Rio and Park Theatre Podcast! April 2026

Please join your hosts Duncan Shields and Darren Gay as they welcome back to the podcast, head programmer for both the Rio and the Park Theatres, Rachel Fox! Get the lowdown on all the cool movies and live events that are coming to these wonderful theatres in the month of April in the year 2026!

Theme music courtesy of Dear Rouge.

Recorded and engineered by Gregg Steffensen.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hello and welcome to the Rio Park Theater Podcast. We are former video store employee and movie enthusiast Duncan Shields. And former video store owner and also movie enthusiast Darren Gay. And today we're joined by senior programmer for both the Rio and the Park Theaters, Rachel Fox. Hello, Rachel.

SPEAKER_03 0:32

Hey.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Hey. Once again, you're back. That's like three or four times now. Yeah, awesome. We'll have to Photoshop your face into the little uh the ad there. Yeah, from the big screen. Uh we'll discuss all the amazing movies and events coming to both of these amazing theaters for April 2026. Yes. Uh starting with the Rio Theater, we've got Ghost Elephants, Werner Herzog, or Werner Herzog, following Dr. Steve Boyes, conservation biologist, and Nat GeoExplorer, looking for an elusive herd of possibly mythical ghost elephants. Oh, sounds cool. Yeah, sounds really beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

I'm very happy that uh Herzog is still making films. Like he's what, like 130 now? He's 135. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

When you see young footage of him, it's amazing because it's still it's him still. Yeah. It's still him, but it's like just, you know, like a prototype. He's still uh he's still got the cadence and he sure does. Yeah. The same sort of uh uh dower disposition.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Uh I wonder when that kicked in. Probably was always there. Maybe it was in the jungles of South America filming like Fitzgerald or something. That'd do it. That'd do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

So that's playing on Wednesday, April the 1st at 6 20 p.m. and on Saturday, April the 4th at 5 p.m.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

And then uh our next film uh to talk about is a movie called Alpha from uh Julie uh Ducard Ducardow? Ducarnow Ducarnow Ducarno she's the woman behind Raw and Titan. Is that Titan? Is that Titane? I think so. Yeah, yeah. I love that movie. Or Titan. I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

I I heard someone who speaks French say talk about it, and they called it Titan. I will go with that with a proper French accent.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Yeah, I don't have a proper French accent. Me neither. No, but I love both those movies. And Titan was my favorite movie of uh whatever year that came out, 2019. That was uh shh, that was like three or four years ago. Yeah, I absolutely love that movie. Um it's her new one, and it's uh story of a 13 of 13-year-old Alpha, uh, her doctor mom and her drug drug addict uncle in a time when an HIV like virus is loose that turns people into statues. Um wild visuals and is uh very moving, I hear. Uh I can't wait to see what she does next as well. Yeah. You've seen this one, have you?

SPEAKER_01 2:42

I have, yeah. And all three of these films are very different in pacing and tone. And uh it's very it's interesting that there's they're they're if you'd have told me they were by three different directors, I'd believe you. So I'm fascinated by uh by where she's going. I'm I'm I'll show up to whatever she does. Excellent. Yep, yeah, but I can't wait to see this one. And that's when's that planned?

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Oh, that is uh Wednesday, April the 1st, and I'm not kidding on that.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Hey 8 45 p.m. Right after Ghost Elephants. Uh and then we've got the Trail Running Film Festival. It's sold out, but it's an evening of films, performances, inspiration, and community centered around trail running. It's gonna be a great night. That's Thursday, April the 2nd at 7 p.m.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

And we have uh uh Coca-Ho, am I saying that right? Kokuho. Kokuho. I'm gonna butcher every name of people and movie for the rest of the film. Sounds great. Sounds great. Um 2025 Surprise hit in Japan. Uh, apparently it's the highest-grossing film ever in Japan. It just came out this year, which is mind-blowing, really. It says something, yeah. Considering you know what a you know, like just a wealth of film like uh history that Japan has. Um, a three-hour epic about two young kabuki actor frenemies at the top of their game competing against each other and working with each other in a high-stakes career of traditional kabuki, lush and rich and needs to be seen on the big screen. I could totally concur. I loved it. Excellent, excellent. And that's Friday, April the third at one in the afternoon, and then Saturday the 11th at one in the afternoon. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

And we did we did add another showing on the fifth.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

Oh, great.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Okay, fantastic.

SPEAKER_03 4:15

Well, you know what? I think it's because like well, not because, but it's so long, like it's a real commitment to see it. It's three hours long. It's like it's like a Buddenbrooks or something like that. Like you really have to settle in. So I think you know, you gotta give people a few opportunities to to to make time in their life to come out and see an epic. Yeah. I think it did well at the park.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Oh, good. It's a long weekend this weekend, right? Easter weekend. It is, yeah. That's why you're that's why it's a Friday afternoon showing.

SPEAKER_03 4:44

That's right. Early good Friday. Excellent.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

It'd be a great Friday if you go see the movies. Uh also on Friday, it's Dandy's fourth annual Faberge Ball, an interactive drag comedy cabaret. Good old Dandy puts on a another amazing show with an amazing lineup of performers. Uh, Dandy's such an incredible host. I'm sure that's going to be a lot of fun. That's uh Friday, April the 3rd at 8 p.m.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

And then uh followed by Who Frame Roger Rabbit is the late night, great night, date night movie at 11:30 that night. Yeah. Yeah. That movie's fabulous.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

That movie is fantastic. Uh, we showed it to Audrey recently, and she was like, This is great. And I'm like, oh good. You know, like you you're always uh, you know, I hate showing something to the new generation, and they're like, shh. Yeah, that was me with showing my kids spinal tap. Yeah, did not get it. She loved Back to the Future, you know, like so. It's like, oh okay, good. This stuff that ages well. It's the same guy, that's right. So there you go.

SPEAKER_03 5:38

Versatility.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Uh Saturday. Well, this is Saturday, April the 4th. I just want to put it all under one day. It's a it's a mini film fest alert. Uh, we've got Wally at 11.20 a.m., Marty Supreme, 1.45 p.m., Ghost Elephants at 5 p.m., uh Pillion at 7.30 p.m., and Donnie Darko at 10 p.m.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

That's a heck of a lot. Yeah, you could just be there all day and have the time of your yeah, and then have your your your brain dribble out of your head watching Donnie Darko at uh come out of Donnie Darko going, well, that was basically a documentary.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

That made lots of sense to me.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

That's the goal, I think. Yeah, yeah, that's what we're aiming for.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

Excellent. Uh Pillion, we talked about it in the last uh the last podcast, I think. But that was really good. I saw that. That's good stuff. And I've seen Marty Supreme, great movie. Wally, of course, classic. Classic. Yeah. Uh Koku Ho again. Uh Sunday, April the 5th at 2 45 p.m. Saturday, April the 11th at 1 p.m. Oh, there you go. I got that in there twice. Yay, look at me go.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

And uh Sunday, um Kyoshi Kirosawa Double Bill. I'm a big fan of this guy. Um, I haven't seen either of these films, though. Two of his, I guess, earlier ones. Oh, actually, don't chime as Chime is new. Is new, okay.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

But it's on the it's sort of they've uh Janice has sort of packaged them together. So Chime is new and it's about 45 minutes long. Oh, okay. And it's playing with um Serpent's Path, which is the original Serpent Serpent's Path, not the one that was sort of remade, but it's a restoration of the original.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Oh, cool. Yeah, I saw um Cloud at the Rio last year, which I quite liked. Yeah, yeah, and he's uh he did a great one called Pulse a long time ago, which is Yeah, I saw Pulse, Android Pulse. Yeah, it's a really cool uh horror film. Um let's see, Chime is a cooking instructor witnesses a suicide kicking off a mind-controlling chiming sound in his head. Excuse me. A chilling depiction of madness. Uh, and it's uh it's uh it's yeah, then there's a 10-minute break, and then you're diving right into Serpent's Path from 1998 at 2025 Restoration. Yep. Uh Yakuza's operative with a murdered daughter recruits a math teacher to carry out a scheme to kidnap and torture the man responsible. That's a heck of a sentence. I know, I think I might have butchered it, but I think I got it out there.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

It's Ray Biggs, a Yakuza operative, murdered daughter, math teacher. I'm like, these things are not what I would expect together.

SPEAKER_03 7:49

Yeah, it's a Yakuza kind of Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

It is perfect, yeah. And uh, I guess uh later on that evening is uh Nirvana the band, the show of the movie. Yep. Yeah, I'm glad this playing at the Rio because I never made it over to the park to see it. Um, and unfortunately, I can't make it this day. You have a you have a couple opportunities next week, so yeah. I got this new job where I work like exclusively nights all the time. Oh so it's hard to get to the theater anymore, which is a shame. Um, and uh on the sixth uh epic, the Elvis Presley in concert movie. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

That's gonna be well. I've seen it, it's amazing. It's well worth seeing. Uh, when I went to see it, there was I I I feel like a good chunk of the audience had seen Elvis in concert. There was a lot of a lot of people there that had me bested in years.

SPEAKER_03 8:34

Yeah, and uh that's putting it so nicely.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Yeah, it was uh it was a lot of a friend of mine wanted to go see it recently, and she was like, It's six months out. Or she's like, No, it was like, yeah, it's happening in four weeks and it's already sold out. That's it. And it's like, oh, I get it. It's because older people that are actually organized are buying in advance.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Yeah, you know, or they're afraid they might die before it comes out, you know.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

Oh my!

SPEAKER_00 8:58

But it's really worth seeing. I I uh yeah, I don't know. Probably not a lot of younger Elvis fans as compared to you know, people of uh our generation and but if you were if you were to go see it, there's someone I know who's uh quite a bit younger than me who's eager to see it.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

So it's well worth seeing. It's Baz Lerman, restored footage, great stuff. Cool. Uh no other choice. Park Chan Wuk, dark comedy takedown of the rat race about a man who gets fired after 25 years of faithful service and goes to extremes to find new employment. I really enjoyed this. I saw this at the park a couple nights ago. It's playing on Monday, April the 6th at 8 45 at the Rio.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Yeah, I really like this one too. It's while we're seeing I love his movies, and yeah, this one's great. It's quite long, it's a settle-in one, but it's uh it was really good. I didn't notice the running time at all. I thought it just zipped by really nicely, just because that it's great pacing and uh excellent acting, and you just don't know where that story's gonna go. Yeah, so it's pretty fabulous. And then we have uh The Bride, uh Maggie Gyllenhaal's directoral directoral debut starring Jesse Buckley, Christian Bale, Annette Benning, Penelope Cruz, and Peter Sarsgaard. I guess I I this looks like a cool like reinterpretation of the Bride of Frankenstein. I'm assuming that's what we're we're we're gonna say.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

It sort of seems like that. Like it's uh like it looks like a bootlegging prohibition era sort of Bonnie and Clyde meets Frankenstein. Very curious about this one. Yeah, it looks uh kind of like a punk rock-ish kind of take on it. It looks like quite the year for Jesse Buckley, too, to go from Hamnet to this. I was like, wait a second, that's the same person.

