The TIFF Midnight Madness Blog

Deaner from Fubar at Wrongbar!

2012-01-07T13:32:00.004-05:00

Deaner from Fubar is going to be playing March 16th at Wrongbar in Toronto. Anyone who was at the Midnight Madness World Premiere of Fubar II in 2010 will for sure remember what a rocking night that was.

Here is the link for all the 411 on the show. http://www.songkick.com/concerts/11026473-deaner-of-fubar-at-wrongbar

Amazing Del Toro Fright Nights Poster!

2011-10-24T20:51:00.000-04:00

Check out the exclusive poster by the Rue Morgue graphics guys for the Del Toro Fright Nights series at Lightbox. The jaw-dropping 12×36 poster, screen-printed with metallic inks (!), will be available for purchase in the Official TIFF Bell Lightbox Store throughout the Fright Night event. Details on the film series below:

• In Conversation With... Guillermo del Toro - Thursday October 27, 2011 - 7:00 PM
• L'arcano incantatore - Introduced by Guillermo Del Toro - Thursday October 27, 2011- 9:30 PM
• Black Sabbath - Friday October 28, 2011 - 6:30 PM
• The Innocents - Saturday October 29, 2011- 8:00 PM
• Cronos - Sunday October 30, 2011- 7:15 PM • The Devil's Backbone - Sunday October 30, 2011 - 9:45 PM

Halloween Chills at Lightbox!

2011-10-24T20:40:00.002-04:00

Do you have the shakes and shivers as you go through the withdrawal symptoms from the big screen shocks and chills that you get from Midnight Madness? Well, it looks like there are lots of Halloween themed movie hijinks going on in Toronto to help you get by!

In addition to the ongoing Toronto After Dark Film Fest (see The Divide by Midnight Madness alumni Xavier Gens who brought us Frontiers and also the award-winning Canadian horror/sci-fi mind twister, The Corridor) and Chris Alexander's Film School Confidential at The Revue, there are some special cinematic tricks and treats unspooling at TIFF Bell Lightbox including campy 3-D, axe-weidling maniacs, medieval beasts, gothic ghosts and an appearance by the Mexican Maestro of the Macabre, Guillermo Del Toro!

• The Mask in 3-D - Wednesday October 26, 2011 - 8:30 PM
• In Conversation With... Guillermo del Toro - Thursday October 27, 2011 - 7:00 PM
• L'arcano incantatore - Introduced by Guillermo Del Toro - Thursday October 27, 2011- 9:30 PM
• Black Sabbath - Friday October 28, 2011 - 6:30 PM
• The Innocents - Saturday October 29, 2011- 8:00 PM
• Jabberwocky - Saturday October 29, 2011 - 11:00 PM
• Cronos - Sunday October 30, 2011- 7:15 PM
• The Devil's Backbone - Sunday October 30, 2011 - 9:45 PM
• My Bloody Valentine - Director George Mihalka in attendance - Monday October 31, 2011 - 6:30 PM

Read on for details!

Wednesday October 26, 2011 - 8:30 PM
The Mask in 3-D

Canada / 1961 / 81 minutes / 14A
Dir: Julian Roffman
Cast: Paul Stevens, Claudette Nevins, Bill Walker

In honour of UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, TIFF's Film Reference Library presents a rare print of Julian Roffman's shot-in-Toronto cult classic about a scientist driven to insanity and murder by an ancient tribal mask. Featuring bizarre, psychedelic dream sequences shot in 3-D, this deliriously campy Canadian horror film has not been screened by TIFF in more than twenty years. Sylvia Frank, Director of the Film Reference Library, will provide an introduction to the film and discuss its importance to Canadian film history and the challenges of preserving our national film heritage. [GET TICKETS]

Thursday October 27, 2011 - 7:00 PM
In Conversation With... Guillermo del Toro

After his memorable on-stage introduction to Toby Dammit and Suspiria during our Fellini double-bills programme this summer, the internationally celebrated fantasy filmmaker drops by again to kick off five nights of special Halloween programming at TIFF Bell Lightbox, presented in partnership with Rue Morgue Magazine.

On Thursday, October 27, del Toro and TIFF Bell Lightbox Artistic Director Noah Cowan share the stage for a lively conversation about the director's films past and future. Later that night, you can catch GDT again as he introduces the screening of the 1996 Italian chiller L'arcano incantatore (The Arcane Enchanter), which he recently named as one of his top twenty favourite horror films. [GET TICKETS]

Thursday October 27, 2011- 9:30 PM
L'arcano incantatore - Introduced by Guillermo Del Toro

Italy / 1996 / Italian with English Subtitles / 96 minutes
Dir. Pupi Avati
Cast: Carlo Cecchi, Stefano Dionisi, Arnaldo Ninchi

"Along with Paul Verhoeven's magnificent Flesh + Blood, L'arcano incantatore holds a unique place in my heart. Both are films that manage to minutely portray the era they take place in and the mindset of the characters that populate the tale. The shortcomings, longings, superstitions and desires of said characters may seem at times mundane, even repellent, but they allow the fantastic or the spiritual to become even more transcendental. Magic is more powerful in a prosaic context. . . . it is the director's eye for detail and pacing that makes us susceptible to the tenuous wonders at hand. Time runs slow for the characters[,] and the landscape surrounding them is vast, void and insurmountable. The film smells of sulfur and frankincense, of sin and redemption . . . rarely does a film evoke [a] true literary substance that reminds me of Sade, Seignolle or a conte cruel of Villiers de L'Isle-Adam."—Guillermo del Toro

Never released in America, Pupi Avati's gothic masterwork takes place in eighteenth-century Italy, where a seminary student flees to a remote castle after being accused of bewitching a young girl. Upon his arrival, he discovers he has been hired to serve a defrocked priest who is rumoured to dabble in the black arts, and his first assignment is to dispose of the body of the previous assistant. Fascination turns to obsession and terror as the student is drawn into a dangerous quest for forbidden knowledge. [GET TICKETS]

Friday October 28, 2011 - 6:30 PM
Black Sabbath

Italy / 1963 / Italian with English subtitles / 92 minutes
Dir. Mario Bava
Cast: Michèle Mercier, Lidia Alfonsi, Boris Karloff

Horror maestro Mario Bava's trilogy of terrifying tales (known as "The Three Faces of Fear" in its original Italian version) is "hosted" by the legendary Boris Karloff, who links the three episodes and stars in the best of them. In "The Telephone," a high-priced Parisian prostitute is terrorized by a series of threatening phone calls; in "The Drop of Water," a nurse steals a ring from the corpse of an elderly medium, and is soon assailed by the ominous sounds of dripping water and a buzzing fly. The Karloff segment, "The Wurdulak" (based on a story by Alexei Tolstoy) is one of Bava's finest achievements, a chilling tale set in nineteenth-century Russia about a rural family plunged into horror upon the sudden return of its missing patriarch (Karloff), who might have been transformed into a wurdulak, a vampire-like creature who feeds on the blood of the living. "The dexterity Bava exhibits across these quite distinct narratives is somewhat astounding, from the lurid colors and serpentine camera pans of his giallo-ish opener, to the palpable suspense and gothic beauty of his triumphant Karloff-headlined second story, to the EC Comics-style spookiness of his concluding entry, which features a corpse whose undead smile is unforgettable" (Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness). [GET TICKETS]

Saturday October 29, 2011- 8:00 PM
The Innocents

UK / 1961 / 100 minutes

Dir. Jack Clayton
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins

Hired by a wealthy bachelor to act as governess for his niece and nephew, Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) joins the children at a secluded country estate, where she soon starts hearing strange voices and seeing mysterious figures. Describing these uncanny visions to the other servants, Miss Giddens is informed that they seem to resemble the children's former governess and their uncle's valet, who had both died a year previously—and whom, the servants hint, had been carrying on a sordid sexual affair. When the children begin behaving oddly, the young governess suspects that the lovers have taken possession of their bodies and determines to drive the spirits out—or do the demons actually dwell within her? Based on Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw (and co-scripted by Truman Capote), Jack Clayton's masterful ghost story has been roundly acclaimed as one of the greatest psychological horror films of all time. "The most sophisticated scare show since Diabolique" (Time Magazine); "Clayton demonstrates an encyclopaedic understanding of the nature of supernaturally-charged fear . . . The Innocents is one of the most cinematically literate of all British horror films, and still packs a powerful punch four decades on" (Michael Brooke, BFI Screenonline). [GET TICKETS]

Saturday October 29, 2011 - 11:00 PM
Jabberwocky

UK / 1977 / 105 minutes / PG
Dir. Terry Gilliam
Cast: Michael Palin, Deborah Fallender, Max Wall, John Le Mesurier

Terry Gilliam's first solo directorial effort after sharing credit on Monty Python and the Holy Grail returned him to that film's picturesque vision of medieval mud, blood, gloom and fog. In the reign of good King Bruno the Questionable, bright-eyed proto-capitalist Dennis Cooper (Michael Palin) journeys from his home village to the capital city, which is being terrorized by a fearsome beast. Much ribaldry, fornication and defecation ensues, along with a cameo by Python alum Terry Jones as an unlucky poacher and some gleefully disgusting dismemberments that rival the fate of Holy Grail's stubborn Black Knight. "The most marvelously demented British comedy to come along since Monty Python and the Holy Grail . . . It's a monster film with heart, a movie romance with bite, a costume picture without zippers, and a comedy with more blood and gore than Sam Peckinpah would dare use to dramatize the decline and fall of the entire West" (Vincent Canby, The New York Times). [GET TICKETS]

Sunday October 30, 2011- 7:15 PM
Cronos

Mexico / 1993 / Spanish with English subtitles / 94 minutes
Dir. Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook

When kindly, aged antique dealer Jesús (Federico Luppi) acquires a four-century-old statue, he discovers a clockwork-like mechanical device hidden in the base that affixes itself to his chest and injects him with a strange serum. He soon finds that the serum is curing his ailments and returning him to his youth-and also giving him an insatiable appetite for blood. Meanwhile, a rich, ruthless businessman, obsessively seeking the device in order to ward off his imminent death, sends his thuggish nephew (Ron Perlman) to recover it from Jesús, but the newly rejuvenated, now far less mild-mannered antiquarian is not willing to give up his gift/curse without a fight. Del Toro's stylish debut instantly established his international reputation when it played at Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival and marked him as one of the most visionary of contemporary horror directors. "For proof that the vampire film is resoundingly undead, consider [this] stylish and sophisticated Mexican variation on some age-old themes. . . . [Cronos'] reflective, even stately style elevates it from the ranks of ordinary stake-through-the-heart vampire dramaturgy, turning it into something much more exotic" (Janet Maslin, The New York Times). [GET TICKETS]

Sunday October 30, 2011 - 9:45 PM
The Devil's Backbone

Spain/Mexico / 2001 / Spanish with English subtitles / 107 minutes
Dir. Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi

When his father goes off to fight in the Spanish Civil War, young Carlos is sent to an orphanage plagued with ominous signs: an unexploded bomb lies lodged in the courtyard, the home's thuggish and tyrannical groundskeeper is engaged in a search for a cache of gold rumoured to be hidden on the property, and the phantasmal, pale-faced visage of a young boy keeps appearing, whispering portents of approaching doom. Cherished by del Toro as his most personal project and celebrated by both horror fans and mainstream reviewers, The Devil's Backbone brilliantly bridges the gap between genre cinema and the art house and paved the way for del Toro's even more successful Pan's Labyrinth. "A discomfiting mix of gothic thriller, boy's adventure story, and political allegory . . . an expert, sunlit chiller audaciously predicated on an unquiet historical memory" (J. Hoberman, The Village Voice); "[del Toro] finds real substance in shadows and whispers, in the terrors that reside at the back of the mind" (Peter Howell, The Toronto Star). [GET TICKETS]

Monday October 31, 2011 - 6:30 PM

My Bloody Valentine
with director George Mihalka in attendance

Canada / 1981 / 90 minutes
Dir. George Mihalka
Cast: Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck

Twenty years after a horrific Valentine's Day mining accident, the town of Valentine Bluffs is still haunted by the legend of insane miner Harry Warden, who threatened bloody retribution if the town ever celebrated the holiday again. When a group of young mineworkers and their girlfriends defy the curse and have a late-night party at the mine, a mysterious figure in gas mask and helmet starts wreaking some inventively gory havoc with a pickaxe. This gleefully disgusting slasher flick (from which the legendary, eponymous shoegaze band acquired their name) has attained cult status among horror fans and wears its Canadian credentials with pride, from the scenic Nova Scotia locations to the presence of Can-con queen Cynthia Dale to prominent cameos by Moosehead Beer. (And make sure to stick around for the closing credits, which are accompanied by the most unspecific theme song in cinema history.)

Director George Mihalka will be in attendance to discuss the film's heavy censoring at the time of release, and will then present the deleted scenes in all their gory glory. [GET TICKETS]

This event screens as part of Canadian Open Vault.

