2010 TIFF Mini Movie Review Updated September 20

Tuesday, September 08, 2010


TIFF Ratings and Mini-Reviews

http://tiff.net/thefestival/

OK, so I am back it is 2010 and time again for TIFF and Steve’s famous mini reviews. I started these last year and some people enjoyed them and this year my friend Kelly follows my blog faithfully so I am going to do the best to keep them updated.



I have no idea who will be reading these but should say a few things about me so you know what kinds of movies I like. I am a horror film fan and do not like comedies for the most part and when I do like a comedy it is usually a darker comedy. I do like romance movies though which I know does not make any sense, I loved The Lake House and Leaving Las Vegas to me was a truly romantic movie. OK 2 more things I truly believe 90% of all movies can be made better with zombies in them and any movie with Angelina Jolie of Amanda Seyfried should have a nude scene featuring them, should be written in there contracts.



If after the above you want to go some where else for movie reviews and opinions I understand. I do try and look for the good in all the movies I review.



The ratings will be on following scale

0 - never see run from room if ever shown

1 - watch it only if tied down in Clockwork Orange chair or promised pleasures of 72 virgins once completed watching it

2 - OK you have a dentist appointment for a root canal or you can watch this movie well need I say anymore

3 -

4 -

5 -

6 -

7 -

8 -

9 - if you see it on TV while you are just passing by you stop and watch it loosing yourself in the movie

10 - you must own the DVD even if means you have fight a zombie for a copy or even worse a angry boxing day crowd at Wal-Mart(aka the devil)

11 - most awesome movie ever made on par with such classics as Blade Runner, Sound of Music and Dawn of the Dead 1979 version

Thursday September 09



Movie 1

FUBAR II 11:59 PM

Rating Legend of Beaver Dam 7.01

Rating FUBAR II 3.4

OK, the short film The Legend of Beaver Dam was a terrific mix between musical and slasher film, I think given enough time you would have seen a much tamer version of something like this on Glee. I am so glad it was down here first and was very well done from an effects point of view and story. It reminded me of The Lobotomymobile at TADD last year.

Now on to FUBAR II, the original FUBAR was a mocumentary about basically 2 hosers/metal heads and their lives. They basically drank beer, smoked a little dope and enjoyed life. The movie worked for a couple of reasons the interaction between Terry and Dean and the film crew. They also did harmless things like camping and just listening to music.

FUBAR II we find the boys celebrating Dean’s 5 year cancer free and already we find a difference, this is just a movie, not a mocumentary. During the party Dean drops acid and Tron drops by and it is obvious unlike the 1st movie he has not settled down. Next thing the boys are on their way to “The Mac” as it is referred to in the movie. Along the way they quickly stop in and pay a visit to Dean’s daughter who is longing just to spend time with her dad and they also rip off a hitchhiker. In “The Mac” they get jobs and the movie is just one over blown party scene to another and none of them are very realistic.

It was not a very good movie, insulting to everyone and everything, they lost the fun and innocence of the first movie.

Hoping the rest of the festival does not follow this track.




Friday September 10



Movie 1

The Legend of the Fist 12:00 PM

Rating 6.987

This was marketed or at least the write up said it was kind of a homage to Bruce Lee seeing as Bruce would have turned 70 this year. The movie starts in WW1 showing the Chinese laborers who were sent over to help on the front lines and some of what they went through. Then when the war was over they returned to China and had to contend with the Japanese occupation and the rest of the world ignored this.

This story takes place in Shanghai and involves the legend of Chen Zhen a sort of mythical hero in Chinese heritage. This movie is much more than an action movie but the action scenes are incredible. The director Andrew Lau creates a Shanghai that is eerily similar to Casablanca from that movie only with much more action. Donnie Yen is amazing as Chen Zhen.

Movie 2

Cirkus Columbia 3:00 PM

Rating 4.034

This a pretty standard foreign film set in southern Herzegovina after communism has fallen but before the civil war has started. The movie starts with Lucija and her son Martin living in a small village, things are pretty normal, Martin has a friend in the military who helps him with his ham radio.



Then Martin’s absent father shows up after 20 years of exile and things begin to change. Martin’s father has him and his mother tossed out of their home of 20 years and also has his mother tossed in jail. The movie shows how the corruption and poverty under communist rule was just accepted. It was an OK movie but not really my cup of tea. It was well acted and did reinforce the fact that I am glad I did not grow up in a communist country.





