TIFF 2008 BLOGS

Midnight Madness: Year One

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:34:00 GMT

While writing about Deadgirl last week, I mentioned how much I valued 'zines while growing up. Infiltration was at the top of the list, as were a slew of punk, goth, and horror 'zines from around Toronto and Montreal whose titles I can't even remember. It made growing up in the barren winterland of Northern Ontario a slightly less isolating experience. One of the 'zines I wish I'd known about at the time was The Trash Compactor. It was a genre film fan's dream come true -- entire issues dedicated to Blaxploitation, Russ Meyer, Japanese Monsters, Sick Fuck flicks -- all wrapped up with amazing graphics, great ads, and Mamie Van Doren cameos. Among its editors was Hal Kelly, who shared some Midnight Madness memories with us last week. The Trash Compactor also featured some of cartoonist Seth's earliest work.

So as I was flipping through the September 1988 issue, I came across a quick writeup promoting the first year of Midnight Madness, back when TIFF was known as the Festival of Festivals. Have a look:

Once again Toronto's Festival of Festivals is hosting a program of oddball flicks (remember FRANKENSTEIN ON CAMPUS from a few years back?) intended to complement the highbrow celluloid of FAR NORTH, the directorial debut of Sam Shepard and the fifty film Soviet retrospective.

Sponsored by Metropolis Newspaper, the Midnight Madness program will take place during this year's Festival at the Bloor Cinema. Running for seven of the Festival's ten nights (Friday, September 9th to Sunday the 11th and then resuming Wednesday through to Saturday the 17th), the series features the Canadian theatrical debut of Frank BASKET CASE Henenlotter's BRAIN DAMAGE as well as HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II. Since the Festival has received a blanket waiver from the Censor Board, BRAIN DAMAGE should differ considerably from the Norstar video release currently available to Ontarians.

Other treats include Penelope Spheeris' sequel to her punk documentary DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION entitled THE METAL YEARS. BIG TIME is the film version of Tom Waits' stage production of "Frank's Wild Years." It stars Waits and is directed by Chris Blum. There's also BRAND NEW DAY, a full length document of The Eurythmics Japanese "Revenge" tour.

On the sexual side, we've got HEAVY PETTING, a relentless collage of 1950s school and beach blanket films, sex education movies, commercials and government propaganda documentaries intercut with persoanl and sexual recollections from the likes of William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. Lothar Lambert's FORBIDDEN TO FORBID examines the closing of a Berlin peep show in a series of eight episodic sketches.

Finally, director Ray Boseley's SMOKE 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM is described as a jet black comedy concerning a raging post-apocalyptic party in which everybody literally bops till they drop.

This year's Festival runs from Sept. 8-17.

Chocolate Intro & Q&A

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:13:00 GMT

Jija set the place on fire!

MM Scorecard:

Screenings Attended: 42/47

Screenings Missed: 5

Average Hours Slept Per Night: 4.5

It's a good thing there was a firetruck nearby after the midnight screening of Chocolate because the crowd was on fire! Prachya Pinkaew's triumphant return to midnight madness once again brought the crowd to its feet and introduced us all to another Thai whirlwind: Jija Yanin. The icing on the cake was the brutal outtake sequence that showed the audience what our beloved action heroes go through to keep us on the edge of our seats. And an event that started with an aging JCVD regaining past glory concluded with the emergence of a new bone shattering Thai butt kicker.

The adrenaline rush from the last madness usually keeps the post fest blues at bay for a few weeks, but after that usually we're on our own for about year. However, this year a few of us dedicated bloggers are gonna keep the blog alive, or at least undead, so hopefully it'll help stave off madness withdrawals for awhile.

As promised here is the Intro & Q&A for Chocolate:

Midnight Wavelengths at TIFF

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:32:00 GMT

In doing some "housekeeping" after TIFF, Michael Sicinski has an idea for a new direction at TIFF:

"Now, for some real fun, let's see Madness's Colin Geddes and Wavelengths's Andréa Picard attempt a co-presentation!"

He also has some thoughts about Pontypool.

Sexykiller on the loose!