SPEAKER_03 10:24

It's her, yeah. Well, it's interesting. Um, it's sort of you know kind of been put in that funny no-go zone for movie releases at that this time of year. It came out uh early March. And um it's it's had very sort of mixed and all over the place reviews, but interestingly, um, I've been I've talked to a few people, mostly of the female persuasion, who really enjoyed it. Okay, and I think that you know, sometimes movies will come out and they're often re reviewed by the men folk.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 10:53

And um they may not get the you know crazy anger rage in the same way. It doesn't necessarily land. Yeah. And I think that um, you know, jet this is sort of what Maggie Jellen Hall is is going for, and it's a little sort of audacious and rambunctious. But um I quite enjoyed her first film with Olivia Coleman um that was on a few years ago. It was a few years ago. Oh, so this isn't her first film. No, it's oh okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

I thought it was her. Oh, I thought it was her first film.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

Cool.

SPEAKER_03 11:18

But yeah, so but I don't know, like I'm I'm looking, I'm curious to see it just because uh a few of the staff members have been really excited about it and who have seen it. Yeah. And that was sort of their their take on it. And I read a few similar, similar reviews on it, so I'm I'm gonna check it out.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

That's uh Tuesday, April the 7th at 6:30.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Then again, we got uh Tuesday, April the 7th at 9.20. We've got Pillion that we talked about. We got uh Alexander Sarsgaard and Harry Melling star as a top and a bottom in a gay BDSM relationship. I managed to catch it at the park and I really enjoyed it. I thought there was overarching themes of just personal boundaries and relationships that went far beyond just the content that you know did have me clutching my pearls just a little bit. But uh but it's a really it was a really good film and a great performance from both of them.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

And it's uh two for one Tuesday. So bring a friend and get in uh two people for the price of one.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Yeah, so every Tuesday, or is that just this Tuesday?

SPEAKER_03 12:13

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Excellent.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Uh then we've got the mellow film tours four films about mountain climbing. Sounds like it would be amazing to see in the theater. We've got Brooke Brooke Rabutu. I'm glad you said that, Nancy. Sean Bailey, Connor Hurson, Jackson Marvel, and Matt Cornell try some wild ascents. I love these uh all these these film, these mountain climbing movies that are being screened at the Rio because that's the place to see them. Yeah. You know, and that's Wednesday, April the 8th at 6.15.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

And then um Seerat is also playing on Wednesday, April the 8th at 9.30. Uh Mango's looking for his daughter and uh the the desert rave culture, and uh I guess it's in I think it's in Northern Africa. Yeah, Morocco, yeah. Something like that. I've seen it. It's I saw the Rio. Loved it. It's my it's probably my favorite film I've seen this year. It's um a little harsh at times. Yeah, yeah. Uh a little, you know, like, oh my god. But it's great. Uh it's it's it's so well filmed, and the music's great and the performance is great. Highly recommended, but it's it's it's not an easy watch. No, but recommended.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

I I I really enjoyed it too. It like I I it's sort of we've sort of uh anecdotally been commenting that it's a film a lot of people uh I'd say walked out of. Okay. Um and it definitely is one of those movies, I think it's you know, no spoilers, but it takes a left turn. Yeah, it sure does. And I like I really liked it. My my you know, I think it was one of the better movie experiences I had last year too.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

And it's a good way to put it a movie experience. It was I was watching it going, I have no idea what's gonna happen next. And that hasn't happened in a really good one. I like that.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

And it's and it and I think you know, for me it it ticks a lot of boxes if if only because it it seems to uh uh exist in the world that I live in. Sure. Um I don't live I'm not I'm not really I have a limited threshold for supernatural anything. I like this feel the feeling of being so unnerved and I'm like, is this my world? Yeah, and uh that's what I that's what I really got from that film.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

Oh, I thought I thought you meant you live in the world of desert graves. Not lately.

SPEAKER_03 14:14

Okay, certainly not after that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

That's uh and then on Thursday, April the 9th, we've got the International Fly Fishing Film Festival, which I'm deeply curious about. Twelve short films about fly fishing spanning conservation, family, adventure, and culture. Gonna be also amazing on the big screen. A lot of people standing in rivers and fly fishing.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Are they gonna have like live fly fishing uh demonstrations up on the stage? I I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

Not with our screen. Although, actually, our pro if it's uh if something happens to the screen screen, it could be a good reason to get a new one. Ah, well designed yeah, goals.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Fly fishermen, bring out your biggest rulers. Exactly. Um, and then we have uh No FX, uh 40 Years of Fucking Up, a documentary with the legendary LA punk band No FX, produced by No FX frontman Fat Mike. It was a big hit at the South by Southwest Film Festival this year. That's right. That's on Friday, April the 10th at 9 p.m. So yeah, if you're into your uh like your punk rock music, go check that out.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

Yeah, it's you know what, it's it's um it's sort of going into uh sort of a limited but wide release on April 10th. So we kind of just got in there as part of it and we sold something like 250 tickets in 48 hours. Oh nice wonderful. So definitely um you want to check out that screening, it's gonna be fun. And then we have added another screening for I think uh May 1st. It's on the calendar, but there is another one. Yes, but there won't be one after that, so come check it out.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

Yeah, there may even be merch there.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Oh, exciting!

