For the last couple of years Toronto-based musician and filmmaker Spookey Ruben has been working on a series of web videos for Exclaim! magazine under the umbrella of Spookey Ruben’s Dizzy Playground. The short videos, spreading across a broad range of genres, include cameos with other prominent figures in the music industry such as Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene and Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole and Smashing Pumpkins fame.
In his latest film, The Adventures of Spaghetti Cowboy, Ruben spoofs the spaghetti westerns of the ’60s while being joined by a mustached Leslie Feist (pictured above) as El Bandito — Spaghetti Cowboy’s nemesis. Radio guru Alan Cross (The Ongoing History of New Music) also lends his voice as the narrator and, of course, there are a few musical numbers thrown in the mix. It’s a wacky eight minute trip that is the definition of surrealist film.
Although you can watch the short below, the organizers of NXNE (Canada’s music, film, and interactive festival) thought it would be the perfect film to showcase before Bruce McDonald’s equally fun dramatized concert film, This Movie is Broken (featuring Broken Social Scene, Feist, and members of Metric and Stars). The two play together at The Royal Cinema on Thursday, June 17 at 7 p.m.
Ruben’s next film in the series will be a horror directed by Rue Morgue magazine president (and filmmaker) Rodrigo Gudino. Ruben will also be performing a free concert at Yonge-Dundas Square with De La Soul on Sunday, June 20 at 4 p.m.
The NXNE festival runs from June 14 – 20 in Toronto, Canada. Check the full NXNE film program and schedule here.
