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Leonard Eichel

TV

Good Intentions Gone Farcical

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The Foundation, Showcase

by Leonard Eichel
24.08.2009

Making a television program shot in Montreal appear as if it could transpire in any city in North America is the oldest game in Canadian television. Without US production, Canada would have a much slimmer film and TV industry. But when the creators of The Foundation decided to film a comedy in Montreal, the tables [...]

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TV

The Political Third Degree?

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Dumont 360, V

by Leonard Eichel
21.08.2009

What, perchance, do former politicians do with their lives once they are no longer politicians? If you’re Mario Dumont – whose ADQ party almost became extinct in the last provincial election, you become a TV personality. The man has been a figure in Québec politics since he first sprang into prominence as President of the [...]

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TV

Lost in Space, Floating in Suds

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Defying Gravity, CTV, ABC

by Leonard Eichel
31.07.2009

Defying Gravity is trying to defy the normal bounds of television. By the title the series is Sci-Fi but you wouldn’t know it given where it is being launched. By premiering the show on CTV and ABC, the creators are hoping to rope in regular, mortal viewers, rather than the rabid fans of any show [...]

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FILM

Mystery, Murder & Misogyny

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Millénium: Le Film, Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin & Beaubien

by Leonard Eichel
28.07.2009

There is a fine balance to achieve between a straight thriller where action is the lead and characters secondary, and a serious film where character is more important than plot or action. When a director manages to slide up the middle, the result is captivating, engrossing and scrumptiously entertaining. Millénium: Le Film, based on Steig [...]

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DVD

Face Launches Masterpiece

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Ce qu’il faut pour vivre

by Leonard Eichel
25.06.2009

It would be hubris indeed to proclaim the iconic status of one particular film but Ce qu’il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life) comes awfully close to fulfilling the role as a masterpiece of Canadian cinema. The ingredients for modern drama are there: two cultures colliding, ignorance and bigotry as the starting point for [...]

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TV

Suburban Highs And Lows

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WEEDS, SHOWTIME

by Leonard Eichel
10.06.2009

The writers of Weeds have done for television what Victorian authors did for the novel – turned the genre on its head. Like their 19th century predecessors, the scribes at Weeds focus on what happens after a calamitous personal event, in this case, a death in the family. This is a series that began airing [...]

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TV

Psychic Success Story

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THE LISTENER, CTV

by Leonard Eichel
03.06.2009

CTV continues to change Canadian television. Not content to produce series in Canada for simultaneous release on both sides of the Canadian/US border, now it is premiering series in international markets first. The Listener is a genre series that is not only eligible for mainstream viewing, but has also taken on almost 180 international markets [...]

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TV

Windowing A Cultural Icon

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Leonard Cohen: Live in London, Bold

by Leonard Eichel
14.04.2009

Windowing is a film term referring to the ability of a single product to generate revenues in different viewing ‘windows’. Television has adopted the strategy, windowing its content by crossing platforms, first showing it on the small screen (window one), then over the Internet (window two), then re-broadcasting it at a later date (window three). [...]

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TV

Music Talk, Yes, But No Gossip, Please

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Spectacle: Elvis Costello With . . . , Bravo!, CTV

by Leonard Eichel
03.04.2009

The talk show is a venerable and long-standing TV content filler. The challenge for erstwhile hosts is to develop a theme, or a schtick, that rejuvenates the form so viewers turn their eyeballs in their direction. Johnny Carson had his sidekick and his stand-up comedy experience and it went on for a record run. David [...]

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