SPEAKER_03 15:46

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

And then at 11:30, the late night date night on Friday after that is They Live. Rowdy Roddy Piper and Keith David star in this still relevant cult classic by John Carpenter from 1988. If you haven't, if you haven't seen it, you gotta go see it.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

I I love this movie, it's so much fun. It has one of the best fight fight sequences in all of cinema. It's like it's the longest like fight in the back alley, and it just goes on and on and on. A fifth of the movie is just this this fight scene. Yeah, uh Raddy Roddy Paper Suplexes, Keith David in the alley, and it's it's great. Just loved it.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Uh then we've got on Saturday, April the 11th at 7:30, Eraserhead's Combo on the Run, a film screening, live concert, and piece of history. For one night only, experience an advanced screening of Eraserheads combo on the run, followed by a special live performance by Eli Buendia, legendary frontman of one of the most influential bands in Filipino pop culture. So it's a film that's coming out before its commercial release, and then you get to stay and see the intimate concert setting.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

So it's pretty wild, and the group who've put it together have have put a lot of work into it. So I mean, I've never heard of the band before, but they're um, you know, big in, you know, among Gen X people of a certain age, uh, you know, from the Philippines and the diaspora. So this is, you know, they were from what I was told, like a you know, very relevant, you know, big band. So this documentary's coming out um about them, and he's doing uh, I think the lead person, lead singer from the band, uh who's gonna be there is doing a few shows like this in uh Los Angeles, I think the night before Vancouver and somewhere else. Yeah, so it's a big deal. And the director's gonna be there too. So for anyone who's uh a fan of that era and and knows that era, this is this is it once in a lifetime, and and they're they've been selling tickets pretty well for it. And there's even a VIP meet and greet and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

So is is the band called Eraser Heads? That's right. Okay, yeah, I'm I'm not familiar with them.

SPEAKER_03 17:45

I'm not I'm not either.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

I'm not up on my Filipino cult uh pop culture, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_03 17:49

I'm I'm not either, but that's why we're really hoping that um people people get the message and uh and come out and support it because it's they've it they put a lot of work into uh into getting them here and making it happen and going from LA one night to Vancouver the next.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

That's uh that's that's uh yeah. Yeah, I hope I hope it, yeah. I'm sure it's gonna be great. Um and then we have a movie called uh Heard, it's a world premiere. It's a Vancouver-made TELUS original documentary film chronicling five hard of hearing people searching for community. It's an all-ages showing with a live QA with the cast. Seems like it's gonna be a very fascinating film, and that's on Tuesday, April the 14th at 6 30.

SPEAKER_03 18:26

And that screening is if it's not already, it's almost sold out. Okay, and there is another screening added on April 19th afternoon, which is the f the following Sunday. So it's definitely gonna have uh have a big following. And I believe the filmmaker is uh the protagonist of the film as well. So definitely worth checking out local and like all the things. Excellent. Cool.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

Uh Thursday, April the 16th at 8 p.m. We've got the Vancouver Burlesque Company winter 2026 showcase, student the student showcase, which is always a lot of fun because like these student uh whenever you see a student showcase, it might be the first and last time they perform these days. So they're so nervous, and then also all their friends are in the audience, so the energy is just fantastic for these for these performances. So well worth checking out.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

I'm sure they'll be fun. And then uh the next night, uh Rules of Attraction from 2020, 2002, sorry. Yes, um, based on Brett Easton Ellis' novel starring James Vanderbeek, who just recently passed. Um, it's a pretty cool film. I really like this one. I saw it when it came out. I haven't seen it in a long time, yeah, but it's so interestingly filmed, it's it's crazy. It's creative a lot of cool film stuff in this one. Yeah, highly recommended if you haven't seen this one. And that's uh Friday the 17th, the 17th at 11 30, so uh late night, date night.

SPEAKER_03 19:41

Yeah, it's a good it's a good it I I remember seeing it um pretty close to when ish it came out. Yeah, and I never watched Dawson's Creek. I mean I'm aware of Dawson's Creek. I don't well that's not a shocker to me that you didn't watch it. Um but um but you know it was kind of it's really interesting because he's so he plays against the type so much in this film.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

And this is not uh not Dawson's Creek, James Van Ruby.

SPEAKER_03 20:04

This is not Dawson, but uh yeah, uh a good movie of that of that era really holds up, I think.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Yeah, that's a little nihilistic because it's uh it's Brad Easton Ellis, but uh it's really good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Yeah, I remember this really cool scene that's shot like backwards or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

It's shot, it starts off like uh it's a split it's a split screen that ends up becoming one shot.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

Oh, yeah. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember that just like what's going on here? This is amazing.

SPEAKER_03 20:28

Yeah, yeah, good good memory.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Yeah. Uh and then on Saturday, April the 18th at 6:30 p.m., it's the kickoff of the Run and Gun 2026 Run and Gun kickoff screening. Vancouver's wildest filmmaking competition is back. It was established in 2015. Filmmakers have a weekend to make a movie. This is the kickoff that features some humorous speed dating, some networking, a few screenings, and a mingling party. So that's really, really good. The registration's on April 20th, competitions the 15th to the 17th of May, Rio screenings, June 22nd to the 24th, and then the main event Gala's on July the 4th. But uh, this is the kickoff happening on April 18th. That's gonna be very exciting for everybody involved.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Oh, I'm sure. And then we have um In It Together stories from Paloma Housing Co-op, and the filmmakers will be in attendance for QA. It's a documentary about the Vancouver-based Paloma Housing Co-op founded in 83, working with inner city housing, a developer involved in the co-op sector, and with help from government grants and low-interest loans aimed at creating affordable housing. The early members of the Paloma built the co-op literally from the ground up. In the process, they learned the skills necessary to self-govern and maintain a 44-unit apartment. Forty years later, Vancouver has become one of the most expensive cities in North America. Has? Uh yeah, I've read something about that. I've experienced something like that. And the need for affordable housing is greater than ever. At four o'clock. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:01

And that one is uh f again, filmmakers are gonna be present there and it's a bit of almost gonna be a a reunion for a lot of people that um live in the project, uh or the Paloma project rather. Um tickets are free. Oh nice.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

So if you're that's in keeping with the theme of the exactly.

