Midnight Madness Blog

- 2008
- 2007
Archival footage
Chocolate Intro & Q&A;
Two Girls, One Movie
CITYNews Does Midnight Madness
J.T. Petty Holding A Large Dog!
Before the Bargin Bin There Was BloodSport

Biography
Blogging By The Numbers
Movie Theatre Memories
Geeking Out At Not Quite Hollywood (warning: Leprechaun inside)
"He has his own music"

Celebrities
JCVD's New Film - "FULL LOVE"
Sexykiller and The Horror Mashup
Who is Macarena Gómez?
Meet The Ladies Of Martyrs
JCVD, JT and the "Re-Emergence" Film

Cinematography
Orphans - The Lost Films of Midnight Madness 2008
FLASH POINT: Who is Donnie Yen?

Directors
JCVD's New Film - "FULL LOVE"
Sexykiller and The Horror Mashup
Genre Down Under: An Email Roundtable
"The Burrowers" Joins Revisionist Canon
"Ozploitation": A Model for Canada?

Distribution
"Ozploitation": A Model for Canada?
Deposit More Coins!
So THAT's How Much a Zombie Costs...
MM Flashback: ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE

Free Speech
THE CIRCUIT - Film Festival Reviews From Space
Conversation From The Line Reaction to Deadgirl
In The Rush Line For JCVD

Humour
Love and Madness
"He has his own music"
Training like a MADMAN!!!
We Love You Too, Suzie.

Memories
Midnight Madness: Year One
Day Ten
Sexykiller and The Horror Mashup
More Conversations From The Line
Detroit Metal City and Japanese Duality

Music
Cue Theme Music
What's That Sound?

Panels
Devil's Chair video
Sukiyaki opening!

Parties
The Burrowers Intro & Q&A;
Deadgirl Intro & Q&A;
Detroit Metal City Intro & Q&A;
JCVD Intros & Q&As;
Flash Point: no longer just an overlooked Rolling Stones live album

Picks
Tear the roof off the suckah
What to doin the event a giant bouncing, squeezing baby eyeball attacks your city
And now for something completely different...
And that was the best beating I've ever seen
Catch That Rave!

Politics
"Ozploitation": A Model for Canada?
Detroit Metal City and Japanese Duality
Horror as a Political Platform

War & Conflict
Detroit Metal City and Japanese Duality

Filtered by Topic: Picks
September 16, 2021
Tear the roof off the suckah
Posted By Shane McNeil At 8:11 PM
File under: Picks
Well, at least now we know that Colin would never lie to us. Inside delivered on all fronts, making us laugh, flinch, scream, cheer and generally be glad we don't have a uterus (ok, maybe that last one was just me). The crowd got into it early and often, amazing directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury from minute the first with the beachball antics.  I think a little piece of Julien's heart was broken when that sad, deflated beachball was thrown at his feet.  We spoiled a good thing just then,...

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September 15, 2021
What to doin the event a giant bouncing, squeezing baby eyeball attacks your city
Posted By Shane McNeil At 12:02 PM
File under: Picks
We were taught a great many lessons by Mastumoto last night in Dainipponjin, and I plan to outline just a few of them.  For anyone who missed out, you're just a plain chump.  I'm tired of being nice.  We've warned everyone how awesome these last few screenings are going to be, and by now you should just know to show up.  Don't give me that, that's no excuse. Dainipponjin taught us that the male nipple does have magical and...

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September 14, 2021
And now for something completely different...
Posted By Shane McNeil At 3:59 PM
File under: Picks
... some actual press.  My apologies to those who don't get tone, but my Sukiyaki Western Django round-up was entirely fictional.  Hard to believe that publications like "Japanese Western Quarterly", "Feathers of Fancy" and "Bow and Arrow! Magazine" don't exist, I know... but that's just the sad world we live in. First off, the program itself continues to get nice over-arching summations in the mainstream press which, after 20 years, is a nice bit of recognition.  Time and Reuters both gave us nice little write-ups, which are presently getting copied and...

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And that was the best beating I've ever seen
Posted By Shane McNeil At 9:01 AM
File under: Picks
OK, maybe not ever, but Flash Point really delivered in the beat-down category.  Seriously, that last half-hour was totally rad.  First off, here's the video from last night, courtesy of my own personal Jesus, Sanjay Rajput.  The Intro is above, the Q&A below. Second, From the sounds of your reactions Donnie Yen is, in fact, the new black.  And, from the sounds of what Wilson Yip said about working with him he a) totally knows it and b) really loves that his job is to beat the holy hell out of everyone. It's pretty refreshing that given...

