Vanishing on 7th Street. The Return of Brad Anderson to MM.

Thursday, August 14th, 2003 is a date that you may not recall until I mention the word blackout. At 4:11pm that day the lights went out affecting ten million people in Ontario and fifty five million people in eight U.S. states. There was traffic chaos, fear of the unknown, was it an act of terrorism? There was fun, drinking warm beer on bar patios, free ice cream but as the night waned and I continued to walk through the darkened streets of Toronto I began to see the look of primal fear in some people eyes and it scared me. Electricity is the very life blood of our modern society and that night it had disappeared and as the darkness continued the fragility of our civilization never seemed more open, more exposed. In a word it was chilling.

Where am I going with this?

Brad Anderson returns to the midnight madness programme for the third time with his latest feature, Vanishing on 7th street.

The film starts with a world wide blackout causing most of the human race to disappear, as the days continue there are fewer daylight hours. The world is slowly plunging into darkness. The film focuses on a group of survivors, Luke (Hayden Christensen), Paul (John Leguizamo), Rosemary (Thandie Newton) and James (Jacob Latimore). This premise in the hands of director Brad Anderson has me very excited.

There is a common thread between Brad's first two midnight outings. Session 9 in 2001 and The Machinist in 2004. He is a director that is quite skilled at working with actors to achieve brilliant performances, whether it directing the great ensemble cast of Session 9 or working with Christian Bale and his remarkable transformation in The Machinist. Mr Bale last 63 pounds in a matter of months and weighed only 121 pounds. Vanishing has Mr. Anderson working with Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo once again it seems Brad and his team have put together a great cast and to watch them work with this material is what going to the movies is all about.

Here is the trailer for Vanishing on 7th Street.



Vanishing on 7th Street screens:
Sunday, Sept 12th. 11:59pm Ryerson
Monday, Sept 13th. 2:00pm AMC 2

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

A Tasty Mix of Violence & Food

I haven't even seen The Butcher, The Chef and The Swordsman and I'm already hungry.

And I can tell I'm going to be even hungrier after seeing the movie. I've been here before, driven to my favorite restaurants for char siu bao, shredded duck soup or scallops and ho fan with black bean sauce first by double bills at the old Golden Classics (now the new Toronto Underground Cinema), then after Kung Fu Fridays and now by 2am cravings after Midnight Madness or cruelly delicious daytime TIFF flicks like Johnnie To's Vengeance, Mad Detective and Exiled. (Oh, Johnnie To, why are your films so filled with cool guys cooking such yumminess?)

Whether it's the feast the Triad brothers share in Johnnie To's The Mission (Midnight Madness, 2000) or the chopstick battle over the perfect chicken leg in Yuen Woo-Ping's Iron Monkey, Chinese genre movies mix two of my favorite things: violence and food.

It doesn't help that nearly every kung fu movie has a “tavern fight,” which is really code for “fight in a place where people drink tea and eat delicious looking snacks, oh my god, I need soup dumplings and a plate of spice and salt squid...” The hunger pangs are even worse with movies based around cooking and food like Kung Fu Chefs, starring Midnight Madness star Sammo Hung Kam-Bo, who also played on of Wong Fei-Hong's most famous disciples, the eponymous butcher of The Magnificent Butcher.

So get ready to get hungry with The Butcher, The Chef and The Swordsman. It looks positively dangerous, with a mix of delicious action, comedy and just plain deliciousness.

Make your post-screening noodle house, barbecue joint and seafood restaurant plans now. And, if you already have a plan at the ready, help out fellow festivaleros by sharing your favorite places and dishes in the comments.

Just writing this is making me hungry. I'm not even sure that watching The Untold Story: Human Meat Roast Pork Buns could put me off pork buns right now.

The Butcher, The Chef and The Swordsman screening times:

Thursday, Sept. 16. 11:59pm Ryerson.

Friday, Sept. 17. 6:30pm AMC 6

Saturday, Sept. 18. 3:30pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

You can purchase tickets at the main TIFF site.

Colin Geddes Zombiefied!