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:55:00 GMT

It's been days since I've posted anything. The truth is I've been held captive in a subterranean lair somewhere on Queen St. W since Saturday night and didn't manage to escape until this afternoon. I also managed to get out with all the footage on my camera intact, so I think it's only fair I share this short message from Macarena Gomez.

VIDEO: The Sexykiller speaks!

JeeJa Yanin vs. Street Fighter

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:04:00 GMT

I heard there was some footage of Chocolate star JeeJa Yanin fighting Street Fighter characters. And it's true there is. Here she is on Thai Game Show 2008.

(via icylifememories.blogspot.com)

JCVD's New Film - "FULL LOVE"

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:54:00 GMT

As I am a fan of Van Damme on Facebook, I was pleased to receive the following update today:

Full Love

From Jean-Claude Van Damme
Monday, September 8, 2008 at 2:52pm

Jean-Claude Van Damme sends you his hello from Thailand. He turns his next film "Full Love" as actor and director. Everything goes well, he promised us beautiful scenes of actions, many twists and maybe even... a love story?

Twists! Beautiful actions! A love story! Could we ask for anything more?

Even MORE JT Petty news!!

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:34:00 GMT

Bloody Disgusting reported today that JT Petty, director of The Burrowers is going to be working very soon on a film for Dark Sky Films and Larry Fessenden's Glass Eye Pix entitled, There's No Place Like Home. I'm glad JT's getting back behind the camera so quickly. I'll see anything he makes at this point.

Check out the full story here.

Blogging By The Numbers

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:34:00 GMT

It is the day after Midnight Madness and the post fest blues are setting in. Being in the film festival world is a crazy and surreal world. For ten days I get to embrace my obsession and meet many others who share the same obsession in film.

How to survive ten days averaging four hours sleep.

This was my schedule for Sept 4th to the 13th.

Nine pm. Make sure video camera was charged. DV Tape was labeled and in video camera. Still camera was charged. The pictures from the previous day were uploaded to computer and the memory card was empty. Voice recorder was packed. Pens and paper packed.

9 30 leave for Ryerson. Having freedom to cover Midnight Madness from my perspective it was on my walk to the theater I would come up with my angle for that night. Sometimes I would decide to walk the line and talk to people about the film that screened on the previous night or make sure I had questions for the director that was going to be there.

Midnight see the film.

Two thirty, three o'clock (if nothing was going on) head home and blog until six or seven in the morning. Which often consisted of transcribing audio recordings and waiting a really long time for photos to upload. The computer had to be free by eleven when Sheleigh would arrive and begin to edit footage.

Editing footage all day long. We listened to the Q&A for hours on end.
For those keeping score that is a Shaw Brothers movie siting by the mac Five Element Ninjas

Waiting for footage to upload.

Blogging by the numbers.

Ten Films
Ten Nights
Avg Four to Five Hours Sleep
15 Mini DV Tapes
20 Hours of Footage
Avg of Three Coffees A Day
30 odd coffees during the festival
Some four hundred odd photos taken. Many not included because some people feel blurry, out of focused and over exposed photos do not merit an artistic sensibility.

Three cameras
One Sony DCR-HC52
One Canon D60
One Fuji Film A 400

Blogging Midnight Madness was one kick ass experience. I was fortunate to meet many great people from the directors to the last guy in the line. I now know many of my fellow audience members by name. I have made some great friends the kind that you have for a lifetime yes even you Sanjay.

I have to thank Colin for asking me to blog MM08 and Sally Muul from Interactive Services for responding to frantic e-mails and helping to upload my photos and move them to the proper folder, it seems there is no room in the reel to reel folder for pictures of giant monsters and or zombies.

It's just after ten pm and it feels weird that I'm not doing a last minute check to insure all my gear is ready and head down to Ryerson Theater. However there is still footage to import to the computer.

Sincerely,

See ya all next year!

JT Petty to go GOTH

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:02:00 GMT

JT Petty's The Burrowers had a great reception at the fest this year, and with S&Man (his notorious MM debut feature) finally getting a DVD release, things continue to look promising for the director.

Currently on his plate, is the adaptation of a Japanese IP which has both been novelized and gotten the manga treatment: Goth.