An unlikely Midnight Madness fan!

2011-10-07T14:53:00.000-04:00

While there were rumours of sightings of financial guru and star of CBC's Dragons' Den at some of the screenings at the Ryerson, the truth has come out in The Grid's interview with Kevin O'Leary:

I noticed on your Twitter account that you took part in TIFF festivities in Toronto. I thought highly successful people didn’t have time for stuff like movies.
I’m a fan of the Midnight Madness program—gore, vampires… it’s crazy stuff and I love it. I’ve been a patron of TIFF for a long time.

Any other surprise fans of Midnight Madness out there?

edit- MM Blogger Sanjay just sent me this slice of Twitter proof:

Katsuhito Ishii on The Red Carpet for SMUGGLER

2011-09-30T15:58:00.001-04:00

Here is director Katsuhito Ishii on the Midnight Madness red carpet talking about his latest film, Smuggler.

The Intro/Q&A for SMUGGLER

2011-09-30T15:58:00.000-04:00

Here is the Introduction and Q&A for Katsuhito Ishii's latest film, Smuggler!

The Red Carpet Interviews for THE DAY

2011-09-29T19:15:00.000-04:00

The Midnight Madness Red Carpet was rocking Thursday Sept. 16th when Doug Aarniokoski's post-apocalyptic film The Day had it's world premiere. I had the opportunity to speak with actors, Dominic Monaghan, Michael Eklund and Ashley Bell as well as director Douglas Aarniokoski and producer Guy Danella. Here is the video:

The Kindness of Strangers--A Heartwarming Tale

2011-09-28T21:57:00.000-04:00

While the Midnight Madness crew is usually more interested in chilling you to the bone or scaring you into unconsciousness, sometimes we come across a nice little story that reminds us that our audience is the best in the world and it warms the cockles of our long-dormant hearts. Over on Reddit, a user named 'Etheo' has such a story and wanted to pass on a little good Karma to the TIFF volunteer that helped him into the Midnight Madness screening of Smuggler:

Here be the story to celebrate a man who was almost our hero that fateful day, but we will remain forever grateful for your action. For those of you who don't care, please do not waste your time reading this and move on with your life.

So last week during the last week of TIFF event... my girlfriend and I went down to see Smuggler at the midnight launch event. We bought these groupon coupons that are essentially 2for1 ticket, and didn't know that we had to redeem these coupons prior to seeing the film. It sucked, but we sucked it up and lined up at the rush line to see if we could get in.
After 1.5 hours of lining up, while I went to retrieve my car to park closer to the theater, my girlfriend had a rude awakening from the staff at the line and was told that our coupons would not be redeemable at the rush line as well. It was rather unimpressive to know we had lined up for so long for nothing.
Fortunately, behind her, you stood out as a shining statue of human being in the form of a Jamaican friend (which I could only assume due to the strap he was wearing). You casually gave her a voucher that was given to TIFF volunteers only, letting her know that your friends ditched you and you have no use for the voucher. My girlfriend was taken aback at your gracious offer, and hesitantly let you know that I was also in line so the voucher would be useless to her. You, being the amazing altruist that you are, casually gave her another voucher in strides.
When I returned to the line she let me know of the situation, and I believe we humbly thanked you (at least I hope we did--we're too reserved to know how to handle these situations and thank people properly). Since we had no cash with us on our persons, we offered you coffee, tea or food from Starbucks as it was the only currency we had. We were sadden that you did not take our offer as you don't like coffee and weren't hungry. There was not much else we could have offered. We stood in line awkwardly as I thought of every possible way to make it up to you for your kindness.
When we were able to get into the theater, we tried to use our coupon at the ticket booth, and fortunately they had accepted the coupons in exchange for the admission tickets. I had to survey through the entire theater, but I was successful in finding you and returning the vouchers to you. You, again, casually took the vouchers and thanked us. And then we parted ways and proceeded to wait another hour for the movie to begin.
So thank you, random TIFF volunteer, for your kind acts towards 2 total strangers at the rush line. Your friends were asses to ditch you for the movies. You're the man.
TL;DR GF and I went to line up for TIFF, after waiting for hours we were almost told to leave the line but a random TIFF volunteer behind us gave us free vouchers for the movie. We end up didn't use the vouchers and returned, but he was a pretty nice guy.
Just wanted to let people of Toronto know that chivalry and human kindness are not dead, and there are pretty awesome people in Toronto too, not just jerks.
Edit : Smuggler was awesome. Can't hide the smell of fear.

Edit² : Also I witnessed a few people in TIFF giving up their tickets to people waiting in the rushline as well--some were selling, but some were giving. You guys made TIFF pretty cool.

So next time you luck your way into an extra ticket and think about selling it, why not brighten someone's day by helping them out? You might just find yourself immortalized here on the Midnight Madness blog, with all the parted velvet ropes and champagne bubble baths it affords.

And now back to your regular hammer-shots to the face and head.

Another Midnight Madness Junkie

2011-09-23T13:13:00.000-04:00

Over at Movies.com, Christopher Campbell writes of becoming a Midnight Madness junkie, i.e., "one of us":

The Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival has a certain reputation among fans of midnight movies (or “genre films,” or whatever else you call them -- cultish horror and foreign actioners mostly). Basically, it’s considered one of the finest film festival programs of its kind in the world.

Heading into my first experience of TIFF, that reputation meant very little to me, as I’m not exactly of that particular audience. So for me to now wholeheartedly affirm that it is one of the finest film festival programs I’ve ever encountered, and not just of its kind, this should not only preserve the deserved reputation it holds but also hopefully encourage other typical midnight-forgoers to sever the ‘for’ prefix (remove that head like it’s a zombie) and just go.

Read more here. And next year, if you haven't been to Midnight Madness, just sever that zombie head prefix!

The MCP Interviews Bobcat Goldthwait, Eduardo Sanchez, Julian Maury and Alexandre Bustillo

2011-09-20T18:27:00.000-04:00

Listen in as Hitfix's MCP podcast interviews the fine Midnight Madness filmmakers Bobcat Goldthwait (God Bless America), Eduardo Sanchez (Lovely Molly), Julian Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (Livid).

As Drew McWeeny writes:

[W]e've got a preposterous amount of material to share with you, and I decided to have Scott help me introduce four separate interviews I conducted over the course of the Toronto International Film Festival that just wrapped up.

One of the reasons I'm grateful for the Midnight Madness programming at the festival is because it would be easy to get worn down by the serious fare that the festival offers all day long, and Midnight Madness is always full of the most delightful lunatics. Where else are you going to see crazy Indonesian action, a dark killing spree comedy, creepy possession horror, and bizarre dark French fairy tales all in the same line-up?

Stream a preposterous amount of Midnight Madness through your earholes, here.

Interviews with Eduardo Sanchez and the cast of LOVELY MOLLY

2011-09-19T22:20:00.000-04:00

Having met and talked to director Eduardo Sanchez I can say he is a man who clearly has a passion for telling stories and a genuine love for the horror genre. Here is my interview with him at the red carpet of his world premiere for Lovely Molly:

One of the standout elements of Lovely Molly is definitely the cast lead by Gretchen Lodge in her very first role in a feature film. Her performance is a very brave and compelling portrait of a woman in the midst of horrors both very much real and not so clearly explained. Johnny Lewis and Alexandra Holden also create very strong portraits of people desperately trying to help a loved one. I had the opportunity to talk with the cast mere moments before the film screen at Midnight Madness.

Intro/Q&A for LOVELY MOLLY

2011-09-19T22:19:00.000-04:00

Eduardo Sanchez one of the co-directors of The Blair Witch Project has him returning to his first person storytelling roots in his latest film Lovely Molly with the angle of a woman suffering through a possession records her struggle.

Here is the Introduction and Q&A from the world premiere of Lovely Molly:

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 10: Kill List!

2011-09-18T22:07:00.000-04:00

Matt Price of MAMO asks Colin Geddes for his thoughts on this year's very different, very satisfying slate of films. Plus, the gang sees Ben Wheatley's Kill List, which you will either love or hate, as it turns out. We're sad to see you go, TIFF Midnight Madness 2011, but thesubstream.com salutes you - thanks for all the fun!

Red Carpet Interviews for SLEEPLESS NIGHT

2011-09-18T17:51:00.000-04:00

Here are Robert Mitchell's interviews with director Frederic Jardin and actor Tomer Sisley at the world premiere of Sleepless Night.

Cadillac People's Choice Midnight Madness Award Announced

2011-09-18T14:49:00.000-04:00

The people have spoken and this year's winner of the Cadillac People's Choice Midnight Madness Award is Gareth Evans' The Raid! Congratulations to Gareth, Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Maya Barack-Evans and the producers, cast and crew of The Raid!

First runner-up is Adam Wingard's You're Next! Congratulations to Adam, Sharni Vinson, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Simon Barrett and the producers, cast and crew.

Second runner-up is Bobcat Goldthwait's God Bless America! Congratulations to Bobcat, Joel Murray, Tara Lynne Barr and the producers, cast and crew.

And thanks to everyone who marked a ballot for the Cadillac People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness.

Bobcat Goldthwait's Impromptu Midnight Madness Set

2011-09-17T22:32:00.000-04:00

MM Blogger Robert Mitchell recorded Bobcat Goldthwait's impromptu stand up set last night. Bobcat saved the night and entertained the audience while the technical difficulties with Smuggler were fixed.

Smuggler screening times:

Sun., Sept. 18th, 12:00PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

KILL LIST: A Gallery of Hitmen

2011-09-17T18:06:00.000-04:00

Hitman movies are one of my favorite genres. I like the moral tension, the conflict between being a part and being apart, the slick suits. So while we wait for the genre-bending Kill List, tonight, here's a little list of cinematic gentleman who live off of blood money. Feel free to share some of your favorites.

Citta Violenta / Violent City / The Family (1970) Charles Bronson plays, Jeff Heston, a double-crossed hitman out for revenge. Jill Ireland plays a pretty woman in the clutches of the evil and salacious gangster played by Telly Savalas, with all the leering salaciousness he can muster. There's a fantastic score by Ennio Morricone. (It serves as my wake up alarm in the morning). And I enjoy how the movie conveys a more European sense of the distance between New Orleans, Louisiana and Michigan.

In The Mechanic (1972), well-established Charles' Bronson's professional hitman takes a young upstart--and even full-on whippersnapper, (played by a cocky as hell Jan Michael Vincent) as his protege. It's not really a good idea, but it does make for an excellent twist ending.

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon (1977) is a live-action version of Takao Saito's hardboiled manga series. JJ Sonny Chiba plays Duke Togo, a hitman hired by the United States government to eliminate a Hong Kong triad boss. Fans of Etsuko Shiomi/Sue Shiomi will be glad to see her do a little fighting in this film. Features the kind of violence you'd expect from a 1970s Chiba film blended with the coolness of 1970s Hong Kong.

Ostensibly the story of Jeff, a hitman played by Chow Yun-Fat, who's attempting to right a wrong and find a new life with the young nightclub singer he's blinded, played by Sally Yeh, The Killer (1989) is just as easily described as a love story between a noble hitman and a sort of corrupt cop (Danny Lee) who each cross the same moral line. There is, however, a helluva lot of shooting, fashionable suits and style to burn. And I'm sure it's just an accident that the hitman here is named Jeff and is double-crossed by a gangster boss a la The Mechanic.

In Leon: The Professional / The Professional (1994), Jean Reno plays an hitman ("Leon") who takes in a stray girl after her parents are killed. The is one of Natalie Portman's earliest roles, and she does a great job as a girl who desperately tries to convince a hired killer to take revenge.

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) is a comedy. John Cusack plays Martin Blank, a man who not only has an incredibly Hal Hartley name, but also believes he is conflicted about his life choices. He's forced a therapist (played by Alan Arkin) into seeing him and decides he needs to go to his high school reunion, conveniently located near a job his been hired to do. Blanks' interactions with his therapist are revealing in just how frightening a professional hitman would be in real life. Also, for fight fans, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez does some kicking.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) is a Jim Jarmusch movie. It is very quiet, contemplative and conversational as a hitman movie. That is, it is not action-packed (though it is compared to Broken Flowers). Forrest Whitaker plays Ghost Dog, a hitman who's been trying to understand his profession through the 18th Century manual of bushido, The Hidden Leaves / Hagakure. Unfortunately, its precepts of service, duty and honor get Ghost Dog in trouble with the Mafia.

KILL LIST screening times:

Sat., Sept. 17th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Sun., Sept. 18th, 3:15PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness Review - SMUGGLER

2011-09-17T17:55:00.000-04:00

A mea culpa, to start: me trying in earnest to apply any kind of critical analysis to Katsuhito Ishii's manga adaptation Smuggler would be like me trying to review the national epic of a country I've never heard of. It comes from a filmic/manga comic place that I know next to nothing about, so I'll just get to summarizing the plot.

