The Pagan Agenda

Labour Day came and went. In what has now become a hallowed tradition I spent the morning doing the College Park shuffle inching ever so slowly towards the ticket exchange booth. The morning line-up contained communal grumblings and quasi-conspiracy theories about the lengths the festival group have gone to shortchange us in their pursuit to finance their pet project, the condo/theater complex known blandly as the Bell Lightbox. This year the bag was one rung above grocery-fare, there was no highlighters in mine, but worst of all (and here comes the quasi-conspiracy) an undue premium was put on the Elgin tickets, first raising the single tickets and Visa passes too steeply, but also by rationing off a portion of the tickets for single ticket sales prior to the voucher lottery they cunningly limited the possibility of us getting the discounted price to these screenings. But whatever, despite all these small complaints the festival remains the greatest show in town and like a good Canadian I learned to suppress my anger and take whats comes to me.

As I mentioned in my last post, my approach to the festival this year has veered towards the American and the mainstream, at least more than I was apt to in the past. We shall see if this strategy was a smart one.

Sat Sept 8th

Chacun son cinéma (VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN)) – 189 Yonge St, Toronto, ON (VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN)) 11am. —a collection of shorts on the theme of the film-going experience with noteworthy contributors such as David Lynch, David Cronenberg, the Coen Brothers, Ken Loach and many many others.

My Enemy’s Enemy (VARSITY 8 ) – 55 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON (VARSITY 8 ) 9:30pm—One of the two docs I am seeing by reliable filmmaker Kevin Macdonald of ‘Touching the Void’ and ‘One Day in September’ fame.

George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead (RYERSON) – 43 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON (RYERSON) midnight madness—My only Midnight Madness this year and one of the two horror films I am seeing, a rarity for me.

Sun Sept 9th

Le Deuxième Souffle (SCOTIABANK THEATRE 2) – 259 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON (SCOTIABANK THEATRE 2) 4pm – Apparently a film noir remake of a film I have never seen but boy oh boy does this look gooooood, the teaser trailer is gorgeous all wet dark streets, the glint of a pistol and a fadora-sporting out of breath Daniel Auteuil… and Monica Bellucci, holy eye candy!

Silent Light (SCOTIABANK THEATRE 3) – 259 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON (SCOTIABANK THEATRE 3) 9pm – Bringing the pathos back into the festival… as I mentioned before, a mennonite community get the Malick treatment in this slow churning vision of human frailty in wide open spaces. I have not seen anything by director Carlos Reygadas before but Battle in Heaven and Japon are on my radar as art film heavys.

Tues Sept 11th

Paranoid Park (SCOTIABANK THEATRE 1) – 259 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON (SCOTIABANK THEATRE 1) 9:15pm—Gus Van Sant, nuff said.

Wed Sept 12th

Cassandra’s Dream (VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN)) – 189 Yonge St, Toronto, ON (VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN)) 11am—I really did not expect to get this figuring Woody Allen would be the shit at this year’s fest so I halfheartedly put it as a first pick only to get it. Hoping it is more ‘Match Point’ then ‘Scoop’.

Atonement (VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN)) – 189 Yonge St, Toronto, ON (VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN)) 2:30pm—Based on the best-selling book I never read, starring Kiera Knightley, but more importantly directed by Joe Wright who proved with his Pride and Prejudice adaptation of a couple years ago that he can make mainstream poignant and worthy of repeat viewings; a director to watch, and so I am watching him.

I’m Not There (RYERSON) – 43 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON (RYERSON) 8:30pm—The unconventional bio-pic of the cultural icon Bob Dylan, directed by Todd Haynes, he of ‘Far From Heaven’ and ‘Safe’, and starring Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and others as the elusive man himself. Sure to eb the highlight of this festival but quite possibly of all those which came before it too. Expectations at full tilt.

Thurs Sept 13th

Alexandra (WINTERGARDEN THEATRE) – 189 Yonge St, Toronto, ON (WINTERGARDEN THEATRE) 9pm – Alexander Sokurov, he of the mind-boggling single-take film event, Russian Ark, returns to the festival. I have not seen anything else by him but I expect this to be a challenging watch, just what I need between lighter fare… and a film fest first for me: this one is in the wintergarden theatre, a forest-inspired bejewelled environment that is worthy of as much attention as the film.

Fri Sept 14th

Son of Rambow (RYERSON) – 43 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON (RYERSON) 6:45pm—Here is where being in a bad box for the lottery forces one to get creative with the selections. I hadn’t even heard of this film until a couple days ago but apparently it was a hit at this year’s Sundance festival. A comedy about young kids remaking Rambo. I may get nostalgic watching this as I did something equivalent when I was a kid doing an ultra-cheap cow-pastures-for-exotic-locales Indiana Jones.

The Passage (ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM) – 100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON (ROYAL ONTARIO Museum) 9:30pm—Another last second pick, a horror film which takes place in Morroco and which is supposed to be more Hitchcockian than slasher.

Sat Sept 15th

Encounters at the End of the World (CUMBERLAND 3) – 159 Cumberland St, Toronto, ON (CUMBERLAND 3) 9am—Werner Herzog is back! He hardly left but he is back! His first documentary since Grizzly Man, looking for inspiration from the inhospitable environment of Antartica. Considering his track record, this is a sure thing.

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (RYERSON) – 43 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON (RYERSON) 2:45pm—Director Sidney Lumet of Dog Day Afternoon is back with another quirky crime film amongst family, here with Ethan Hawke and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the squabbling brothers of a botched heist.