SPEAKER_03 22:19

So so so tickets are free. Um so if you're interested and you um you know the subject matter grabs you, or maybe if you have a connection um to the space itself, uh get your ticket in advance and reserve your seat because it's already quarter sold out.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Fantastic. Excellent. Uh after that, on uh Sunday, April the 19th at 6 30, we've got In the Glow of Darkness, also with the filmmaker QA. This looks like a really good one. Uh Welcome to San Zocchio. Intersecting stories unfold in a fractured cyberpunk city where a young hacker takes on the corporation behind Meme, a drug that mines users' psyches to De Viller to deliver personalized psychedelic trips and hyper-targeted ads. Uh, as detectives, streamers, pop stars, and hitmen collide in a strange near future, reality blurs into something unstable, addictive, and darkly absurd. Like, I don't know, it has me at hello. That kind of thing. I'm into it. It sounds great to me.

SPEAKER_03 23:16

And yeah, the director's gonna be there. I think also, too, because you um it there's a bit of an AI tangent thing with it. So be be prepared.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Um, yeah, but any any sci-fi, just yeah, keep there's not enough good sci-fi out there, so yeah, but keep it coming. Yeah, keep it coming. Next we have a film called Middle Life. Again, filmmaker in attendance.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

Uh well, via Zoom. Via Zoom, okay. Yes, they're not physically there, but it's yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Okay, that's cool still. Um, a wedding planner and a new mom. Sorry, wedding planner and new mom saves a plumber from a car crash and they find a spark together, starring July Tox, Leah Faye Goldstein, and Peter Drymanis, who who uh was recently in Sinners. Yeah. And uh that's on Monday, April 28th, the 20th at 6:30. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Yeah. Uh there's a very emotional one coming up on Thursday, April the 23rd at 8 p.m. It's Legacy a Celebration of Life for Cam Grant. Uh Cam Grant, Cameron Grant was a prominent Vancouver-based vocalist, band leader, performer, loved and respected as one of Vancouver's exceptional talents. Uh, so at the Rio Theater on Thursday, April 23rd. Very special legacy event, including performances from VOC, Sacred Linoleum, Smoking Section, Daddy, and the Smoking Soul experience. Uh, so it's very much that's I don't think there's gonna be a dry eye in the house of that one. That's uh he was a very valued person. Right. And then on Friday, April the 24th at 8 p.m., Kim Dong Ha, very popular Korean stand-up comic. Uh, I haven't heard of him, but um, if he's big enough to come over here and do a show, that's gonna be huge.

SPEAKER_03 24:51

Tickets are selling, and I don't, you know, it's it's exciting. I don't think that we've had um a Korean language comic before. We've had lots of other languages, but this is the first Korean comic we've had.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Is it gonna be in Korean?

SPEAKER_03 25:03

In Korean. Oh, yeah. Not in no English subtitles.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

No subtitles? No, no, no. Cool. Well, that'll be fun. Hopefully you get a you know the Korean community out there to check them out.

SPEAKER_03 25:14

Oh, they're they're they're aware. So they're buying tickets.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

And then we have one called The Bearded Girl. Um, again, filmmakers in attendance. Yes. Yes. Um, on the brink of inheriting uh the position of the bearded woman, uh matriarchal matriarch. She's the leader of an outcast community of circus performers. A young woman defies her overbearing mother and runs away instead. So she runs away from the circus. She runs from the circus. Yes. Oh wow, look at that. Uh, free from the expectations and responsibilities of home in the circus, she seeks romance and adventure with the normies in a tiny farm town. In order to fit in, she invent reinvents herself with stories of a fabricated past until the truth of sh of who she is can no longer be concealed. That sounds pretty cool. Yeah. Um, yeah, I don't know much about this one, but uh it sounds I'd like the idea of like running from the circus.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

Yeah, and it's got Jessica Peret in it, who was in Mad Men. She's from Montreal, she's a Canadian actress, and so I'd like to see her in something again.

SPEAKER_03 26:15

Yeah, I believe this movie was shot here, and yeah, the director's gonna be there, and there will be a total it this is um probably good to bring the younger folks to um if you have them in your life, because there's gonna be a whole whack of real life circus performers to welcome everyone upon arrival. Wow, wonderful. Maybe even fire.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

What a great time that is.

SPEAKER_03 26:38

So, yeah, definitely, definitely uh you can bring uh teens and tweens to this. Oh, good. Yes, oh it's it's good.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

And then that same day is the Rio Theater Burlesque and Variety show, which is coming up right after that at nine, well, not right after that, but at uh nine o'clock on Saturday, April 25th. And this particular show is gonna be amazing because we've got great performers, including Demi Rain, Montreal's Lady Josephine, along with Mainstay's April O'Peal, Claire Voyeur, the Disco Squad, La Dame Derriere, Rainbow Glitz, and uh a host of others. That's gonna be an amazing show. That would be just a great just spend the whole day at the Rio. That would be a wonderful day. Yeah, that for sure. Um, and then we have oh geez. Oh, sorry, yo, yo, me.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

Yeah, um it's uh why don't you tackle this one here?