Our fearless Midnight Madness programmer has invited his fair share of zombie films to TIFF over the years, but have you ever wondered what Colin would look like as one of the undead?

Well, wonder no further.

In March, Colin and some of members of Toronto's Zombie walk, led by the always shambling and swell Thea Munster, were featured in a promo for Survival of the Dead promo. Being a zombie for a day? Along side the master of the zombie film, George A. Romero? Not a bad way to spend the afterlife!

Here is the promo video for Survival of the Dead:

Twitter Madness

With over 145 million users, it's safe to say that Twitter's a pretty big deal. So it makes sense that filmmakers are using it to their advantage in promoting their films, and interacting with their fans. Some of the films playing Midnight Madness this year use Twitter A LOT, so here's some people you should be following if you want to stay as up to date on Midnight Madness as possible. Who did I miss? A lot, I know. Add to the list by posting a comment.

Fubar II
Dean Murdoch - Character

Super
The number of people involved with Super that are on Twitter is a little overwhelming. Here's just a sampling...
James Gunn - Writer/Director
Rainn Wilson - Actor
Michael Rooker - Actor/Serial Killer
Nathan Fillion - Actor
Ted Hope - Producer
Tyler Bates - Composer
Sheri Davani - First Assistant Director

Ted Hope has compiled a Super Twitter List which follows the tweets of 46 (!!!) members from the cast and crew.

Bunraku
Woody Harrelson - Actor
Demi Moore - Actress
Emily Kaiho - Actress
Josh Hartnett - Actor (He hasn't tweeted a single tweet though.)
Keith Calder - Producer

Vanishing on 7th Street
Hayden Christensen - Actor (There are a zillion accounts claiming to be Hayden. Take your pick!)
John Leguizamo - Actor

Also, if of interest, here's a Twitter list of all the Midnight Madness bloggers, made by Carol.

Will Miike Save Samurai Movies?

Via Chris MaGee's fine Toronto J-Film Powow, Al-Jazeera reports that interest in samurai / jidai-geki / chanbara films are waning and the martial arts performers who have played them in historical epics are being hit as hard as samurai during the Meiji Restoration as they go from performing in massive battle to amusement park theatricals. Read Chris' post and watch the report here.

Will Takashi Miike save samurai cinema? It sure looks like it as he graduates from Midnight Madness to Master with 13 Assassins.

13 Assassins screening times:

Tuesday, Sept. 14. 6:00pm Ryerson
Thursday, Sept. 16. 2:00pm AMC 2
Sunday, Sept. 19. 6:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 1

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

GACKT FACTS

His name is simply GACKT. Legally, that’s what it is now; like Prince or Madonna-- he’s a single named icon.

[Edit: Since 2009, all caps GACKT. Sorry Dears for my initial oversight! The web coverage is misleading, as I encountered instances of both]

When I told my wife (who happens to be Japanese) that he was going to be coming to TIFF for Bunraku, she exclaimed “GACK-TO?!” As it goes, her mom is also a huge fan, in fact, he’s got quite the fan base.

GACKT is a huge superstar in Japan, and is a growing sensation overseas.

Here's a crash course.

GACKT:

He is an artist in every sense of the word; writer, multi instrumental musician, vocalist, artist, record producer. He’s an extremely accomplished musician with eight studio albums, six compilation albums and many popular singles.

He’s also a movie star, having had roles in the films Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders Vs Dai-Shocker (which he also did the theme song for), and the 2003 film Moon Child (which he also co-wrote)

His songs have appeared in films and video games; to the extent of providing narration and having the main character modeled after him with Bujingai.

His fans are collectively dubbed “Dears”... and now they have their own credit card.

Has a beautiful waterfall in his house, and once a crew member fell in.

He is extremely passionate about preserving the Japanese language, especially the traditional feminine components (In Japanese there are both male and female ways of saying things) ; beyond this he is a self professed “language and voice fetishist”.

He is a huge fan of Gundam, and did a theme song for the anime.

He teams up with Josh Hartnett on a violent quest for revenge as a samurai with his first North American role in Bunraku.

GACKT "Ghost" Music Video (this song was used for the Japanese version of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)

GACKT "The Next Decade" Music video:

Come and witness the legend that is GACKT as he graces the red carpet for Bunraku.

