“Humans were offered a chance to assimilate; they refused” There really is nothing more invigorating than a TIFF Midnight Madness screening. The atmosphere is alive with genre fans anxiously waiting to see some blood, gore, and dismemberment. I fortunately was able to get tickets for the world premiere of the new vampire flick Daybreakers in just that setting. Introduced by twin brother directors, Michael and Peter Spierig, the audience was treated to a great time, starting from one brother speaking aloud that he was drunk, “It’s the best way to…
Read MoreDay: September 11, 2009
TIFF09 REVIEW: Bright Star [2009]
“There is a holiness to the heart’s affections” Director Jane Campion has always been one of those names who’s work I just never had the pleasure of viewing. Finally, a few years back, I had the opportunity to see The Piano almost fifteen years after its release. It definitely lived up to expectations and with a couple of her works getting the Criterion DVD treatment recently, the chance to watch her new tale of John Keats and love Fanny Brawne at the Toronto International Film Festival couldn’t be passed up.…
Read MoreTIFF09 REVIEW: Cracks [2009]
“The most important thing in life is desire” It is time to welcome a new member into the Scott family of filmmakers. Ridley’s daughter Jordan Scott has arrived with Cracks, a story about a British boarding school and the activities that occur within, based on a novel by Sheila Kohler. Scott spoke of how growing up in a similar type setting is what led her to want to bring the tale to the big screen; the traditional atmosphere where the establishment itself becomes every student’s world. The girls in the…
Read MoreTIFF09 REVIEW: Visage [Face] [2009]
“You, you, you, you are so pretty!” Sometimes an image can get you excited to see a film. When looking to fill a hole in a five film day at TIFF, my friend and I saw an image that looked both fantastical and intriguing, so much so that we blindly said yes, we are going to watch Visage [Face]. I’m the first person to say that a movie can be loved for visual style alone as I always hold the image as more powerful than the word. Oftentimes I can…
Read MoreTIFF09 REVIEW: 잘 알지도 못하면서 [Like You Know It All] [2009]
“Everything’s important” I had begun to start thinking that either my friend and I haven’t picked films outside our comfort zone at the Toronto International Film Festival or that the fest just didn’t let in bad movies. Truthfully, after two straight years, and a day, we had never experienced a film that we just both could not stand … even the boring and mean Margot at the Wedding had redeeming qualities of technical skill. Well all hypotheses on why were thrown out the window after screening the Korean film 잘…
Read More