The Tracey Fragments.
Shake hands with Bruce McDonald.
Awesome it was.
Very few people outside of Canada would know the director Bruce McDonald. Bruce is the visionary behind such amazing films as Roadkill, Highway 61, Dance Me Outside and Hard Core Logo. Hard Core Logo is really the only movie of his that made it outside of Canada due to Quentin Tarantino’s love of it (he released it in the states as a “Quentin Tarantino Presents” feature).
Today Bruce was in Waterloo to present his newest movie The Tracey Fragments. He had a little meet and greet at the Princess Cafe in the afternoon where he handed out copies of the comic version based on the movie. He was a little late but we stuck it out. It was actually pretty cool. He came over to our table – pulled his chair over and started chatting with us. He autographed two comics (and a copy of the Hard Core Logo graphic novel I brought with me). We could have talked for hours but we didn’t want to be time hogs.
That evening he presented The Tracey Fragments at the Princess Cinema, and following the film had a Q&A session. The movie was great – with Bruce taping a little more into his David Lynchian side. The film is shot in a very innovative way with up to several dozen split screen effects occurring at once. The movie stars Ellen Page whom some people will know as Hayley from the movie Hard Candy but most will know as Shadowcat from X-Men 3. The story follows Tracey throughout the events leading up to and following the disappearance of her brother. Quite compelling, quite puzzling but beautifully done.
If you have a chance see the movie. If not for me, then for Bruce – who is quite a cool guy.