Stuck

Stuck by Stuart Gordon will be showing on Monday, Sept. 10 as part of the Midnight Madness program.

Geddes describes the film as "Brandi (Mena Suvari) is a compassionate young retirement-home caregiver in line for a promotion. Tom (Stephen Rea) is a victim of the downsized economy, out-of-work and newly homeless. Their worlds crash together when Brandi, driving home from a club after too many drinks and pills, accidentally hits Tom, the impact smashing his body head-first through her car’s windshield.

With Tom lodged in broken glass, the panicked Brandi drives home and locks the car in her garage. She pleads with Tom, conscious and in severe shock, to stay calm, promising to take him to a hospital. That is, until she realizes her fate is tied to that of her victim: if discovered, this “accident” will extinguish her bright future. Blocking the image of the bloody, broken Tom from her mind, Brandi waits for him to die so she and her drug-dealer boyfriend can dispose of the body. Realizing her plan, Tom knows he must escape if he wants to survive. "

The fact that a situation like this really happened nearby in Fort Worth is just insane. What went through her mind. Film reminds me of "Misery" just much more twisted, which is what you should expect from Stuart Gordon.

Vexille

Vexille by Fumihiko Sori will be showing on Sunday, Sept. 9 as part of the Midnight Madness.

Can't have MM without an anime.

Geddes describes the film as " 2077: for ten years, Japan has isolated itself from the rest of the world, opposing a United Nations treaty restricting areas of advanced research in biotechnology. At the behest of Japanese mega-corporation Daiwa, who monopolize the global market in industrial robotic technology, the country’s borders have been closed and a sophisticated magnetic shield has blocked communication and satellite surveillance. Life in Japan has become a mystery.

Following the discovery of a “human” limb with flesh replaced by a form of bio-metal, S.W.O.R.D., a United States Special Forces unit that polices treaty violations, is dispatched to infiltrate Japan. The unit, which is led by female commander Vexille, teams with an underground rebel force in Tokyo. The revelation of Japan’s new reality shakes Vexille, as she witnesses the destruction of both land and citizenry by Daiwa and the monstrous Jags, whirling, metallic android cyclones (reminiscent of Dune’s sandworms) that seek out and devour any form of metal in their path.

Sori directed the non-animated "Ping Pong" which was a film that I thought was hilarious as well as heartfelt. The previews for the film look to be fun.

Diary of the Dead

Diary of the Dead by George A. Romero will play Saturday, Sept. 8 as part of the Midnight Madness program.

With two films yet to be named, Colin Geddes has already done MM fans an act of kidness that could never be repaid. George A. Romero and Stuart Gordon - two LEGENDS of the horror genre. Wow!!!

Geddes describes Romero's latest as "Jason (Joshua Close) and a small crew of college students are in the Pennsylvania woods shooting a low-budget mummy flick for their film-school project. Their faux frights are replaced with real ones when news reports indicate that the dead are returning to life. In shock and disbelief, the group embarks on a journey back to the safety and security of their homes. Meanwhile, the government first denies, then promises to quell the crisis, but they don’t succeed; technology fails and communication with the rest of the world becomes impossible. Driving an old Winnebago past burning cars and shambling corpses, the crew soon learn that there is no escape from the plague of the living dead, nor is there any real home for them anymore. Attacked by ravenous walking corpses at every turn, Jason obsessively films the madness, an unflinching eye in the midst of chaos, even as his friends die around him."

I remember seeing "Night of the Living Dead" on TV when I was young and being spooked out the rest of the evening. "Dawn of the Dead" was a masterpiece. I'm glad he's back in control of the genre that he brought to life. Fangoria TV did a good preview of the film that has shown up on You Tube.

Frontieres

Frontieres by Xavier Gens will be showing Friday, Sept. 7 as part of the Midnight Madness program.

MM director Colin Geddes describes the films as "As Paris’s banlieues burn due to riots protesting the election triumph of an extreme right-wing party, a group of youths use the chaos as cover for smash-and-grab robberies. For Yasmina (?), the money is an escape from the slums she has known all her life. With the police on their tail, her gang splits up, planning to meet at an inn near the Luxembourg border. Arriving at their destination, they encounter their hosts, the Von Geisler clan, who seem to be stuck in time: a jackbooted patriarch, his savagely flirtatious daughters and his thuggish sons. Revealing themselves as neo-Nazi fanatics, they see Yasmina as a fresh bloodline for their fascistic fantasy of starting a new Aryan brotherhood. Her friends find themselves trapped in a grim abattoir as Yasmina fights against the Von Geisler’s invitation to become “one of the family” in their twisted Gothic household."