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September 12, 2021
Catch That Rave!
Posted By Shane McNeil At 9:50 AM
File under: Picks
Rarely these days can people come to a wide consensus on anything.  Especially when it comes to critical thought, there are too many factors in play for discerning minds to completely agree on anything.  This is particularly true in film. Too many elements go into filmmaking for every critic to agree on a film's merits and only three films in cinematic history have so captured hearts and minds alike:  Citizen Kane, Breathless and now... Sukiyaki Western Django! The reviews have been pouring in all day and they are nothing...

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September 11, 2021
Give Us All The Chair!
Posted By Shane McNeil At 9:15 AM
File under: Picks
Well, it's time to sing our daily hymn of praise to the good people at Bloody Disgusting for providing us with yet more exclusive footage and goodies.  They're really making it difficult for everyone in town to NOT want to see The Devil's Chair when they keep throwing treasures like the Mason blog and this 5-minute clip our way. This from the exclusive Bloody Disgusting Review: "Mason and Boyes have truly proven they are forces to reckon with as THE DEVIL’S CHAIR is more a work of art than an actual...

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September 10, 2021
Do Androids Dream of Electronica?
Posted By Shane McNeil At 12:01 PM
File under: Picks
 “Androids can’t behave irrationally.  It just doesn’t make any sense.”  Yet somehow, they did, and it was sooooo sweet.   The Madness got ratcheted up a notch last night with our screening of Sori’s Anime odyssey, Vexille.   This may have been the most tame of our programme in terms of gore, guts and creep factor- but it is the early odds-on favourite for the loudest film we’re going to show.  Colin said during the intro that this was a film he saw at...

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September 8, 2021
Bloody Disgusting Devil's Chair Bonanza
Posted By Shane McNeil At 1:41 PM
File under: Picks
The good folks at Bloody Disgusting have really outdone themselves this time! They're running a package of publicity and reviews surrounding our upcoming screening of Devil's Chair on Wednesday night. They've got a bunch of material from director Adam Mason, including an ongoing blog and a Podcast with co-writer Simon Boyes. Do give it a look, as it's always great to hear about the films directly from their makers and this one looks like it'll slay (sorry, really sorry 'bout that pun). In addition to the bonus materials, they...

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September 5, 2021
What's the Buzz? Midnight Madness Starts Tomorrow!
Posted By Midnight Madness Blog Reporter At 1:23 PM
File under: Picks
The buzz is building for Midnight Madness ’07, which is now just one thrilling day away!  There’s been lots of name-dropping and anticipation going around in the press and online.  Here’s a tasty little sample platter of what people have been saying.   Christopher Bales has been raving about the line-up in The Toronto Star and on his blog Crunchy Squirrel goes to Toronto.  He listed Diary of the Dead AND Dainipponjin among his three top picks for this year.  He also gave us all a...

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August 20, 2021
ick! Bloody-Disgusting.com picks!
Posted By Colin Geddes At 10:54 PM
File under: Picks
Having fun contacting fans about what films they are hyped about in this years Midnight Madness line-up and I think we will soon have a clear image of what the most anticipated faves will be. Chiming on this round is Brad Miska, the Editor in Chief of Bloody-Disgusting.com, your one stop on the web for breaking news on horrific flickers on the big screen and the small screen. Top three films: 3: THE MOTHER OF TEARS: A have a dream... to see Dario Argento return to his finest! Early footage indicates that "The...

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BOO! the picks from Fright Fest!!!
Posted By Colin Geddes At 10:35 PM
File under: Picks
The Prince Charles Cinema - home to FrightFest!Favourite picks for this year's Midnight Madness are coming in from around the globe! This choice is from a dear personal friend and a strong supporter of the series - Paul McEvoy, who along with Greg Day, Ian Rattray and UK horror journalist Alan Jones, is one of the brains behind FrightFest in London which runs August 23 - 27. In the area - you must go! This year's line-up includes BLACK SHEEP, a sneak peak at DOOMSDAY by the director of THE DESCENT, HATCHET,...

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August 17, 2021
FLASH POINT: Who is Donnie Yen?
Posted By Colin Geddes At 2:05 PM
File under: Cinematography, Celebrities, Picks
So I have been a long time fan of Hong Kong action films and one of the names that often gets slipped when talking about  heavy hitters like Jackie Chan and Jet Li is Donnie Yen, the star and action director of FLASH POINT directed by Wilson Yip. Sure there are other dudes who look good with the fists on camera like Sammo Hung (a true heavy hitter!), Yuen Biao, Billy Chow and others, but over the past few years, Donnie Yen has been working back and forth as both star and...

