My favourite albums are the ones I listen to at home, on vinyl and through my dad's old, warm, wooden speakers. Given the choice between that and some spurious sounding mp3 over ipod headphones, there is obviously no comparison. I feel the same way about the cinema experience--Criterion's quality DVDs are convenient, detailed and enjoyable, but that will never take away from the experience of watching a 35mm restoration on the big screen.

To thank the people like me out there (and maybe garner a few new converts), Pacific Cinematheque is holding an Open House this Saturday afternoon that includes a free screening of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. They will also be giving away free popcorn, doing tours of their projection booth and film library, running a membership drive with prizes, and holding a poster auction that includes artwork from Amarcord and The Brown Bunny.

When the weather turns to shit, and I don't have a million projects happening at once, there is nothing I love more than film. To have two solid hours of free time in which to lose oneself in worlds at once familiar and strange is a wonderful thing. On those days when I am lucky enough to find myself in such a situation, there are two obvious choices: go to a theatre, or stay in with a DVD. However Vancouver also has a small number of venues with a third option that hovers somewhere in between the obvious public and private choices: informal movie nights at non-film venues.

When Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, by then only 25 year old director Chantal Akerman, was first presented in North America it was as a single showing at MoMA. The film remained relatively mysterious though never forgotten, frequently appearing on critics' lists while seldom showing in cinemas. Thankfully, 35mm prints have been immaculately restored and are now touring across the continent. Pacific Cinematheque begins its run of the film tonight—presented also on Friday and Monday—and to celebrate is offering opening night patrons free samples of Pinot Noir!

Hockey season usually means the disappearance of the men in my life. Though I am loathe to conform to any denotations of clichèd femininity, I despise hockey. However even I can't deny its cultural relevance in Canada, or its inclusion as a subject in the films of some of our nation's finest directors. Hockey Nights on Film, the next series to run from March 9-20 at the Vancouver International Film Centre explores how we've constructed and examined our national identity through image-making, something of interest even to those who aren't sports fans.

Saturday February 28 | 8 - 11 PM | By donation

Blim and Dennis Ha present:

The Doberman Gang [1972/USA] by Byron Chudnow
In which a pack of Doberman dogs were trained to rob a bank.

4 Faces of Eve [1996/Hong Kong] by Kam Kwok Leung, Eric Kot, and Jan Lamb
4 Faces of Eve comprises of individual short films. At times filled with gibberish and awkward humor, these films present archetypes of maturing women - including a prostitute who cries at work, an all obedient Chinese wife/slave and the new mistress, a cross-dressing executive who avenges her comatose twin sister, and a husband and wife who enter a relationship-themed game show on TV. All short films star Sandra Ng, a comedic actress in Hong Kong, with styling and editing by William Cheung Suk Ping, and cinematography by Christopher Doyle. VCD 100 minutes

197 17th Ave. E, Vancouver
BC Canada V5V 1A5
P: (+1) 604 872 8180
E: info@blim.ca

Please do not touch the artwork. A sign outside the Contemporary Art Gallery in combative red fluorescents gives this standard command, reminding us that niceties and polite phrasing can be used as a tool of institutional authority. This caution, however, is not meant here in earnest. German artist Jeppe Hein has placed this work as a trenchantly witty point of entry to his altogether interactive exhibition Please, Please, Please.