Gens next film will be "Hitman" whose trailer most people saw on "Live Free or Die Hard." The French just seem to be able to do bloody horror better than us. Definitely the perfect film to keep us sleep deprived festivalgoers awake at night.

Midnight Madness

Damn you, Colin Geddes. Just when I thought I was out, you pull me back in.

Eight of the ten Midnight Madness titles were announced today. They all sound interesting and appealing to me. Damn it.

Midnight Madness has always been a Catch-22 for me. Do I really want to see the movie? Cause if I do, it'll be REALLY hard to get up at 8:30 am in the morning to hit the early show the next day. The movie will get out around 2 a.m. Then you have to wind down b/c you're hyped about what you saw. Volver shows at 9 a.m. Guess I'm getting four hours of sleep tonight.

And it's not just the films that Geddes programs, and he knows it. It's the crowd. The group of crazies that go to the midnight screenings are critical to the success of the films. There have been countless films that I LOVED at the Midnight Madness that I would never want to see again. But that's not to say they are all lightweight films. Ong Bak, Gozu, Ju-on, Haute Tension, Undead, Bubba Ho-Tep, SPL, Kontroll, Zebraman, The Host, Black Sheep and Severancen are all films I encouraged others to seek out. That's not even mentioning "Borat", which remains the only MM film that I couldn't get tickets to.

Usually, there's at least one film that I know I'm not interested in. Most of the time it's a documentary. I just can't get myself up for a documentary, no matter the subject, at midnight.

I can get up for blood, sex, gore, Takashi Miike, monsters, and kung fu. Which is what Colin always supplies.

So far he's eight for eight this year. There's no documentary so far for me to catch up on my sleep. That means less sleep for me during the festival. Why, Colin, why.

Shake Hands with the Devil

Shake Hands with the Devil by Roger Spottiswoode will be part of the Special Presentations program.

Based on Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire's award-winning book of the same name, the film tells the story of a Canadian commander torn between his duty and his conscience when he finds himself an eyewitness to hell on earth. Dispatched to Rwanda in 1993 to oversee a fragile cease-fire, Dallaire finds peace agreements between the rebels to be on shaky ground - agreements that end with a secret but long-planned genocide campaign.

At the 2004, I was fortunate enough to see Hotel Rwanda. After the film, I found that there was a documentary playing at the festival about the man on whom Nick Nolte's character was based. It was a powerful documentary about how a man struggled to come back from such attrocities and integrate back into society.

Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises by David Cronenberg will be a Gala Presentation.

EASTERN PROMISES follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), a Russian gangster tied to one of London's most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is shaken when he crosses paths with Anna (Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family. This sets into motion a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution, with Nikolai at the apex of it all.

Cronenberg's films (Videodrome, Crash, Dead Ringers, The Dead Zone) are always great, but his reuniting with Viggo is the big draw for me. I loved History of Violence and was surprised that it didn't play better. The film also has the always slimy Vincent Cassal as well.

Days of Darkness

Days of Darkness by Denys Arcand will be a Gala Presentation.

Jean-Marc (Marc Labrèche) wrestles with the quiet frustrations of his mundane modern-day life. In his dreams, Jean-Marc is a successful author, a star of the stage and screen, a knight in shining armor who has women falling at his feet and into his bed. But in reality he is a nobody - a clock-punching civil servant, insignificant to his workaholic wife, a failed father and closet smoker. Stuck between his dreamland and reality, Jean-Marc's struggles to find the place where he truly belongs.

I've been a fan of Arcand's since Barbarian Invasions. I had to go back and find the beginning of the tale "The Decline of the American Empire." He did a great job of portraying a family that didn't know how to communicate.

Reservation Road

Reservation Road by Terry George is part of the Special Presentations program.