Bunraku Screening times:

Saturday, Sept. 11. 11:59pm Ryerson

Tuesday, Sept 14. 10:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

Friday, Sept 17. 5:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

The music of RED NIGHTS!

Red Nights is looking to be one of the sexiest movies ever to grace the screen at Midnight Madness. Adding to that atmosphere is a sinister, sultry soundtrack by Seppuku Paradigm, who are best-known for doing the soundtracks to not one, but two previous Midnight Madness selections - Pascal Laugier's 2008 shocker Martyrs and the 2007 sci-fi horror film Eden Log.

If you want to find out what it's like to be seduced by Carrie Ng...well, you're probably out of luck, but take a listen to the soundtrack anyhow. The music is thick, layered, and sexy as hell with twinges of film noir throughout. Just perfect for eviscerating someone with your jade fingernails!

Turn your speakers up and get your freak on, freaks!

Red Nights screening times:
Wednesday, Sept. 15. 11:59pm Ryerson
Friday, Sept. 17. 2:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
Sunday, Sept. 19. 5:45 Scotiabank Theatre 11

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

SHORT, SWEET, AND DEADLY – TIFF’S OFFBEAT CANADIAN SHORT FILMS

The short film programmes at TIFF are a really great way to introduce yourself to filmmakers of the future. Films like District 9 and this year’s TIFF selection Rare Exports both got their start as short films, and shorts are an excellent avenue for filmmakers to get their work out there without necessarily producing a feature. If your appetite for awesome shorts has been whetted by Legend of Beaver Dam, there are some really amazing Canadian shorts lined up and if you, for some crazy reason, can’t make it to a Midnight screening, don’t have the attention span required to endure an entire feature, or just want to see some fresh new talent at the Festival, give these films a look.

Firas Momani has created a striking, haunting piece with The Adders Bite, which won the prize for Best International Short at this years Fantasia Festival in Montreal. Like the best of David Lynchs work, Adders Bite shows the dark, sometimes-oozing underbelly of a seemingly normal setting - in this case, a public pool. The aesthetic is somewhere between that of Dark City and Christopher Smith’s Creep, with lots of black, blue, and pale white and oozing, Alien-esque visuals. The depictions of the creatures and their prey are truly stunning, and their craftsmanship is reminiscent of the creatures often found in the films of Guillermo del Toro. I think any self-respecting Midnight freak would absolutely love this, and I really hope to see Momani at the helm of a feature soon.

In Kire Paputtes Animal Control, we are introduced to an amateur surgeon and taxidermist named Larry who falls in love with one of his failed projects - an adorable puppy. Think of this as a graphic Marley and Me with some of the best home surgery and taxidermy I’ve ever seen depicted onscreen. The story is absolutely heartbreaking and the awesome Julian Richings, a bona fide legend in film and television with credits that include everything from Hard Core Logo (Bucky Haight FTW!) to X-Men 3, turns in a riveting performance with almost no dialogue. Animal lovers should definitely check this out, provided that they’re also lovers of seeing those animals eviscerated, stuffed, and put on display.

Nadia Litz is one of my favourite Canadian actresses, playing an anarchist wannabe alongside Don McKellar and the late Tracy Wright in the 2006 TIFF selection Monkey Warfare and also in 2008’s Blindness. This year, Litz makes her directorial debut in the awesomely-and aptly-titled How to Rid Your Lover of A Negative Emotion Caused By You!, guaranteed to be the most twisted little date movie you're likely to see this year. This is a simple two-character piece with the heart of a genre film lying just beneath. Dennis and Sadie are a couple that can't talk to each other. Instead of confronting their issues, Sadie uses a...unique method of ridding Dennis of his negativity. The less I say about this film the better, but suffice to say that any fan of French new-wave horror would be extremely satisfied with this. A great debut from Litz, who I think will truly be a force in Canadian film - both in front of and behind the camera - for years to come.

