John Paizs | WatchedThis
John Paizs
Directing
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Paizs (born in 1957) is a director, writer and actor from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 1985 his much-celebrated independent comedy Crime Wave was presented at the Toronto International Film Festival. He was the male lead and also wrote and directed the film. He worked on several TV series, but has not made another feature film until 1999's Top of the Food Chain, a stylish, low-budget sendup of Golden Age '50s science fiction movies. John is currently the Director in Residence at the Canadian Film Centre. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Paizs, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Crime Wave
A young director intent on making "the greatest color crime movie ever" can't seem to finish his script--he has a beginning and an end, but he can't quite figure out the middle. The daughter of his landlord, excited to have a real "movie person" living nearby, tries to help by putting him in touch with a man who wants to collaborate on a script--the strange "Dr. Jolly"
The Obsession of Billy Botski
A young man meets his obsession, a ghostly '60's Playboy-bunny styled "Connie," and is never the same!
Oak, Ivy, and Other Dead Elms
The further adventure of Nick, Paizs' silent hero sets off to college where he meets Brock West (Winnipeg journalist and rocker Peter Jordon, aka Rocky Roletti). Unwittingly, Nick becomes involved in attempts to restore old campus hangout and the dirty political tricks swirling a hard fought student election. The film successfully weaves the tone of 40s college hijinx movies through the clever spoof of current electoral trends, suggesting how easily old fashioned ethics can turn into fashion.
Springtime in Greenland
Springtime in Greenland uses '50s cinematic conventions and attitudes to tell a story about the sophomoric inhabitants of a fictional utopia.
The International Style
An amusing melange of '60s spy thrillers and other classics. Super secret agent Nick attempts to liberate a top secret microchip from the clutches of multimillionaire Quinton Frost. Paizs pokes fun at the jet set, the Cold War and Jean-Paul Sartre.
Castration Movie Anthology i. Traps
Michaela 'Traps' Sinclair is a trans sex worker trying to get by in Vancouver while also mentoring her recently-out friend Adeline and making an attempt at pursuing actual motherhood. Meanwhile, lowly production assistant Turner finds himself dangerously spiraling into inceldom as his current relationship implodes.
Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight
Interviews with Guy Maddin and his pals are included in this documentary about the Canadian film-maker's life and movies. Features clips from most of Maddin's films up to Twilight of the Ice Nymphs, including Careful and Archangel.
Smoked Lizard Lips
A recently-deposed Central American dictator re-locates to a small town in Northern Manitoba and starts a new repressive regime.
Production
Top of the Food Chain
An isolated Canadian town (populated by the weirdest group of people this side of Saturn) has seen its share of problems. First the nut factory closed, then the CATV antenna stopped broadcasting, and now something is gruesomely devouring the townsfolk! Can visiting atomic scientist (and expert on "cool fusion") Dr. Karel Lamonte solve the mystery before everyone disappears?
Crime Wave
A young director intent on making "the greatest color crime movie ever" can't seem to finish his script--he has a beginning and an end, but he can't quite figure out the middle. The daughter of his landlord, excited to have a real "movie person" living nearby, tries to help by putting him in touch with a man who wants to collaborate on a script--the strange "Dr. Jolly"
Crime Wave
A young director intent on making "the greatest color crime movie ever" can't seem to finish his script--he has a beginning and an end, but he can't quite figure out the middle. The daughter of his landlord, excited to have a real "movie person" living nearby, tries to help by putting him in touch with a man who wants to collaborate on a script--the strange "Dr. Jolly"
Crime Wave
A young director intent on making "the greatest color crime movie ever" can't seem to finish his script--he has a beginning and an end, but he can't quite figure out the middle. The daughter of his landlord, excited to have a real "movie person" living nearby, tries to help by putting him in touch with a man who wants to collaborate on a script--the strange "Dr. Jolly"
Crime Wave
A young director intent on making "the greatest color crime movie ever" can't seem to finish his script--he has a beginning and an end, but he can't quite figure out the middle. The daughter of his landlord, excited to have a real "movie person" living nearby, tries to help by putting him in touch with a man who wants to collaborate on a script--the strange "Dr. Jolly"
Crime Wave
A young director intent on making "the greatest color crime movie ever" can't seem to finish his script--he has a beginning and an end, but he can't quite figure out the middle. The daughter of his landlord, excited to have a real "movie person" living nearby, tries to help by putting him in touch with a man who wants to collaborate on a script--the strange "Dr. Jolly"
Crime Wave
A young director intent on making "the greatest color crime movie ever" can't seem to finish his script--he has a beginning and an end, but he can't quite figure out the middle. The daughter of his landlord, excited to have a real "movie person" living nearby, tries to help by putting him in touch with a man who wants to collaborate on a script--the strange "Dr. Jolly"
Crime Wave
A young director intent on making "the greatest color crime movie ever" can't seem to finish his script--he has a beginning and an end, but he can't quite figure out the middle. The daughter of his landlord, excited to have a real "movie person" living nearby, tries to help by putting him in touch with a man who wants to collaborate on a script--the strange "Dr. Jolly"
Ho Down
An enjoyable animated film done by drawing directly on the film in the tradition of Norman McLaren. Two circles, one male and one female, bounce, spin and stretch to lively music.
Marker
In an isolated small town in the Pacific Northwest, Sylvia's teenaged life of juggling two boyfriends and an overprotective father is turned upside down when she discovers she has a bizarre virus which has randomly plagued the women in her community for decades and shamefully forced those afflicted into hiding. Sylvia undergoes a horrifying physical transformation, and she finds herself drawn into a persecuted underworld where she begins an astonishing journey of freakish self-discovery. Marker is a classic coming-of-age tale with a horror twist, which pits its heroine against her oppressors - the town's non-afflicted - in a battle for self-determination--and survival.