Mike Hoolboom Movies
- 2006
Experimental filmmaker Mike Hoolboom pays homage to a friend, mentor and key influence in this profile of Colin Campbell. Born in 1942, Campbell was an sculptor who became one of the first Canadians to embrace video as a viable creative medium, and a number of examples of his deeply personal work are included in the film, in which Campbell performed with non-professional actors on improvised locations. Hoolboom also explores Campbell's personal life, in particular how openly declaring his homosexuality effected him and the impact Campbell's death in 2001 had on his friends and lovers, while drawing on the parallels between his own films and the video work of his good friend. Fascination was screened as part of the 2006 Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Campbell, David Fujino, (more)
- 1999
- NR
An experimental feature from Canadian avant-garde filmmaker Mike Hoolboom, Panic Bodies concerns itself with death and the fragility of the human body, particularly in the wake of the AIDS pandemic. Comprised of six segments which could each be viewed as separate short films, the individual stories use a variety of techniques and approaches (montage, found and manipulated footage, blackout humor, sexual images, spiritual exploration) to explore our hopes and fears about disease and dying. Panic Bodies was shown at the 1999 San Francisco Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Johnson, Kathryn Ramey, (more)
- 1995
Canadian director Mike Hoolboom stoops to new levels of depravity and controversy in this anthology of funky sexual exploits. The four segments are filmed in black-and-white and have no dialogue, presumably to conjure the silent film era. It seems doubtful that Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin would have attempted a film like "Precious," which features a young woman masturbating against a gravestone. The second part is called "Scum" and depicts the experiments of a randy young couple. The props involved in these displays include cauliflower, a bicycle, and their own feces. In "Kisses," two men go after each other in an extended S & M session involving whips and razors. And then there's the last part, "Sh*teater," which really needs no further elaboration. ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide
- 1994
This Canadian attempt at experimental filmmaking is a sledgehammer-subtle political and sexual satire from the ever tactful Mike Hoolboom. The language and lifestyle conflicts in Canada have torn the country apart, and the nation faces Civil War with secessionist Quebecois. At the helm is Prime Minster Wayne Gretzky (Andrew Scorer), trying to keep the pieces together. These and other depressing news stories are related by a news anchor with a skull for a head. In the middle of this chaos, a lesbian couple just tries to get on with their life. One is a bourgeois writer, the other a highly politicized hooker. Both are as doomed as the rest of the nation. ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Babs Chula, Sky Gilbert, (more)
