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The Tracey Fragments
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Directed by Bruce McDonald.
A 15-year-old girl navigates a dangerous urban landscape in search of the brother whom she has hypnotized into believing he is a dog in director Bruce McDonald's pop-infused, 21st century variation on The Catcher in the Rye. When the viewer first meets Tracey (Juno's Ellen Page), she is sitting naked in the back of a bus with only a flimsy shower curtain to guard her from the elements. Tracey is the broken product of an unstable home; her father (Ari Cohen) regards his children as "accidents," and her catatonic mother (Erin McMurtry) only pauses from watching television long enough to light up another cigarette. Upon discovering that a botched hypnosis experiment between Tracey and her younger brother, Sonny, has left the young boy emotionally transformed into a canine, the decision is made to send Tracey to a psychiatrist. Tormented by her classmates and lost in fantasies about her boyfriend and rock & roll savior Billy Zero (Slim Twig), the emotionally complex young woman has become enamored with a new student at school who doesn't even realize she exists. Later, when Sonny disappears, Tracey takes it upon herself to locate her missing sibling and make sure that he finds his way back home. While at first it appears that benevolent rent boy Lance (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) may be her guiding light through the darkened city streets, Tracey quickly learns that to trust is to place your life in the hands of someone who may sell you out at a moment's notice. Now naked and desperate in the middle of a labyrinthine metropolitan nightmare, Tracey makes it her mission to find Sonny no matter how harrowing her quest may become. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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JJ79JJ79 The Tracey Fragments (2007)
by JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
hasn't rated it.
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"Ellen Page received an Oscar nomination for "Juno." While her role as a pregnant teen is the one most people will know her for, it is her turn as Tracey Berkowitz in "The Tracey Fragments" which should be recognized. Yes, her sarcastic, droll, pop-culture happy Juno won the hearts of audiences and critics yet lacked a certain depth; Tracey, on the other hand, is required to run the gamut of emotions as well as keep a fragmented-pardon the pun-film afloat. Tracey Berkowitz has a problem: she has hypnotized her younger brother Sonny into thinking he is a dog. In and of itself, this is a small problem. But when she leaves her house despite being grounded, prompting Sonny to follow her, a series of events is put into motion. The young boy goes missing, Tracey leaves home permanently and has sex with the boy of her dreams, among other sordid situations. Even if the narrative leaves something to be desired, I will give style points-to an extent-to director Bruce McDonald for having th ... " [More]
KarinaKarina Tracey Fragments and the Ellen ...
by Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
hasn't rated it.
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"I’ve been tracking the odd pop cultural situation that awaits this month’s release of The Tracey Fragments for awhile now. The film, which I’ve written about before, stars Juno phenom Ellen Page; it premiered at Berlin in 2007 and played tons of festivals, but by year’s end had failed to secure U.S. theatrical distribution. Then, in February of this year, when Page was at the peak of her powers as a precocious Oscar nominee and face of one of the biggest “surprise” hits in recent memory, Tracey was picked up by ThinkFilm for domestic distribution. This is a film which, despite positive reviews and an award from Berlin, went almost completely unnoticed when it screened at Toronto in September, largely because it didn’t have a distributor that could afford to hire track suited boys to pass out branded Tic Tacs on its behalf. And yet, as soon as ThinkFilm put out a new trailer for the film, it promptly attracted a bunch of negative blog attention, ranging from unfair to inaccurate. T ... " [More]
SpoutBlogSpoutBlog Tracey Fragments and the Ellen ...
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com
hasn't rated it.
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"I’ve been tracking the odd pop cultural situation that awaits this month’s release of The Tracey Fragments for awhile now. The film, which I’ve written about before, stars Juno phenom Ellen Page; it premiered at Berlin in 2007 and played tons of festivals, but by year’s end had failed to secure U.S. theatrical distribution. Then, in February of this year, when Page was at the peak of her powers as a precocious Oscar nominee and face of one of the biggest “surprise” hits in recent memory, Tracey was picked up by ThinkFilm for domestic distribution. This is a film which, despite positive reviews and an award from Berlin, went almost completely unnoticed when it screened at Toronto in September, largely because it didn’t have a distributor that could afford to hire track suited boys to pass out branded Tic Tacs on its behalf. And yet, as soon as ThinkFilm put out a new trailer for the film, it promptly attracted a bunch of negative blog attention, ranging from unfair to inaccurate. T ... " [More]
ShaunHustonShaunHuston The Tracey Fragments
by ShaunHuston in ShaunHuston filmblog
hasn't rated it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"The Tracey Fragments is a movie that plays with your mind, but not for common, plot-driven reasons. Rather, director Bruce McDonald, writer Maureen Medved, and editors Gareth Scales and Jeremy Munce, blur the lines between forms of reality – interior/exterior, perceived/objective – not to misdirect or form a puzzle, but to pull the audience into the world of the film's teen protagonist, Tracey Berkowitz (Ellen Page).I have no doubt that others in the overstuffed Salem Cinema auditorium last weekend would have a different a take on the film, that there is a thread of external/objective reality running through the narrative. And maybe there is. However, I don't think that the filmmakers provide any grounds upon which to establish which images are meant to signify, for certain, some bedrock reality and which represent Tracey's subjective experience of the world. The Tracey Fragments visualizes its title by showing its (non-linear) narrative in split screen and “picture-in-picture” im ... " [More]
ShaunHustonShaunHuston Salem Film Festival: The Tracey ...
by ShaunHuston in ShaunHuston filmblog
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"Anne-Marie and I had Saturday passes to the Salem Film Festival. I was motivated to buy the passes so we would be sure to see The Tracey Fragments, the latest from director Bruce MacDonald (Roadkill, Hard Core Logo), and starring Ellen Page. It was a full house and a truly interesting film. As much as Canadians may mourn the lack of commercial traction for their indigenous films, especially English-Canadian film, The Tracey Fragments demonstrates why the world is better when artists feel free to experiment. A full review by next weekend. I promise. Originally posted on:Short-Circuit Signs " [More]
KarinaKarina Trade Roughage 02/20/08
by Karina in Karina on SpoutBlog
hasn't rated it.