Kinuta (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is a mild mannered failed actor turned "slacker", who unwittingly finds himself indebted to a gang of goofy Chinese gangsters. To pay it off, he's told to work with Joe (Masatoshi Nagase), the surly leader of a gang of body disposers. After they dispose of a body of a yakuza killed by the supernaturally-gifted "ultra assassin" Vertebrae, Kinuta, Joe and the Yakuza's widow find themselves in the middle of an alternately goofy and horrifyingly bloody gang war.

The joy in the film, for me and I'm going to assume many Western viewers is in watching the effects-laden ass whippings that Vertebrae hands out. He's scarred and tattooed and borderline psychotic, and he's a whiz with a pair of beaten up nunchuks, and Ishii fills his to be honest kind of disturbing fight scenes with more than a helping of pretty broad slapstick humour.

It's pure hubris that lets me think I can you a good movie from a bad one in the first place, but even I am in major balk-mode trying to decide if Smuggler is worth recommending. It's in more than one language I don't understand: Japanese, Mandarin and the completely all-over-the-place tonal language of manga movies. It pairs saccharine-sweet moments of golly-gee-whizzery with some of the most brutally sadistic torture scenes I've ever seen, and it's utterly baffling in a way that renders it simultaneously super enjoyable and kind of tiresome, to my foreign eyes. It's a mash-up that from moment-to-moment seeks to dazzle, to entertain, broadly, to gross you out, to engage you and to repulse you straight out of the movie-watching experience. It works, a lot of the time, insofar as it does all of those things, but is that rollercoaster experience by design or by dint of my being, well, kind of ignorant? Who knows. The good parts are great, and the bad parts are… different, and that's the smartest thing I can say. Sorry.

If Ya Smelllll.....What THE DAY Is Cookin'!

2011-09-17T17:39:00.000-04:00

Good news for fans of The Day and also for those who didn't get to see it when it screened at Midnight Madness or any of the subsequent screenings! It seems that WWE Films (yes, you read that right) has acquired the distribution rights to the post-apocalyptic siege movie. Dread Central has the full report.

Now, WWE Films doesn't exactly have the strongest track record for its properties, which, up until this acquisition, have all featured professional wrestlers like Triple H, Kane, John Cena, and Stone Cold Steve Austin in prominent roles. Here's hoping that The Day marks a turnaround for the distribution arm of the most successful sports-entertainment company on the planet and that Vince McMahon won't be digitally adding The Big Show into the background (please, please do me a personal favour and never watch Knucklehead).

The last screening of The Day is TONIGHT!
Saturday September 18 9:45pm Scotiabank Theatre

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 09: Smuggler!

2011-09-17T15:24:00.000-04:00

Last night's TIFF 2011 Midnight Madness screening of Katsuhito Ishii's Smuggler (a film that guest host Matt Brown of MAMO knew absolutely nothing about) was delayed by an hour due to an unspecified technical glitch! Thankfully, Bobcat Goldthwait, humanitarian and all-round decent human being volunteered to keep the crowds entertained with 15 solid minutes of his hilarious stand-up routine. And Smuggler? It's all over the place, man. thesubstream.com's Midnight Madness coverage continues! ONLY ONE MORE NIGHT - Can you believe it???

Bobcat Goldthwait Saves Midnight Madness

2011-09-17T12:12:00.000-04:00

Thanks, Bobcat!

As Ben Kenigsberg reports at Timeout Chicago, last night there were some "technical difficulties" at the MM screening of Smuggler. "Technical difficulties" is an industry euphemism for fun-hating ninjas. I'm as surprised as anyone that (some) ninjas hate fun.

Fun hater?

But God Bless America director Bobcat Goldthwait saved the night when he took the stage for some impromptu stand-up. We hope to have some footage up later, including, ideally, close-ups of Colin Geddes leading MM bloggers, TIFF volunteers and fans against the ferocious fun-hating ninjas arrayed against them, seizing back the Smuggler film cans for the enjoyment of all.

Unidentified fan defends fun.

Smuggler screening times:

Sat., Sept. 17th, 6:45PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

Sun., Sept. 18th, 12:00PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

KILL LIST Screens at Midnight Madness!

2011-09-17T11:21:00.000-04:00

Kill List plays Midnight Madness tonight!. What seems like a straight up genre piece becomes something else entirely in this movie about a hitman who accepts a job from some shadowy clients.

Kill List is directed by Ben Wheatley (Down Terrace) and stars Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Harry Simpson and Michael Smiley.

KILL LIST screening times:

Sat., Sept. 17th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Sun., Sept. 18th, 3:15PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

Ando Vs. Ando

2011-09-16T20:24:00.000-04:00

Spoiler level: Mild (knowledge based on trailer of Smuggler and the film Battle Royale (not the book or manga, which is supposed to be amazing, but I am scared it will ruin my love for the film) )

Japanese star Masanobu Ando's new movie will be screening tonight (Friday, September 16th, midnight!) In Smuggler he plays dangerous cargo - as an assassin who is being transported by the main character. Ando is no stranger to deadly roles, having already been in Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django, and Fukasaku Kinji's Battle Royale.

In an entirely imagined celebrity death match with himself, I present to you:

ANDO VS. ANDO!

Movie: Battle Royale

That's right.

Character: Kazuo Kiriyama

Profile: During the BR act, kids from all over Japan were forced to kill each other, largely against their own will as a way of punishing Japan's out of control youth. However, Kiriyama was so bad ass, that after already improbably surviving a round of the murderously psychotic game, he willingly gave up his hard won freedom and transfered back to a brand new game, just so he could keep smoking people, because it was so much fun.

Weapons of choice: Moves up from fan, to sub-machine gun and butterfly knife (skipping over frying pan), to mega phone (so you can hear the death rattles of his victims), to GPS tracking device (no where to hide!)

Weakness: Explosive collar on throat, tied to game rules. Eyeballs later melt, ruining his chances of appearing in a non time-machine related sequel.

Last Seen: In the hearts of cosplayers and BR fans everywhere! By the way, this is my most watched favorite movie. I can watch BR back to back to back.

Eyes: Like staring into the Abyss.

Hair: Spiky, Peroxide wash, likely used Japanese equivalent of bed head products.

Distinguishing features: That glazed-over, disconnected look in his eyes that would chill Micheal Myers.

Theme music: hellsya -- start it at 2:11 if you want to get an instant visual of him walking through writhing bodies and smoldering corpses.

**** VS ****

Movie: Smuggler

Say that one more time.

Character: Sebone

Eyes: Looks pretty pissed off!

Hair: Appears to be more heavily bleached - scalp singingly so!

Weapon of Choice: Nunchaku! Finally the most badass weapon has returned to the action movie!

Distinguishing Features: Dark ink spine segments tattooed over his own spine. I hear that it hurts a lot on the bone. Also, that maze of scars tells the violence of a 100 movies!

Fun fact: His name, "Sebone" - means spine in Japanese.

Weakness: TBD

Last Seen: TBD

Profile: TBD

Theme music: God, I hope so.

So who's the winner? You guys! As much as I love Kiriyama, Ando looks to have incarnated an entirely new monster in Sebone, cementing his legacy as iconic over the top characters in Japanese genre films. Here's to hoping someone miraculously awesome will plug my breakdowns into a computer and make a video game of all of this, and also make a solid side-scrolling beat'em up for The Raid.

Check out Smuggler:

Fri. Sept. 16th 11:59pm, RYERSON
Sat. Sept. 17th 6:45pm, SCOTIABANK THEATRE 4
Sun. Sept. 18th, 12:00pm, SCOTIABANK THEATRE 4

Movies.com Reviews LOVELY MOLLY

2011-09-16T18:33:00.001-04:00

Christopher Campbell at Movies.com reviews Eduardo Sanchez' Lovely Molly, writing that "it comes off as a kind of psychical whodunit."

Read Campbell's review here.

Lovely Molly screens one more time:

Sat., Sept. 17th, 4:00PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

Retrospective of WTF Cinema at Midnight Madness

2011-09-16T18:09:00.000-04:00

There's a TIFF programmer in those pyjamas.

Colin has said that this year Midnight Madness is about discovery, but as a (relatively) long time Midnight Madness acolyte, this year feels more like a return to Midnight Madness roots. In the last few years, MM has been associated with cutting edge horror, and while that's true, there's also a long tradition of action, rock'n'roll, documentary, comedy and films that make an audience go, "WTF?"

Smuggler follows in a long line of insanely awesome Japanese movies at MM. Fellow Japanese filmmakers who have shown repeatedly at Midnight Madness include: MM All-Star, Takashi Miike with Fudoh: The New Generation (1997), The City of Lost Souls (2000), Ichi The Killer (2001), Gozu (2003), Zebraman (2004) The Great Yokai War (2005), Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)); Shinya Tsukamoto with Tetsuo/Iron Man/ Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1990), Tetsuo 2 /Tetsuo: The Bodyhammer (1992), and Tokyo Fist (1995); and, most recently, Hitoshi Matsumoto with Dainipponjin/Big Man Japan (2007) and Symbol (2009).

But less well-known filmmakers like Tetsuro Takeuchi amazed the Uptown with his "rock'n'roll JET movie," Wild Zero (2000):

And in 1998 Lance Mungia envisioned a future in which the King is dead. (Though MM acolytes know that the King is in a nursing home in Nacogdoches, Texas):

There's also Jung Jun-Hwan's almost uncategorizable Save the Green Planet (2003)--a brutal sci fi "torture porn" romantic comedy with action elements?

And the animated wonder of Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar's A Town Called Panic (2009)

But for me, the quintessential WTF Midnight Madness movie will always be Pornchai Hongrattanaporn's Bangkok Loco (2005) about a drummer who might or might not have committed murder and can save the world through a drum duel. It features a bunch of Thai visual puns that are probably hilarious if you understand Thai.

SMUGGLER screening times:

Fri., Sept 16th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Sat., Sept. 17th, 6:45PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

Sun., Sept. 18th, 12:00PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

Intro/Q&A for SLEEPLESS NIGHT

2011-09-16T15:45:00.000-04:00

Here is the Introduction and Q&A for Sleepless Night with action star Tomer Sisley and director Frederic Jardin.

Sleepless Night screens one final time. Tonight!

Friday, Sept. 16th 9:45pm Scotiabank Theatre 11

Red Carpet Interview THE INCIDENT with Director Alexandre Courtes

2011-09-16T14:42:00.000-04:00

The Incident had its world premiere Monday September 12th, 2011. I was on the red carpet to talk with director Alexandre Courtes about his feature film debut. Here is the video:

The Incident screens two more times:

Friday, Sept. 16th 3:15 pm Scotiabank Theatre 3
Sunday, Sept 18th 9:45 pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

SMUGGLER Premieres Tonight!

2011-09-16T14:22:00.000-04:00

Tonight's the premiere of Smuggler, the latest film from Midnight Madness favorite, Katsuhito Ishii, whose previous films include Funky Forest; Party 7; Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl; and the animated segment in Kill Bill vol. 1.

The film also features Midnight Madness alumnus, Masanobu Ando, who played the vengeful thief in Wuershan's The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman (2009) and Yoichi (Nasu no Yoichi) in Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django (2007). Both Midnight Madness selections. Ando also played Detective Wakamiya in Shinya Tsukamoto's Nightmare Detective (2007) and Kazuo Kiriyama in Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale (2000).

SMUGGLER screening times:

Fri., Sept 16th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Sat., Sept. 17th, 6:45PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

Sun., Sept. 18th, 12:00PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 08: The Day!

2011-09-16T13:28:00.000-04:00

What would you do if the apocalypse came tomorrow? Do you have your machete ready? We asked this question of some die-hard Midnight Madness fans in line for last night's screening of The Day, a dreary post-apocalyptic yarn starring Dominic Monaghan, Shawn Ashmore and Ashley Bell. It was the first real red-carpet affair of this year's Midnight Madness program which got Rajo pretty excited, let me tell you. Or, hell - why not just watch for yourself? thesubstream.com's coverage of TIFF 2011 Midnight Madness continues!

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness Review - SLEEPLESS NIGHT

2011-09-16T10:26:00.000-04:00

Capping off a three-night run of French films at this year's Midnight Madness was Sleepless Night (Nuit Blanche), director Frédéric Jardin's frenetic, occasionally frantic story of a bad cop making good in a packed, pulsing mob-rub nightclub.

Tomer Sisley (Largo Winch) plays Vincent, who along with a partner violently and murderously intercepts a shipment of cocaine on the streets of Paris. It's revealed that the two are in fact cops, and that Vincent was recognized during the heist after his mask was torn off. Vincent's son is kidnapped by the vicious Corsican mobster Jose (Serge Riaboukine) who demands that Vincent return the shipment of drugs to him at his club if he's ever - dun dun dunnnn - to see his son alive again.