SPEAKER_01 27:21

Uh Sportsku Surtse. It's the Canadian premiere. It means sport heart. It is I could have just said sport heart. You could have just said sport heart. Uh it's uh it's a warm comedy about the collision of two incompatible worlds. Young Maya decides to unite her fiancé Pavla, the sophisticated man from Belgrade with her father Makura, the charismatic owner of a bakery in Zemun. It's uh based on a famous Serbian play from uh the Zvedara Theater in Belgrade. So um that's gonna be a wonderful, a wonderful movie. That's Sunday, April 26th at 3 15 p.m. All right, I can do this next one.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Uh it's called Dervish. There we go. There we go. Uh traditional Irish music six-member band who've played the Great Wall of China, Glastonbury, toured with the Irish president, and received BBC Radio 2's Lifetime Achievement Award.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Hot damn.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

Yeah, so this is a live uh oh, cool. Cool, that'll be fun. Uh Sunday, April 26th at 7:30 in the evening. Get a little Irish music in your soul there.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

That'll be fun. Uh Tuesday, April 28th at 8 p.m., we have Ellipses, 16 emerging dance and interdisciplinary artists, contemporary jazz, ballet, hip-hop, and more. Experimentation, independence, virtuosity. I really like a live dance show, especially when it's uh a bunch of different styles and themes and and skill sets. It's uh always a fun time to go see something like that.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

And then uh the Critical Hit Show, a DD live improvised epic fantasy show. Uh that's been going on for like 30, 40 years now, something like that. Wow, yeah. Close to a century.

SPEAKER_03 28:54

Yeah, the prop the props were actually used in the medieval times. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

That's right. Excellent. And that's uh the 29th at seven o'clock.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Uh and then something I'm really curious about, also after that at 9 30 p.m. is www.rachelormont.com, which is the actual title of the film. It's in the in the dystopian world of Rachel Ormont. Uh Rachel Ormond herself, played by Betsy Brown, has been raised by an advertising agency where her existence revolves around the pop star Mommy6.0, played by Chloe Cherry. So her whole existence comes into question when she confronts the dark web. Uh it's a daring lead performance and a wicked sense of humor. Satirical sci-fi comedy delves into the themes of performance, digital existence, consumer culture, and contemporary sexuality. Good times await. I think so. It sounds uh And not for the kids. Not for the kids. This one, this one, not for the kids. Not for the kids.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

It's it's it's probably not safe for work. But but definitely, you know, this is sort of one of those movies, too, that like kind of like with Iron Lung a few months ago, where just people kind of reached out and there was a bit of a campaign to get it uh in the theater. This movie falls under that category. So it's definitely if you're kind of somebody that likes things a little off-kilter, quirky, um, underground, this is this is one of the ones of the year for sure.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

Sounds good. And then um to wrap up the month, uh Mo Gilligan, uh, the Mo You Know, on the 30th of April at 8 o'clock. I assume Mo Gilligan Mo Gillan is a comedian.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

British comedian. British comedian. Yeah, yeah, that's fun.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

Shifting over to the park theater, which is uh fantastic screen, fantastic projector, beautiful place to see a movie. I've been there many a time since uh it's changed hands, and I have had a great time every time. Excellent. Uh Hamnet, which I just saw the other night. Finally. Finally Hamnet. I just saw the other night there. Uh with oh man, Jesse Buckley and Paul Mescal. Paul Mescal from After Sun. He's having quite the quite the great career, that guy. They both are, it seems. Yeah, they both are. Uh that's playing Wednesday, April 1st at 6 30, Saturday, April 4th at 12 45 p.m., like uh noonish, not uh not quarter to one in the morning. Tuesday, April the 7th at 4 p.m., and Sunday, April 12th at 1.15. Well worth seeing. It's Chloe Zhao again. Yep. Nomad Land and The Rider uh and Eternals. Uh who knows why they brought her on to the Marvel juggernaut was like Chloe Zhao. Yeah, that's our gal. But uh it's a beautiful film. Yeah, and we got The Bride on the first of the month at nine o'clock.

SPEAKER_03 31:36

It's a Jesse Buckley Double Bill. Jesse.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Jesse Buckley Double Bill. And then we've got Hunting Matthew Nichols, which is uh got local roots, right?

SPEAKER_03 31:44

Yeah, I mean this one is is really interesting. So um it is local. It was shot on Vancouver Island, and I'm actually um sort of friends with one of the filmmakers who I've known for a long time. And um yeah, I don't I don't know how or why, but it's definitely um it's got a lot going for it. And uh on Thursday, April 2nd is um the advanced screening sneak peek. It is almost sold out, it's gonna be a party, and then on April 10th, it is opening across North America at something like 1400 screens, which is insane. That's a boggers is huge. And um, yeah, if you like your Blair Witch, if you like your found footage, if you like your Can Con, um, come check it out uh in the screen on the advanced screening if you can, if there's still tickets left. And then it's uh opening up back up at the park on uh the 10th for additional screenings as well. Excellent.

SPEAKER_01 32:37

Yeah, on the uh 11th and the 14th. Yeah at 9:30.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Cool. And on the second, uh actually on starting on the second and running to the 14th, uh various show times, we have a new movie called The Drama. Yeah, yeah. I believe starring Jesse Buckley. No, no, this isn't Jesse Buckley.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

This is uh Zendaya and Robert Patton. Right, right. And it looks really good. The trailer looks uh fantastic, it looks like it's a good time. Yeah, bit absurdist, bit funny, but also dark and uh it's gonna it's not what you think it is.

SPEAKER_03 33:04

For uh for anybody that uh remembers, um, Christopher Borgley, who's the director here, uh, he made a movie, a really interesting movie called Sick of Myself, which came out a few years ago, and also Dream Scenario with Nicolas Cage. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

I love Dream Scenario. That was like my top three films of the year, whatever year that came out.

