days of darkness Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Screamfest '07 is Here!
Filed under: Horror », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Other Festivals »
You thought that with all the love we've been throwing at Austin's Fantastic Fest we'd probably forget all about good ol' L.A. Screamfest. Not with me on horror watch! The event runs from October 12 to 20, and if you happen to be located anywhere near the legendary Mann's Chinese Theater -- you just might want to duck inside to see what sort of murderous mayhem is going on.
And the Screamfest looks to be starting off on the right foot this year: Last night's opening night film was George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead! After much praise from the audiences at Toronto and Fantastic Fest, the master's latest zombie opus will hit the west coast with much excitement and gore. And the fun doesn't stop there. The festival will also offer Robert Rodriguez's director's cut of Planet Terror (which is awesome) and a 25th Anniversary screening (and cast reunion) of Friday the 13th Part 3. Yes, in 3-D!
Attendees will also get to check out the long-awaited DVDquel Return to House on Haunted Hill, a screening of the great-looking 30 Days of Night (and the video prequels Blood Trails), David Arquette's festival fave The Tripper, and a variety of genre titles of various shapes, sizes and nationalities. Of the Screamfest flicks we've seen, we've already given a strong seal of approval on the quiet but creepy Alone, the robust zest of Wrong Turn 2, the Pakistani lunacy known as Hell's Ground, , the freakishly ferocious Inside, and the apocalyptic awesomeness that is The Signal. Plus I keep hearing that Shrooms is pretty amusing, Buried Alive is gruesome, and Storm Warning is really solid.
TIFF Review: Days of Darkness
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Foreign Language », Toronto International Film Festival », Cinematical Indie »
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One of the best films of the year, Days of Darkness takes what could be a difficult and tedious subject -- getting old -- and makes if poignant and gripping by filtering it all through the prism of one man's declining years as a sexual being. French-Canadian actor Marc Labreche plays Jean-Marc, a Walter Mitty sort with thick, coke-bottle glasses and a mousy speaking voice, who has a mundane office-cubicle existence, helping injured people file claims against the state in what seems to be a near-futuristic, independent state of
It's hard to say whether the film intends to make a strong statement on that possibility, but if it does, then it must be decidedly negative. This futuristic
His fantasy file is thick with subjects -- there's his blond supervisor at the office, who calls him to the carpet for every infraction and on whom he seeks revenge by crafting for her a fantasy scene that is, to his mind, exceedingly cruel. Specifically, he imagines her as being made the sex slave of several large, black men who pull her around by a choker. Then there's an anonymous fantasy brunette who acts as a sexual component to Jean-Marc's various 'success fantasies.'
Arcand and Cronenberg Added to Toronto Lineup
Filed under: Independent », Toronto International Film Festival », Cinematical Indie »
It's not surprising to find regional films at any film festival. There's no better way to display local talent, than to place it among the big players in the industry. Having seen a lot of Canadian and international film over the last few years here in Toronto, there has been some gems, and some okay films that were obviously included more for their location and actors than for their artistic merit. What comes to mind right off the bat is These Girls, the David Boreanaz comedy that worth a rental and a few chuckles, but seemed out of place a few years ago amongst its fellow films.This year, well, there might still be some questionable fare at TIFF, but the big Canadian players are there as well. Two galas have been added to the film fest's lineup -- Denys Arcand's latest, Days of Darkness (or, The Age of Ignorance -- a title I like more), and David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, which we've been covering for a while. Since we're already familiar with the latter, let's talk about the former. Arcand is a Québec filmmaker who scored an Oscar for his last film, The Barbarian Invasions. However, you might be more familiar with his English-language feature Stardom, which was out in 2000, and starred Jessica Pare and Dan Aykroyd. Beyond the galas, Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg, which I mentioned here, is also on the lineup under "Special Presentations." If TIFF's plate of films continues to heap on the tasty morsels, which includes Allan Moyle's Weirdsville (yay!), I'm not sure how I'll find time to see them all.
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