the backwoods Tagged Articles at Cinematical

With hundreds of titles playing at the Toronto festival, which ones will emerge as critical or popular favorites? One way to build popular word of mouth is by screening selected titles at other fall festivals. Festival buzz often leads to sales for films without distribution, and that same buzz can increase awareness of films in advance of a theatrical release.

For example, this week AFI Fest announced another 15 titles, according to indieWIRE, of which 11 are screening in Toronto. Bruce MacDonald's The Tracey Fragments and Paprika Steen's With Your Permission will have their US Premieres at the fest, while other buzz titles include Telluride fave Juno, the animated Persepolis, the Romanian 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (which was pulled earlier this year from the Los Angeles Film Festival), biopic The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Tamara Jenkins' The Savages and Austrian Oscar entry The Counterfeiters. As an Asian film fan, I'm excited to see Hao Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon and Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine in the lineup. Two documentaries will world premiere: Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome and 1000 Journals. The fest will open with the North American Premiere of Robert Redford's Lions for Lambs; it runs from November 1-11 in Los Angeles, California.

Starting in less than two weeks, Fantastic Fest is filled with exciting titles for genre fans -- I'm going and my schedule is already overflowing. They've just announced their opening night film will be George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead, with director Romero in person. The film premiered Friday night as part of Toronto's Midnight Madness program. Other recently-added films include Flash Point (another Midnight Madness title), The Backwoods (starring Gary Oldman) and Nacho Vigilando's Timecrimes. Look for a BIG Cinematical preview coming next week. The craziness begins September 20 and lasts until September 27 in Austin, Texas.

Ah, Lionsgate. Thank you for keeping the horror film torch burning by bringing us films like the Saw franchise, Hostel, The Descent and so many more to come (as our own Scott reported recently). In the world of modestly budgeted splatter-fests you guys pretty much rule. And now, according to Variety, you've picked up yet another potential winner from your old friends at Filmax -- the horror/thriller The Backwoods, starring Gary Oldman.

When we wrote about this film wayyy last year, it was just a mention regarding the casting of Oldman in the film. And now, over a year later, the film is in the can, getting picked up by a major horror-friendly distributor and is slated for a U.S. release next year. Not bad. Although, it's not that unusual for Lionsgate to acquire product from Filmax considering the long-standing relationship between the two companies. Since 2000, the distributor has picked up quite a few films from the Spanish producer -- including Arachnid, Dagon, Faust and one of my faves -- Beyond Re-Animator.

The Backwoods, directed by first-time feature helmer Koldo Serra, is an English-language thriller set in Basque Country in 1978 which tells the story of a couple on vacation who stumble upon a deformed and seemingly helpless girl trapped in a cabin. Of course, the couple tries to help her and ends up fighting for their lives against the local villagers who have imprisoned the girl. The film co-stars Paddy Considine (who was so good in Jim Sheridan's In America), Aitana Sanchez-Gijon and the super-hot Virginie Ledoyen. Plus, as Gary Oldman happens to be in it and I'm a huge fan of his, I plan on catching this film when it's released. Lionsgate, keep up the good work. For more on The Backwoods, check out its official site.

dys·func·tion also dis·func·tion  -- n. Abnormal or impaired functioning, especially of a bodily system or social group

When I think of the word 'dysfunctional,' part of me wonders why no one ever suggested taking my picture and placing it next to said word in the dictionary. And if such a picture was ever presented before me, what sort of face do I put on in front of the camera? Do dysfunctional people smile? Should I frown? What if I kind of half-smile and squint my eyes, alluding to the fact that there's something missing -- ya know, leave it up to the reader to make their own assumptions.

Then again, aren't we all a little dysfunctional sometimes? Aren't we abnormal? What is abnormal? Heck, what's normal? And, if there is a person out there who is completely normal, not a worry or problem in the world -- wouldn't that classify them as abnormal? Where am I going with this? Did I even have a point? Do I need one?

Needless to say, the following films all deal, in some way, shape or form with dysfunction. Seeing, feeling and wanting things that, to the average, functional person, may seem a bit bizarre. Be it ghosts, dreams, people out in the middle of the woods with mutilated hands or any film that stars Christian Bale -- this week we're delving into the world of the abnormal ... or normal, depending on which dictionary you subscribe to. Welcome to another edition of Trailer Park: