Tag: tiff09

Leslie, My Name Is Evil

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Our final film of the fest was a bizarre one: Leslie, My Name Is Evil (tiff | imdb). Director Reg Harkema introduced it as virulently anti-realist (I’m paraphrasing here) and that was about accurate. It’s hard to describe, other than to say it’s unlike any other surrealist examination of the Manson family murders in the context of the Vietnam war (and featuring a love story) that you’ve ever seen. Full points for audacity, and for making everything I described above pretty friggin’ funny.

B-, but I’ll knock it up to a B for superb use of a Black Angels song.

Accident

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Accident, or Yi Ngoi in Cantonese (tiff | imdb) was the only second choice that we ended up with, since Whip It tickets were in short supply. Still, Whip It will be out soon and the guide’s description of Accident reminds me of a film we saw one year ago today, The Ghost, which would have been very good except for the awful score and sound mix.

Likewise, Accident would have been pretty good, but it fell down on execution. The idea was very cool, but they didn’t do nearly as much with it as I thought they could have. I don’t want to give away too much in case anyone reading this is a fan of Hong Kong cinema and plans to see the film, but it seemed like they could have made that a real cat and mouse. This just felt like they sissied out around the time the second act began.

C+

Valhalla Rising

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Valhalla Rising (tiff | imdb) was our third film, and first of the year back at our old familiar haunt: the Ryerson theatre. This film didn’t make the first draft of our schedule, but after hearing some early buzz and watching the trailer again, we swapped it in. I mean, c’mon…the awesome Mads Mikkelsen playing a savage mute warrior named One Eye who goes off to fight in the crusades, and allegories of religious warfare ensue? Oh, I was there. I was there yesterday.

Unfortunately it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Or it did at first, but then lost them. It started off with a…well, not a bang so much as the thud of rock hitting a skull. Incredibly violent at the beginning and for various bursts throughout, but the bulk of the film plodded along to the point of tedium, beautifully shot though the tedium may have been.

It’s weird…I liked it, but I would have liked it so much more if they could have found some pace.

C+ B+

[UPDATE] The more I think about this film the more I like it. The images from the ‘plodding scenes’ keep racing through my head, even as I watched another movie, and since that was the only weakness I could think of, I’m upping my grade.

Triage

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Film 2 of 5, Triage (tiff | imdb) made it on my list because it was directed by Danis Tanovic (who made No Man’s Land all those years ago). Nellie might have been influenced by the fact that Colin Farrell stars in it. I can’t criticize her too much for that; if I’d noticed that Paz Vega was in it when I read the guide that might have swayed me too. Vega wasn’t here, though, and Colin Farrell was, so there hordes of losers hanging out on Yonge Street trying to catch a glimpse of him. Tragic.

Anyway…the film. Very powerful stuff, as you can see if you read the TIFF guide’s description. Great performance from Christopher Lee and an amazing turn from Farrell. As unlikely as it seems, this felt like a reasonably fresh look at war. My only complaint, strangely, is that it was too short. It felt like the second half of the film, the aftermath, progressed too quickly. I wanted more time with Lee and Farrell interacting; it felt too rushed, too easy.

Still, a very good film, and one that solidifies Tanovic in my mind as someone who gets a guaranteed green light from me when picking my TIFF schedule.

B+

The Ape (Apan)

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Last night we saw our first of five festival films (phew!), The Ape, or Apan in Swedish (tiff | imdb). It is, Nellie and I agree, a prototypical festival film. Interesting, but way too outside the mainstream to ever have a wide release, or maybe any release at all in North America.

Taking my cue from the TIFF guide, I can’t reveal anything about the film. The camera rarely left star Olle Sarri, indeed it seemed desperate to keep up, but the audience was left in the dark as to what was happening (just as the actor was, for the most part) as we chased along behind. It got shocking and very tense, and never made it easy on the viewer. In the Q&A after, director Jesper Ganslandt played coy with people who inevitably and aggravatingly ask “what did x mean?” or “what did y symbolize?”, I suppose hoping those audience members would realize that they’re part of the art too. Personally I was glad that I got to be part of it last night.

Not a stunning start to our festival, but certainly a natural one.

B-

It was (about to be) the best of times, it was (about to be) the worst of times, and then it was about to be the full-on bitchinest of times

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Pretty exciting few weeks coming up for Nellie and I. Tomorrow night we see our first film festival movie of 2009, which we wrap up just 72 hours later. Then I have five days in which to complete the twelve labours of Hercules at the office, and then…France.

Woo!

Then, once I get back — and I realize this is much more exciting for me than for Nellie — the hockey season starts. Technically I’ll have missed the Canadiens’ season opener against the Leafs, but a classic Saturday night game should make me feel right back at home in Canada.

Finally, in what could be either extreme serendipity or a classic over-reach, the day we get back is Nuit Blanche. Since we’ll still be on France time we’ll likely fall asleep early and wake up around 3 or 4 in the morning…the perfect time to head out to see some art. It’s a nice bonus that the TTC will be running all night too. We’ll see how that holds up.

Ready for One Eye

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Our TIFF email just arrived. Being 36 boxes back didn’t hurt us too badly at all, as we got four of our 1st picks and one 2nd pick:

  1. The Ape (tiff), so we miss The Trotsky
  2. Triage (tiff), so we miss Up In The Air
  3. Valhalla Rising (tiff), so we miss The Road
  4. Accident (tiff), so we miss Whip It
  5. Leslie, My Name Is Evil (tiff), so we miss The Front Line

Whip It was the only first choice we missed, and normally I would never first a film that’s so obviously going to be in theatres soon, but I think the idea of spending a couple of hours with Drew Barrymore messed with our judgment. We put The Road and Up in the Air second for the same reason: they’ll obviously have a wide release, and soon.

All in all I feel great about our picks, but I’m especially glad that we changed our minds last-minute and went with Valhalla Rising. My only complaint now is that we could only do five, but I’m sure I’ll get over it when I’m sitting in St-Germain having a croissant.

That'll teach us to not leave things 'til the last minute

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Box 48 of 54 was drawn for the TIFF advance draw. Since we’re in box 30 that means we’ll be the 36th box counted, 2/3 of the way back. Could be trouble, but I think we’ll get most or all of what we asked for. This could be bad, though, if I have to get in line Thursday morning. My work schedule isn’t very forgiving right now so it could be a while before I get down to the box office, and who knows what’ll be left. Brooding Korean thinkpiece, anyone?

"Could you go a bit slower with the clicks there?"

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deliriumtremens

Here’s what we’ve done with our last 24 hours:

  • Went to work. Okay, well, this was mostly me. Just needed to catch up from last week and get a head start on the coming one.
  • Saw District 9 (imdb | rotten tomatoes) at the Varsity, which was excellent. Good film all around, but what blew me away was how not-fake everything looked. Tons of social, racial and economic commentary too. Highly recommended if you’re into that sort of thing.
  • Had dinner at Volo, quaffed a couple of beers (two of which you can see above, including my Delirium Tremens) and watched the parade of interesting up and down Yonge Street.
  • Dropped our TIFF picks in box #30. We switched our picks at the (almost) last minute, ditching the Peter Berg documentary and adding Valhalla Rising. Watch the trailer and you’ll see why. It looks like Braveheart, but more violent and less cheesy. And Danish.
  • Scooted out to Liberty Village and bought (well, ordered) a new couch at West Elm, then had lunch at The Brazen Head.

Now, happily, we’re done for the day and can relax with bad movies (Nellie’s watching Hallowe’en 6 as I type this) and France planning.