(Montreal film screenings for Apr. 13-19, 2012) This last year was certainly dedicated to the appreciation of film history. Martin Scorsese's Hugo celebrated the career of Georges Méliès, and The Artist was itself an ode to the silent film. In this same vein, Stéphane Tessier and David Mayer will be re-creating an historical form of movie-watching at the Maison Brignon-dit-Lapierre (+) with an event titled Les P'tits Vues. After the turn of the century, when films were silent and inter-titles mostly English, local storytellers would often attend screenings and narrate the events of the film. These narrations were at times prepared, at times improvised. Experienced in historical narration and storytelling, Tessier and Mayer decided to give silent cinema a go. The free event is this Saturday, starting at 2pm. Films screened include shorts by Buster Keaton: The Electric House (pictured above) and The Blacksmith, and Charlie Chaplin: The Adventurer and The Immigrant. The event will be followed by a showcase of classic projectors. A must for anyone cinephile interested in film history.

Saturday night was a new experience for fans of the Montreal Canadiens. For the first time in history, our team finished last in the Eastern Conference (they once finished last in the seven-team NHL back in 39-40). Far from being the pathetic and humiliating finish one would have predicted, the team was sent off with raucous applause and appreciation following a decisive 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs - who in comparison have quite a bit of explaining to do after their precipitous drop in standings.

It's always intriguing to see what filmmakers have to offer south of the States. While there is the occasional critical hit (The Secret in their Eyes, The Headless Woman), or a resurfaced surrealist filmmaker (Jodorowsky), I very rarely hear about the commercial or popular success of Mexican and South American films. Maybe it's because Canadian reality is so far removed from life in the southern hemisphere, but there seems to be a general lack of interest in Latin-American film. Such a shame, because as the 3rd Latin-American Film Festival's programming reveals, there's a lot of quality film to offer. And if you're asking yourself the question: "What have I watched from there since City of God?" it's high time to check this out at Cinéma du Parc. The festival starts today. Here's a few highlights ripped from the festival's program:

After a two-week hiatus, I'm back to covering upcoming screenings in Montréal. Hopefully you were more than able to dig through the city's enormous repertory listings and catch some screenings during that time. FIFA has wrapped up, but there are still plenty of documentaries to catch this week.

It would be nice to take a vote on what people think is the most effective way to instigate policy change: blocking an autoroute or overturning a police car. My vote would go to the above individual, a self-proclaimed squeegee, who attacked a would-be vandal from smashing the windows of a downtown boutique. He reportedly screamed, "Cette boutique n'a rien à voir avec notre cause! Je suis squeegee, les gens qui viennent magasiner ici, c'est ma business de tous les jours! Allez manifester!" Good on him.

I'm positive none of you missed the Genie Awards last night - just positive. So you know that apart from the pseudo-Canadian five-time winner, A Dangerous Method, Québec films dominated the yearly Canadian film awards. It was kind of nice to see Viggo Mortensen pull out a Canadiens jersey, even while most local Habs fans have hidden their miniature flags in glove compartments. That's Philippe Falardeau behind him, director of the biggest winner: Monsieur Lazhar. Here are just some of the other Québecois films that gathered up some awards: Starbuck, Snow & Ashes, Funkytown, Café de Flore and Nuit #1. Of the titles available to rent, I highly recommend Ken Scott's Starbuck, starring Patrick Huard, about a man who discovers that he has over five-hundred children from sperm donations. It's part comedy, part drama, and full of heart! (+)