Sync n Update

The title of this entry makes me think of late nights years ago struggling with Final Cut cursing at my audio track and drowning in a sea of log sheets. Thankfully this time I'm only referring to the fact that I've flipped on the import switch on Facebook so that each blog entry here will also show up in my notes.

This isn't a permanent switch-up, but I figured with TIFF coming up it'd be a great way to give those who are interested the play by play. New this year, I'm also armed with a cute little netbook and a Rogers Rocketstick (just a wee plug for my employer) which will let me blog from any rush line, box office, celebrity hotel room, you name it!

Just to recap what I've been up to leading up to TIFF... the fun starts long before the opening gala, and by fun I mean stress, frustration, and confusion. For the first time in 11 years I decided to not only pay for tickets out of my own pocket in addition to volunteer vouchers, but go halves on a Day Pass with my good friend J. So if you think past years' convoluted ramblings about movies this, rush that, hardticket those are bad... it's nothing compared to TIFF 09's tiered prioritizing, multiple drop off/pick up dates, and numerous line-ups.

The films I've submitted so far for myself include:

Leslie, My Name is Evil
Youth in Revolt
The Invention of Lying
Perrier's Bounty
Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky
Kamui
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Micmacs
High Life
Warrior & the Wolf

These picks were based on the limitations placed on me by the Day Pass, in addition to my volunteer and work schedule. There will be many more to follow, including the highly coveted evening screenings.

I was in Box 39 for my submissions. They drew Box 48 this afternoon. Already we're not off to a good start. Looks like I'll be camped out in front of Elgin with countless others to rush The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

Now we play the waiting game to see what tickets they do give us, then figure out if there's anything we can exchange on the spot on Sep 3. After that come up with a new list of films to try for on the first day of single ticket sales - Sep 4.

If you're not overwhelmed or asleep from boredom already, stay tuned...

Which Hangover Character Would You Be?

Because this blog is riddled with neglect, I thought I would drop by to tell you all about a terrific moment of boy-bonding that I witnessed walking out of The Hangover the other night (yes, I only saw it this week, now you see why this blog has not been updated)

A group of young men are exiting the theatre still laughing over this (worth-laughing about) movie, there chatter is mostly indistinct when one of them exclaims to another "You would be the dentist!"

Awww, has this just become the male equivalent to us gal's burning question: Which Sex and the City Character are you?

Very cute.

So boys, which is it? Who are you in The Hangover?

Character

So I'm wondering...is anyone's filmic experience really that limited that they can pick and choose their Top 5 Movie Characters of all time? I mean, to be able to choose 5 is damn near impossible, more so to do it in one sitting...

This comes from a hurried little facebook exercise I partook (is that a word?) in last week, one that I probably had many regrets about a split-second after I clicked the submit button. Regrets and frustration confirmed moments later when a friend managed to pull up a character that would've been one of my favs had I bothered to take more than 20 mins to think about who I adore on the big screen.

Also what criteria do you use to determin such a list? I thought about endearing characters, interesting characters, memorable characters... but many of these people had numerous flaws and faults, ones that made me wonder if they are the "best" characters after all. To say best would imply someone that you might look up to or want to emulate right? Surely I wouldn't want to be Lux Lisbon from Virgin Suicides then, would I? Much as I adore her.

I spent an evening on and off mulling over what I like best in some of my favourite film personalities, and while there's still much that is uncovered, I think I've narrowed it down to three main dominant categories: femme fatales, unlikely heros, and those that endear me to them. Of course femme fatales are often heroic figures to me, but there are so many it's like they are a category of heros, my brand of superhero (er, super villain?) That being said, heroes are naturally endearing, and so once again what I really have is still, just a very long list of characters that I like. Same as films themselves, I believe that one should not have to produce a list of less that 50 when it comes to "All time favourites"

Below is a loosely categorized list of some of my most beloved movie characters:

FEMME FATALES

1) Suzy Toller - portrayed by Neve Campbell - in Wild Things

2) Juliete Hardy - portrayed by Brigitte Bardot - in God Created Women

3) Kathryn Merteuil - portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar - in Cruel Intentions

4) O-Ren Ishii - protrayed by Lucy Liu - in Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2


