Canadian media conglomerate Alliance Atlantis is responsible for a lot of what we Canucks see and hear, some of it good (IFC TV, the northern cousin to the Independent Film Channel) and some of it pathetic (the Alliance DVD version of Girls Will Be Girls is bereft of commentary and extras — oh, wait! There’s a trailer!!!).

(We’ll avoid any discussion of that insult to art and intellect, the US/Canadian version of Queer-Ass Folk, on their Showcase channel, okay?)

Anyway, when David Lynch’s new film Inland Empire was released stateside late last year, it made perfect sense to at least ask one of Canada’s largest film distributors what the ETA for Toronto would be:

From: bstewart23
Sent: 19 December 2006 5:33 AM
To: ‘motionpicturedistribution@allianceatlantis.com’
Subject: Inland Empire Canadian Release?

Hi there.
I’m a Toronto media writer (and blogger) and a huge David Lynch fan. I’m interested in knowing the Toronto release dates, if any, for David Lynch’s new film, Inland Empire. If you have any details – and if Alliance-Atlantis isn’t the Canadian distributor, can you tell me who is? – I’d be very much appreciative.
Many thanks in advance,
bstewart23

Ten weeks later:

Your message

To: Motion Picture Distribution
Subject: Inland Empire Canadian Release?
Sent: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:32:34 -0500

was deleted without being read on Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:27:13 -0500

Fucking fuckers.