SPEAKER_03 33:23

I think this is gonna be for you. It's it's it's um, you know, uh one week, one wedding, one secret, everything off the rails. Oh, sign me up for that. There you go. I love those kind of things. It's gonna be fun. It's dark and fun, and I'm really looking forward to it because um I think this is I'm gonna call this like our first medium big movie opening at the park. Like we opened Arco, which was kind of you know, kind of open it, and then you know, Nirvana, the band. I mean, I don't know that a Canadian movie has done what that has done in my lifetime, other than Porky's, maybe. Sure, sure, yeah. Porky's and Nirvana, probably probably up there. But you know, this is a a big one for us, and uh, we're excited. And um, yeah, the advanced screening um on uh on that Thursday is gonna be busy. So if you want to come see it and dress up and wear yet that bridal um outfit ensam that you have in the back of your closet.

SPEAKER_01 34:14

Everyone has my powder blue tuxedo.

SPEAKER_03 34:16

That's you know, do it. This is the time. This is the this is the one.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

After that, we've got uh epic Elvis Presley in concert that we were talking about before. Fantastic to see at the park on the big screen with that projector. I bet. Friday, April 3rd at 2.30, Wednesday, April 8th at 6.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

That's gonna be fantastic. Yep, and then uh Monty Python's The Life of Brian, I guess uh your Easter film this year. Am I correct in saying that?

SPEAKER_03 34:43

Yes, that that is that is correct, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 34:45

That's such a great film. We did that for the podcast for our Easter uh our Easter film a couple years ago. Yeah, that's on the Friday the third at 4.45 and the fourth at 545.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

And then we have a free community screening of flow, the the wonderful animated film with the cat and uh the boat and the birds. Love the flow. Won the Oscar that year. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_03 35:06

In 2025, it's great, it's great because it's got no words. Yeah, and it's just got action. So, you know, it's safe for kids and uh people who don't know words.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

It's well worth it's well worth saying for people that don't know words.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

Yeah. That's on Saturday, April the 4th at 10 15. And then speaking of Nirvana the Band, the show, the movie, that's happening on Saturday, April the 4th at 10 30 p.m. that same day.

SPEAKER_03 35:31

Yeah, it's a busy day.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

And then uh a movie called Holy Days, which I'm not familiar with on the on Sunday the 5th at 3 45.

SPEAKER_01 35:38

Great Judy Davis, uh Mariam Margolis, uh no, my Margalize Margolise.

SPEAKER_03 35:43

Margalize, yeah. No, this and uh Jackie Weaver. So this what this is really interesting too. So this is um Canadian film. It's uh it's a sort of New Zealand Canadian co-production, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

Right.

SPEAKER_03 35:55

And um, yeah, it's a it's uh, I think a really heartwarming, earnest, fun uh adventure movie with uh three nuns played by the aforementioned legends and uh a young boy going cross country in the 70s in a car. Uh and um it is directed by Nat Bolt, um, who uh is a South African origin uh actress, but she lives here in Vancouver now, and she was on Riverdale for a long time, and this is her debut feature. And it's been a hit in New Zealand, and we um we had 400 people plus come on Friday for the premiere at the park, and we're just rolling it over. Nice. So come out and see it. It is raucous good time comedy. That sounds like a lot of fun, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

I love Judy Davis. I haven't seen her on screen in such a long time. Yeah, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:41

She, I mean, this they're they're in it, and they showed up for this, and Nat uh the director is super cool, and I just love the the connection uh to Vancouver and Canadian. So come on out and see it, come check it out.

SPEAKER_01 36:53

Yeah, for sure. Uh then we've got Surratt again uh happening at uh Sunday, April the 5th at 8:45 p.m. with that sound and that screen.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

Yeah, especially the uh the opening like half hour with the rave that it's gonna be great stuff. Yeah, for sure. Um and then Pillion at uh Thursday the ninth at 9:30. And the Iron Giant again. Yes, Saturday, April the 11th at 10:38.

SPEAKER_01 37:15

Love the Iron Giant. Oh man, what a great movie! Yeah, that's a tearjerker.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

It is. And then um Hamlet. Yeah, Hamlet. Hamnet.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

Not Hamnet, Hamlet with Reza Med, right? That's right. This is a new version of it. That's right. Yeah, it's an updated version. Uh it looks really, really good, very kinetic, uh, really good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

Cool. Um, Saturday the 11th at 4 15, and Monday the 13th at 6 15.

SPEAKER_03 37:39

Yeah, I really like him as an actor. Me too.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

Uh I didn't it took me a long time to see the sound of metal.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

Oh, yeah, that was the the ultimate COVID, you know, struck film. But what a great movie, and he's so good in it. He's so good. And he was nominated for an Oscar for that, and well, well-deserved nomination. And yeah, he did lose out to uh Sir Anthony Hopkins. And I remember watching the Oscars and being like, if you were well that was also a really good movie, but but Riz Riz Ahmed to me is just like I just love seeing him on film. I and in really so magnetic, I just love it. Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:14

Uh Friday, April the 17th at 6 30 p.m. Stand by me is having a is having the nerve to have a 40th anniversary uh screening. So it's been 40 years, actually. It's been 40 years, but what a what a it still stands the test of time.

SPEAKER_00 38:29

A fantastic film. Stand by me still stands, still holds.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

Still stands. And then uh Saturday, April the 10th, April the 18th, sorry, uh at 2 30 p.m. we've got Farewell My Concubine, the uncut 4K restoration, which is gonna be amazing on the big screen with that projector up there at the park.