UNLIKELY HEROES

1) Mark Renton - portrayed by Ewan McGreggor - in Trainspotting*

*Also interesting to note is that in all three films that Danny Boyle and Ewan made, Ewan's character always wound up with the money (in 2 of the 3 he betrayed his mates to get it)

2) Enid - portrayed by Thora Birch - in Ghost World

3) Marie "Slim" Browning - portrayed by Lauren Bacall - in To Have and Have Not

4) Alyssa Jones - portrayed by Joey Lauren Adams - in Chasing Amy

5) "Woman" - portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter - in Conversations with Other Women

6) Monty Brogan - portrayed by Ed Norton - in 25th Hour


PLAIN LOVE EM

1) Bonnie Parker - portrayed by Faye Dunaway - in Bonnie & Clyde

2) Penny Lane - portrayed by Kate Hudson - in Almost Famous

3) Woman in blonde wig - portrayed by Brigitte Lin - in Chungking Express


And those don't even really scratch the surface of great characters out there...

Ada sans coffee is still better than mentally challenged Kansas ravers

As is evident from my lack of posts lately, this blog has been severely neglected. Polls about The Watchmen (so is there anyone who doesn't feel like it could've been 30 mins less? At least?) and a list of films I most recently viewed in... say... February?

This is a bit of pre-coffee dribble that I typed out when I recently went on another half-hearted tirade about how most of the general public can't post a proper movie review. Granted I set a less than stellar example with this garbled blurb about The Martyrs, if I had any shame at all I wouldn't be posting it here:

Friday May 08, 2009 - 10:28 AM

you know, I try to ignore it... but nothing irks me more than lame movie reviews!

seriously, either write a decent review or just give it a star rating and say nothing already, these kids make me want to hunt them down in their little Kansas homes and smack em over the head! Possibly with an empty film canister

maybe others can be like sheep, go read reviews that say "it's good" or "dont see it, it's boring" and just take strangers' word blindly, but not me, if you don't give me any insight or explanation then you are null and non-existent to me. it's ok if you just give a star rating, I like how that averages up so I can see at one glance what the consensus is, but to have to scroll down a series of "good" "meh" "horrible" I have so many better things to do with my time... like colour my pen cap with a sharpie!

anyway, this is the review for Martyrs (which I saw back in September at TIFF 2008) that I tossed onto the thread for good measure. It was written before my coffee had filtered into my system but sadly it's still better than most of the reviews on this site.

cheers

MARTYRS




The problem with Martyrs isn't the gore... I think if you sign on to watch this movie, you're either really into gruesome, disturbing, sickening imagery and messed up stories... or you're really dense for not having read the back of the DVD box first

When it comes to disgusting, Martyrs wins hands down, it's gratutious, it's in-your-face, and completely excessive.

My issue with Martyrs is the arch of the climax... it builds and builds with one torture scene after another... to reveal a mediocre motive and a last 15 mins that plateaus in terms of psychological disturbance... and you just sit there thinking "ok get on with it already" By the time it ends you feel things have been taken down a notch... it's dissapointing! I'm squirming in my seat for an hour and 15 mins, I expect to be screaming and pulling out my hair and covering my eyes by the end... but no, I'm just thinking where to go for food after the movie

I like gore, but I think the best horrors are still the ones that show less but fucks with your mind most. Of you can go the cheesey route and pour on the gore while the audience cringes and laughs. If you want a good serious horror though, the trick is to marry the gore and the suspense and psychological manipulation, but Martyrs really falls short in that respect.

For just a smidge less gore but twice as disturbing, I'd definitely recommend À l'intérieur (inside) instead.

Rebirth of a Nation - DJ Spooky vs. D.W. Griffith

The first time I saw D.W. Griffith's 1915 film Birth of a Nation was about 10 years ago in my History of Film class in university. The copy screened for us was completely silent and for 3 hours 150 of us (or at least those who didn't have to brains to skip this class) endured this piece of celluloid history, I floated in and out of consciousness willing for the film to hurry up and end (at least I didn't follow in my friend's example, he not only fell asleep, but started snoring during a silent film providing us with an apt soundtrack).

Mercifully, DJ Spooky cuts his remix of Griffith's epic down to 1.5 hours. He re-creates it to emphasize Griffith's sympathy towards the KKK. By using only actual film footage he's not imposing an agenda so much as reinforcing what is already there. The original film itself is based on a play called "The Clansman" and Griffith is continually criticized for his racist portrayals, DJ Spooky merely takes an extra step by removing all segments of the film that does not reiterate this point.

