Thoughts on TIFF - Day One

Here we go again. TIFF (the festival) will start for me later tonight at my first screening, as opposed to TIFF (my everyday job) where I am currently chained to my desk. Mainly I'm interesting in challenging and controversial films from around the world.

My first film, great idea, or worst idea ever?

But also I can't help but wondering if this year I'll meet any of my future ex-wives?


I will always have a crush on crazy-pixie Drew Barrymore (WHIP IT)


I'd have to duel my buddy Andrew over Penelope Cruz, but it would be worth it (BROKEN EMBRACES)


Eva Green... bites knuckle! (CRACKS)

And sure, every fanboy in town is drooling over Megan Fox, but she's almost TOO hot sometimes, in a scary way, like she can rape you with her eyes!

In the Midnight hour...

I'll sleep in 10 days!

It's beginning to look a lot like TIFF!

Not counting Midnight Madness, here are the films I will definitely be at. Wondering if there is any way to fit in the other 37 I want to see?

Behind the screens, in Print Traffic @ tiff

Touching JENNIFER'S BODY ;)



The future?



BITCH SLAP goes both ways.




Giving Uncle George another chance with his latest.

Toronto After Dark 2009 line-up is complete!

Here are the other 9 flicks for this year's fest, it all starts in 8 days!

ROUGH CUT, the South Korean action flick that takes place on the set of an action flick, MUST LOVE DEATH, a German take on American Rom-Coms and gory horror all mixed into one, THE DARK HOUR, an understated Spanish post-apocalyptic story, THE WARLORDS, a 19th century Chinese epic starring Jet Li, STRIGOI, a tale of greed and vampires in a small Romanian village, THE REVENANT, an LA zombie-buddy-comedy, DEAD SNOW, Nazi zombies, nuff said, THE CHILDREN, a chilling British tale of the kids going all wrong, and opening night Blaxploitation throwback extravaganza BLACK DYNAMITE!

And because I hated TRANSFORMERS...

I admit it. I'll be at the midnight screening tonight. I'm hoping it's as ridiculous as it should be! This could be my big dumb summer popcorn flick.

First wave of Toronto After Dark 2009 announced!

The Dark comes a little earlier this year. Moving the Toronto After Dark Film Festival to August (14th-21st) was an interesting maneuver, that leaves me wondering what the Hell am I going to do in October?
Anyways... the first 8 titles for this year's fest have been announced!
In alphabetical order:

BLACK, a modern French riff on a mystical blacksploitation bank job, EMBODIMENT OF EVIL, the return of Brazil's cult icon Coffin Joe, THE FORBIDDEN DOOR, a stunning Lynchian noir from Indonesia, FRANKLYN, an ambitious alternate worlds fantasy starring my future ex-wife Eva Green, GRACE, where motherhood becomes a nightmare, SOMEONE'S KNOCKING AT THE DOOR, comes with the tag line "Caution, you might be too old for this film!", TRICK 'R TREAT, the highly anticipated Halloween night omnibus flick, and this year's bizzaro gore-fest from Japan VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL.

I'm Nancy?

If you've seen the trailer for (500)DAYS OF SUMMER you know what this is about, if you havn't, I'm not speaking to you!


Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt Cinemash "Sid and Nancy"

FANTASIA 2009 teases us!

This year's Fantasia International Film Festival is almost upon us, 21 days of genre cinema in the great city of Montreal. The full line up will be announced on July 3rd, but until then they've given us a taste. Here's what caught my eye:

DREAD



CRYPTIC



CANARY



YATTERMAN



THE CHILDREN



WHITE LIGHTNIN'



DEAD SNOW



LOVE EXPOSURE



THIRST



TRICK 'R' TREAT




I hope to take in a weeks worth of films this year, reviews to found here and at Quiet Earth. Check out all the films announced so far right here.