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"Oscar producers are worried that the alleged inaccessibility of this year’s major nominees will have a negative impact on the telecast’s ratings. But how could that be, when the Best Picture nominees are so full of memorable catchprases? “I drink your milkshake!” “Homeskillet doodle blog!” “I am putting my scruples aside in order to blackmail you in the name of the greater good,” or whatever George Clooney says at the end of Michael Clayton! Speaking of bad means and good ends, the Juno phenomena is spilling over to benefit an actual indie film. Bruce McDonald’s The Tracey Fragments, which played the Berlin, Toronto and Denver film festivals last year, and which stars Ellen Page, has secured U.S. theatrical distribution via ThinkFilm. Page’s current hotness notwithstanding, the pick-up is something of a surprise, considering that it’s coming three months after McDonald posted raw footage of the film online as part of a contest for its DVD release. Owen Wilson will start shooting hi ... " [More]
SpoutBlogSpoutBlog Trade Roughage 02/20/08
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com
hasn't rated it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Oscar producers are worried that the alleged inaccessibility of this year’s major nominees will have a negative impact on the telecast’s ratings. But how could that be, when the Best Picture nominees are so full of memorable catchprases? “I drink your milkshake!” “Homeskillet doodle blog!” “I am putting my scruples aside in order to blackmail you in the name of the greater good,” or whatever George Clooney says at the end of Michael Clayton! Speaking of bad means and good ends, the Juno phenomena is spilling over to benefit an actual indie film. Bruce McDonald’s The Tracey Fragments, which played the Berlin, Toronto and Denver film festivals last year, and which stars Ellen Page, has secured U.S. theatrical distribution via ThinkFilm. Page’s current hotness notwithstanding, the pick-up is something of a surprise, considering that it’s coming three months after McDonald posted raw footage of the film online as part of a contest for its DVD release. Owen Wilson will start shooting hi ... " [More]
DemndiaryDemndiary Linear Chaos
by Demndiary in Demndiary Blog
loved it.
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"Ellen Page is Tracey Berkowitz, an outcast in her school, family and life who ends up on the streets of Ontario in this surreal drama. Bruce McDonald's The Tracey Fragments is based upon Maureen Medved's book. The film is linear and dreamlike as the screen is filled with multiple images reflecting Tracey's thinking. The film is astoudingly compelling. The speed is quick and gives broad and repetitive views of the same events as Tracey explains her reality. In her mind Billy Zero (Slim Twig), the hot new guy at school, loves her. He didn't rape her. Tracey's family is a horror story of a father (Ari Cohen) who doesn't listen to her, and a mother (Erin McMurty) who is disconnected to reality. Sonny, Tracey's younger brother, is her only ray of hope even though she hypnotized him to believe that he is dog. Sonny has gone missing, and Tracey is looking for him. Tracey Berkowitz is one of Ellen Page's edgiest characters. She is liked b ... " [More]
jenpirantejenpirante Ode to insanity
by jenpirante in jenpirante Blog
hasn't rated it.
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"I saw it last night [Nov 6] and I LOVED this movie. I didn't know that Ellen Page was going to be there, so that was a surprise. I'm also a huge JD Salinger fan (Hell, my email is glsschld) but I tried my best to view this film independent from that. As far as teen angst movies go, I thought that this one broke the mold. This wasn't one of those... "it's cool to be young and angry" type of movies... you really DON'T want to be this girl (at the same time resenting the similarities between yourself and her) but you do want to give her a hug. When I was looking at the press and reviews of the film, I kept hearing quotes from Bruce about how it was just a movie about a normal 15 year old girl and being 15 in general. It's probably out of context but I kind of disagree with that general statement. This girl, Tracey, has some MAJOR demons (our own demons very) but I loved how it wasn't repressed... and in moments where feelings are repressed, you b ... " [More]
SpoutBlogSpoutBlog Contests: The Tracey Fragments
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com
hasn't rated it.
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"Via Filmmaker comes word that director Bruce McDonald is asking the online masses to recut his latest film, The Tracey Fragments. He’s posted all of the film’s raw footage, including the score by Broken Social Scene, on the film’s website, and is inviting anyone who wishes to download the materials and cut them into music videos, trailers, or full re-edits of the film. Canadian residents can then submit their videos through the same website, and a winner selected by McDonald will receive a Final Cut Pro pirze package, and will have their cut included on the film’s DVD. The Tracey Fragments is on my short list of films that I’m dying to see right now, and I keep missing my chance. It stars Ellen Page as a 15 year-old girl in search of her lost little brother, and the story is presented in an almost-constant, ever-changing split screen. I missed Tracey at the Toronto Film Festival but have heard nothing but good things from people who saw it there and in Berlin. I was hoping to catch ... " [More]
 



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