It's sad to see Beer Stores closing in Ontario.

They offer so much more variety than a dep or supermarket.

Literally hundreds of beers to choose from.

That's something unique which can't be duplicated.🍺

Strange Brew

A TV show is granted to two playful brothers who take rest and relaxation beyond excessive limits, their habitual shenanigans still sincerely amusing and able to please a critical crowd.

They're tasked with creating a film which they proceed to do without much of a budget, or crew or script or plan they're loving fans are none too impressed.

Out of beer and without any money, they concoct a plan to trick the Beer Store, a mouse in a bottle furiously exchanged for serendipitous suds should things go well.

The irritated staff has no patience however and quickly sends them to the brewery, where they try the same scam without success yet somehow manage to secure new jobs.

Their friendly nature genuinely endears them to the cheerful staff once they're introduced, while their carefree mindsets accidentally ensure they wander at random throughout the brewery.

Where they eventually discover the Brewmeister's mad and intends to addict the world to his despotic lager.

A mind control drug having been infused.

Within a fresh batch headed for Oktoberfest. 

A different age, a less serious time, when alternative narratives found lithe animation, their absurd ideas not meant to cultivate political movements or autocratic agendas.

Rather ridiculous heroes were meant to outwit much more maniacal foes, and celebrate sloth and gluttony through lackadaisical nimble networks. 

Who would have thought that the people at Fox would see such narrative strategies as political gold, and effectively use them to convince the public that candidates like Trump were closet geniuses?

For decades they catered to audiences who preferred characters who didn't excel, or even moderately comprehend good governance instead they never stopped behaving like children.

And Trump emerged in the televisual vortex to provide these people with a Fox Network candidate, not someone who wanted to improve things but instead a self-obsessed vainglorious madman.

I don't deny finding these characters funny when ludicrously situated within a sitcom, but to see them unleashed as leaders of the free world is far too dangerous and full-on insane. 

Sigh.

That's why the people who should love me hate me and why those who shouldn't secretly adore me.

Too complicated for blunt storytelling.

Which for some reason holds American sway.  

Love the artwork on Mill Street Brewery's Vanilla Porter can.

This Mill St. Vanilla Porter is the best beer I’ve tried in a while.

Best application of vanilla to something I’ve tasted in a while too.

La sacrée

Fertility. Structure. Beer.

Dominic Desjardins's La sacrée has it all, and as its lighthearted romantic-comedic aura ferments, a jovial buzz is effervescently disseminated.

The Franco-Ontarian town of Fort Amiable has seen better days. The economy has yet to rebound from the closure of the local canoe factory and while the local residents remain upbeat, they still hold serious reservations regarding their future.

Enter François Labas (Marc Marans), son of the former canoe factory's owner who is blamed for the undesired closure. He seeks to wed a wealthy cosmetics heiress (Marie Turgeon as Sofia Bronzeman) but must impregnate her before wedding bells can ring. Unfortunately, he's sterile, and broke, and in danger of having his intricate web of devious lies exposed, thereby spoiling his plans for the unforeseen, and leaving him blindly tethered to the unknown.

Can the legendary La sacrée beer, locally brewed by the residents of Fort Amiable in the past and reputed to actively assist in the reproductive process, reinvigorate the lads and facilitate his dreams?

Or will he lose his favourite game and be turned out in the streets with nothing but credit card debt and incomparable charm to sustain him?

As he perseveres.

A picturesque portrait of a resilient conman, La sacrée provides opportunity for the dynamic while distributing limits to their productivity. Presenting a cheerful cast of sprightly characters, examining the marketing potential of the clarified anglicisme, suggesting that love can be truly exciting if and only if it builds upon a volatile foundation, and consistently transitioning from one pristine Northern Ontario scene to another, La sacrée enlivens the traditional struggling small town narrative, while thoroughly making use of the sacrament of confession.

And the supporting cast is given plenty of room to manoeuvre as their innocent hopes reflect a cohesive pastoral communal ideal.

The first feature comedy to be made in Ontario entirely in French.