Movie 3

Stone 9:00 PM

Rating 5.0034

OK, we have Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Francis Conroy and Milla Jovovich, this would think would make a great movie or at least a decent movie, well that is not always the case.



This movie was a huge disappointment as it had a good story but went nowhere. De Niro plays a prison employee who evaluates prisoners for parole hearings and Francis Conroy plays his wife of many years. Jack Mabry (De Niro) is in the final stages of a long career and one of his last cases is that of Stone (Ed Norton) who is coming up for parole. The 2 of them begin a dialogue and then Jack gets involved with Stones wife and the movie seems to start going in a number of directions and for awhile you try and figure out how all of these story lines will converge but they never do.



A convoluted and disjointed story that never really lives up to anything. One of the few redeeming things at this screening was seeing Milla Jovivich in person and she is as hot in person as she is on screen.



If you are a De Niro or Ed Norton fan rent something else, but Milla and Francis Conroy were good in supporting roles.



Movie 4

Super 11:59 PM

Rating 8.634



OK, 2nd night of Midnight Madness and I hope it is better than the first night. Well I should not have worried, as James Gunn delivered well beyond expectations. I liked James Gunn’s 1st movie Slither (one of the few) and was looking forward to this one.

Frank (Ranin Wilson) is a loveable loser who is married to Sarah (Liv Tyler) a recovering addict and their lives are quite boring. Sarah leaves/kidnapped by a Jacque (Kevin Bacon) a drug dealer and Frank is devastated and does not know what to do. Frank has a vision that he should become a super hero and rescue Sarah and help others.

After an initial failure Frank seeks the information from a comic book worker Libby (Ellen Page) and soon the Crimson Bolt is created and joined some time later by his loyal sidekick Boltie. The movie progresses with the Crimson Bolt/Frank fighting crime and injustice in the way he feels is right. Along the way he is joined by Boltie/Libby and the two of them fight crime together. The results are serious sometimes and comical other times but always entertaining.

This movie works on so many levels and has great performances by all involved that it is a true gem. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Kick-Ass or The Defendor.





Saturday September 11 Happy Birthday to my daughter Cassie



Movie 1

The Pipe 9:00 AM

Rating







Movie 2

Trust 11:00 AM

Rating





Movie 3

Mataraki 4:30 PM

Rating





Movie 4

Beginners 9:00 PM

Rating



Movie 5

Bunraku 11:59 PM

Rating





Sunday September 12



Movie 1

Easy A 9:30 AM

Rating





Movie 2

Conviction 12:30 PM

Rating





Movie 3

Hereafter 9:00 PM

Rating





Movie 4

Vanishing on 7th Street 11:59 PM

Rating



Monday September 13



Movie 1

Client 9 The Rise and fall of Elliot Spitzer 12:30 PM

Rating





Movie 2

127 Hours 3:00 PM

Rating



Movie 3

Rabbit Hole 9:00 PM

Rating



Movie 4

John Carpenter’s The Ward 11:59 PM

Rating



Tuesday September 14



Movie 1

Black Swan 11:00 AM

Rating





Movie 2

Let me In 3:00 PM

Rating



Movie 3

Henry’s Crime 9:00 PM

Rating



Movie 4

Insidous 11:59 PM

Rating







Wednesday September 15 Roger Waters Concert #1





Movie 1

Buried 12:30 PM

Rating



Movie 2

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town 2:30 PM

Rating



Movie 3

I Saw the Devil 4;45 PM

Rating



Movie 4

Route Irish [not going due to Roger Waters concert but seeing it on Saturday September 18] 9:00 PM

Rating



Roger Waters Concert at ACC



Movie 5(after concert will make it for sure)

Red Nights 11:59 PM

Rating





Thursday September 16 Roger Waters Concert #2





Movie 1

Dirty Girl 12:30 PM

Rating



Movie 2

What’s Wrong with Virginia 2:30 PM

Rating



Movie 3

A Screaming Man 4:45 PM

Rating



Movie 4

RIO Sex Comedy [not going due to Roger Waters concert, gave tickets to girl at TIFF office] 9:00 PM

