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Blog by Don Kennedy

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Hit 'n Strum

Hit 'n Strum features Vancouver as its most recognizable star and in this picture she looks absolutely stunning. The focus is on two diametrically opposed citizens and their interaction after literally bumping into on another. Mike (Vancouver native Kirk Caouette) is a homeless street busker and binner and Stephanie (Michelle Hamilton) a concrete tower high finance lawyer. As is often the case in a metropolis they work almost next door to one another. After a distracted Stephanie hits Mike with her car and then takes off her conscience (and probably legal intuition) get the better of her. She tracks Mike down and continually reaches out to him but he steadfastly rebuffs her material offerings of contrition. Eventually she wears him down somewhat with attempts to get him off the street and into social housing but her efforts put in peril the relationship she has with her unlikeable fiancé Christopher (Paul McGillion). In a very comfortable way the Mike/ Stephanie bonding proves satisfying yet unpredictable but with no drug or mental health issues Mike’s total lack of ambition, although hinted at, is not fully explained. Other than that Hit 'n Strum is a tour de force for Caouette - and talk about ambitious first time ventures! Here he not only stars in his own production which he wrote and directed, but he also composed a litany of very potable music to go along with the film. Or maybe it’s the other way around - the film is a vehicle to showcase some tasty songs. At any rate Caouette although a neophyte beneath all of these hats is no stranger to working on screen, not that you’d notice. He’s worked for decades doing movie stunt work. After that, probably none of this seems all that risky.

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