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TIFF 2013 Review: BREAK LOOSE Doesn't Quite Hold Together

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TIFF 2013 Review: BREAK LOOSE Doesn't Quite Hold Together

TIFF 2013 Review: BREAK LOOSE Doesn't Quite Hold Together

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 08:30 PM PDT

All the ingredients are here for a fine thriller - political discord, corrupt cops, ruthless proto-oligarchs, and car chases, all set against the backdrop of the waning years of Yeltsin, and the massive social and political change that would take place under Putin ushering Russia into the new Millennium.Alas, despite its slick facade and moments of overly choreographed brutality, one's left after Alexey Uchitel's Break Loose simply wanting more - wanting more believable interactions between our characters, more believable consequences for some of the actions, and simply more excitement.This group of Special Police that have a beef with a local developer, tied to a passionate betrayal of love, should provide enough spice to keep things interesting, but even with a brisk running time things seem...

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TIFF 2013 Review: SEX, DRUGS & TAXATION Is A Gonzo Biopic So Strange It Has To be True

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 08:00 PM PDT

Just as you are unlikely to ever come across a more unlikely friendship than that which blossomed between browbeaten tax lawyer Mogens Glistrup and hedonist playboy Simon Spies through the 1960s in Denmark, you are equally unlikely to settle on a more unlikely filmmaker than Christoffer Boe to tell their story. Best known for serious fare that treads the line between arthouse and genre film while toying with ideas of love, memory and obsession, Boe here tackles a real life story of sex, drugs and discount airlines and the results are utterly compelling.Nicolas Bro (Adam's Apples) plays Mogens Glistrup, an intelligent but intensely socially awkward tax lawyer desperate to escape from the shadow of his overbearing father in law when he encounters his old school...

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TIFF 2013 Review: THE DOUBLE Confirms Aoyade As A Potent, Fresh Voice

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 07:00 PM PDT

It seems fair to say that when Richard Aoyade's debut feature, Submarine, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010 it caught people by surprise. There were few expectations on the little indie comedy from the large-haired comedian turned director, no big name cast to hang hopes on, and simply not enough information available for those not already devotees of Ayoade's comedy work to form any sort of opinion. And so people were caught somewhat by surprise when it became a huge buzz title from the festival that year, securing a big sale to a big company and, as buzz titles often do, ultimately dividing audiences into two camps.On one side there were those - myself very much among them - who simply adored...

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TIFF 2013 Review: THE DOG, An Engrossing Look At The Real Guy Behind DOG DAY AFTERNOON

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 05:30 PM PDT

The Dog is a highly entertaining if slightly indulgent look at the life of John Wojtowicz, the man who was portrayed by Al Pacino in Lumet's classic Dog Day Afternoon. Wojtowicz is a pretty fascinating guy who crammed more than his share of lives into his time on earth, and we learn from a series of frank and at times filthy interviews about his various escapades. To the film's credit, it effectively situates his life within the nascent gay rights movement of the early 70s, showcasing through a series of vintage documentary footage the environment in which the more celebrated events of DDA took place.Behind the sensationalistic story of a bank robbery committed so that a man could get his male wife a sex-change operation,...

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TIFF 2013 Review: METALHEAD Offers A Searing Portrait Of Grief

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 05:00 PM PDT

A powerful portrait of grief never dealt with - of grief so powerful it likely never can or will be dealt with - Metalhead is the film that will very likely finally draw the sort of attention to Icelandic director Ragnar Bragason that he deserved to receive four films ago. The simplest way to put it would be to say that Bragason is the director most likely to follow in Baltasar Kormakur's footsteps and cross over into larger international success but while that's true it also somewhat diminishes Bragason's own unique voice.At the core of the film is Hera, a girl growing up in a remote rural area of Iceland on a dairy farm. As a girl Hera witnesses her beloved brother Baldur - a...

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I DECLARE WAR, DOOMSDAYS And HENTAI KAMEN Among Second Wave Of Titles At Lund

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 12:00 PM PDT

With only three weeks to go until this year's edition of the Lund International Fantastic Film Festival kicks off, it is time to announce another wave of titles! Lund is quickly becoming a key stop for European genre films now that the European film that wins in the competition program goes on to compete for the best film at Sitges next month in Spain. There just also happen to be a number of great titles from around the rest of the world as well. Take a gander at the official statement...It's once again time for Scandinavia's leading film festival for films of the fantastique! A 10 day celebration with over 100 fantastic films. And now the time has come lift the lid of the treasure that...

