Hey folks, Harry here... this year it seems that Anton Sirius may be getting a helping hand covering flicks via not only you attendees, but also long term AICN-er Copernicus, who has recently descended into Toronto to star out of his telescope and find things that go boom in the sky. Probably the best two Geek films that'll be seen at Toronto this year will be UNDEAD and ONG BAK... however... the two films I'm most looking forward on hearing feedback on are 21 GRAMS and Jarmusch's COFFEE AND CIGARETTES. As usual, we will depend on you festival attendees and the amazing work of Anton Sirius to keep us in the know. Can't wait!
Anton Sirius’ Toronto Film Fest 2003 Preview
Greetings, starkinder! It's been a while, but I'm finally back and gearing up for another Toronto film fest. Some of last year's coverage got lost in the aether (I'll see if I can correct a bit of that this week), but hopefully the set-up Mags found for me this year (a loft in an old converted candy factory, out by the loony bin) is both more secure, internet-wise, and a little more inspirational to boot.
I ducked into the city a bit early, for a near never-ending series of parties and shows -- Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (I know the band's more than just her showcase but she's just so damn dynamic live...), a karaoke birthday party with some of the usual in-town-and-on-a-shoot folk (Milla J sang Rick Springfield with the birthday boy and his gal, appallingly, while I stuck to early T-Rex)... it's been a swingin' long weekend.
I'll try to round up the fest-specific glitterati tomorrow, but for now let's look at a quick, drool-inducing recap of the stacked lineup for this year's Toronto International Film Festival:
Takeshi Kitano directs and stars in an adaptation of Zatoichi. Ye gods; Johnnie To returns with PTU; Errol Morris profiles Robert McNamera (you know, the Bay of Pigs guy) in the Fog of War; La Lars brings... well, OK, sends Dogville; Jim Jarmusch collects together all the Coffee and Cigarettes shorts he's been making over the years; Guy Maddin regales us all with the Saddest Music in the World; Casa de los Babys, the new John Sayles, premieres; David Thewlis makes his directorial debut with Cheeky; Vincente Naimoli (Cube) shows his next two films, Nothing and Cypher; Kate Beckinsale makes an unbelievably hot goth in Underworld; Jack Black and Richard Linklater team up to destroy us all in School of Rock; William H. Macy plays the world's ultimate jinx in the Cooler; vintage footage of Janis, the Band, and more sees the light of day for the first time in decades in Festival Express; we get a Bollywood version of MacBeth, Maqbool; this year's Midnight rock doc is End of the Century: the Story of the Ramones; more La Lars -- he torments his idol in the Five Obstructions; we get the most recent Takashi Miike (at least as of today, he's probably finished another couple of movies since) film, Gozu; Peter Greenaway brings the first part(s) of his latest cinemafuck, the Tulse Luper Suitcases; and, as Harry recently raved on, the Midnight program also features the eye-popping Thai film Ong-Bak Muay Thai Warrior, and Undead from the Aussie Spierig brothers.
Oh, and did I mention the new Kim Ki-duk film? And Zhang Ziyi's latest starring role, Purple Butterfly, from the director of Suzhou River? And a slew of fantastic docs -- including the Corporation (co-directed by one of the guys that did Manufacturing Consent), a Kasparov vs. Deep Blue film from the director of last year's James Ellroy doc Feast of Death, an on-the-ground view of the failed coup to overthrow Chavez in Venezuela, and a doc about legendary LA DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, the Mayor of Sunset Strip? How about the latest films from Sofia Coppola and Oxide Pang? Some other crazy remakes, like an update of Oliver Twist set in the world of street hustlers, or Keith Gordon's Americanization of the Singing Detective with Robert Downey Jr? A slew of Brazilian films following in the wake of City of God? And... and...
This could be a crazy-good year, starkinder. Stay tuned.
