The 3 day event that is the Canadian Film Fest gets underway this evening with a fantastic feature, and hilarious short, both of which feature the incredibly talented Julian Richings, as well as the very funny Suresh John.

Playing before Craig Goodwill’s feature, Patch Town, is the latest short from our friend writer/director Jeremy Lalonde, Bastards.

Bastards has an Arrested Development feel to it as Richings portrays rock god, Jack Cage, who has invited his illegitimate offspring, Paul Amos, Suresh John, Tara Spencer-Nairn, Tommie-Amber Pirie and Maya Lowe, to live with him, and compete with one another to be declared his heir.

This one is a lot of fun, and shows Lalonde’s knack for dialogue, for me, it’s the throwaway lines that I enjoyed the best. The short is filled with many a familiar face including Christine Horne and Pat Mastroianni, with his DeLorean!

Julian gets to let out a cynical and sarcastic world-weary edge that is a lot of fun to watch, and this evening allows you to see how amazingly talented he is as he goes from this character to the menacing Child Catcher in Goodwill’s modern fairytale, with the occasional musical number, Patch Town.

Jon (the very likable Rob Ramsay) is a child of the cabbage patch, who in his youth was a doll belonging to Bethany (fan favorite Zoie Palmer), when Bethany grew up and left the things of childhood behind, Jon was reclaimed by the Child Catcher, and brought back to work in the Patch Town factories, eking out an unhappy existence with his wife, and stolen child.

When he begins to have dreams of Bethany, he makes a run for it, escaping to the outside world, to find his long-lost, but never forgotten mother. Unfortunately, he is pursued by the Child Catcher and inadvertently places Bethany and her daughter Avery (Kayla Di Venere) in the line of fire.

Dark, funny, and full of heart, it was a delight to see the feature that sprang from Goodwill’s ‘s short, and to see the scenes that Sue Maynard and I were present for (the film’s climax) on-screen! It marries the fairytale with a tale of the modern family, and features some fun performances, and one or two delightful cameos!

Be warned though, Ken Hall, as the diminutive Kenny, steals the film out from everyone, and is just awesome. He was my favorite part in a film that I found all around enjoyable.

The opening night gala gets underway this evening at 7pm at The Royal Theatre. as I write this, the event is already sold out, but maybe, if you’re in town, check at the door, and make sure you check the website for the other films we’ll be covering!

What films are you most looking for in this festival?