I found the film as offensive as I did the first time and did not particularly view it in a new light, aside from the one or two scenes which I may have been asleep for 10 years ago. DJ Spooky speaks of Griffith using motion picture as a method of propaganda by doesn't elaborate on this point enough to my liking. I felt that he was holding the audience's hand in presenting a collage of offensive images and irritating voice-over about Griffith's intent, but did not give the same detailed treatment to his own points. Perhaps his target audience is not me and others who have already been exposed to Birth of a Nation?

He also periodically adds visual embelishments to Griffith's footage, in the forms of lines that draw the audiences' attention, geometry and other visual effects. Sometimes it's too obvious, we don't need his help, other times I found it pointless as it emphasized nothing, and still other times I thought he was just doing it for the sake of embellishment, for the sake of being ornate. I don't know if any of it was necessary, or whether it drove DJ Spooky's point across, but I did enjoy some of the alterations and surely I could always appreciate the film (original and remix) for its cinematic achievements.

His soundtrack is stirring and powerful as I would expect from DJ Spooky, spoiled only by the previously mentioned monotone voice-over. My main problem is... on one hand he desires to turn this film on its head, but his soundtrack simply follows the arch of Griffith's climax. At the height of conflict I felt the tension his music created but unlike his narration, the music did not make me see the ludicrous portrayal of the negros. If anything it reminded over and over I should be rooting for the Ayran race. Perhaps that was his intent, to reinforce Griffith's propaganda and demonstrate how this is done with the medium of film, but I can't say for certain. His music over-powered the bland narration and left me confused as to why each element of DJ Spooky's version is pointing to a different conclusion. It was a convoluted experience for me, but I'm no more or less offended by Birth of a Nation, and I can't tell if that's good or bad.

25 Random FILM Facts About Me

For you Facebook dwellers, I'm sure you are familiar... about 2 weeks ago a chain note blew through FB urging tagged individuals to list 25 facts about themself. During a conversation yesterday, a friend suggested that I should take a stab at a film-related version of this. The idea intrigued me and I must admit, I think MANY of those notes would have been more interesting had they been confined to the subject of movies and media. (man...how surprised am I that you hate cleaning the bathroom?... lemme guess, you dislike stepping in dog poo too?)

Off we go...

1. I don't remember what year Shaolin Soccer reached North America but I rolled my eyes at the whole Stephen Chow phenomenon. Kung Fu Hustle was so passe, I was severely disappointed. I watched Stephen Chow in 1985 when he was 18 years old and hosting kids variety/news show on TVB in Hong Kong. His audacity and hilarity shone brightest in the early 90's, reaching brilliant levels of verbal vulgarity that will never translate into the English language. In my eyes his work peaked in 1991. God of Gamblers III and All's Well Ends Well are still some of my favourite Hong Kong films.

2. Don Knotts was great in Pleasantville.

3. I hate Big Trouble in Little China. Everyone else seems to derive so much amusement from it but I can barely tolerate to watch it.

4. I read High Fidelity by Nick Hornby before watching the movie and disliked it intensely, it was so dumbed down, abbreviated and shallow compared to the book. Then I saw the movie years later, long after I'd forgotten about the details in the book, and really liked it. Even went out and bought myself a copy of the movie. Now I'm thinking I should never read the book again.

5. The first film I ever saw at the Toronto Film Festival was Gemini from Japan in 1999.

6. Pulp Fiction should've won the Best Picture Oscar in 1995.

7. Films formatted to "Full Screen" are garbage, it's one thing if they were shot that way, but if I receive/buy-by-mistake a full screen version of something I most likely won't even watch it. It blows my mind that a larger percentage of people prefer Full Screen DVDs, to see why you folks are complete turds, I suggest you read this: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/aspectratios/widescreenorama.html

8. I was in my teens when I first saw Reality Bites, I didn't really get its Gen-X-ness. I grew closer and closer to the characters with each viewing as an adult, now I feel the message is a little dated but brilliant. How come Ben Stiller stopped making films like this one?