Rating



Roger Waters Concert #2 at ACC



Movie 5(after concert will make it for sure)

The Butcher, The Chef and The Swordsman 11:59 PM

Rating





Friday September 17



Movie 1

Passion Play 11:00 AM

Rating



Movie 2

Oliver Sherman 3:00 PM

Rating



Movie 3

Girl in the Yellow Boots 9:00 PM

Rating



Movie 4

Stake Land 11:59 PM

Rating



Saturday September 18 Normally the Last Day of the Festival



Movie 1

Special Treatment 9:00 AM

Rating





Movie 2

Machete, Maidens Unleashed 12:30 PM

Rating





Movie 3

Route Irish 3:00 PM

Rating





Movie 4

Fire of Conscience 11:59 PM

Rating



Sunday September 19 New Last Day of the Festival



Movie 1

Tabloid 9:30 AM

Rating





Movie 2

Tears of Gaza 12:30 PM

Rating





Movie 3

Monsters 3:00 PM

Rating

5 Favorite Zombie Flicks #5 on the List

I have been working on this blog for some time and decided to post my favorite zombie films 1 at a time that way there is something I am posting. I hope you enjoy them and look forward to your comments.


Since it is just past Halloween and there were lots of lists of scariest movies, favorite vampire movies, favorite slasher movies, etc. I thought I would join the foray and list my 5 favorite zombie movies and why. These will be in no particular order and except for #1 the others are interchangeable and I like 2-5 equally as much. I started this blog just past Halloween and by the time it is posted it will be just past Christmas most likely if I am lucky.

We begin with some basic rules on zombies, zombies have been around in cinema, literature, folklore for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Rule 1: The movies I am going to talk about have various methods of the dead returning to life and this is not important to enjoying these movies.

Rule 2: In all of these movies shooting the zombies in the head, damaging the brain or severing the head from the body thus damaging the brain stem will permanently render the zombie dead.

Let’s begin then with the list and again this is my list and your top five may be totally different and that is fine, it is not about what is better than what, it is about who loves zombie movies and who is prepared for the zombie apocalypse.

At number 5 we have a large corporation who on the face appears to be a great benefit of mankind, supplying medicine, technology and many other items that help mankind but below the surface there is a very different agenda. Of course I am talking about the Umbrella Corporation and we are talking about the T-Virus. Coming in at #5 is all 3 of the Resident Evil movies and I know these are based on a video game and as such are always a little suspect. I feel they are worthy of inclusion on this list for a number of reasons not the least is Milla Jovovich who does an amazing jump as Alice the Umbrella security agent turned zombie hunter. I have never played the video games and just watched and judged the movies on their own merit and I am impressed by the story line and how it progresses.

Resident Evil introduces characters and plot lines that continue throughout the next 2 sequels with a third on the way. Alice wakes naked (yes gratuitous nudity for the males ) in the shower with no memory and upon investigation from photographs it appears she lives in this mansion. Before Alice can piece together her memory a crack commando unit arrives and informs her she is an Umbrella employee assigned as security as this mansion is the entrance to the Hive an underground complex below Raccoon City where the Umbrella Corporation is manufacturing bio-weapons of many types. The main frame computer Red Queen has gone homicidal according to the commando unit and has killed everyone in The Hive and it is up to them to try and find out why and re-boot The Red Queen.

As the movie unfolds we learn that the T-Virus was released on purpose once the terrorist had secured the antidote which was suppose to make him immune to the T-Virus but things did not work out that way. The commando unit infiltrates “The Hive” and proceeds to the heart of the computer core with intentions of re-booting “The Red Queen”. This quickly turns bad and the consequences are deadly to team members and as we are progressing we see Alice regaining her memory.

The Red Queen is re-booted and soon the team finds that re-setting “The Hive” has had catastrophic effects and the team has to battle the living dead, mutant dogs and genetically created monstrosities along with the Red Queen in trying to fight their way out. The closer they get to their freedom the more they sense that the Umbrella corporation never intended for them to get out alive.

The first movie ends with Alice and the other only survivor making their way out of the hive only to be taken into custody by Umbrella to be used for further experimentation. As the movie ends we see Alice and the other survivor changing and here the commands of Umbrella.