A compelling tale about the lure of revenge and the power of redemption, the drama revolves around two fathers whose families and lives tragically converge with the death of a child in a car accident. In the aftermath, Ethan, the grieving father (Joaquin Phoenix) and Dwight, the man who hit the child, (Mark Ruffalo) each react in unexpected ways as their families struggle to cope and an emotional reckoning looms.The film also stars Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino.

Terry George directed one of my favorite films, Hotel Rwanda, so I'm interested to see what he does with another emotional drama.

Nightwatching

Nightwatching by Peter Greenaway is part of the Special Presentations program.

The year 1642 marks the turning point in the life of the famous Dutch painter, Rembrandt, transforming him from a wealthy respected celebrity into a discredited pauper. At the insistence of his pregnant wife Saskia, Rembrandt has reluctantly agreed to paint the Amsterdam Musketeer Militia in a group portrait, a portrait that would become his most celebrated painting - The Nightwatch. Going about his work, Rembrandt discovers that there is conspiracy afoot after a man is shot dead during routine musket practice. Determined to bring these conspiracies to light, the artist builds his accusation meticulously in the form of the commissioned painting itself, simultaneously uncovering a seamy and hypocritical side to Dutch Society in the Golden Age.

Peter Greenaway (The Cook, the Theif, His Wife & Her Lover, Pillow Book, Prospero's Book) is a director whose films are not ones that I've always enjoyed, but I certainly could never take my eyes off them.

The Brave One

The Brave One by Neil Jordan will be part of the Special Presentations program.

New York radio host Erica Bain has a life that she loves and a fiancé she adores - and it all is taken away when a brutal attack leaves Erica badly wounded and her fiancé dead. Unable to move past the tragedy, Erica begins prowling the city streets at night to track down the men she holds responsible. Her dark pursuit of justice catches the public's attention, and New York is riveted by her anonymous exploits. But with the NYPD desperate to find the culprit and a dogged police detective hot on her trail, she must decide whether her quest for revenge is truly the right path, or if she is indeed becoming the very thing she is trying to stop.

This is a mainstream movie that will be released during the festival on September 14. It stars Jodie Foster and Terrance Howard and is directed by Jordan (Crying Game, Interview with a Vampire, The Good Thief), so it should be solid. But if it conflicts with something else, I'll pass b/c I know I'll be able to see it when I get home.

Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton by Tony Gilroy will be a Gala Presentation at TIFF 2007.

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack). Though burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, his divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life.

I love courtroom dramas. George Clooney has, lately, picked very interesting projects. It's still shocking to see how great he is and remember him from Facts of Life. This is Tony Gilroy's directorial debut. He wrote the screenplays for all three "Bourne" films as well as "Devil's Advocate."

Romulus, My Father

Romulus, My Father is the directorial debut of actor Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge, The Silence). It is part of the Special Presentations program.

ROMULUS, MY FATHER is based on Raimond Gaita's critically acclaimed memoir. It tells the story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. It is the tale of a boy trying to balance a universe described by his deeply moral father, against the experience of heartbreaking absence and neglect from a depressive mother. It is, ultimately, a story of impossible love that celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son.

The film has a great cast with Eric Bana and Franka Potente.

Honeydripper

Honeydripper is directed by John Sayles and is part of the Special Presentations program.

From its website. - 1950. Rural Alabama. Cotton harvest. It's a make-or-break weekend for the Honeydripper Lounge and its owner, piano player Tyrone "Pine Top" Purvis. Deep in debt to the liquor man, the chicken man, and the landlord, Tyrone is desperate to lure the young cotton pickers and local Army base recruits into his juke joint, away from Touissant’s, the rival joint across the way.

After laying off his regular talent, blues singer Bertha Mae, Tyrone announces to his sidekick Maceo that he has hired the famous electric guitar player, Guitar Sam, for a special one night only gig:pack em in and save the club.

On the day of the show, the train arrives and Guitar Sam is no where to be found. Tyrone is forced to take drastic action. He makes a deal with Sheriff Pugh to release Sonny, the kid who hopped off a freight car here in Harmony, and turned up in the club claiming he could play the guitar as well as any Guitar Sam.

Tyrone cleans Sonny up and launches a last ditch scheme to pass off the young guitar picker as Guitar Sam just long enough to cut the lights and run off with cash box. When Sonny takes the stage and launches into his first scalding electric licks, Tyrone will learn if it’s lights out for the Honeydripper or if his luck has changed: he might just be another man saved by rock n' roll.