9. Dummy is probably one of the funniest movies that I own.

10. Darren Aronovsky has, as a whole, the most annoying fans. God forbid someone not treat every frame of every one of his movies as if it were a piece of the holy grail. I'm allowed to hate The Fountain. When was the last time a Kevin Smith fan berated you for hating Clerks?

11. I haven't seen it since it first came out on video, but I liked The Mighty Ducks movie when I was 14.

12. Out of all the stars I've been in the proximity of, Sophia Loren has the most crazed fans, whose zealousness and fervor overshadow fans of Johnny Depp AND Brangelina!

13. I was severely disappointed by Wong Kar Wai's 2046, but its soundtrack is one of my top 10 movie soundtracks of all time. All of his soundtracks are terrific (with the exception to My Blueberry Nights, which I was lukewarm to) but 2046 blows them all out of the water.

14. Last year during the Toronto Film Fest, a friend of mine almost had the opportunity to pick up Wong Kar Wai from the airport and escort him to his car. During which time they could've made conversation. The job eventually fell on someone else, but the question that I wanted my friend to ask Wong Kar Wai was "I understand you often eat congee in and around Causeway Bay, what place would you recommend for the best congee?" [Causeway Bay is a district in Hong Kong]

15. The first film I ever saw at the Tribeca Film Festival was Planet B-Boy in 2007.

16. Keanu Reeves' best performances were in My Own Private Idaho and Parenthood. He wasn't bad in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure either.

17. If I could get past her bodyguards and not suffer any repercussions from a third party, I would step up for Faye Dunaway and slap Hilary Duff for having the over-inflated ego to think that she can play Bonnie Parker in a Bonnie & Clyde movie. It's not about looking the part, it's that she's a talentless hack. The only person whose talent she will ever outshine is her sister's.

18. [This is taken from my Fackbook personal 25 things version] Although I'm not a huge fan of hers, I think I would want Evan Rachel Wood to play me in a movie.

19. My favourite Brat Pack movie is St. Elmo's Fire. I cried the first couple times I saw it.

20. I've never see I Am Sam, I never want to see I Am Sam, but I adore the soundtrack, which is all Beatles covers (even more than Across the Universe)

21. The first film I ever saw at the Montreal World Film Festival was Luck (from Canada) in 2003.

22. As it stands, I never want to see the Canadian film Rare Birds. We used the script to do a project in my Business of Film class in university and then I did a bunch of transfers and burns for it at the post house where I was doing my co-op. Overexposure really kills your curiousity

23. I don't ever need to see Ginger Snaps either, despite being told it's good. My screenwriting prof was one of the story editors and pulled one too many examples from it in his lectures.

24. On the flipside, I adore Patricia Rozema's adaptation of Mansfield Park and I would've never even known about the film had my Music for Film prof not screened it in the class.

25. I have attended 4 different Film Festivals during my travels in the last 7 years: The Vancouver International Film Festival, The Montreal World Film Festival, The Tribeca Film Festival, and the Rome Film Festival. (I missed the Tokyo International Film Festival by a week)

Top 10 Films of 2008

As posted on March 5th! How's that for record tardiness?

(As with every year...Films listed in the top ten meet at least one of the following criteria: from a film festival that I attended in 2008, had a Canadian theatrical release in 2008, or is listed on www.imdb.com as released in 2008.)

1. Slumdog Millionaire (UK)

2. The Dark Knight (USA)

3. Wall-E (USA)

4. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (USA)

5. Sexykiller (Spain)

6. Rocknrolla (UK)

7. $5 a Day (USA)

8. Tears for Sale (Serbia)

9. Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist (USA)

10. Milk (USA)

Just missing the cut : Pontypool (Canada)

Slumdog Millionaire tops this list for so many reasons, least of which because it’s the winner of 8 Oscars. This is the spectacular little film that could, destroying the moulds of bollywood/genres/target audiences, winning hearts despite all odds, just like its main character. This is also the 2nd year in a row that one of Danny Boyle’s films has made my top 10.

If not for Slumdog, the Dark Knight surely would’ve triumphed, it’s some of the best Hollywood writing (superhero based at that) I’ve encountered in a long time supported an endless string of incredible talent. RIP Heath, I’m so glad you won the Oscar.

What a race for the best love story of the year! I would cross the universe to be with Wall-E. Who said robots had no feelings?