Goth stories the exploits of two highschool social misfits who use and abuse their detective skills, toying with a handful of serial killers.

I got a line on JT, and asked him a couple questions:

***

Darryl:

Talk to me about Goth!

JT Petty:

Goth felt like a remarkably honest way to do a coming of age / teen romance picture, you cancel out all the maudlin and excessively cute dross that usually clogs those kind of movies with a good dose of sociopaths and serial killers. I've never known a teenage boy who wasn't at least a little bit of a sociopath.

D:

For Goth's cast... Anyone attached or in mind yet?

JT:

Goth is some ways off; the only thing I'd say of casting now is that I'd hope to god I'm able to actually cast teenagers. So hard to really accept a movie about high school where your leads look thirty.

D:

Where did The Burrowers come from?

JT:

Burrowers started from me wanting to make a western; the more I researched the more natural it seemed to make it a horror story, and specifically a monster story. The Old West was such a frightening place, and so alien to the settlers trying to survive there. Once I had a general direction I started coming up with the rules of the monster (always been a big fan of people being buried alive) and worked backwards from there.

D:

What was the major victory that decided S&Man's DVD release?

JT:

S&Man's basically made it into the world through fan demand overriding the legal hassle of getting it releasable. Hopefully it'll be on shelves within six months.

D:

Splinter Cell... You pick the question!

JT:

No idea about the Splinter Cell movie. I was hired to write an adaptation when Peter Berg was on as the director a few years back, but it fell apart when he went on to make The Kingdom instead. Would love to be involved, but who knows.

***

There you have it! Fan support DOES produce results.

Missing the Madness at The Good, The Bad and the Weird

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:01:00 GMT

Watching Kim Jee-woon's The Good, The Bad and the Weird at the Elgin, all I could think was, “I wish I were seeing this with the Midnight Madness audience.” It's interesting to see how the daydwellers live, the Elgin is beatiful and being short I love nearly any theater with stadium seating. I'm not ashamed to admit it's a big part of why I miss Midnight Madness at the Uptown. But still, I missed the enthusiasm.

I guess I should also admit I'm exaggerating just a little how much I thought about the daytime crowd since from the opening shot, I didn't think about anything but the movie.

I like Kim's films (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Foul King and The Quiet Family, remade as The Happiness of the Katakuris by Takashi Miike) and he makes a damn fine Western. The opening tracking shot following Song Kang-ho's (The Host and yay!) back as he walks up a train selling rice cakes and candy rivals the opening tracking shot in JCVD. Not in the complexity of action, but maybe in the beauty and in a different low tech complexity. I think that Kim Jee-woon's “steady cam” wasn't just a “human-cam” as he mentioned in the Q&A. It seemed like it might've been hanging from a board a la Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films. Kim Jee-woon mentioned Sam Raimi's Spider-man as an influence, so I can't help wondering. But regardless, the shot's amazing.

The Good, The Bad and the Weird is funny and there are anachronistic elements intended to translate through time, but it's not detached from the characters or the situation. There's no fear of engagement. Kim Jee-woon told us afterwards that he always thought that Manchuria in the 1930s was incredibly postmodern. Miike uses similar postmodern elements in his Western, Sukiyaki Western Django, and they seem to move his film out of time. But I never doubted that The Good, The Bad and the Weird was in a particular time and place. Even the Sergio Leone references aren't intended for abstract appreciation and it didn't really matter that many in the audience might not catch little things like Park Chang-yi's (Lee Byung-hun) suit or hat-shooting.

Look at that suit!

You can line parts of The Good, The Bad and the Weird up against Sergio Leone's Man With No Name trilogy, but it doesn't matter all that much. Kim Jee-woon isn't playing collect them all. There's a lot more to this film than that.

I did really like the musical references, though. Westerns are about landscape, it's true, but they're also about sound, or maybe about silence and when to break it.

Look at him go!

Also, Jung Woo-sung rides better than any actor I've seen. Maybe even better than Mifune Toshiro in The Hidden Fortress.

Toshiro says, "Hmph!"

He also successfully wears a cowboy hat in Manchukuo.

Dead Lau Ching-Wan also successfully wears a cowboy hat.