Vincent has a plan that's immediately (without him knowing) upended by the arrival of more cops, and once everything starts to go sideways, Vincent is off and running through the club, constantly improvising, crawling through ducts and back stairwells.

It's in his geographic wandering, and in the film's deft handling of a bumper crop of plot details - such and such cellphone, such and such bag, such and such pissed off Turkish dude - that Sleepless Night shines. The club itself is a marvel of stitched-together set pieces, with action ranging from a packed dancefloor, up jammed stairs into an industrial kitchen, back-room casino, posh restaurant and the narrow passages that connect them all, as cat chases mouse and mouse turns around and chases right back.

What action there is in the film is spectacular, in particular a brutal piece of realist fight choreography that has two middle-aged dudes huffing and puffing and throwing colanders at each other in a kitchen full of gawping cooks, but the real pleasure is watching how tightly the film controls its complex plot.

The character of Vincent is less-well handled. Vincent's transformation into a hero and a father is crippled by his - and the film's itself - hilariously poor, almost sociopathic treatment of the four women in it. It'd make great fodder for a film school paper on action movie gender relations, and it's legitimately off-putting enough that it took me out of the action, an unfortunate thing as much of the rest of the film runs like a watch.

Midnight Madness' Colin Geddes Interviewed by Blogtastic Voyage!

2011-09-16T01:38:00.000-04:00

The good folks over at Blogtastic Voyage talked with our own Midnight Maddened leader, Colin Geddes about the Midnight Madness programme this year.

Colin mentions the 3 films he recommends "if you're in it for the blood and violence" as well as the movies he found funniest this year. And they discuss Kill List, which premieres Saturday night.

Kill List is by a British filmmaker Ken Wheatly, who did the very dry, darkly comic gangster film Down Terrace. How would you compare Kill List to it?

It's a lot like Down Terrace; he really has a knack for capturing these kitchen sink-style dramas. At times you feel like you're watching a documentary because he has a very loose, easy feel with his actors. But then he gets dark and bloody. The audience is not going to know where they are when they walk out of the theatre. It's really, really grim and it gets uncomfortably violent.

Read more, here.

Kill List screening times:

Sat., Sept. 17th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Sun., Sept. 18th, 3:15PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

There are also still screenings of many of the films they discuss in the article including: God Bless America, You're Next, The Incident, Sleepless Night, Lovely Molly, The Day, and Smuggler

THE DAY Premieres at Midnight Madness Tonight!

2011-09-15T14:38:00.000-04:00

Tonight is the world premiere of Douglas Aarniokoski's The Day, shot in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Ottawa!

THE DAY screening times:

Thurs., Sept. 15th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Fri., Sept. 16th, 3:00PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 2

Sat., Sept. 17th, 9:45PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 11

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 07: Lovely Molly!

2011-09-15T14:18:00.001-04:00

Tonight's Midnight Madness film Lovely Molly is directed by one half of the team responsible for The Blair Witch Project. Maybe you've heard of it... it's one of the most groundbreaking horror films ever made and with regards to the collective output over this past decade: one of the most influential. Where were you when you first saw it? Tonight's guest-host Kurt Halfyard asks this question to die-hard fans, including Producer Robin Cowie who kindly helps Kurt ward off any evil spirits. thesubstream.com's coverage of TIFF 2011 Midnight Madness continues!

The Intro/Q&A for THE INCIDENT

2011-09-15T14:04:00.000-04:00

The Incident marks the directorial debut of French director Alexandre Courtes. He previously has directed numerous music videos for bands such as U2 and The White Stripes. The Incident also takes its place in Midnight Madness history as having two people faint from the horrific images that played out before them..

Here is the Introduction and Q&A from the world premiere of The Incident:

The Incident screens two more times:

Friday, Sept. 16th 3:15 pm Scotiabank Theatre 3
Sunday, Sept 18th 9:45 pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

Pics from Monday's Screening of THE INCIDENT!

2011-09-14T19:47:00.000-04:00

Two people passed out and many more were shocked into submission at the premiere of Alexandre Cortes' debut feature, The Incident. The hardest-working shutterbug in the business, Ian Goring, was there to document the whole evening, in all its crazed, finger-amputating glory!

Funny story: The idea for The Incident - escaped mental patients - was inspired by this very photo!

If you'd like to see a higher-res version of this picture, check the Wikipedia entry for "BADASS"

Robert Mitchell interviews Alexandre Courtes as the paparazzi documents every minute. Every *sexy* minute.

Funny, no one ever passes out while watching a White Stripes music video...

Courtes hitches a ride in the ambulance to get back to his hotel at the end of the night.

The Incident screens:

Friday September 16 Scotiabank Theatre 3 3:15pm

Sunday September 18 Scotiabank Theatre 2 9:45pm

THE INCIDENT Claims Two Victims at Midnight!

2011-09-14T19:19:00.001-04:00

It's a badge of honour held by a select few of Midnight Madness directors--that coveted moment when an audience member can't handle the extreme imagery on the Ryerson screen. Monday's screening of The Incident saw Alexandre Cortes attain this rare achievement on his very first film, and had the always on-point Ryerson staff rushing to "BRING DA AMBALAMPS" and help out the afflicted folks.

If you're not faint of heart and can handle some kitchen activities that even the depraved mind of Martha Stewart couldn't conceive of, The Incident screens twice more before the Festival's over:

Friday September 16 Scotiabank Theatre 3 3:15pm

Sunday September 18 Scotiabank Theatre 2 9:45pm

KILL LIST Director, Ben Wheatley's No Budget Film School

2011-09-14T18:36:00.000-04:00

There are still 3 more films at Midnight Madness before we get there, but Saturday night brings the Canadian Premiere of Ben Wheatley's Kill List to close out the Midnight Madness program. I was lucky (and impatient) enough to see an advance screening of it yesterday and I absolutely loved it! If I were to recommend one film for the remainder of the festival, it would be Kill List. The less you know, the better, but I knew a bit more than I'd wanted to going into it and still adored it.

Kill List is Wheatley's second feature film after his six thousand pounds budgeted dark and violent mob family dramedy, Down Terrace (which you should seek out immediately if you haven't seen it). The London Evening Standard recently interviewed Wheatley about making a no-budget feature. Aspiring filmmakers, take note!

Ben Wheatley's No Budget Film School

Trailer:

Kill List screens:
Saturday September 17 11:59:00 PM RYERSON
Sunday September 18 3:15:00 PM SCOTIABANK THEATER 4

Some Favorite Cinematic Demons

2011-09-14T17:16:00.000-04:00

So a Lovely Molly clip has been released, teasingly titled, "The Return of Baphomet," just in time for tonight's premiere. As you academic geeks--and cultists--probably already know, Baphomet is the name of a demon the Knights Templar were accused of worshipping. He looked like this.

And he's been in movies before. Christopher Lee battled him in The Devil Rides Out.

And all this Baphomet has led me to look at some other favorite cinematic devils and demons.

"Hey, everybody, remember me?"

Pazuzu has pizzazz, that's why he's moved beyond the Exorcist franchise and afflicting Linda Blair to afflicting people throughout pop culture. Nice gig for an ancient wind god. He even had a giant statue in London.

Next up is a slightly more mod gentleman, "George Spiggot" in Bedazzled.

Peter Cook is a deeply engaging Devil, tempting and tormenting his comedy partner, Dudley Moore. Sympathetic and just plain rotten at the same time.

Then there's Peter Stormare's creepily perfect Lucifer in Constantine. I love his muck-covered bare feet.

He's not touching you with his mucky feet...

I kind of love the British suitmation demon in Curse of the Demon/Night of the Demon:

And finally, prepare yourself for the soul-freezing, Baphomet-y horror of Jonathan Corbin in The Devil's Rain

So what are some of your guys' favorites?

LOVELY MOLLY screening times:

Wed., Sept. 14th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Thurs., Sept. 15th, 5:15PM, AMC 2

Sat., Sept. 17th, 4:00PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 06: Sleepless Night!

2011-09-14T16:37:00.000-04:00

Matthew Price from the MAMO podcast talks to a few hardcore Midnight Madness fans about some of their favourite genres. He also talks to a few MM newbies, including actor Tomer Sisley (Largo Winch) who stars in tonight's film, Sleepless Night - an action-packed French thriller that takes place in a Parisian nightclub (where teenagers can be found line-dancing to Queen). thesubstream.com's coverage of Midnight Madness at TIFF 2011 continues!

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness Review - THE INCIDENT

2011-09-14T15:54:00.001-04:00

The Incident probably shouldn't work as well as it does. It's music video director Alexandre Courtes' first feature film, and he's a Frenchman who was directing English actors playing American dirtbags in 1989, shooting in Belgium. The film bears the little scars of all these unlikelihoods - accents wander all over the place, there are a handful of pointless scenes, it's got a pat last 10 minutes - but Courtes, cinematographer Laurent Tangy and production designer Paul Rouschop's collective visual chops hoist The Incident right up out of its little trouble areas. Mostly.

Set in a bunker-looking asylum for the criminally insane, The Incident begins with tension among the shaggy-dog rock-band-cum-kitchen-crew that are responsible for feeding the inmates. The guitarist is questioning the drummer's reliability, others feel the singer might bail on the whole thing to just be with his chick, man. Their squabbles are amplified by the bizarre, threatening behaviour of the inmates who receive their meals from the boys through a small slit in a large pane of glass. Things get much worse - and much bloodier - when the power is knocked out with all of the inmates out of their cells.

The Incident is a mixed bag, fortunately with more good nuts than bad. It looks spectacular, with a level of polish in its set and costume design, photography and bloody effects work that's better than what you get with most major-release horror films. The performances are fairly good, as well (ignoring if possible the accent issues), and that's as much to do with the actors as it is to do with a script that in its first two-thirds works quite well.

Tension is ratcheted up quite slowly, and while the Jérôme Fansten's script doesn't do much to differentiate the three leads or the various lurking crazy people character-wise, it does root them in enough shorthand period detail that they seem known to us quite quickly.

Where the film falls apart, a bit, is in its disappointing, way too arbitrary last few minutes. The film climaxes with a scene so grisly, and so goofily horrifying that it literally knocked out a couple of people at the screening I was at, but that triumphant moment is then immediately bundled up into a weird change in direction that's supposed to be shocking or meaningful but is actually closer to pointless. If you're still smiling, as I was, from the film's numerous legitimate pleasures, the film's conclusion won't sting you too much, but if you're a stickler, Courtes' high-wire act of a first feature eventually, inevitably stumbles.

The Red Carpet Interviews for LIVID's Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury.

2011-09-14T12:33:00.000-04:00

Here are the red carpet interviews with directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. (Still photos by: Ian Goring)

LOVELY MOLLY Premieres Tonight!

2011-09-14T12:10:00.000-04:00

Tonight's the world premiere of Eduardo Sánchez' Lovely Molly. You might've heard of one of his previous films, a little thing called The Blair Witch Project.

LOVELY MOLLY screening times:

Wed., Sept. 14th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Thurs., Sept. 15th, 5:15PM, AMC 2

Sat., Sept. 17th, 4:00PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

SLEEPLESS NIGHT: A French Thriller Appeteaser

2011-09-14T00:01:00.000-04:00

Here's a little sampler plate of Jean-Pierre Melville's films to whet the appetite for Sleepless Night.

SLEEPLESS NIGHT

Tues. Sept. 13th, 11:59pm RYERSON

Weds. Sept. 14th. 3:00pm AMC 1

Fri. Sept. 16th, 9:45pm SCOTIABANK THEATRE 11

The Intro/Q&A for LIVID

2011-09-13T20:19:00.000-04:00

Sunday, September 11th saw the triumphant return of Julien Maury and Alexandre the directors of the Midnight Madness sensation, A' L'interieur with their follow up film Livide--which was four years coming, with various trials and tribulations of the film making business getting in the way. To say expectations were high would be an understatement.

Here is the Introduction and Q&A of the world premiere of Livid.

Beyond The Madness: PAUL WILLIAMS IS STILL ALIVE!

2011-09-13T17:02:00.000-04:00

There was a time in the 1970s and early 1980s that actor, singer and composer Paul Williams was inescapable. He was on the radio. He was in movies. It seemed like he was on nearly every tv show. He was a superstar and then, suddenly, he wasn't. Stephen Kessler tracks down Williams in his documentary, Paul Williams Is Still Alive, programmed by Midnight Madness' own, Colin Geddes.

And here's a little Midnight Madness retrospective:

PAUL WILLIAMS STILL ALIVE screening times:

Wed., Sept. 14th, 5:30PM, JACKMAN HALL

Sun., Sept. 18th, 4:00PM, AMC 7

Spotlight on SLEEPLESS NIGHT director Frédéric Jardin

2011-09-13T14:42:00.000-04:00

Frédéric Jardin, director of Sleepless Night
Looks to keep you up all night!

Moments ago, I spoke with French director Frédéric Jardin about his new film action noir film Sleepless Night - which premieres tonight at Midnight Madness! Check out the full interview below!

