TIFF rundown

Last week was the Toronto International Film Festival and I ended up catching 20 movies. It was a fun 10 days, now I have to get caught up on laundry, The Shield and ANTM but here’s a wrap-up of some of the movies I saw. (I had to do some quickie reviews for work anyway so here's some highlights to fill up some space and a song to start things off: Brightblack Morning Light - Oppressions Each)

Tears For Sale (aka Charleston & Vendetta) - I already posted the trailer for this movie because I absolutely love it. It's a vivid fairytale similar to what we see from people like Gilliam, Jeunet and Del Toro. A world grounded in real life but with fantasy all around including curses, ghosts of lovers from the past and dancing in a vineyard full of exploding mines. Breathtaking scenery is abound in this one, using the same palate as A Very Long Engagement and Perfume. I hope this gets out so more people can see it.

Detroit Metal City – A trendy Japanese pop singer ends up fronting a pre-fab death metal band; he wanted to sing about making cake with his sweet heart but ended up singing about raping his mother today and raping his father tomorrow. It's completely absurb and possibly the funniest thing I saw all year.

Jean Claude Van Damme is Jean Claude Van Damme in JCVD; a not too far from the truth story about his life and career mixed in with a Dog Day Afternoon style robbery that he a part of. Jean Claude carries some emotional depth in his native tongue, it’s an unexpected turn and a highlight of the fest.

The Good, The Bad & The Weird is an Oriental western... The story is weak but it really doesn’t matter here with great action and superb cinematography. A gunfight in the town involving a bounty hunter swinging over the rooftops rifle in hand and the large scale chase at the climax with multiple groups of bandits and the Japanese army facing off are sure to satisfy.

Acolytes is a twisted and tense little thriller from Australia that follows three teens as they cross aths with a serial killer and try to blackmail him into taking care of one of their problems. It really has the same tone as a movie like frailty with a slow steady build up and a big pay off in the end.

Pontypool - The new flick from Bruce MacDonald (Hard Core Logo, Highway 61) is sort of a zombie/virus movie but presented in a novel way sort of like [REC]. We learn about a strange hysteria that's sweeping a small town in Ontario through reports that come into the local radio station and the three people inside the station are left to decipher what the hell is going on as the reports get stranger and more horrific. Horror hasn't felt this fresh (or Canadian) in a long time.

Sexykiller - It's American Psycho mashed together with Clueless in the form of a sexy little Spanish girl who loves clothes almost as much as killing. It's fun but could have been so much better. I mean how can you have zombies crash a Halloween party, introduce a chainsaw into the mix and not have it turn into a bloodbath?

I mostly shied away from Hollywood movies, but I did catch Danny Boyle's new one Slumdog Millionaire and Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler. They're both great movies that don't feel entirely fresh or original but are great pieces of storytelling. They'll be hitting the theatres this fall, well worth checking out.