After The Good, The Bad and the Weird, Sukiyaki Western Django, Tears of the Black Tiger and even Johnnie To's Exiled, the world is clamoring for more Asian Westerns. Or at least I am. They seem like the best ones around right now. Well, except maybe weird Westerns, like J.T. Petty's The Burrowers.

Acolytes Footage and Interview with Jon Hewitt at the Big Slice on Yonge Street

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 19:47:00 GMT

Here is day five footage of Acolytes at Midnight Madness plus a video interview conducted myself with Jon Hewitt at the Big Slice pizzeria on Yonge street shorty after his film premiered.

Jon Hewitt interviewed by Robert Mitchell Sept. 9th 2008

Was There A Heat Wave in TO Last Night or a Sexykiller in the House?

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:56:00 GMT

Macarena Gomez definitely had some temperatures soaring last night at the world premiere of Sexykiller, I know mine did.

This photo would make Jacques Tourneur proud

I heard somewhere outside of the festival that is Midnight Madness that Paris Hilton has been running around town. We at Midnight now have our own heiress her name you guessed it Macarena Gomez. She is funny charming and down right sexy.

Here we are nine days in. A lot of late nights followed by getting up far too early. Long sessions sitting in front of the computer waiting for pictures to upload and editing footage. A week of great films, the horror of Deadgirl and Martyrs. Getting lost in the beautiful and dark world of Eden Log. Then along comes the film Sexykiller which is like a hard kick in the ass and says "Wake Up! This festival isn't over! Prepare to be entertained!"

To boil the plot to it's core Macarena plays.....well a sexy killer. This film is one of those perfect Midnight Madness flicks. Several genres put into a blender and lets see what you get. Zombies, chainsaws, gore, a great wardrobe funny as hell and Macarena Gomez in a perfect role. Director Miguel Marti who is definitely a fan of genre cinema and often tips his hat to many other films.

Your lucky blogger with Macarena Gomez

You know, I'm just going to put this out there. Macarena will you marry me?

Robert Mitchell

Chocolate Pain

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:58:00 GMT

Tonight's the last night of TIFF, which means the final night of Midnight Madness. The closing night film is often the one that packs the most punch. It's the ticket you should buy without even knowing what it is. Just trusting that it'll blow you away. Last year's closing film was A l'interieur. This year it's Chocolate, the new film from the director of Ong-Bak. If that doesn't excite you, there's a free screening of the People's Choice Award winner at the Elgin tonight that I'm sure you're bound to love.

Chocolate is sold out, but come out early and sit in the rush line. You never know how many people are going to come down with some sort of debilitating illness, twist their ankle while hyping themselves up for the movie by kicking the air in their underwear... To be honest with you, I'm having a hard time coming up with reasons why anyone with a ticket would miss the screening but there's always a chance, and it's worth taking.

Tonight is going to be the first time a North American audience is going to see Jija Yanin's badassery in all its 35mm glory. If you've seen the trailer, you KNOW that this is going to be one of the most exciting displays of martial arts that you'll see this year.

And don't worry about the NEXT generation of martial arts superstars because I found them on youtube. The video was taken at the Thai premiere of Chocolate even.

EDITED at 6:30pm: Well it looks like Slumdog Millionaire, a film I really liked, won the People's Choice Award. Egg on my smartassed face.

Day Ten

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:25:00 GMT

Ah, day 10 of the Festival. That day where you fill every possible second of your day by rushing movies you wouldn't consider seeing otherwise.

Case in point: I'm typing this from the cheap seats at the AMC where I am about to watch Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms. The fact that I'm here without a four-year-old in tow (like everyone else apparently) is a testament to...Well, I'm not really sure what it says about me at this point, except perhaps that it's indicative of a desire to see, on film, the disco-dancing earthworms that I've been hallucinating due to lack of sleep.

Yes folks, it's been an exhausting festival. I'm nowhere close to my fellow blogger Sanjay's record of 50-something movies this week, but I think it may be time to let you in on a secret: Sanjay is a cyborg. I've spent hours in rush lines for Synecdoche, New York and Slumdog Millionaire, I jumped out of my seat and popped for Randy “The Ram” in The Wrestler, I admittedly slept through a good bit of Plastic City, and most importantly, I rode the Red Bull like it was the Calgary Stampede and attended almost every Midnight Madness screening on offer – throwing beachballs, corralling zombies and the Japanese media, and being completely and utterly disturbed by Martyrs.