Several French horror directors at Midnight Madness say that it’s quite tough to make genre films in France. How is the climate for action films, and how did you pitch this film?

It’s very hard to raise money for action films. My producer Marco, produced A Prophet and with the success of that, it won a prize in Cannes, so it was easier for him. This was a 3 million euro film, so it’s not very expensive film.

Tell us about how the project came together - your inspiration, your key collaborators, how you found your star in Tommer.

At the very beginning I wanted to do an action film, so I was thinking about paternity - so that was the very beginning when I started writing - I wanted to mix action and paternity - I was thinking of an actor who was physical and emotional - Tommer moves really well, there was a lot of emotion when he ran. It’s not a just an action film, I needed the actor to feel emotion all the time, for the whole movie... this was a challenge. And Tommer loved the script.

What was the moment when you knew the film would happen?

When we found a distributor - Bacfilms - our french distributor - that was main the thing. We got some money from several TV stations, but getting this distributor was the moment that the film would be made.

What’s the biggest difference with this film from your other films?

They were more comedy, even through they are dark comedy - this is more film noir, it’s a real thriller, and a dark one. Even though there is dramatic irony, it is more serious and darker - it’s about relationship between father and son, paternity, so I wanted it to be very serious - even though it features a chase on the surface, above all it’s about this relationship.

You mentioned to me that you avoided outside influences as much as possible when creating this movie to keep your vision pure. How did you enforce that on yourself, and what did you do to cultivate your own style?

I decided for this film - to film it like a documentary - camera on the shoulder, and extremely realistic in action. I didn’t want to film the violence graphically - but instead very realistic dirty violence, with sweat- and you feel the people are very exhausted by this crazy night, and I wanted all of these things to be very realistic and that’s the style at the end. I wanted something very frenetic. Because the main character doesn’t have any time to save his son.

Making movies can be crazy and unpredictable; What was the strangest obstacle you dealt with during the shoot?

Not so much, the film was very well planned, and was always inside, and while we had a crowd - I wanted it to be very realistic but everything was planned at the same time. It seems like a contradiction but it goes in the same direction. We planned the chaos, which is quite hard usually!

What was the best lesson that making this film taught you?

I learned everything with this film, it was very new for me, and that’s a new direction that I want to continue to work in.

Writing is very cathartic, in that you can write about how you’d like to react to a situation- and that’s what I love about it. However, if you were put in a similar situation as your film’s character Vincent, how would you honestly react?

Hm. I would do the same thing as him! You know it’s hard to say, I can’t answer that - I am very close to the character, I don’t want to give it away, you to have to see the movie.

What are some of your favorite films, and what other genres are you interested in working in?

Work in other Genres? Yeah why not - I am not crazy about the typical horror film, but every director should be interested by all genres. Some of my favorite films are- Nicholas Winding Refn’s Pusher Trilogy, Joon-Ho Bong's films Memories of Murder, Mother, and The Host. And also Hong Jin Na’s Chaser. I love TV series like Breaking Bad, and Sopranos.

Be sure to see for yourself EXACTLY what bone-cracking extremes Frédéric Jardin would execute to save his son, were he facing the depraved gangsters from Sleepless Night!

SLEEPLESS NIGHT

Tues. Sept. 13th, 11:59pm RYERSON

Weds. Sept. 14th. 3:00pm AMC 1

Fri. Sept. 16th, 9:45pm SCOTIABANK THEATRE 11

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 05: The Incident!

2011-09-13T14:24:00.000-04:00

Mike and guest host rowthree.com's Kurt Halfyard seemed to be a bit at odds with their impressions of Alexandre Courtes' The Incident which screened last night at TIFF as part of Midnight Madness. One thing's for sure, the film proved to be too much for two audience members who passed out and required medical attention - the first casualties of this year's Midnight Madness! Not too shabby for the 'quiet night' of this year's program. thesubstream.com's coverage of the best block of films at this year's festival continues!

SLEEPLESS NIGHT at Midnight Madness Tonight!

2011-09-13T13:33:00.000-04:00

Get ready for Sleepless Night at the Ryerson tonight. It's already getting good reviews on the internet and looks to be a fine mix of action and thriller, hearkening back to the genre films of Jean-Pierre Mélvìlle and through him, back to film noir. But it's pedigree isn't important, what is important is it looks amazing and its hero, played by Tomer Sisley, will need all his sangfroid, to make it through the night..

If you missed the trailer yesterday, here it is again.

SLEEPLESS NIGHT screening times:

Tues., Sept. 13th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Wed., Sept. 14th, 3:00PM, AMC 1

Fri., Sept. 16th, 9:45PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 11

Who's Who With The Cast of THE DAY!

2011-09-12T23:26:00.000-04:00

Thursday night's screening of The Day is actually the most star-studded of the Midnight Madness lineup this year. Here's a little rundown of the cast in this post-apocalyptic journey through a bleak, ruined landscape.

Dominic Monaghan - If you were a geek at any point in the last ten years, Monaghan's name will undoubtedly be a familiar one. Starring in two of the biggest geek properties of the last decade - JJ Abrams' LOST and Peter Jacksons' Lord of the Rings films - Monaghan has made a name for himself as one of the go-to actors when something sinister and dark is afoot. In The Day, Monaghan straps on his genre hat (yes this is a real hat) once again as the leader of a small band of survivors traversing a world without hope.

Ashley Bell - The highlight of last year's Eli Roth-produced possession tale, The Last Exorcism, Bell made a splash as the young farmer's daughter caught in the grips of a demonic spirit. Her unbelievable transformation from wallflower to venom-spitting hellion invited comparisons to Linda Blair and even her sickly-arched posture on the film's poster was enough to give most people chills.

Shannyn Sossamon - Sossamon's not widely known for her genre efforts but she does have a couple of horrors under her belt in the form of 2007's Catacombs and 2008's One Missed Call. Her skills at playing bleak characters in other fare such as The Rules of Attraction and Wristcutters: A Love Story are put to great work here in the tense, desolate landscape of The Day.

Shawn Ashmore - Richmond BC's Ashmore is no stranger to science fiction roles with several high-profile turns as Iceman/Bobby Drake in the first three X-Men movies and roles in the television series Fringe. His horror resume is quite extensive as well, with roles in Frozen, The Ruins, Hatchet 2, and Mother's Day.

This dark, futuristic journey takes the Ryerson by storm on Thursday night and it looks to be one of the most chilling films in this year's lineup. We expect at least a few members of this star-studded cast to be walking the blood-soaked red carpet that night, so don't miss it!

The Day screens:

Thursday September 15 Ryerson 11:59pm
Friday September 16 Scotiabank Theatre 2 3:00pm
Saturday September 17 Scotiabank Theatre 11 9:45pm

Trailer for Frederic Jardin's SLEEPLESS NIGHT

2011-09-12T20:57:00.000-04:00

From the trailer above, Frederic Jardin's Sleepless Night looks to be the equivalent of six cans of Red Bull. Or your preferred energy drink of choice.

Get your buzz on with the Midnight Madness crowd when Sleepless Night premieres Tuesday night!

SLEEPLESS NIGHT

Tues., Sept. 13th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Wed., Sept. 14th, 3:00PM, AMC 1

Fri., Sept. 16th, 9:45PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 11

Check out a Teaser, Clip and Poster for LOVELY MOLLY

2011-09-12T20:07:00.000-04:00

Get ready for Lovely Molly with the teaser above and the clip and one sheet below. (Via Dread Central)

LOVELY MOLLY screening times:

Wed., Sept. 14th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Thurs., Sept. 15th, 5:15PM, AMC 2

Sat., Sept. 17th, 4:00PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

6 Questions For LOVELY MOLLY Director Eduardo Sanchez

2011-09-12T16:42:00.000-04:00

Darryl Shaw and Sanjay S. Rajput teamed up to interview EduardoSanchez, director of The Blair Witch Project and Lovely Molly, which premieresWednesday, September 14 at Midnight Madness!

1) With The Blair Witch Project's mainstream success you broughtthe found footage style of filmmaking to a new generation offilmmakers--with great successors in Paranormal Activity, Troll Hunter, REC and Home Movie--how was your transitioninto the more traditional filmmaking style, and do you find thatyou are given more flexibility because of your proven ability toinnovate in the medium?

I think people were surprised that I could just make a normalfilm. I remember studio people asking Dan Myrick, my partner incrime on BW, and me if we knew what a real script looked like! I honestly think it gave me less flexibility. People were wondering what was going to come out of us as my second film. When it wasn't the game-changer that BW ended up being, I think there was definitely a certain amount of disappointment.

BW was born out of necessity. Dan and I needed to convince people that what they were watching was real so the style just evolved from that basic directive. We were pretty happy when films using that technique started breaking through. I'm a big fan of most of them.

Yeah, I feel strongly about that one!

2) What makes Lovely Molly stand out from previous haunted house or possession films?

I think the unique thing about Lovely Molly is how it rides the line between the supernatural and the psychological journey that Molly takes. My plan was to do an exorcist film without the exorcist, without that clear diagnosis. What the hell happens to the people around the person when they start acting crazy? When they can't see the shit that the afflicted person sees or hears? That to me is the creepiest part of Lovely Molly.

3) What draws you to the supernatural? Did you have any paranormal experiences you'd be comfortable in sharing?

Never had any kind of paranormal experiences, besides waking up from a horrible nightmare and thinking Satan was in my room. But that was just the fear taking me over. I think.I'm attracted to it because it allows us filmmakers and writers to explore really dark human issues and package them in a more palatable form--a horror movie.

4) What scares you?

EVERYTHING. I'm a real chicken shit. My mother was really protective of me and used the age-old technique of the boogey man (but the Cuban version) to sometimes scare me into submission. Sounds a lot worse than it was (she was a damn good mom), but she definitely cultivated this idea of something being out there, beyond my window, behind the trees--in the darkness.So I scare myself even in my own house. Always think that something's going to pop out at me or look through a window.

Creeping myself out now.

5) You shot this film in Maryland, any chance you'll come back and for the Zombie Apocalypse 5k race on October 22 (runforyourlives.com)?

I'm in horrible shape, but I'd love to get in shape and be there next year! Could happen.

6) Half of your films have been shot in Maryland, is it really that scary over there?

There is a ton of history here. I'm right in the middle of a lot of Civil War battlefields so there's a massive amount of violent death that occurred all around me. I guess I tap into that sometimes because my best ideas come to me while driving down the isolated country roads around my home. I pop in my ipod (SCARY playlist) and let my mind wander.

The house where we shot Lovely Molly is a prime example of the kind of location gem that can be found in this area. Two hundred years old, in the middle of nowhere on over 200 acres, the house seeped a certain creepiness that I think found itself onto the film. At least it affected me as the director. A lot of crew and even Gretchen (Molly) stayed there alone at night.

Not me.

LOVELY MOLLY screening times:

Wed., Sept. 14th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Thurs., Sept. 15th, 5:15PM, AMC 2

Sat., Sept. 17th, 4:00PM, SCOTIABANKTHEATRE 4

Beyond the Madness: LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE

2011-09-12T16:35:00.000-04:00

While Midnight Madness is clearly the focal point of the whole festival, there are some films fans might be interested in from outside the program. Tonight, Midnight Madness Alumnus Johnnie To brings his new drama, Life Without Principle, to TIFF. It stars Denise Ho with Midnight Madness alumni, Lau Ching-Wan and Ritchie Yen, who co-starred with Leon Lai in last year's MM pick, Fire of Conscience.

Life Without Principle screening times:
Monday Sept. 12, VISA Screening Room (The Elgin), 9pm
Wednesday, Sept. 14, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1, 3:30pm
Saturday, Sept. 17, Scotiabank Theatre 3, 8:30pm

Craploads of Animal Masks - Ian Goring's Pics from YOU'RE NEXT!

2011-09-12T15:29:00.000-04:00

Saturday night may well have been the creepiest, most unsettling Midnight Madness screenings in a while and it wasn't even entirely from the film (which, to be fair, was pretty friggin' creepy and unsettling). You're Next brought the crazies out in force even more than usual, many clad in the uber-bizarre animal masks worn by the killers in the film. Looking out into an audience of lambs and tigers staring back at you may be the weirdest thing you'll see all year. Here's Ian Goring's menagerie of pictures from the screening that turned the Ryerson into a literal zoo.

Aw, they think they're people!

Three of these ladies won't make it throughvthis movie alive. In a way, it's a lot like The Bachelor - with 20% more blenders to the brain.

Before...

AHHHHHHH(fter)

The whole You're Next crew was momentarily distracted by a squirrel and a passing mailman.

In hindsight, we never should've left all those chew toys on the seats.

Robert Mitchell interviews the almost implausibly lovely Sharni Vinson

These guys wouldn't stop hanging around the entrance to the theatre, so we threw a ball of yarn across the street and they dispersed. WHO'S A GOOD KITTY! YOU ARE!

