Toronto Korean Film Festival Fundraiser Party

TKFF is back!!! You can help support this awesome festival by attending their upcoming fundraiser party on May 8th.

The party will be held at Six Degrees and starts at 9pm. Advanced tickets are $10. Tickets at the door are $15. For more info and to purchase advanced tickets click here. There is a limited VIP sofa booth with bottle package on offer too,for more info contact TKFF at tkff.info@gmail.com.

Review: Cosmopolis

David Cronenberg's latest film, Cosmopolis follows a sociopathic man-child in his space-age (laughably so) limousine as he travels across town through traffic jams caused by a visit from the President and anti-capitalism demonstrations, so that he can visit his childhood barber shop. His chief of security tries and tries to dissuade him pointing out the numerous nearby salons but he is insistent that it is a particular haircutting experience that he desires, one that can only be delivered by his childhood barber. The film is the 24-hour journey across Manhattan (actually Toronto) to get a haircut, however it is more than a  seemingly pointless limousine ride and actually a slow meditation on the dehumanising effects of unbridled power and capitalism.

Based on the novel by Don DeLillo, Robert Pattinson plays Eric Packer, a 28 year old asset manager billionaire who constantly craves stimuli, sex, pain, violence and yet who is also an unashamed hypochondriac (in one scene he conducts a business discussion whilst having his prostrate examined in his limo). Bad currency speculation causes Eric to lose billions as he rides his limousine to his barbershop destination. Throughout the film there is talk of rat currency (from a poem Eric read) and rat protesters crop up throughout the film dangling rats ominously, throwing them at diners in one scene or throwing a giant  Papier-mâché  model onto Eric's Limousine. 

The film is at once ridiculous and poetic, K'Naan plays the sufi rap star Brutha Fez and his ostentatious funeral procession is a hilarious reminder of the ridiculousness of our cult of celebrity. In fact the only time Eric weeps or shows any emotion at all for that that matter is for the deceased rapper. He has Brutha Fez's music playing in one of two elevators in his home which to him makes Brutha Fez godlike.

I admit that I am not a Cronenberg fan and I certainly am not a Pattinson fan either. My sole reason for seeing this film was that it was shot in Toronto. There is a scene in my beloved Lakeview Diner and partial glimpses of the CN Tower lit up at night. Having said that, however, I did enjoy the film. I think Pattinson was well suited to the role and is really convincing as a man without a soul bouncing from one desire to the next like a bored dictator. It is almost as though his increasing self-destruction and violence towards others is meant as a kind of cleansing fire from which he can emerge as an entirely different person. One gets the sense that he is just as repulsed by himself as others are. Juliette Binoche is of course brilliant as Eric's art dealer, as is Samantha Morton who plays his philosophizing chief advisor, and Paul Giamatti as a lunatic former employee determined to kill him. My one criticism as far as acting goes, would be that Sarah Gadon, who plays Erics wife comes across as being a caricature of a spoilt rich girl turned misunderstood poet. I just wonder if there wasn't a less obvious way of playing this character, a way in which we may have actually felt something towards her? 

For Toronto showtimes please click here.

Review: Moonrise Kingdom

Perhaps as is the custom when viewing the work of a cult director like Wes Anderson there is the temptation to constantly compare new work to previous work and to sometimes erroneously conclude that said director has just rehashed an earlier hit. I think that this deters from the otherwise pure pleasure obtained from watching a Wes Anderson film so my advice, if you haven't already seen Moonrise Kingdom is to simply go, watch and enjoy. Moonrise Kingdom is only similar to Anderson's previous work in that it bears the indelible stamp of his unique aesthetic. Naturally, since each of his films bears his unmistakable signature one can imagine a Wes Anderson universe where a Tenenbaum might leaf through a book by oceanographer Steve Zissou or a Max Fischer might attend school with the offspirng of Suzy Bishop and Sam Shakusky.

Suzy and Sam are outsiders in a tiny town on an island off of the coast of New England. Sam is miserable because he doesn’t have a family whereas Susie is miserable because she does have a family. Both are misunderstood, Sam is constantly referred to as being emotionally disturbed and Susie as being violent (which she is but not without provocation). They meet by chance one day  and fall instantly in love. After secretly sending letters to one another for a year they arrange to runaway together and live in the wilderness using Sam's Khaki Scout skills to survive. An island wide search for the two ensues led Suzy's outraged parents (Frances McDormand and bill Murray), the troupe of Khaki Scouts that Sam deserted and the local police officer (Bruce Willis) who is stern but kind.

The film is filled with those little details that we love Anderson for, fantasy book covers designed just for the film (pictured above), simple but memorable costuming like Susie's DIY beetle and fish hook earrings and quirky but believable interiors (doesn't everyone want a house with a faux lighthouse?). 

 My only disappointment with the film was that there was not very much Tilda Swinton in it but that's just my own personal bias. The young stars, Kara Hayward (Suzy) and Jared Gilman (Sam) were superb and were never less than convincing. I should point out that this was the first film role for both Hayward and Gilman. Judging by their performances in the film I would say that they both have long careers ahead of them.

For Toronto screening times and locations click here.

Review: Dark Shadows

Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins

Bella Heathcote as Vickie Winters the new governess with a dark past.

Helena Bonham Carter as the brash and often drunk, Dr.Howard.

The Ghost of Barnabas' fiancée, Josette

Probably best described as a kitsch-noir, Tim Burton's latest film Dark Shadows is based loosely upon the the 1966-71 soap opera of the same title.  Enjoyment of the film is heightened if one keeps in mind that it is meant to be unashamedly kitschy and tongue-in-cheek. Serious devotees of vampire cinema, television and literature may find that it is not serious enough for them (which would be their lose anyway).  Johnny Depp is brilliant as the recently unearthed 200-year-old vampire, Barnabas Collins. Whilst this character is often meant to be a humouros buffoon bumbling through the modern world he has just been thrust into, Depp also manages to bring a great deal of pathos to the role. There really is no other actor that would have been so suited to this screen adaptation of the series. In less skilled hands Barnabas would probably have just been irritating and silly. Eva Green is terrifying as vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard. Although she is supposed to be the villain I couldn't help but feel sorry for her and wonder if Barnabas's past and present treatment of her wasn't more than a little to blame. Helena Bonham Carter plays Dr. Howard, a quack psychiatrist and drunkard. Again as unsavoury as her character was I did feel sorry for her and wonder if she wasn't after all just another one of Barnabas' victims.

Bella Heathcote is excellent as governess Vickie Winters and as Josette. Her unusual Blythe doll good looks made her especially suited to play this character. She doesn't overdo her role as the seemingly innocent girl with a dark past. Her story unfolds gradually and is classic Burton fare.

Chloe Moretz is great as the stroppy teenage daughter (also with a dark secret). My only criticism would be that when she reveals her secret towards the end of the film, CGI was used to convey this and it did not look at all convincing nor did it look bad in a neat kitschy way. My only other criticism of the film would be that I found Depp's fight scenes with Eva Green to be disturbing. I think it was meant to be slapstick but there are times when she is just receiving blow after blow and not hitting back. People around me were laughing but I found these scenes to be too reminiscent of domestic violence to be funny. Their love scene earlier in the film, however, is hilarious.


Overall I would say that Dark Shadows is a return to form and I sincerely hope that Tim Burton will consider doing a sequel.



For Toronto showtimes of Dark Shadows, click  here.