Shorts like these are a great way to get in in on the ground floor and become a fan of a filmmaker before he or she hits it big, or just to see a bite-sized bit of awesomeness from an established figure in film. Any of these shorts will be a perfect appetizer – even if you won’t necessarily have an appetite afterwards – for this year’s Midnight Madness selections, so get out there and support these Canadian filmmakers and their projects that, like Legend of Beaver Dam, may end up at the ‘main event’ in the years to come.

The Adders Bite plays in Short Programme 3

Sunday September 12 2:30PM JACKMAN HALL- AGO
Monday September 13 4:00PM JACKMAN HALL- AGO

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

Animal Control plays in Short Programme 6
Wednesday September 15 9:00PM TIFF Bell LightBox 2
Friday September 17 2:45PM JACKMANHALL- AGO

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

How to Rid Your Lover of A Negative Emotion Caused By You! plays in Short Programme 1
Friday September 10 9:15PM ISABEL BADER THEATRE
Saturday September 11 1:00PM JACKMAN HALL- AGO

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

poster for RED NIGHTS

How... hot... is... this...


Red Nights screening times:
Wednesday, Sept. 15. 11:59pm Ryerson
Friday, Sept. 17. 2:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
Sunday, Sept. 19. 5:45 Scotiabank Theatre 11

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

If you haven't seen Fubar...

The Toronto Underground Cinema is giving Torontonians two opportunities to see the original Fubar on the big screen before seeing its sequel, Fubar II opens Midnight Madness on September 9th.

The original Fubar screens tomorrow, September 3rd at 7:00PM, and on September 7th at 9:00PM.

In the coming days, they're also screening films by Werner Herzog, Danny Boyle, and Errol Morris in anticipation for their new films that are premiering at TIFF. Screening as well is Terrence Malick's The New World, to help ease the pain of Tree of Life not being ready in time for the festival.

Tickets at the Toronto Underground Cinema cost just $8, so take your empties back to the beer store and get yourself down to the theatre.

Fubar II screens:
Thursday, September 9. 11:59PM Ryerson (THE REAL OPENING NIGHT GALA!!)
Saturday, September 11. 12:00PM Varsity 8

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

Bunraku: "A Tremendous Amount of Fights"

Every weekend midnight screening I've ever attended has been a packed house and this year will be no different. Bunraku has something for everyone: a world premiere with a cast full of A-listers, genre favorite Ron Perlman, Japanese Superstar Gackt in his first American feature, and Inaugural ActionFest Best Fight Choreographer Award winner Larnell Stovall.

Personally, I’m showing up to see 20+ fights Stovall choreographed for this flick. You read that right over 20 fights! With a runtime of 118 minutes that averages out to 1 fight every 6 minutes, I knew my math skill would come in handy on this blog.

Latino Review has a great interview with Larnell about working on Undisputed III: Redemption and Bunraku, planning his fights, dealing with injuries, and some of his upcoming projects.

Check out the interview here Bunraku Screening times:

Saturday, Sept. 11. 11:59pm Ryerson
Tuesday, Sept 14. 10:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
Friday, Sept 17. 5:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

Midnight Madness Now On iTunes!

Too excited to wait for the Madness to come? Cool your fevered mind with some Madness past. The amazing Sandy Hunter, a long time Midnight Madness fan, has set up a Midnight Madness page at iTunes with “a solid slab o madness factored in.” 28 MM classics from Candyman to Chocolat offer sweet relief!

Follow the link to the Midnight Madness iTunes page or go here for the TIFF iTunes page. (These might only work in the iTunes Canada store).

Thanks, Sandy!

The Film That Got Away

It seems as though some longtime Midnight Madness attendees have been flooding Midnight Madness programmer, Colin Geddes' inbox lately with angry e-mails. Why? Because a film that they all expected to be screening at the festival this year, won't be.

Film festival audiences are so savvy these days, and sometimes after reading rave reviews of certain films playing at one festival or another, they just assume that the film will be screening at their big hometown festival. Colin said that he couldn't go into the details of why this film wasn't playing at TIFF this year, but wants to assure you that after the way the Midnight Madness audience responded to Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django... He's heartbroken to have not been able to include it in the program.