Midnight Madness Programmer Colin Geddes, Adam Wingard, and Simon Barrett discuss the influences for the script , which included Scream and Home Alone (really!)

Writer Simon Barrett and Director Adam Wingard's next project will be a mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the remainder of star Sharni Vinson's skirt.

The whole twisted crew behind You're Next. They're a pretty bunch, no?

What sort of axe-wielding maniacal bastard would want to extinguish that smile?

You're Next screens twice more this week - make sure that you check it out, unless of course you want an axe to the skull.

You're Next screens:

Monday September 12 6:30pm AMC 7

Friday September 16 4:00pm TIFF Bell Lightbox 2

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 04: Livid!

2011-09-12T15:28:00.000-04:00

Tonight sees the Midnight Madness homecoming of, in programmer Colin Geddes' words 'the Daft Punk of french cinema' - co-directors of the bloody À l'intérieur, Julien Maury & Alexandre Bustillo. This time they're here with Livid, a film that goes in a completely different direction. Plus, guest host Matt Brown talks to Hitfix.com's Drew McWeeny who tells us a pretty crazy story about his uncle's haunted house. All this and more in the fourth instalment of thesubstream.com's TIFF 2011 Midnight Madness coverage!

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness Review - LIVID

2011-09-12T15:22:00.001-04:00

Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's first film, À l'intérieur (Inside, 2007), was a jaw-dropping demonstration of precisely how much tension and horror can be wrung from a simple premise by two directors with a knack for gore. A woman with scissors wants in, a pregnant woman wants to keep her out. It was shocking and tense enough to be almost unendurable, all floated on the back of an exceedingly uncomplicated idea.

Their second film, Livide (Livid), is… more complex. To put it mildly. It opens with Lucy (Chloé Coulloud), a brooding young nurse-trainee with David Bowie eyes, waiting to be picked up by her trainer. She's taken to visit Mrs. Jessel, a profoundly old woman laying comatose in her enormously creepy, taxidermy-filled house. Jessel was a dancer and was fabulously rich, and her treasure is said to rest with her in the house (where she lays, having asked to be left to die, her dwindling life maintained by daily blood transfusions brought by the nurse).

When Lucy's boyfriend Will hears this tale, he enlists his brother and soon the three are crossing the moor (on Halloween, no less) to seek the treasure of the maybe-not-so-comatose Mrs. Jessel.

To describe Livide as a fairy tale, as many have, is to do it a kind of justice. It certainly has fairy tale elements - unnatural flames flickering in the forest, a catfish having tea with a deer (this is as terrifying as it sounds) - but while it shares the fable-like elliptical logic of a Grimm story, Livide is a fairy tale that's been pushed screaming through a bloody wire mesh of '70s Italian horror movies.

Focussing more on atmosphere than on linear A to B narrative, Bustillo and Maury augment the standard "three kids making bad decisions in a scary old house" structure with odd bits of geographic disorientation, sucking characters into hidden, secret spaces, and with odd, surreal flashbacks to Jessel's monstrous past. For every viscerally bloody murder (and there are a few) there are scenes that attempt to communicate a more intellectual type of thrill, some of which succeed and some of which... don't.

It's frustrating fare for folks not used to this kind of horror, and I have to admit that a lot of it went right by me, in the exact same way Dario Argento's work (which inspired Livide, to hear the directors tell it) did. It's not for everyone, but everyone is not everyone. While there are details and odd bits of the film that don't work (or were never supposed to) it'll satisfy fans looking for a little blood-red fairy tale dreaminess amidst the throat ripping and face biting.

Red Carpet video of YOU'RE NEXT

2011-09-12T14:36:00.000-04:00

There is nothing like the excitement of a world premiere of film by a highly anticipated emerging director. Such was the case at the Ryerson theater Saturday night when Adam Wingard's latest film, You're Next, was about to screen.

I had the opportunity to talk to Adam, writer Simon Barrett and stars Sharni Vinson and the legendary Barbara Crampton looking amazing lovely as usual. Here is Sheleigh and my red carpet video:

You're Next screens two more times:

Monday Sept., 12th AMC 7 6:30pm
Friday, Sept., 16th TIFF Bell Lightbox 2 4:00pm

Intro/Q&A Video for YOU'RE NEXT

2011-09-12T13:41:00.000-04:00

Saturday Sept., 10th marked the World Premiere of Adam Wingard's and Simon Barrett's latest collaboration, You're Next. Hot of the heels of their breakout film, A Horrible Way To Die, which screened in TIFF's Vanguard programme, there was a lot of anticipation for this follow-up film.

Ryerson theater had all the energy of a world premiere at midnight on the first Saturday of the festival. It also helped that the masks prominently featured in the film were being handed out to the die hard fans waiting in the lineup and that Banksy-inspired street was popping up all around the theater.

Here is Sheleigh and my video of the Introduction and Q&A of You're Next:

At the time of this posting You're Next screens two more times:

Monday Sept., 12th AMC 7 6:30pm
Friday, Sept., 16th TIFF Bell lightbox 2 4:00pm

LIVID: There's No Crazy Like Ballerina Crazy

2011-09-11T21:36:00.000-04:00

So the scariest thing about the above image from Livid for me? The ballet slippers. I look at her pointe shoes and I know Livid is going to be something fierce because the ladies out there know there's no crazy like ballerina crazy. Ballerinas will do whatever it takes to be beautiful, ethereal, unearthly creatures
.

No more ugly duckling!

Even if it means growing wings, bleeding out your eyes and slowly picking your toenails apart.

Or putting glass in someone's pointe shoes--or going ahead and performing with glass in your pointe shoes, if the Wishing Stairs is anything to go by.

"I am a beautiful swan!"

Nothing scary about this intensity at all.

Besides, if Suspiria is anything to go by, and I'm pretty sure it is actually a docudrama fictionalized to protect the innocent, most ballet schools are secretly covens dedicated to drugging ballerinas and sacrificing them to diabolical powers. (Unlike the covens in your communities, which are dedicated to potlucks and Winter Solstice parades with lanterns and papier maché puppets).

LIVID screening times:

Sun., Sept. 11th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Tues., Sept. 13th, 5:00PM, AMC 7

LIVID: The Old Dark House

2011-09-11T20:09:00.000-04:00

From the design sketches for Livid, it looks like there's a new house in the neighborhood of creepy or just plain haunted cinematic houses.

Artists from James Whale and Shirley Jackson to Charles Addams and Alfred Hitchcock knew that a house is just as important as any of the characters in their stories.

Norman's mothers house in Psycho.


Mom's not home...

The Addams Family house at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. (I took the picture from this blog post that looks at the interior and exterior of the house).

aka, casa de I want to live there.

Roderick Usher's house in Roger Corman's The Fall of the House of Usher.

I have lived in a poorly wired house like this one.

The Amityville Horror's jack-o-lanterny house.

"Happy Halloween--Now get out!"

The just plain wrong house of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. The only movie version that I acknowledge is The Haunting (1963).

The Haunting 1999 never happened.

Karen Black and Oliver Reed's dream house in Burnt Offerings. Well, more Karen Black's dream house than Oliver Reed's.

"I'm sure nothing could go wrong in this creepy old house..."

And a little more of the sweet design art of the house in Livid.

Catch Livid's premiere tonight!

LIVID

Sun., Sept. 11th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Tues., Sept. 13th, 5:00PM, AMC 7

The Red Carpet Interviews for GOD BLESS AMERICA

2011-09-11T19:01:00.000-04:00

Here are the Midnight Madness red carpet interviews from the World Premiere of God Bless America:

God Bless America screens one more time:
Fri., Sept. 16th, 6:30PM, AMC 7

Ian Goring's Pics from Bobcat Goldthwait's GOD BLESS AMERICA!

2011-09-11T17:14:00.000-04:00

If you didn't get a chance to catch Bobcat Goldthwait's God Bless America and its accompanying Q&A at Midnight Madness on Friday night (check out Robert Mitchell's post for the video), you missed out on the funniest, most entertaining couple of hours to hit the Ryerson stage in recent memory. Bobcat was in true form, playing with the audience and just seeming ecstatic to have his film (apparently only completed on Tuesday, if he's to be believed) shown in a raucous arena of Midnight Madness filmgoers.

Intrepid photographer Ian Goring once again takes you back to that night with some pictures from the screening!

Robert Mitchell gets the dirt from Joel Murray as the ghost of Bobcat looks on.

Can you feel the love, folks?

Awww, they're like a happy family. A happy, baby-splattering, rampaging family.

"KHAAAAAAAAAAAN!" (come on, you were thinking it too)

I seriously just noticed that belt buckle. I think Bobcat did too.

"Haha! They'll never let Tara on the Disney Channel ever again!"

You've got one more chance to check out God Bless America, and it's next weekend. If you've already watched a ton of super-depressing flicks about human trafficking or whatever Keyhole was supposed to be and need to seriously get your laugh on while watching people get blown away as only Bobcat can show you, make sure you lock down some tickets while you still can.

The final screening of God Bless America is:

Friday September 16 6:30pm AMC 7

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 03: You're Next!

2011-09-11T15:55:00.000-04:00

Imagine if a bunch of masked assailants interrupted your fancy schmancy family dinner with crossbows and machetes... How freaky would that be? In the tradition of films like Last House on the Left and The Strangers, festival favourites Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett bring us You're Next, a home invasion thriller that was not only scary but pretty funny, and most importantly, believeable. thesubstream.com's own Tara Mason hosts this instalment of our coverage of Midnight Madness at TIFF 2011...

LIVID Premieres at Midnight Madness Tonight!

2011-09-11T14:46:00.000-04:00

Livid, the follow-up film from Inside/A L'Interieur directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, premieres at Midnight Madness tonight!

LIVID

Sun., Sept. 11th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Tues., Sept. 13th, 5:00PM, AMC 7

The Intro/Q&A for Bobcat Goldthwait's GOD BLESS AMERICA

2011-09-11T13:35:00.000-04:00

Here is footage from the Introduction and the Q&A of Bobcat Goldthwait's latest film GOD BLESS AMERICA. It was one of the funniest Q&A's in the entire history of the Midnight Madness programme, as Bobcat said on stage, "The kid's still got it!"

At the time of this posting GOD BLESS AMERICA still screens two more times:

Sunday September 11 AMC 6 1:30pm

Friday September 16 AMC 7 6:30pm

The Red Carpet Interviews for THE RAID

2011-09-11T13:34:00.000-04:00

Here is the Midnight Madness footage from the World Premiere of THE RAID:

Top Ten Ways to Deal with Possession

2011-09-11T13:32:00.000-04:00

Spoiler warning level: RED. This is a friendship-shattering amount of spoilers for movies from the past couple years.

Disclaimer: Following my advice will get you arrested, killed, or make your kids hate you... so don't do it!

With Lovely Molly quickly coming up on the schedule, we’ll see poor Molly housing some seriously nefarious forces. We’ll have to check out the movie to know for sure how she’ll be dealt with, or how she herself will deal with these forces of evil, but if Eduardo Sanchez’s earlier hit Blair Witch Project is any indication, it won’t be pretty.

Let’s take a look at how some films bust some ghosts on a blue collar budget... Without The Ghost Busters multi-million dollar set up, or having to learn sacred pronouciation-sensitive incantations.

10. The Evil Dead - Bodily Dismemberment

The old fashioned way

Hatchet, check. Chainsaw, and shotgun? Just how bad have these ghosts pissed you off?

While you might miss your friends after, you’ll ensure that the demons know they aren’t welcome. When there’s no where for the demons to actually go to - except perhaps into you, where you can run in your body around until they are driven away by the morning sunlight.

Budget: Well, most of these ghost busting tools are all available for under 100 bucks or so a S-Mart. You’ll also want to keep this excursion at an isolated area with as few civilians as possible. But in our post CSI society, be prepared to do a lot of time after.

9. Poltergeist - Move

And leave the damn TV

If money isn’t a big deal, and the haunting is contained to your house, most diplomatic thing you can do is just move, and sue your real estate agent.

Budget: Where do you want to live?

8. Insidious - Head to Astral Plane for showdown

Nana thinks you should visit more often!

But sometimes the spirits follow you - if that’s the case, take a page out Leigh Whannel’s script and fight them on their own turf. How bad ass is that? Of course hiring a team of professionals outfitted to arrange this astral projection might get pricey, unless you can find a groupon. Maybe The Ghost Busters would be cheaper.

Budget: I’m sure if they are pros the first consultation and assessment is free.

7. The Exorcist - Priest body bait and switch

Reading nautical statistics also helps to mellow them out

So less bloody than the labor intensive approach of The Evil Dead, and more legally viable, you could always just hire a single exorcist and hope they’ll bite the bullet for you. Rallying the demon into their body, and martyring themselves for the greater good, it might not cost you more than a window.

Budget: Put in some good community service for a discount.

6. The Shining - Get demons for your demons

Why hello Jack! You're my favorite customer!