Trailer for Resident Evil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiS6gtClrqk

The second movie Resident Evil Apocalypse picks up Umbrella sending a 2nd commando team to “The Hive” to re-open it and see what happen. Soon the T-Virus is spreading to the general population on the surface of Raccoon City and Umbrella trying to quarantine the city. The movie starts with a disgraced cop not caring about what “the suits” think and just worrying about saving the general population from what she deems as an infection.

While the infection spreads Umbrella gathers their “essential” personal and this is where the movie takes the major turn as one of their essential people Dr Ashford will not leave without his daughter. It soon becomes apparent that Umbrella wants to use the infection to test hits “nemesis” project which is a throw back from one of the survivors from the first movie. Dr. Ashford hacks his way into Umbrella and activates “Alice” from where she is being kept and we soon learn that Alice has been changed by Umbrella.

The movie at this point becomes a quest to find this man’s daughter and get her out of the city while avoiding and ever growing population of zombies and also the nemesis. This movie continues with the same good special effects and stays true to the formula from the 1st movie in that 1 bite and you will die quickly and become a zombie. Alice is helped in her quest by the members of an elite commando unit STARS (Special Tactics and Rescue Squad) and a TV reporter who is documenting the atrocities and despicable acts of Umbrella and the rogue cop. They find the girl and as they make there way to the rendezvous point discover the girl is much more than she appears, besides the physical resemblance to the Red Queen holographic image from the first movie.

The movie ends with a climatic battle between Alice and the Nemesis who after some prodding remembers Alice which changes the complexity of this apocalyptic battle. The team gets the girl reunited with her father and they manage to escape but loose Alice in the process. They go back to rescue Alice and she is allowed to leave by the Umbrella corp under the guise of a rescue.

Trailer for Resident Evil Apocalypse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAdO0EjgVKg&feature=related

Resident Evil Extinction starts with a narration of how the T-virus has spread world wide and caused not only an epidemic of living dead but has caused society to crumble and the planet itself start to die. Umbrella is trying to develop a cure using Alice’s DNA as her DNA has mutated with the T-Virus but she is still alive and to this end we are greeted with a pit full of failed Alice clones which is an opening scene that is awesome.

We then follow a band or road weary travelers who are surviving on the road after the disastrous effects of the T-virus. Upon closer inspection we see the remaining member of the STARS team is with them and there is no explanation of what happened after the rescue of Alice. We see Alice traveling alone on the roads trying to help people but dealing out retribution to those who deserve it as well. She is avoiding the Umbrella corporation so they can not track her down as she is aware of the power she holds for them.

There is a truly innovating scene where our road warriors are at a truck stop getting a break and are stalked by a pack of crows, and then after some inspection the crows appear to have fed on the living dead. They have changed and now crave human flesh and before our hero’s can probably barricade themselves they are under attack. Guns work well against living dead, but against a large flock of crows, not so well. This is a great scene and just as our pack of hero’s are at there wits end Alice shows up and we see how her power has increased dramatically.

Carlos asks where she went after they rescued her and she is vague, saying she had to stay off the grid. Alice tells the survivors of a journal she has found which states that Alaska is zombie free and the T-virus has not effected it. Of course back at Umbrella, Alice’s display of power has caused her to show up on their satellites and a plan is developed to re-capture her but is denied as too risky but the scientist violates corporate rules and plans the re-capture anyway. The survivors go to what’s left of Vegas to re-supply for the trip to Alaska even though the risk is very great.

The entire trip to Vegas is a trap and as it is sprung the fight scenes are very well shot and planned out. It is both exciting and horrific from a zombie movie point of view. These are experienced zombie hunters taking on a small army of living dead with limited ammunition and no place to hide. Alice really shines in this battle and even when Umbrella tries to shut her down, she overcomes and brings the battle to Umbrella.

We then follow Umbrella to their strong hold and bring the fight to them with a devastating finale scene with an army of Alice’s ready to hunt down and exterminate Umbrella.

There it is my favorite zombie movie #5 which is in fact a trilogy of 3 movies and a 4th on its way. I know allot of people say movies from video games is a bad idea and allot of time I agree but I think they did a good job with this one. I look forward to your comments and will endeavor to complete the next installment soon.

Trailer for Resident Evil Extinction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh7qwF23ijI&feature=related