Does this sound like a cry for help from a desperate film junkie yet? Well maybe it is but for most of us, Monday means that we go back to work or school, leaving behind this week of pure escapsim for the real world. To everyone involved with the Festival, from the programmers to the filmmakers to the wonderful staff to the horde of my fellow volunteers, I thank you, and I'll see you all next year.

Ladies of Asskickery: Lady Whirlwind

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:21:00 GMT

Angela Mao Ying began her career in Peking opera before studying hapkido and moving to martial arts films, starring in a King Hu film, The Fate of Lee Khan, as well as the film that gave her the name, Lady Whirlwind. She also starred in several films focusing on her hapkido and taekwondo skills. She also played Bruce Lee's doomed sister in Enter the Dragon. Despite all the Bruce Lee and Shih Kien action, I still think Angela Mao is the best part.

She was a powerhouse in Hong Kong's 1970s. Like Cheng Pei-Pei, Angela Mao Ying retired from film. Unlike Cheng Pei-Pei she hasn't returned. We can still watch her, though.

1200 Hundred People Need A Group Hug. Reaction To Martyrs

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:19:00 GMT

We hear a lot about the word buzz at film festivals and I must say sitting in Ryerson theater in early September at around eleven thirty at night buzz is a palpable feeling. To watch a theater fill up from couple of people to over a thousand people in less than a half an hour is an amazing thing. The sound of conversations at first discernible than becoming one giant murmur of sound is the very sound of buzz. Which brings me to Martyrs, to say that this film was anticipated amongst the midnight sect is a vast understatement. When one hears that Colin Geddes said that this film "upset and disturbed him" one stands up and takes notice.

Martyrs continues the new wave of French horror, beginning with such films as Haute Tension and followed with such strong films as Frontiere(s) and A l'Interieur. Pascal Laugier said he is a fan of the horror genre and wanted to make a film that was worthy of the genre, not only does he accomplish his goal I believe he far surpassed it. Martyrs elevates the horror genre - often times misunderstood and maligned - into art.

At the introduction prior to the first Midnight Screening Pascal said to "prepare yourself to enter a world and have a pure cinematic experience" Martyrs is untainted and pure cinema, it is a film that challenges you and provides no easy answers. This morning as I write this there are images from the film that are passing through my mind. Martyrs is a film that will stay with me for a long time.

The following night I talked to my fellow audience members and asked them about their experience.

"I thought it was a perfect Midnight Madness film. I give it a four, maybe four and half out of five. It is a very disturbing film and something I don't think I would see again. It was a very interesting film to see and I really enjoyed the experience with the crowd and the way it was presented and the conversation afterwords." Daniel

"I never thought I would see a film so disturbing. It showed you things I never thought I would ever see on film ever. It was really crazy." Adrian

"The more I think about it the more I like it. The acting was amazing, everything looked really good. The story was well written." Jamie

"We didn't throw up and that was a bonus. It was a little gory but I expected it given the lead up to the film. It was really good." Roberta

"I enjoyed it, the gore didn't really bother me, I have seen much worse. It was good, great job production wise. It was a little disappointing in the last half, a little muddled it began and ended really strongly and I really liked Martyrs." Sebastien

"Martyrs was messed up, really messed up. Very well made film" Scott

"The ending blew me away. I was thinking I was going to have nightmares and it didn't however I did have flashbacks of the film all night." Lindsay

"It was good but I thought there were a few holes in the plot." Phil

"I thought it was great. It lived up to it's expectations it was really bloody and violent I really enjoyed it" Katrina

"It was good. There was a lot more substance to the story than most horror films. It didn't disturb me because there is a dividing line between reality and fantasy and Martyrs is a fantasy." Sharon

"It was great, it lived up to all the hype. The woman getting her Martyrdom was very Martyish" Frank from Pennsylvania

"Oh my God! It was fun but kind of creepy. I liked the experience, it was really a new experience. Most films are pattern, pattern, pattern but this one throws you a curve ball." It went from what you think could become torture porn and the film became art." Anonymous

"It was played up like a sucker punch and Midnight Madness is really a crowd experience and something like Martyrs does not lend itself to clapping and applauding and when it happened it made the experience really uncomfortable, even more than the what was happening on the screen." Justin

"When I went home I tried to sleep and I kept getting flashes from the film. I didn't have nightmares last night because I didn't sleep. The film itself didn't make me uncomfortable it is that the images stayed with me." Greer.