Okay so this didn’t exactly happen in the movie or the book, but boy did Jack ever seem happiest when he was on the sauce. Why not just keep him drinking? If we’re taking a spirit that doesn’t allow the host to defy natural physics, why not just keep feeding them drinks? Be an enabler, and maybe you won’t get hurt! Look at how Jack was to that bartender!

Budget: The mini bar.

5. Beetlejuice - Say my name

There’s a lot of power in names. Sometimes the entity in question will have had movie-plot type boons worked out where you just need to say their name to summon or dismiss them. Just make sure you’re not dealing with Candy Man.

Budget: Asking is free!

4. Ghost - Just do what they want

I don't think he ever paid her back

Although this may prove to be a pain in the ass, if all the undead are looking for is revenge on their killer, or an erotic pottery session with their former lover, maybe it’s best to just let them wrap up business and move along peacefully.

Budget: Travel and incidental expenses.

3. Paranormal Activity - Accept your fate

The ghost free nights of videotaping must have been really tough on their relationship

Sometimes you’re just fucked. For whatever reason, you’ve pissed off the wrong ghost, and there’s not much you can do but let it slowly strangle you in your sleep. What are you so worried about? At least this proves there’s an afterlife! Just take it as it comes - if there’s no heaven waiting for you, then maybe you can haunt the hell out some of the ghost’s relatives. Pay it forward!

Budget: Whatever.

2. The Sixth Sense - Let them know they’re dead

Another moment missed by Cole Sear to end the movie earlier

Sometimes ghosts and general cinema going audiences alike tend to miss out on some of the most obvious details. Myself included. Have you told them that they’re dead yet?That might be all that’s needed to bring much needed clarity to their darkness.

Budget: Another free one, but it might come off as an insult to the majority of specters.

1. Child’s Play - Merchandising

($_$)

Okay so in this case, the possessing entity isn’t going anywhere. No matter how many times you blow up, burn or melt it, the doll that houses this demonic force is ironically rebuilt by the toy company, or resurrected by a friend. But let’s take a closer look at this picture: stalking you - you’ve got a walking, talking psychopathic doll. Don’t tell me there’s no money in that! Just get a nice big plexiglas aquarium for it, and feed it strips of bacon through a slot! Think of the cash you’d make on the youtube hits alone! Just keep the cameras rolling or your head might.

Budget: You make money!

Remember to check out Lovely Molly for perhaps a new way of dealing with evil spirits.

LOVELY MOLLY

Weds. Sept. 14, 11:59pm, RYERSON

Thurs. Sept. 15, 5:15pm, AMC 2

Sat. Sept. 17, 4:00pm, SCOTIABANK THEATRE 4

thesubstream.com Reviews Adam Wingard's You're Next

2011-09-11T12:31:00.000-04:00

There's just… something about a good horror-movie mask. It's a detail that can make or break a movie, all on its plastic lonesome. Good ones can be icons and totems, bad ones can make a 6'4" lumbering axe-wielding lunatic look like an idiot. The masks worn by the gang of bad dudes laying siege to a house full of family reunioners in Adam Wingard's You're Next - innocent, hyper-creepy animals' faces in cheap hard plastic - are fantastic. So is the film.

Crispian Davison (A.J. Bowen) is filled with trepidation he can't quite articulate to his new girlfriend Erin (Sharni Vinson) as they drive to his father's newly-purchased retirement villa deep in the dark, secluded woods. When we meet his asshole siblings, his flinty mother and cruel father, the source of his anxiety becomes clear. A reunion dinner turns almost immediately from tension to petty squabbling and from there into near chaos, which is again turned by Wingard and writer Simon Barrett into anarchy as the dinner is interrupted by a hail of judding crossbow bolts fired into the room through a broken window. The siege is on. Windows are locked, escape routes are planned, masked strangers loom and lurk and take the survivors out one by one.

The great surprise of the film, which sets itself up as an ensemble version of recent home-invasion movies like The Strangers or À l'intérieur, is that it's... funny. Amidst the chaos of creepy masks and bloody executions it's got a completely charming sense of humour, which is massively impressive, as the wrong joke at the wrong time could send the film's spinning plates of sibling rivalry, horror and building resolve all crashing down to the ground.

Instead, Wingard, Barrett and the cast sprinkle the proceedings with exactly the right amount of tiny, slapsticky moments and sidelong shots of Crispian's clueless brother lurching around the house zonked out on vicodin, unaware that he should be running and screaming.

It's not treacle-cutting humour either, used to manipulate the level of tension the film's producing. It's smart, character-based and tonally really clever. It helps film as it pretty elegantly transforms itself from siege-movie to scared-hunted-woman-turned-badass-hunter-woman as wee Erin steps up to turn the tables on her masked attackers.

The whole thing works. It's scary, it's funny and it's both based on solid performances, a good script, and really smart, well-done details like great costumes and snatches of a very good Georgio Moroder-y synth score (the unevenness of the score is the film's one technical shortfall but director Wingard has indicated there may be changes to come). It's clever, and it was made by people who have as much idea of how to craft a tense hallway encounter as they do how to avoid the potholes that lie in the road to making a film like this work. It's a pure, bloody pleasure.

More reviews and footage from all 10 Midnight Madness nights at thesubstream.com!

Midnight Madness 2011: A Year of Discovery

2011-09-11T11:33:00.000-04:00

The Hollywood Reporter has written a piece about the importance of the Midnight Madness program to film buyers and makers, and how this year's program has moved away from films with big stars in order to showcase new talents that are ready to be discovered by a larger audience.

Nate Bolotin of XYZ Films, the company behind Raid, agrees that debuting a film at a successful Midnight Madness screening, with its unique mix of industry players and film-friendly locals, is something that other genre festivals can’t provide.

“As a producer and a sales agent, making movies at a time where genres films continue to work, having a Midnight Madness presence is crucial," he says.

In fact, his company scheduled Raid’s shooting and post-production schedules, so it would be ready on time to be eligible to play the Toronto sidebar.

“We’re already strategizing what we can have next year,” he adds."

Read the full article here:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/toronto-2011-midnight-madness-sidebar-233746

The Intro/Q&A for THE RAID Opening Night

2011-09-10T20:53:00.000-04:00

The 2011 edition of the Toronto International Film started off with a BANG, another BANG okay many, many bangs, kicks, punches, a surprise appearance by co-festival director Cameron Bailey. ACTION, ACTION, ACTION and more ACTION, the night also marked the first ever Indonesian film to screen at the illustrious Midnight programme and introduced the world to new action superstar Iko Uwais! Oh and one the best give-aways ever from the Midnight stage.

Here is Sheleigh Bober and I's footage from one of the greatest opening nights of the Midnight Madness programme.

YOU'RE NEXT: A Gallery of Masked Villainy!

2011-09-10T19:16:00.000-04:00

You're Next premieres tonight at Midnight Madness and looks to be an amazing entry into the annals of masked villainy, creatively-masked villainy that is. One that sets a villain apart from a mere criminal is that sense of pananche.

Sterling Hayden had it with his creepy clown mask in Stanley Kubrick's ice cold 1956 heist movie, The Killing.

And say, that mask does look familiar...

Who me reference Kubrick?

The Town's heavies brought in a heavily armed elderly nun look.

Ave Maria, Motherfuckers.

Kathryn Bigelow's 1991 Point Break set a new standard in rubber masks, with bank robbers who even took the time to choose appropriate suits for each president.

Ex-Presidents often really come into their own after their term is over.

Andy Lau's Tok was clearly a fan in Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai's Fulltime Killer (2001)

And speaking of presidents, these aren't masks in Albert Hughes' Dead Presidents (1995), but the face paint is eerily striking.

The gentlemen executing the heist in Joseph Sargent's The Taking of Pelham One Two Three rely on the fake moustache, what old timey detective fiction called, "false whiskers." And dressing as men no one would ever notice is surprisingly effective in confusing investigators and victims alike. And they might even be stylish for 1974.

See how You're Next's masks stack up tonight!

YOU’RE NEXT screening times:

Sat., Sept. 10th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Mon., Sept. 12th, 6:30PM, AMC 7

Fri., Sept. 16th, 4:00PM, TIFF BELLLIGHTBOX 2

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 02: God Bless America!

2011-09-10T14:42:00.000-04:00

Bobcat Goldthwait directs a dark comedy about people who are mad as hell and aren't gonna take it anymore! Plus, our buddy Tom attends his first ever Midnight Madness. thesubstream.com's coverage of the best program of films at TIFF continues...

YOU'RE NEXT Premieres Tonight + Adam Wingard Speaks!

2011-09-10T10:42:00.000-04:00

The last time Adam Wingard had a movie at TIFF he inspired Bobcat Goldthwait to make God Bless America. What kind of madness will his new flick You're Next inspire? There's really only one way to find out and that is to be at the Ryerson tonight at midnight.

Adam also has a great five questions interview up over at filmmakermagazine.com. Here are a few highlights:

On twists in You're Next: ...we decided to make ours more of a fun ride, one that doesn’t punish its audience or take itself too seriously.

On directing directors Ti West and Joe Swanberg: It’s great; they both know what a pain in the ass making a movie can be so I felt a lot of empathy from them when the scenes were getting rough.

If you want to know more ask him yourself tonight at midnight!

YOU’RE NEXT
Sat., Sept. 10th, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Mon., Sept. 12th, 6:30PM, AMC 7
Fri., Sept. 16th, 4:00PM, TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 2

GOD BLESS AMERICA
Sun., Sept. 1tth, 1:30PM, AMC 6
Fri., Sept. 16th, 6:30PM, AMC 7

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness Review - THE RAID

2011-09-09T23:58:00.000-04:00

When Colin Geddes - TIFF programmer and one time originator of Toronto film-geek institution Kung Fu Fridays - selected an Asian martial arts film to open the Midnight Madness programme this year, clever heads took note. For the past few years Geddes has programmed either raucous Canadiana like 2010's opener Fubar 2 or huge-profile films like Borat or Jennifer's Body. So when that coveted slot is given over to a film that's square in his personal geek-out wheelhouse, you know you're likely gonna get something special.

Thankfully, Welshman Gareth Huw Evans' Indonesian action epic The Raid is that something special. It's a gnarly, frantic freakout launched on the flimsiest of premises - a team of SWAT-types (including star Iko Uwais) try and storm the castle of a local crimelord, who resides on the 15th floor of a decrepit building filled with assorted bad dudes and rude crudes itching to gain their boss' favour by delivering him a cop's head. There's fighting. A lot of it.

What makes the film work is the combination of the native Indonesian martial art (silat, which seems to have been designed to brutally answer questions like "why do kung fu guys flap around so much when they could just pick a dude up and smash his dome on the ground nine times?") frenetically and liberally applied by a talented performer, and a director who knows not only how to stage his intricate action pieces, but how to cut them together, as well.

It's delightfully old-fashioned, seeming to come from a distant much-loved time before the Jason Bourne movies turned the beloved genre institution of two dudes wailing on each other in a room into the confusing, nauseating shaky-cam action sequences that fill up too many mainstream action movies recently.

The film is divided into a series of discrete battles - my screening partner and I both individually were reminded of the Nintendo classic "Double Dragon" - each staged in a space whose dimensions are clear - no wobbly asymmetrical battlefields here.

The action is fast, furious, breath-taking and designed to be entertaining, to be the point, as it were, rather than stylish, confusing chaos. Which is a complicated way of not quite managing to say it's hilariously violent, fast and furious and innovative as hell in the ways that dudes get to dispatching each other. If you've ever liked a kung fu movie, you'll like this. As if my recommendation was worth a tenth of the maestro Geddes'.

Full coverage and reviews at www.thesubstream.com

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 01: The Raid!

2011-09-09T21:36:00.000-04:00

Last night was the opening night of TIFF's Midnight Madness program, and relatively speaking it was a pretty low-key affair, at least until the ass whippings started. Seems that programmer-genius Colin Geddes wants to do something a little different this year, and so far we've got to say that we're intrigued... To start things off he screened The Raid, an Indonesian martial arts film that featured non-stop kinetic action sequences, and yes, plenty of dudes getting kicked in the face. Check out our coverage of night one of MIDNIGHT MADNESS!

Full coverage and reviews at www.thesubstream.com

The Hitlist Raves about THE RAID

2011-09-09T19:58:00.000-04:00

James Rocchi reviews The Raid for The Hitlist:

There's humor here, and wit, and economy in every sense of the word -- it's hard to think of a needless shot or beat in The Raid, and it packs more action into a small number of sets in a limited location than Michael Bay can into an entire galaxy, or than Jason Statham can in all his globetrotting Transporting --but there's also back-breaking blows and six-minute long fights that clearly took two days to shoot and bad guys' heads being bounced off of a tile wall 8 times in a second and good guys getting atomized by punk kids who laugh as they pull the trigger.

Read more here.