SPEAKER_03 38:47

We just had a screening of it uh at the Rio on Sunday and it sold out. Oh, nice. Um, so this is sort of the the encore at a different location, and tickets are going really fast for that. So if if you're inclined, if you like your mid-afternoon um epic, epic cinema on the big screen, uh come check it out. And I have two more I want to add. Oh, crazy. They're not on the calendar yet, uh-huh. Um, which is on uh Sunday, April 19th.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 39:17

We will be um doing a little what we're gonna call either deja vu or pas de de. Can't quite decide. Right. But we are gonna be having an interesting uh double bill of a movie called The Hustler.

SPEAKER_02 39:34

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:35

With um your friend and mine, Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, followed by the Canadian premiere of Martin Scorsese's newly restored The Color of Money. Outstanding, outstanding.

SPEAKER_01 39:47

You know, and I was thinking just the other day that it's time for a third one. I th well where Tom Cruise has to teach like Jesse Buckley. Jesse Buckley.

SPEAKER_03 39:58

Well, you know what I'm gonna say is um just it but to do a little bit of research. I I haven't seen, I mean, I I've never actually seen The Hustler, and it is a movie.

SPEAKER_01 40:06

It was one of my dad's favorites.

SPEAKER_03 40:07

So it comes up a lot. It's a dad movie, right? I've heard it's it's in there, and it's one of, I think, you know, sort of known as being one of the great sort of sports movies of all time, and so cool that Paul Newman sort of reprises his role uh in The Color of Money. Now, the color of money hasn't been seen on a long time in a long time because it's Fox and Disney and they have that funny rule. So we're we've got the Canadian premiere of the new restoration.

SPEAKER_00 40:31

Excellent. That's a that's an underrated Scorsese film, I think. I haven't seen it in five forever. It'd be a great double build.

SPEAKER_03 40:37

That's why we're doing it. It's pas de do, it's Newman in both roles with like 45 years in between or something, something crazy. Two and the corner pocket. Maybe two and a two and a quarter of pocket. There we go.

SPEAKER_00 40:46

Yeah, there you go. Two in the corner pocket.

SPEAKER_03 40:48

But um, but one of the things to me to watch out for, it's interesting, um, because you were saying, you know, sequel or whatever. But when I was watching the trailer for the color of money, suddenly Marty Supreme made a lot more sense because I think much of uh Chalamet's character and I think the safties were like channeling a little bit of Tom Tom Cruise energy in Color of Money, but in Marty's the cocky and the the hair and the jumping on the bed and just that that energy, I think. Um leads back to uh Tom Cruise in that movie a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 41:22

So that's that that's gonna be really good. That was uh Sunday, April 19th.

SPEAKER_03 41:26

Sunday April 19th. Um Hustler's gonna be 115, and I think Color of Money is gonna be four. So you'll be home, you'll be home in time for dinner. Yeah, so long, it's a commitment.

SPEAKER_01 41:35

Yeah, yeah. But it's a good commitment, like yeah, like that's great films. And was that the was it was it was that the two films you wanted, or was there another one?

SPEAKER_03 41:42

There's not. No, though that double bill is just those two, but I think we were sort of talking about um and it's gonna be I'm gonna be joined while or you know, sort of talking about the films a little bit is gonna be Melanie Friesen, who used to host for over 20 years at VIF. She was the host and uh creator presenter of Cinema Salon. Okay. So she would sort of bring someone in, oh, cool, uh, you know, a a person of note to talk about whatever film. And so uh she's gonna be talking a little bit about the hustler. But interestingly enough, Melanie uh worked for four years uh in Martin Scorsese's you know producer office in New York. So she's got an interesting connection there. Yeah, uh inside uh inside stories. Yeah, no, absolutely. So for for movie nerds out there, oh yeah, this is a good one. You'll get to be the first to see the new resto.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah, good, good. Excellent. Okay, well, that's great. Is that everything uh we need to talk about? That's everything we need to talk about. Uh it's gonna be an absolutely stellar April at both the Rio and the park. So you know, I'm thinking I should just quit my job. Well, I just hardly get out of the theater now. A couple of Saturdays at at the Rio and at the park, they've had this the stellar lineup of just like six films that you you just want to go all day for and see them all. And uh so I hope that keeps up. And that's that's no that's happening again a couple times this week.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

I did a three uh marathon uh film uh little festival at the park or the Rio years ago, and it was fantastic. Yeah, yeah, but it it was it was a long, it was long for me, but uh you know, because the movies were locked too much.

SPEAKER_03 43:18

It's my favorite kind of thing. Like I remember, I mean, remember back in the day when those two cinemas were on Granville Street?

SPEAKER_01 43:24

Yeah, they were like a Caprice and the It was the fame was it famous it was the Granville 7 and the uh and the Capital Six, right? Thank you right across the street.

SPEAKER_03 43:34

And and it was like, you know, for you know, in my twenties, it was like you know, perfectly positioned with a burger king. So you could like you could get a burger and eat it in the theater, and to me that was like the height of decadence.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

At filmfest, right? Like you'd just be like, yeah. I used to just at the film fest I used to buy your pass and just disappear for like two weeks downtown.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

And you never had to walk in the rain to another screening because it was all in one place. Yeah. That was worth the bay.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

But anyway, yeah, definitely come on down. We'll see you at the park and we'll see you at the Rio. And uh yeah. Thanks for joining us once again, Rachel. Thank you for inviting me. Of course. All right. I'll see you at the Rio. Yes, we will. All right. Go ahead. Cheers.

unknown 44:15

Come on, and meet me at the Rio.