Kids need hugs, not drugs

Here's something I'd really like to see. Screened at the EIFF yesterday was the latest colaberation between Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine, an improvised faux-rockumentary called LE DONK & SCOR-ZAY-ZEE, which was shot in just 5 days, for 30,000 pounds, without any script to speak of. The film follows Le Donk's quest to find fame through his one client, rapper Scor-zay-aee, by getting him an gig opening for the Arctic Monkeys.

Eternal Sunshine of Being Paul Giamatti?

Watch the trailer for COLD SOULS and it's easy to see where the knee jerk Charlie Kaufman comparison comes from. Paul Giamatti plays an actor named Paul Giamatti, struggling with his upcoming performance in an off-Broadway production of "Uncle Vanya", he decides after reading an article in The New Yorker about soul removal to undergo the procedure. Hijinks ensue? I'm intrigued to see where this all goes.

8-Bit Schlock!

Remember those classic NES movie games, like Gremlins 2 or Dirty Harry? Me neither. But someone clearly does, so Something Awful's Photoshop Phriday is running with the idea of some not-so-blockbustery games that could have been, check out the 8-bit schlock!

Nic goes "FULL CAGE" for Herzog!

Witness the first trailer for BAD LIEUTENANT : PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS.

There are no words.

The Most Important Movie Of The Year?

Well, Esquire Magazine seems to think so. Check out the first trailer for THE ROAD over at Yahoo.

English Blood

While cruising around the always fantastic TWITCH site I see that there is finally an English trailer for BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE. Pretty sweet, but what's with using that same bit of music that was in the IRON MAN trailer? That was only LAST YEAR! Lazy.

Welcome to District 9

Back in July I noticed that the viral marketing had begun for DISTRICT 9, and today we finally get our first look with this teaser trailer. Click the ship below to check it out in glorious HD!


It was a couple of years ago now when Peter Jackson was involved in adapting the wildly successful XBOX game HALO into a feature, and had chosen Neill Blomkamp to direct. When financing fell through they decided to turn Blomkamp's short film, ALIVE IN JOBERG into a feature, and thus we have DISTRICT 9.

An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly find a kindred spirit in a government agent that is exposed to their biotechnology.

I love the look of this so far, the documentary feel, the slow reveal, plus I'm a sucker for a good viral, and the sites they've set up are massive. This is one of the few 'bigger' summer films I'm really looking forward to.

TOKYO! comes to Toronto

If you're lucky enough to be in Toronto this May you might want to check out Over The Top, a 4 day music, theatre, and film festival that has just announced it's first 3 flicks: the Zach Galifianakis comedy VISIONEERS, the Viking adventure SEVERED WAYS: THE NORSE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, and a flick I've been most keen to see, the three story omnibus TOKYO! Check out the trailer and official synopsis below.




In TOKYO!, three visionary directors (Michel Gondry, Leos Carax and Bong Joon-ho) come together for an omnibus triptych examining the nature of one unforgettable city as it’s shaped by the disparate people who live, work (and run amok) inside an enormous, constantly evolving, densely populated Japanese megalopolis — the enchanting and inimitable Tokyo.

INTERIOR DESIGN (Michel Gondry).
A young couple tries to set themselves up in Tokyo. The young man's ambition is clear — to become a film director. His girlfriend, far more indecisive, cannot escape the vague feeling that she's losing control of her life. Directionless, both are beginning to go under in this vast city until the young woman, utterly alone, becomes the object of a bizarre transformation...

MERDE (Leos Carax)
A mysterious creature spreads panic in the streets of Tokyo by means of his provocative and destructive behavior. This man, dubbed "The Creature of the Sewers" by the media, arouses both passion and repulsion...until the moment he is captured...

SHAKING TOKYO (Bong Joon-Ho)
For more than 10 years, he's been a hikikomori. He lives shut up in his apartment, strictly limiting all contact with the outside world to an absolute minimum. When a pizza delivery girl faints in his home during an earthquake, the unthinkable happens — he falls in love. Shortly after, he learns that the girl has in turn become a hikikomori. Will he dare cross the threshold that separates his apartment from the rest of the world?