Your last chance to see The Raid is tomorrow:

Sat., Sept. 10th, 12:15PM, AMC 2

Ian Goring's Photos From the Premiere of Gareth Evans' THE RAID!

2011-09-09T19:18:00.000-04:00

You've probably been hearing one of two things after last night's screening of The Raid:

1. "Wasn't that the ass-kickin'est movie you've seen in a decade? Do you remember that scene in which the lowlife gangster ate it in [insert hilariously unexpected death scene]??"

2. "You have to be the most idiotic person in the world for missing that [expletive deleted] screening!!!"

Since I actually attended the premiere last night, it's mostly been #1 for me. But if you want to get the tiniest taste of the electricity in the air last night, check out our intrepid photographer Ian Goring's pics from a film premiere that made Ong Bak look like friggin' Take This Waltz!

"Hmmm, I've gotten burned eating candy from strangers before but they look so tempting in the moonlight...."

They can take our 'yarrrrr's but they'll never take our free...I mean beach balls!

"YAHAHAHHAAHA! I drink your vests! I DRINK THEM UP!"

You can't see it, but this interpreter had a pencil sticking out of his neck THE ENTIRE TIME

"For realsies, we need to make this buddy cop movie happen. TIFF 2012, here we come!"

I hope that if you've learned anything at all from this post, it's that you NEED to go see this movie. Unluckily for you, though, you've only got one more chance. So beg, borrow, steal, and dropkick anything in your path to get to that screening.

And no, having part of a table leg sticking out of your neck isn't a valid excuse.

YOUR LAST CHANCE (is it getting through to you yet??) to see The Raid is:

Saturday, Sept 10 12:15pm AMC2

"Bobcat Goldthwait Talks Stand-Up and GOD BLESS AMERICA"

2011-09-09T17:57:00.000-04:00

SanDiego.com has an interview with Bobcat Goldthwait about God Bless America, the stand up comedy boom of the 80s and how if you're in a fight with "Bobcat Goldthwait" on Twitter, you're in a fight with a fake version of him.

What can you tell me about God Bless America?
Bobcat Goldthwait: It’s funny, the other day I showed it to my friends and I was really surprised that they were all kind of shocked by it. I think people think it’s a vigilante movie where this character goes out and starts killing reality stars. I mean that's a little part of it, but it’s also kind of about where are we going and the culture and basically the dumbest members of our society. Sometimes when I hear myself giving interviews I want to punch myself in the throat, because I’m like, ‘Really, this is the dude from Police Academy pontificating about where are we going as a society, blah, blah, blah.’

Well, I think a lot of people often forget how young you were when you filmed the Police Academy movies.
BG: Yeah, I was in my early 20’s when I did those movies, but I really didn’t know I’d be talking about this for the rest of my life, I think I probably would’ve worked harder.

[....]

What actors are you working with in God Bless America?
BG: It’s funny that we’re talking about Scrooged, because Joel Murray, who’s Bill’s brother is in it; Joel’s a very talented actor. The rest of the cast are people that we either found or are my friends. The young girl in the movie is named Tara Lynn Barr and she has been on a bunch of Disney shows, but I don’t think they’ll have her back on after this movie.

Make sure to click through for the rest of the interview.

God Bless America premieres tonight at Midnight Madness!

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Fri., Sept. 9th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Sun., Sept. 11th, 1:30PM, AMC 6

Fri., Sept. 16th, 6:30PM, AMC 7

THE INCIDENT Unofficial Create-A-Psycho Line Up Game!

2011-09-09T17:13:00.000-04:00

A MM movie about insanity needs an insane game! But this is all I had budget for!

You: Oh no! I’m in the rush line! Or I got here super early cuz I want great seats...bu-bu-but I’m surrounded by strangers!!! What do I do?!

Booming Voice: Wait!

You: No, I can’t wait and my phone’s dying, but I really wanna get into this movie! Aw gadzooks what am I gonna dooo!?

Booming Voice: Have you tried conversation?

You: Too awkward! But maybe... I need some kind of catalyst!

Booming Voice: And you don't have any good video games?

You: Well actually... (you start digging through your bag)

Booming Voice: Hey! Put that away! No glowy-looking electronic devices in the theatre!

You: But we're not in there yet-

The Booming Voice drones on:

What blows me away every year is how we have an endless supply of blood thirsty maniacs. Not that I’m particularly interested in vegan-thirsty maniacs or wire-haired maniacs or any other kinds of maniacs. But in this finite world of Google Plus vs Facebook, we still see newly textured and uncompromisingly psycho maniacs show up each year at midnight madness, and God bless em. The mass quantity of loonies this year? Those will soon be escaping from their maximum security cells in The Incident.

In another life I would have loved to have been a criminologist. Instead I’m settling for fiction. So to commemorate the incoming lunacy of “The Incident”, let’s reverse create our own fictional psycho... using my highly constrained and unrealistic parameters.

If any of you guys/gals were born before Playstation 2, or have ever played Dungeons and Dragons, you'll see that we’re gonna do this like an old school character sheet. So next time you snap, you will have a pre-made maniac persona ready for a killing spree -- that me or another Midnight Madness fiend can base their own movie off of. Or, maybe we can be more civil and make a game of it... for the lines!

With your tricked-out psycho, you can challenge other people in line for their spot (if you “iron man” it) Or maybe just your friends, because only about 98% of you are reading my articles.

Let’s break this down - I like to use a 6-sided die when I create new voices in my head, so let’s do it that way, and roll up a psycho!

Optional Rule: if your religion, ideology, or coolness factor prevent you from using dice, then just get someone nearby who is totally uninvested in what you’re doing to pick numbers from 1-6. We’ll call this person “Bob” for simplicity.

You will need:

A piece of paper (this next section hand copied (gah!) or printed (phew) on recycled paper only.

A single 6-sided die (I could have made it a 20 sided but I’m trying to be more commercial)

Pen

Bob (maybe)

You will not need:

Pride

Because it’s too dark to read character sheets in line (unless you put it on your smart phone, or have fire) We’ll keep this simple and just have 3 game play statistics:

They will be: The Voices, Back up Arteries, and Violence... all will start at 3 points!

Now toss some dice (or ask Bob) to decide the following five categories - circle whatever you roll, (or what Bob says) - and follow the instructions to add or subtract points from the relevant category.

So now we will travel through your character’s history to ultimately manifest them!

CHILDHOOD TRAUMA

1. Spent school nights locked in the shed (Voices +1)

2. Forced to recycle oatmeal (Back Up Arteries +1)

3. Had to eat own dog when camping trip went wrong (Voices +2)

4. Fetus originally diagnosed as a tumor (Violence +1)

5. Grandma had tentacles (Back Up Arteries +2)

6. Barbed wire teddy bear (Violence +3)

HIGH SCHOOL HIJINKS

1. Torture Porn stash seized by guidance councilor (Voices -1)

2. Dissected back log of rotted fetal pigs for extra credit (Voices +1)

3. Magnet of Jock fists (Back Up Arteries -1)

4. Self appointed Pastor in own Religion (Voices + 3)

5. Debate Club Initiation gone wrong, involving fire (Back Up Arteries + 2)

6. Voted most boring person in year book (Voices +1, Violence + 1)

CONTINUING (MIS)EDUCATION

1. Published a sprawling novel that no one noticed was a cry for help (Voices +1)

2. Escaped death row on a technicality (Violence -1)

3. Experimental surgery allowed early release from institute of criminally insane (Voices +3)

4. Leads double life as millionaire socialite (suspiciously inherited fortune) (all stats +1)

5. Survived horrific tractor trailer accident... need blood to survive (Back Up Arteries -1, Violence +3)

6. Legally dead (Back Up Arteries + 1)

MOTIVATION (aka Method Hacked-ing)

1. Giggle-y Sleepover parties are TOO LOUD! MAKE THEM STOP! (Voices +2)

2. Get revenge on the former owners of the Telepathic animals at the shelter (Voices +1)

3. Not a people person (Violence + 4, Voices - 3)

4. Ran out of coffee...after a life full of disappointments (Back Up Arteries +1)

5. Didn’t get top picks in TIFF lottery (all stats -2)

6. Midnight Madness made me do it (Violence + 5, Back Up Arteries +2)

CHOICE TOOL OF DISMEMBERMENT

1. Dull rusty razor blade for sentimental purposes (Violence +1)

2. Tooth picks dipped in Tetrodotoxin (Violence +2)

3. Ironic party favors themed after the nearest holiday (Voices +1)

4. Chainsaw dipped in glue then broken glass (Violence +3)

5. Own face dipped in glue then bucket of screws (Voices +2, Violence + 2)

6. Neural pathways carefully soldered directly to brain stem, resulting in super charged electric punches (Back Up Arteries +1, Violence +3)

So add up your stats, and pencil them in below!

Okay, now name your character, and draw them in the box below:

(copy -paste this carefully designed and unofficially sanctioned printable character sheet starting here)

HI, I'M A BLOOD THIRSY MANIAC CALLED:

*****************************

* *

*****************************

VIOLENCE:

THE VOICES:

BACK UP ARTERIES:

(character sheet ends)

Note: Try to draw them really bad ass looking, as this is the first way to intimidate your future opponents! Stick figures are encouraged... but make em detailed!

Okay, so to play, and potentially make a new friend in line, or just to generally embarrass yourself, what’s gonna happen is this - challenge your line mates to a "Battle of the Psychos."

To show you're available for challenge, put your Midnight Madness tickets in your left upper jacket pocket and fold on a 45 degree angle downwards. If you do not have a jacket pocket, simple hold the tickets folded the same way, in your left hand, high above your head. If this makes you uncomfortable, work it into a motion where you are pretending to scratch your face, so it looks a bit more natural.

When the challenge is accepted, you both roll 1 x 6 sided die, and add it to your “VIOLENCE” rating - so for this turn, it will be your attack rating.

Or, ask Bob to please pick another number.

Or! ... Paper rock scissors battle with your opponent. Winner gets +3 to their attack rating. Tie gives the player with a weaker original rating +8 to make things interesting.

If you are both still tied, do-over.

Whoever has a higher one will subtract 1 back up artery from the other player. If a six was rolled, an additional 1 point can be subtracted.

The winning roller must also verbally describe the successful attack for it to be valid - using at least 3 adjectives, or other extraneous details. No attack should ever use the same combination of adjectives, or it is invalid.

Eg: "My resentful serial killer stabs your reluctant axe murderer right in the ear with an ornate tuning fork that bends as he tries to pull it out. There's just a horrible amount of blood, and it will require professional steam cleaners to get out the carpet stains."

At any time, any contestant can expend up to 3 “Voices” points to add to their score to attempt to surpass an attack score discrepancy, simply by delicately whispering in your opponent's ear:

"I use (1-3) amount of voice(s)."

The player who runs out of Back Up Arteries first loses... until the sequel!

The winner gets 3 points to add to their statistics for future battles. (honor system)

Optional rule for hardcore players: The winner gets to pick one of the loser’s credit cards. You can also play for passports, or Pokemon cards.

Also... don’t cheat! It’s less fun. Unless you are playing for credit cards.

Disclaimer: This game is not approved by anyone. Participate at your own risk.

Sam is that you?

Continuing my obsession with bad guys... Look out for a probable baker’s dozen of homicidal psychopahts (or likely MORE!) in The Incident.

THE INCIDENT

Mon. Sept. 12th, 11.59pm, RYERSON

Fri. Sept 16th 3:15pm, SCOTIABANK THEATRE 3

Sun Sept 18 9:45pm, SCOTIABANK THEATRE 2

GOD BLESS AMERICA Musical Interlude: Bonnie et Clyde

2011-09-09T15:20:00.000-04:00

God Bless America premieres tonight and nothing says cross-country spree like Bonnie and Clyde, or as Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot have it, "Bonnie et Clyde. "

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Fri., Sept. 9th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Sun., Sept. 1tth, 1:30PM, AMC 6

Fri., Sept. 16th, 6:30PM, AMC 7

Intro & Q&A from THE RAID

2011-09-09T06:45:00.000-04:00

Didn't I tell you to get tickets to the World Premiere of the The Raid? Not only did you miss a surprise visit from Colin Geddes' Boss TIFF Co-Director Cameron Bailey but you also missed a pretty spirited Q&A. Check out the intro and Q&A videos below where you'll learn about the types of injuries sustained making The Raid, the backgound of some of the actors, and how long it takes to film some of the most jaw-droppingly badass fight scenes ever filmed.

THE RAID screening time

Sat., Sept. 10th, 12:15PM, AMC 2

Another Shot of YOU'RE NEXT Street Art

2011-09-09T00:09:00.000-04:00

A day time shot of promotional street art for You're Next. A lot easier to find now.

YOU’RE NEXT

Sat., Sept. 10th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Mon., Sept. 12th, 6:30PM, AMC 7

Fri., Sept. 16th, 4:00PM, TIFF BELLLIGHTBOX 2