I'll admit there was a time when I would get John Sayles mixed up with Walter Salles (Motorcycle Diaries). But I still enjoyed Sayles' last film, Silver City. I really enjoyed Lone Star. So I'm interested in this film. Plus I'm sure it will have good music. This scene was found on You Tube.

Under the Same Moon

Under the Same Moon by Patricia Riggen is part of the Contemporary World Cinema. It received a standing ovation at its premiere at Sundance.

Hoping to make a better life for herself and her son Carlitos ,Rosario crossed the border illegally four years ago and now works in Los Angeles as a cleaning lady. Carlitos, 9, yearns to be with his mom but still lives in Mexico with his grandmother. When grandmother passes away, Carlitos, who has no way to contact his mom, decides to head to the U.S. to find her.

Film has a supporting role by America Ferrera of Ugly Betty fame. The film looks manipulatively uplifting, but with all the tragedy films that I'm sure to be seeing, I might not mind the manipulation.

Secret Sunshine

Secret Sunshine by Chang-dong Lee is part of the Contemporary World Cinema program.

Sin-ae moves with her son Jun to Miryang, the town where her dead husband was born. As she tries to come to herself and set out on new foundations, another tragic event overturns her life.

This film has Kang-ho Song in it. He is watchable in everything he's been in. And he has been in some of my favorite South Korean films (The Host, Memories of Murder, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance).

Mourning Forest

Mourning Forest by Naomi Kawase is in the Contemporary World Cinema program. The film won the 2007 Grand Prix prize at Cannes.

A caregiver at a small retirement home takes one of her patients for drive to the country, but the two wind up stranded in a forest where they embark on an exhausting and enlightening two-day journey.

Iska's Journey

Iska's Journey by Hungarian director Csaba Bollock plays in the Contemporary World Cinema program.

In her dirt-poor village in the Zsil River valley, Iska, 12 years old, works in terrible conditions scavenging metal, coal and anything else of value from the rubble. When she returns home penniless after daring to dicker with a buyer, her resourcefulness is rewarded with a sound beating. Deciding she's better off on her own, Iska leaves home and begins to drift, soon finding herself ensnared in an orphanage system. There she is interrogated for possible signs of physical abuse by her parents, she replies: "They don’t beat me every day". She then sets out on her first voyage from her small town to the Black Sea, where she becomes the victim of human trafficking, meeting on her path other children in the same situation yet determined to escape their harsh destiny.


Sounds like it will be very much a downer film, but one that might be powerful. Seems to fall in the vein of the great 'Lilya-4-ever."

Home Song Stories

Home Song Stories is the story of Rose (Joan Chen), a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer, who struggles to survive in seventies Australia with two young children. Based on writer/director Tony Ayres' own life, this is an epic tale of mothers and sons, mothers and daughters, unrequited love, betrayal and secrets. The film plays in the Contemporary World Cinema program.

I've liked Joan Chen since "Twin Peaks". I like stories where characters may be "out of their element." Variety gave it a strong review as it played in Berling.

Caramel

Caramel by Nadine Labaki is a story of five Lebanese women who gather in a Beirut beauty salon to gossip about the days events. Layal (Nadine Labaki) works in a beauty salon in Beirut along with 3 other women. Each one has a problem: Layal has a relationship with a married man, Nisrine who is no more a virgin, will soon be married, Rima is lesbian and Jamal is worried about getting old. Rose, a tailor with a shop next to the salon, is an old lady who devoted her life to take care of her older sister, have found her first love.

It's sounds like a female version of "The Barbershop," which was entertaining to me. Also, "Offsides" - an Iranian film that played at the festival last year had a similar strategy that I enjoyed. The setups were completely different, however. In 'Offsides" you had several Iranian females trying to sneak into a soccer game only to get caught. Once you got past this setup, the film was basically the caught teenagers talking about various issues that face them in their society. For me that was fascinating, learning about other cultures through simple casual conversation. So I have a feeling that Caramel may provide the same opportunity. This is Ms. Labaki's first film and it debut in Cannes. It is part of the Contemporary World Cinema series at the TIFF.