Toronto International Film Festival : Day 7

After one of the better days of the festival, this was probably the worst. THe sad thing is it will be easier to remember the stand-out bad films as time goes on. With the exception of "The Brood" which was good in a nostalgic kind of way, neither Seven Times Lucky or Steamboy were up to par. This left me despondant enough to not even bother going to the last films I had the next day.

10:00AM - Seven Times Lucky

Paramount

Yes I know down in my schedule it says Kung Fu Hustle, and man that's what I wish it said here too. Apparently the Print of KFH was damaged at the first screening so there was no movie to show. The Paramount did offer up House of Flying Daggers as an alternate, but abotu 80% of the line had already seen that (big surprise), still it was a good idea/gesture. I opted to see the slightly later movie so I could go get some food (and Mail from the office).

This movie sounded kinda mediocre in the description and it kinda worked out that way in real life too. Hate to say it but the odd mix-match of present day and 1950's really just struck me as odd; throughout the movie 1954-era Canadian dollars are being tossed around. As well the musical score was a little excessivly christmasy in a way that really drew me out of the film. I also foun d the plot to be pretty easy to guess as this was a confidence/grifter type movie, so I know more or less what's going to happen right from the get-go.

Nothing about this movie really came together for me, and I don't think it was just because I was all-set for another movie instead. Go see Matchstick Men.

1:00PM - The Brood

Cumberland

Somehow I missed that this was part of the Dialogues section of the catalog, which meant we got to hear from Don McKellar both before and after the film about how/why this movie was an inspiration for him. Although he didn't go into it in great detail I found a brief discussion of Canadian film history very interesting, in specific I never knew about the CFDC tax-shelter years and how this impacted Canadian filmmakers.

The Brood itself still holds up pretty well as a horror movie from this era. This is Cronenburg's "Kramer vs. Kramer" and there are many autobiographical elements. Aside from the actual movie which was great the thing I just could not get away from were how many elements of the film I could relate to. By elements I mean objects, right down to the range hood that was identical to the one in the house I grew up in. I think this is the first time I've really had that personal connection to a film through relating to the scenery. Wierd.

4:45PM - Steamboy

Isabel Bader

Nice theatre, for a small one. That's not the best thing I can say, but it's a nice thing I can say. This industrial revolution-esque film was just a bit too similar to other things I've seen recently (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). In addition I just could not get absorbed enough to really care about the characters, despite the fact that I only saw the first (character/plot driven) half and all the action is in the second half.

The animation was excellent, as was the voice acting. The message of the movie is also an interesting one, but I kind of felt like I was getting hit over the head with it repeatedly. This brings up the plot, which was much more simplistic than I expected from a movie that apparently took 9 years to get made. I wanted to like it but I just could not connect with the film. Others apparently also suffered this fate as I was not the first to leave. Even though I'm sure I missed an amaziong battle between steam driven creations o f immense imagination, I have no regrets leaving to get some food and rest before my driving lesson tonight.

Now I am a pretty serious anime fan, I watch a fair bit and own a fair bit. While visually this movie stacks up very well against recent mass-market anime, I just can't recommend it. I can recommend Spirited Away or Millenium Actress instead.

Posted at 01:07 AM to Film By: John Fairley