Seems the overall sentiment was a highly disturbing film that was really well made. Martyrs is a film that very much lends itself to conversation.

I am a couple of days late in posting this but I am still standing and currently floating somewhere in that weird limbo when Day Nine becomes Day Ten.

Robert Mitchell

Sexykiller Intro & Q&A

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:37:00 GMT

Careful Colin, Macarena Gomez is a SexyKILLER!!!

MM Scorecard:

Screenings Attended: 38/47

Screenings Missed: 4

Average Hours Slept Per Night: 5

You know one of the things that makes a movie like Sexykiller cool? The title speaks for itself. Thankfully, most of the midnights have been that way this year. JCVD is about JCVD. Deadgirl? You got it: a dead girl. Martyrs? Shudder… Must stop thinking about Martyrs… And Sexykiller… Yup, a Sexy Killer! The only improvement could’ve been calling it REALLY Sexykiller. Miguel, if you make a sequel feel free to use that.

Now try that logic at some of the other festival films. The Secret Life of Bees? Oddly enough had very little to do with bees. I’m sure it's great, but from the description, it has very little info about beekeeping. You’ve been warned.

Anyway, there was one rather large problem with Sexykiller (which will only affect you if you speak Spanish). About every 7-8 minutes the crowd breaks into spontaneous applause for some sexy kills. Normally you only see this kind of activity with a madness crowd and it didn’t bother me too much cuz I was reading subtitles anyway. But if you’re trying to listen to the dialogue it might be a problem.

Unfortunately gang, this is my last intro and Q&A post for awhile as I’m on a plane heading back to the real world immediately after Chocolate. I’ll try to get some stuff up once I recover from the cold I always get after TIFF and fully kick my post-fest blues. It’s been fun gang!

Sexykiller and The Horror Mashup

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 08:45:00 GMT

Anyone in attendance at last night's screening of Sexykiller was privy to, in my opinon, the most unbelievably fun movie (with the possible exception of last Friday's Detroit Metal City) of this year's Midnight Madness programme. In true Midnight Madness fashion, the beach balls were busted out and there was no shortage of zombies on hand to liven up the red carpet!

Sexykiller was truly an overture of love from director Miguel Marti to his favourite horror films. Macarena Gomez's Barbara rips through an unsuspecting campus while extolling her love for The Silence of The Lambs, Evil Dead, Friday the 13^th, and several others.

In this way (and really, in only this way), Sexykiller reminded me a lot of Martyrs, which also contained references – albeit subtle ones – to many other classic horror films. Martyrs' last scenes were quite reminiscent of both Hellraiser and Rosemary's Baby. Visually, it would be difficult not to think of Saw during some of the 'dungeon' sequences as well. Similarly, the chase sequences during the first half of the film were somewhat evocative of Japanese horror films like The Grudge or Ringu.

Last night was nothing less than a celebration of the genre and, for me, was one of the highlights of this year's festival. Don't miss the second screening of Sexykiller at 1:30pm today at the Varsity!

Ladies of Asskickery: Sister Streetfighter

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:17:00 GMT

Sue Shiomi (aka, Shihomi Etsuko) is Sonny Chiba's protege showing off Shorinji kempo and shotokan coolness in movies like Golgo 13 and many, many Streetfighter movies in the 1970s.

Check out the opening of her own entry into the Streetfighter canon, Sister Street Fighter while you wait for Chocolate.

And this fight from Streetfighter's Last Revenge

Not Quite Hollywood Video

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:16:00 GMT

Here is some footage from the OzPloitation Doc Not Quite Hollywood