No one does a sexy irreverent tale like Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona puts him back at the top of his game. And speaking of the vivacious sexy Spaniards, Sexykiller is a cheeky horror musical staring the delightful Macarena Gomez. Think blood and Barbie dolls.

I guess it’s true that Madonna was bad for Guy Ritchie’s career. As soon as their marriage got rocky he produces the wild and rollicking Rocknrolla, stylish storytelling at breakneck speed, but what’s even more amazing is that you understand it! (I’m still waiting for someone to explain Revolver to me…)

Christopher Walken is my hero, especially so in this film. It’s a little indie gem that teaches you about family, relationships, and of course, how to live on $5 a day. And while very different in content, Tears for Sale from Serbia is also about the bonds of family, that and a village of man-hungry females. Did I mention this is a love story? (among other things…)

Oozing with commercial appeal of course is Nick and Nora, but damn Kat Dennings and Michael Cera are just so sweet and genuine you can’t help but love them. And I’m going to say the same about Sean Penn as Harvey Milk.

Just missing the top 10 is Pontypool made by Canadian director Bruce McDonald, which is coming out soon in theatres actually. It’s an intelligent horror film that infringes on the lines of psychological thriller, much scarier that your average decapitated head.

Honourable mention goes to Daniel Day Lewis and jaw-droppingly amazing There Will Be Blood, had I had the opportunity to see it in 2006 it would’ve have been in the Top 10 for sure (possibly even at #1!) Three hours long and I sat through it twice in theatres, and you still could’ve easily convinced me to see it a third time.

4 month, 3 weeks, 2 days was also very affecting. Though I’m not sure I’d be able to see it again. One viewing is enough for it to stick with you for a long time.

And of course there’s Ashes of Time Redux, the delicate and masterful restoration and recreation of his 1994 period epic by the great Wong Kar Wai. Though Redux had a 2008 release, I still consider it to be from 1994 based on the original’s release.

Trends of note: There wasn’t a single asian film on my top 10 this year, which is a rare occurrence. Also English-speaking titles appear to be heavily favoured, the most ever since I started providing a top 10 list I believe.

When I came up with this list I was somewhat surprised that more films didn’t jump out as genius to me given that I’ve really enjoyed most of the new films I’ve watched in 2008. I concluded that I saw a lot of good movies in 2008 but not a lot of great ones.

Highlights include seeing There Will Be Blood the first time; getting into the press screening of Slumdog Millionaire at TIFF so I got to see it before any public screening; being dumbstruck by confusion after Plastic City at TIFF but then being able to get the director to explain his entire intention with the film with one well-worded question :D ; Charlie Kaufman’s Q&A after Synecdoche, New York at TIFF; getting to Ashes of Time on the big screen for the first time in my life; seeing 6 films in a day on the final day of TIFF (personal record I think) topped off by winning the Chocolate poster for asking the best question at the midnight madness Q&A then getting it autographed by director Prachya Pinkaew and photos with him.

The forgotten art of keeping your shelves well-stocked

As an aside to the previous post, it must be noted that I went to purchase my copy of Ashes of Time from the HMV at Bloor & Yonge yesterday, I discovered that, despite it being the first day of its release, there was only a sole copy of Ashes of Time Redux on the shelf.

In a large international chain that's probably housing 40 copies of the Love Guru in the stock room they couldn't find the budget or space to house a 2nd copy of Asian Arthouse Cinema? We live in a society of philistines I tell ya!

Yesterday

All these formatting decisions and having to come up with a title... it's all rather taxing! ;) It leaves me incapable of coming up with any new items to blog at the moment so I will supply you with my thoughts from yesterday...

March 3rd, 2009 (Happy belated square root day!)

March 3rd marked the release of two pieces of greatness in this world...

One of the greatest bands of all time released their 5th album of new material (they also have a singles album)

Some may dispute me but I think that this album finds the pulse of the scene today but circles back to encapsulate and pay homage to the early 90's from where Liam and the rest of The Prodigy came.

ALSO

Legendary director Wong Kar Wai's only period piece finally gets it's first official North American release after 15 years

Although it does include action sequences coreographed by Sammo Hung, he shifts the focus instead to the dreamy philosophies spun by his characters and breathtaking cinematography by Christopher Doyle. This is my very favourite film by Wong Kar Wai.

RIP Leslie, haunting to see his face on the poster, this was one of his finest performances.