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Venice 2013 Dispatch: Why Aramaki's HARLOCK: SPACE PIRATE Brings CGI To The Next Level

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 11:01 AM PDT

Animation. Gotta love it! But only if done in the right way. The rest may be avoided. And please, on the question if I have been disappointed, the short answer is a simple yes and no. But if you insist, let me give you the looong story, zooming in on Aramaki's Matsumoto adaptation Harlock: Space Pirate, as well as briefly exploring Venice's other animations. This year, at a total of five works, the 70th edition of Venice International Film Festival brings its audience a modest amount of animation. There is still enough to be said, though. In their Venice Days and Out Of Competition section we find two sadly disappointing pieces, respectively a stop motion animation called Secchi (which somehow feels more like a student...

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Step Into The Ring With Trailer For Wrestling Noir OUR HEROES DIED TONIGHT

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 10:00 AM PDT

French masked wrestlers and film noir ... it's a crazy sounding combination but it landed David Perrault's debut feature Our Heroes Died Tonight (Nos Heros Sont Mort Ce Soir) a slot in Cannes and with the French release approaching the full trailer for what promises to be a sumptuous oddity has arrived online.France in the early 60s. Simon, a wrestler, wears a white mask. In the ring, he is known as "The Specter". He suggests to his friend Victor who has just returned from combat to be his adversary in the ring and wear a black mask, and be known as "The Slaughterer of Belleville". But for Victor, still shaken from his experience in combat, this is too much : for once in his life,...

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Check The Gripping Trailer For Dark Icelandic Drama METALHEAD

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 09:00 AM PDT

Though scarcely known outside of Iceland director Ragnar Bragason is already a well treasured commodity within his nation's borders and after Toronto Film Festival audiences come across his dark drama Metalhead his name value elsewhere is sure to spike elsewhere as well. We've had the chance to see it already and here's an excerpt from the upcoming review:A powerful portrait of grief never dealt with - of grief so powerful it likely never can or will be dealt with - Metalhead is the film that will very likely finally draw the sort of attention to Icelandic director Ragnar Bragason that he deserved to receive four films ago. The simplest way to put it would be to say that Bragason is the director most likely to...

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Watch The Trailer For Zack Parker's PROXY

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 08:00 AM PDT

Selected as part of the Vanguard program at the Toronto International Film Festival, the trailer for Zack Parker's Proxy has arrived online and it is deeply unsettling stuff. Here's an excerpt from the festival guide:As a very-pregnant Esther (Alexia Rasmussen) walks home after a doctor's appointment, she is viciously attacked by a hooded assailant. In the wake of this traumatic event, the quiet and lonely woman finds some consolation from kindly Melanie (Alexa Havins), whom she meets at a support group ...Joe Swanberg also stars. Check the trailer below....

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Sahamongkol Threatens Tony Jaa With Lawsuit Over FAST AND FURIOUS Role

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 07:15 AM PDT

Sometimes the side show just never seems to end ...Thai action star Tony Jaa is, once again, in the center of a controversy with his Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong producers at Sahamongkol film, this time thanks to his announced casting in the upcoming Fast And Furious 7. Jaa had recently signed a ten year contract with the studio - his second such contract - and earlier this week studio head Sia Jang, Ong Bak director Prachya Pinkaew and choreographer Panna Rittikrai called a joint press conference in which they told Thai press that Jaa had breached his contract by accepting the part without their permission and that if he failed to secure said permission - they never specified what would be required to...

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L'étrange 2013 Review: IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY, Animation That Is Funny, Sad, And Wise

Posted: 07 Sep 2013 05:00 AM PDT

I can't say I'm an expert on animation, though I've seen my fair share of animated films. On viewing, I look for how the animation style matches with the story, and how I am meant to interpret one through the other. I had only a vague awareness of Don Hertzfeldt when I saw It's Such a Beautiful Day, but now I am going to seek out his work. It is beautiful, funny, sad, and imparts the kind of wisdom on life and love that is at once simple and profound.It's Such a Beautiful Day is a compilation of three short films (Everything Will Be Okay, I'm So Proud of You and It's Such a Beautiful Day), centring on the character of Bill. A narrator tells...

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