as Talent Coordinator for various specials and comedy programming and as a creative consultant for independent production companies. In 2008, Redelia was selected as a Film Independent Project Involve Fellow and the Directors Guild of America Training Program Trainee. Currently, Redelia is a DGA 2nd assistant director and works on commercial television and film projects. This year, she was awarded an Artist-in-Residence Fellowship to the Wexner Center of the Arts to complete post-production for Journey Into Africa.

8.   Now En Español – In a feature documentary that chronicles the ups and downs of being a Latina actress in Hollywood, Now En Español addresses issues of Latino identity and representation through the lives of the 5 dynamic women who dub Desperate Housewives into Spanish for American audiences.

Andrea Meller is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker, born and raised in New York after her parents emigrated from Santiago, Chile. She has produced and shot for programs on PBS, MTV, TLC, Food Network, WE and Style. She recently co-directed the Emmy-nominated Hard Road Home, a feature length documentary that follows three men as they return home from prison. Hard Road Home had its premiere at SXSW Film Festival and screened at the New York International Latino Film Festival. The film was broadcast nationally on Independent Lens/PBS in 2008. Her directorial debut, 156 Rivington, a one-hour documentary about a community center founded by squatters, was broadcast nationally on the Sundance Channel and has screened at film festivals and by community groups in the U.S. and abroad. Andrea has also collaborated with producer Aaron Woolf to co-produce and edit 9/12, a film that captured the grief and recovery processes of airline workers post-9/11. The one-hour piece was produced in cooperation with United and American Airlines, Boston Medical Center, and the Robin Hood Foundation. Her shorter documentary work has been screened at the Netherlands Architecture Biennale, Museum of the City of New York, Storefront for Art and Architecture, Artist Space, and Apex Art Gallery. She is a fellow of the PBS/CPB and NALIP Producers Academies and participated in the NALIP Latino Media Market with Now En Español.

ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT

Film Independent is a non-profit arts organization that champions independent film and supports a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation, and uniqueness of vision. Film Independent helps filmmakers make their movies, builds an audience for their projects, and works to diversify the film industry. Film Independent’s Board of Directors, filmmakers, staff, and constituents, is comprised of an inclusive community of individuals across ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race, and sexual orientation. Anyone passionate about film can become a member, whether you are a filmmaker, industry professional, or a film lover.

Film Independent produces the Spirit Awards, the annual celebration honoring artist-driven films and recognizing the finest achievements of American independent filmmakers.  Film Independent also produces the Los Angeles Film Festival, showcasing the best of American and international cinema and the Film Independent at LACMA Film Series, a year-round, weekly program that offers unique cinematic experiences for the Los Angeles creative community and the general public.

With over 250 annual screenings and events, Film Independent provides access to a network of like-minded artists who are driving creativity in the film industry. Film Independent’s Artist Development program offers free Labs for selected writers, directors, producers and documentary filmmakers and presents year-round networking opportunities. Project Involve is Film Independent’s signature program dedicated to fostering the careers of talented filmmakers from communities traditionally underrepresented in the film industry.
For more information or to become a member, visit FilmIndependent.org.

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I ran into league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan at the screening the other night. I asked Shanny what he would do if Doug Glatt played in the NHL. “Nothing. He played by the rules.” Good answer, Shanny.

Jay Baruchel plays Pat, his wisecracking best friend. Liev Schreiber plays the fearsome, Ross “The Boss” Rhea. If you are not familiar with hockey, he will scare the shit out of you in this movie.

Since I am a New York Rangers fan, I apologized to Jay for Habs resident hack, Scott Gomez. “At least you guys had Gump Worsley. He did well for you guys all those years.” GOON director Michael Dowse chimed in, “At least you guys have McDonagh now.” Very true, Dowse.

Jay Baruchel also had a lot to say about the film and hockey in general. After all, he co-wrote it with Evan Goldberg.

ON GOMEZ AND HIS LACKLUSTER SEASON

“Listen, I can’t fault the guy for having his agent do his job. Who here is going to turn down 7.5 million a fuckin year?“
“He’s not doing himself any favors. He’s a great man in the room.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

ON ENFORCERS
“I was raised in a house where we lionized, revered, and respected the hell out of these guys. These are the guys that in many ways, they do a very pure job. It’s pure in intention and pure in its execution”.

MAJOR INFLUENCE WHILE WRITING THE SCREENPLAY
I’m half Jewish on my dad’s side and everything I know about hockey and in particular, hockey fighting, stems from Dad and it’s really hard for me to separate that particular type of hockey from my dad’s first generation Jewish immigrant experience. Fighting, hockey, and being Jewish were really defining parts of his identity. When it came time to take the book, “Goon” and drop it into the food processor of my brain, it was impossible for that not to kinda come through.”
YOUNG PLAYERS TAKING CHEAP SHOTS DUE TO LACK OF SKILL
“What I do see is a fairly terrifying trend of cynicism. There’s no place to put their aggression anymore. It manifests itself in cheap, dirty shit. The one time I will ever agree with Brian Burke was about a month ago when he put poor Colton Orr on waivers and he said, ‘I fear the rats are taking over the game’ ( See Burke’s complete quote below) That’s a trend I see and that’s completely different and that’s to me a direct correlation from the decline of the enforcer.”

“I have this fear that if we don’t have guys looking after each other that the rats will take this game over.-Brian Burke

LIEV SCHREIBER ON GLATT AND RHEA’S FIRST MEETING
“I was very grateful to Jay for including that element. I think it is a real testament to his passion for the game and for the players that he would include in his story a player who is in the twilight of his career.”

LIEVE SCHREIBER- IF HIS KIDS WANTED TO PLAY HOCKEY
I’d definitely be nervous. But if my kids came to me and told me that they loved hockey and expressed one billionth of the passion for hockey that like Jay expresses, how could I stop them? I mean you can’t. They love it. Mind you, my kids are three years old and four years old. I get nervous when they go to the bathroom.

BARUCHEL ON GLATT
It’s his heart that guides the whole thing. He’s this innocent in a world of cynics and people that have had reasons to stop giving a shit about whatever. The jist of what it is to do this job is whether or not your team is up by five goals or down by five goals, regardless of whether the guys you fuckin play alongside respect you, you will go out and do whatever needs to be done to protect them. It’s a thankless, misunderstood job, but it’s his fuckin heart that is the center of all of it. Everybody that plays alongside him or becomes involved with him is better for it.

SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT ON PLAYING DOUG GLATT
“A huge opportunity from the beginning. This was also the first movie that I was able to do with people that I loved and actors and director that I loved that already believed in me before. They already felt I was right for it from the beginning. It’s hard for me to articulate why I love the movie so much because there were so many elements to it that were great.”

Marc-André Grondin was most certainly one of them. Grondin was perfect as the supercilious Xavier Laflamme. He had the swagger of an overrated N.H.L. rookie. The dynamic between Glatt and Laflamme is hilarious.

There should be more fans like Jay Baruchel. His passion for the game and his beloved Montréal Canadiens is both infectious and endearing. In fact, the N.H.L. should make him an official spokesman.

Skip all the cheeseball stuff that is in the theaters right now and go see GOON. It will make you appreciate guys like Probert, Kocur, Peluso, and Laraque a little bit more.