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August 16, 2021
Scott Weinberg's picks and BLACK SHEEP red carpet!
Posted By Colin Geddes At 2:08 PM
File under: Picks
One of the most prolific film critics and movie bloggers in the known universe, Scott Weinberg is a proud scrawler for websites such as Cinematical, eFilmCritic, Rotten Tomatoes, and FEARnet. He's presently serving his third term on the Governing Committee of the Online Film Critics Society, is a frequent helper to (and enthusiastic supporter of) SXSW and Austin Fantastic Fest. Being as how he lives to see any movie that can be described using the words "horror" and "flick," I thought it was only fitting to ask for his top picks for...

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August 15, 2021
MM picks from twitchfilm.net's Todd Brown
Posted By Colin Geddes At 1:38 PM
File under: Picks
Todd Brown, the founder and editor of the fabulous film resource twitchfilm.net and a programmer for Fantasia, Toronto After Dark and The Austin Fantastic Fest, has sent us his top three picks from this year's Midnight Madness line-up. Both Todd and I were in Cannes where we got to view many of the contenders for our respective fests, so Todd is weighing in on the ones that he "hasn't" seen (I have linked to the reviews of the ones he has seen).I really should preface this by saying that Colin’s asked me to...

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August 13, 2021
THEY WAIT: Chinese Canadian Frights in Canada First?
Posted By Colin Geddes At 5:59 PM
File under: Picks
Over at the Canadian Film Programmes Blog, my fellow TIFF programmer Jesse Wente has posted an interview with director Ernie Barbarash about his film THEY WAIT, selected in the Canada First programme. There seems to be some back and forth about whether or not THEY WAIT is a bonafide "horror film", but I can attest to some jumps from the ghosts that inhabit the story when I got a chance to watch it. Plus, being a keen fan of classic Hong Kong kung fu films, I was delighted to see actress Cheng Pei-pei in the film's cast. Popular from...

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a sneak peek at VEXILLE
Posted By Colin Geddes At 5:18 PM
File under: Picks
Fumihiko Sori's VEXILLE seems to be getting the attention of many, even those outside the realm of anime fandom. I have to admit I am not an avid follower of anime series and manga, preferring to see works intentionally made for the big screen like GHOST IN THE SHELL, PAPRIKA, etc. That said, when working at Toronto's Suspect video which was one of the first places in the city that stocked anime, I did manage to get a handle on the popular and influential series like PERFECT BLUE, RANMA and NEON GENESIS...

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August 12, 2021
MM Flashback: ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE
Posted By Colin Geddes At 4:42 PM
File under: Distribution, Directors, Picks
Over the course of the days leading up to Midnight Madness 2007, I've asked some of the directors who have had films debut in the series to send us their reflections and memories of being in TIFF. First up we have Jonathan Levine, director of ALL THE BOYS OF MANDY LANE, a sleeper hit of 2006, although I don't remember the leggy supermodels and drugs the night we went to Ted's Collison before the Fest started... "The night my movie ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE screened at Midnight Madness...

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July 31, 2021
The final two Midnight Madness titles revealed!
Posted By Colin Geddes At 1:25 PM
File under: Picks
At last! I am free to openly blab about all TEN films in the this year's Midnight Madness line-up! Fresh off the wire comes this release, grouped in with the eight titles announced in Vanguard ---- the last two films for Midnight Madness. Drum roll please! MIDNIGHT MADNESS 2007: the last two contenders! Friday September 06 THE MOTHER OF TEARS Dario Argento, Italy/USA Italian horror fans rejoice! The maestro of cinematic murder, Dario Argento, is back with the long-awaited conclusion of his The Three Mothers trilogy (SUSPIRIA and INFERNO were the first two films) with THE MOTHER OF TEARS. Archaeology student Sarah Mandy (Asia...

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July 23, 2021
Midnight Madness title announcements!!!
Posted By Colin Geddes At 1:09 PM
File under: Picks
It's official! Here are the first eight of this year's ten titles for Midnight Madness! Expect to get more blog action with exclusive info about these frantic flicks! And check out the new package we have which gets you tickets to all the midnight shows at a discounted rate! Midnight Madness Package: Includes one ticket to each of the ten Midnight Madness screenings, at 12:00 AM. Regular $156.51. Student/Senior $100.00. Passes and Packages can be bought online, by phone or in person at our year round box office at Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor Street West (main floor, north entrance) http://www.tiff07.ca...

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Get ready for the Madness!
Posted By Colin Geddes At 1:09 AM
File under: Memories, Picks
Get ready to pop some caffeine pills and call in sick for the next ten days of work because the Midnight Madness, the popular and iconoclastic film series at the Toronto International Film Festival, is around the corner! This year marks twentieth anniversary of Midnight Madness. No big cakes or candles for us though, we prefer to rip it up on a more auspicious date, maybe our 21st, just to keep folks on their toes… However, we still plan to celebrate by planting a few speed bumps on...

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