Tag Archive for 'fantasy'

Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2007

Published
by
James McNally
on September 11, 2007
in After Dark, Documentaries and Film Festivals
. 4 Comments

Toronto After Dark Film Festival
For a film fest in just its second year, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival (October 19-25) is run like a well-oiled machine. Adam Lopez, Twitch’s Todd Brown, and the rest of the staff are well-organized and professional, not to mention generous. They’re ready to bring another collection of cutting-edge horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films to town. After all the hype and celebrity-watching of TIFF, it’s refreshing to look forward to a festival on a more human scale (and with more zombies!). Though I’m not a huge horror fan, After Dark brings enough weird stuff here that I’m sure I’ll find a lot to like. They’ve just announced their first seven features, and I’m particularly thrilled to see that Audience of One will be making its Canadian premiere. I missed it at SXSW this spring and have been practically begging director Mike Jacobs to bring it Toronto.

Audience of One
It’s the story of Pentecostal pastor Richard Gazowsky, who believes that God is calling him to make an epic sci-fi film based on the biblical story of Joseph. Despite the fact that he didn’t see a movie at all until he was 40 years of age, he decides that he must be the director. Anything and everything that can go wrong, does, and Jacobs’ camera is there to capture the whole train wreck on film. I’m hoping to get an interview with the director when he’s here.

If that’s not up your alley, check out the fest’s excellent web site for more premiere announcements. Single tickets go on sale September 26th, and if you’ve been paying for tickets to “that other film festival,” you’ll be delighted at the prices. An even better value is the $99 VIP Pass (but hurry, there are only 100 available).

Toronto After Dark Film Festival

Published
by
James McNally
on October 13, 2006
in After Dark and Film Festivals
. Closed

Toronto After Dark Film Festival

Yeah, I know. I should be completely film festivaled out by now, but this one looks interesting. The Toronto After Dark Film Festival features sci-fi, horror and fantasy films with a strong dose of Asian cinema. It runs from October 20-24, and I’ll miss the weekend section, but I’m definitely trying to get to the Monday screenings at the Bloor Cinema:

Funky Forest
Still images from “Funky Forest: The First Contact”

I’m bummed to miss the opening night film, Special, starring two of my favourite character actors. Michael Rapaport in a rare leading role, and Jack Kehler. Check out the trailer. Just the fact that the music in the trailer is “Popcorn” by Hot Butter makes me want to see it. But it looks equally funny and sad. Apparently there’s some problem with the film getting North American distribution, too, so this might be a rare opportunity to see it.

The Two Towers

Published
by
James McNally
on December 22, 2002
in Theatrical Release
. Closed

Brooke and I went to see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) this afternoon, and although I enjoyed it immensely, there were a couple of things I didn’t like. First of all, I resented the fact that Gimli the dwarf has been reduced to comic relief. I didn’t mind the occasional joke at his expense in the first film, but in this segment he’s been stripped of all dignity. Conversely, it seems like the filmmakers felt the need to make Legolas the elf a bit more macho, giving him some of the film’s more outrageous stunts. I found this shift in emphasis sort of cheapened the characters I’d grown to love in the first installment. My only other criticisms would have to do with the more episodic nature of the story, cutting between three different plot lines, but I know that director Peter Jackson did the best he could. My friend Brent, who’s read the books numerous times, was dismayed to find that there are many more deviations from the text in this film as well, though he hasn’t outlined them for me yet. All in all, I didn’t find it as satisfying as the first film, but it still has me excited about the finale. I just have to wait another 12 months!