TIFF ’08 – Day 2

8:19 am

Up at 6:30am today, that’s definitely the worst part of the whole experience, though it was much easier to get up today then it will be later this week.

First movie is ‘Appaloosa’, a western directed by Ed Harris and starring him, Viggo Mortensen and Squinty McSquint, also known as Renee Zelweger. Looking forward to seeing it.

Appaloosa

Ed Harris Introducing ‘Appaloosa’

Trailer: http://www.movie-list.com/trailers.php?id=appaloosa

Notes:

• We loved it. It was exactly what a western should be; Great dialogue, funny (We laughed out loud several times), well shot (Sets and backgrounds were very well done — there’s always something happening in backgrounds; through windows; etc.) good shoot-outs and never boring.
• Mortensen and Harris were, as usual, fantastic, and had a great rapport. Jeremy Irons was also great.
• Were never fans of Renee “Squinty” Zellweger but she fit the role well.
• JP felt it might have been a tad long.

11:34 am

First off, Appaloosa was fantastic, I friggin’ loved it! More notes on it tonight.
Next up is Detroit Metal City. I don’t feel like typing up the premise but it promises to be a blast. You can easily look it up if you’re curious.
Gonna have some popcorn for lunch, it doesn’t get much more unhealthy then that but what’cha gonna do?
Nothing much of note has happened yet today outside of the films but it’s still early.

Detroit Metal City

Director of Detroit Metal City in the Centre

Paul:
JP:

Plot: Soichi Negishi moved to Tokyo to chase his dream of becoming a musician playing stylish, Swedish-style pop. Instead, he finds himself leading the death metal band Detroit Metal City, or DMC, as the costumed and grotesquely made-up “demon emperor” Johannes Krauser II. Although he hates the role and the things he has to do as a member of the band, he has a definite talent for it. Adapted from the hit Japanese comic book by Kiminori Wakasugi, the movie follows Negishi’s antics as he tries to reconcile the two very different sides of his life and find out what it really means to achieve his dream.

Notes:

• Way too cartoony, over-the-top and stupid. Might be a cultural thing, but this movie just wasn’t for us.
• Music was well made, though it’s odd that something that was made apparently made so kids could watch it (according to the director during the q&a) would be filled with songs with lyrics about raping and killing. Again, this must be a cultural thing.
• Unfortunately, the lead character was very punchable. It’s hard to root for the guy if you’d like to see him get pummeled.
• Gene Simmons was… whatever — could take him or leave him.

2:31 pm

Every year there’s a movie I’m not looking forward to seeing too much and it winds up being awesome, and there’s one I’m dying to see and I’m ultimately disappointed — Detroit Metal City falls in the 2nd category, I did not like it AT ALL. I almost went to sleep during it. It must be a cultural thing but it was way too over the top, stupid and cartoony for me.

Next movie is ‘Vinyan’ which is decribed as a ghost story and psychological thriller.

Vinyan

Director of Vinyan on the left

Paul:
JP:

Plot: A couple are looking for their child who was lost in the tsunami – their search takes them to the dangerous Thai-Burmese waters, and then into the jungle, where they face unknown but horrifying dangers.

Trailer: http://www.movie-list.com/trailers.php?id=vinyan

Notes:

• Insane sound-mix… There are moments when the ‘noise’ makes your ears bleed. Maybe it was the theater, but many people were covering their ears at the start, and especially at one moment near the end.
• Slowly paced, but not boring. Might have dragged slightly midway through.
• Well acted by Beart and Sewell.
• If the plot summary had not mentioned the Tsunami or ghosts, we wouldn’t have known about it. The beginning and end are both very vague. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does question whether this was intentional or not.
• It was well shot. Camera work gets more elaborate (using handheld, wires, etc.) as the film progresses.
• JP liked it more than Paul, who thought it was a little too artsy-fartsy for it’s own good. It would have made a better short film, as he felt there wasn’t enough there for a feature film.