Tag: valhalla rising

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.

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.

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

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

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.