Event Details

Book Launch for TRUTH & SOUL: A ROBERT DOWNEY, SR. READER
Introduced by Co-editors Kier-La Janisse and Clint Enns

A madcap media satire about the unruly staff of a scrappy New York cable television station. When the crew accidentally bounces its signal off the moon, their local broadcast suddenly goes global—bringing instant fame, international attention, and even more chaos. Packed with eccentric characters, absurd gags, and anarchic energy, America takes aim at television, celebrity, and the relentless hunger for attention.

Spectacular Optical celebrates the Montreal launch of Truth & Soul: The Robert Downey Sr. Reader with three nights of films by the singular American filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. Each screening will be introduced by the book’s editors, Kier-La Janisse and Clint Enns.

The three-film series reflects the remarkable breadth of Downey’s career. It begins with the perfect summer movie, Hugo Pool, a surprisingly tender romantic comedy that confronts the realities of living with ALS (Weds July 22 at La Métropolitaine); continues with the early hit Chafed Elbows, his hilarious 1966 underground breakthrough (Fri July 24 at la lumière collective); and concludes with America, his under-seen and anarchic 1980s media satire (at Cinéma au Cinoche).