Every year, if you ask a film programmer if they have a "film that got away", they'll look at you with sad eyes and tell you about the films that they loved but couldn't program.

This year's film that got away was...

Pour a 2L of Faygo for all your disappointed Juggalos.

Red Lips and Cold Blood

Red Nights might be Carrie Ng Ka-Lai's first giallo, but it isn't her first foray into sexy thrillers, let alone murderous ones with plenty of kink.

For over a decade, she appeared in Hong Kong's category III films and while she wasn't always the lead, she made every one she was in with stylish, menacing sangfroid and red, red lipstick.

Carrie Ng started her career in television for Hong Kong's TVB studios, playing the other woman. But she broke type with her first film role in Ringo Lam's City on Fire, playing the girlfriend to Chow Yun-Fat's undercover policeman. And she's starred in a wide variety of films—from kung fu comedy with a very young Donnie Yen and romances to high quality women in prison films, and a remarkable number of films with “angel," "naked" or “killer” in the English title. Those can be traced to one of the two films she's probably best known for in Midnight Madness circles: Naked Killer, a Midnight Madness pick back in 1994, and Sex and Zen. Both are category III films, a designation that Hong Kong Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority uses for films with extreme violence, graphic sex or some combination thereof and that prohibit the admission of anyone under 18.

In Naked Killer, Ng plays lesbian assassin, Princess, who is part of a fashion forward hit team targeting rapists and takes a shine to Chingmy Yau's Kitty. The film features frequent category III star and Midnight Madness favorite Simon Yam Tat-Wah as a cop who's a rival for Kitty's affections. Carrie Ng plays Lady Ku in Sex and Zen, a graphically sexual wuxia comedy. Or maybe comedic erotica in a wuxia setting. Regardless of what else Sex and Zen might be, it's lovely and funny and has the best porn plot, production values and setting ever.

Carrie Ng also starred in, Remains of a Woman, the first category III film to receive Taiwan's Golden Horse Award. It won Best Actress for her performance. (And might well have opened the way for another MM favorite, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang to win a Hong Kong Film Award for his performance in the category III film, The Untold Story). Ng has been nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards seven times, including once for Remains of a Woman, and won Best Supporting Actress for The Kid in 2000.

Red Nights marks Carrie Ng's return to film after 8 years. It'll be something to see.

Red Nights screening times:
Wednesday, Sept. 15. 11:59pm Ryerson
Friday, Sept. 17. 2:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 2
Sunday, Sept. 19. 5:45 Scotiabank Theatre 11

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.

Fire of Conscience: A New Kind of Violence

Hong Kong is a breeding ground for action masters. Wilson Yip, John Woo, Johnny To; I'm only scratching the surface. What's interesting about these names, is that they all do it very differently. With Dante Lam's Fire of Conscience, my eyes were opened to a very unique new style of action.

It's not particularly slick, there's no slow motion, and absolutely no moments of glorified heroism. When people get killed in FOC this becomes an ironic abbreviation because that's what I'm saying. It's a cacophony of unrepentant realism. It's raw with a bitter after taste. Salty. And for savory action fans, you're in for a treat.

To directly compare it to the rough and tumble style of modern American Actioners like The Bourne Identity series or even the new James Bond films would do it a disservice. While these movies rely on urgent hand held cameras following the kinetics, Fire of Conscience still feels very Hong Kong in its incendiary explosiveness. Nothing feels staged, and you are never put in a position to watch the action from a pretty angle. Rather, the violence washes over you like a tidal wave. And "pretty" really isn't the right word for what you see. More like "badass".

When trying to sum it up the feel of the movie, the words that kept coming to my mind were "Worst case scenario" action scenes.

In Fire of Conscience; survival precedes reflection, but you better believe everyone involved is leaving the gun fight with the same baggage. It's all instinct on this battle field, and only the most callused and jaded warriors stand a chance; and no fight leaves anyone unscathed. Except maybe you, on the other side of the screen.

Check out Dante Lam's magnum opus!

Screening times:

Saturday, Sept 18. 11:59 PM Ryerson

Sunday Sept 19. 3:00PM Scotiabank Theare 11

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website