TIFF

The Toronto International Film Festival is now in full swing and I personally have had a fantastic time so far. I’m kicking myself for not partaking in last year’s festivities even though I was in the city at the time. For it being my first film festival experience I couldn’t ask for anything more...well, except someone else paying for my tickets but that’s only wishful thinking. So what has made this experience great? I’ll tell you.

The People
Happy, outgoing, and informative volunteers. I applaud these people. I can only imagine the repetition, inane questions, and public outbursts these people have to face. Yet, each time I need assistance, whether it finding a venue, finding a line, or just asking for the time, they’ve greeted me with a smile, and more importantly THE CORRECT INFORMATION. Most seem to be willing to chat about the upcoming shows, what they’ve seen, what you’ve seen. They’re generally interested in film and are there as fans as much as anyone else. And if you don’t want to talk they won’t bother you. Yes, if you’re in the way of a red carpet or standing in the middle of the road waiting for a celebrity they’ll tell you to move but I haven’t run across the volunteer with the god complex yet, though there is still time.

Free Stuff
Yonge and Dundas Square is offering free screenings of documentary films, short films, and some other cool things. They’re not new and a lot of them are concert or music based, but it’s still something to do for free in the city. Yesterday I found myself watching the “Woodstock” documentary on the big screen in the heart of downtown Toronto. Even though I own the DVD it’s interesting to watch something like that in a group. People clapped after each band took the stage. People cheered for The Who. People cheered for naked women. It was a fun experience and a good place to spend time between other screenings.

Last night was also the Toronto Roller Derby showcase and premiere of Drew Barrymore’s Whip It. I had no idea that sport still existed let alone there were clubs in at least 4 nearby cities. The Roller girl’s played an exhibition and showed a lot of people what Roller Derby was. I for one still have no idea what was going on or how on earth points were scored but it was a new experience and actually pretty interesting. Rick the Temp (he will never be known as anything else to me...) and the roller girls handed out Whip It swag. To keep people in the seats (or standing against a barricade) the main cast of Whip It made an appearance at half time and walked the read carpet. Drew Barrymore introduced her cast (Trying not to use the F bomb, but alas failing) and the posed for pictures with the skaters, before heading to the movie’s screening.

The Films
This is where you can see movies you wouldn’t normally see. True, the big names get a lot of the press and attention but I’m not going to spend my money on seeing The Invention of Lying, when I can see it in a month when it comes out. So far I’ve only gone to two screenings but as really impressed.
Valhalla Rising, by Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, stars Mads Mikkelsen as One-Eye, a mute Viking warrior with no past. It was a strange movie and played on fate, redemption, heaven and hell, and Christianity. The director explained during the Q&A that it could be what ever you read into it and he’s right. On the surface it’s a truly violent and gory tale about basically some guys either sitting in a boat or walking through the woods. I enjoyed it and Mads Mikkelsen is badass but I don’t know if I’d watch it again, though I would like to know what happened in the ten minutes cut for the Canadian viewing.

My favourite of the two so far is Perrier’s Bounty, by Irish director Ian Fitzgibbon. This movie was a hell of a lot of fun. Cillian Murphy plays, Micheal McCrea, a man down on his luck and in debt to gangster Darren Perrier (Brendan Gleeson). Trouble ensues. Along with his nutty father (Jim Broadbent) and his neighbour (Jodie Whittaker), McCrea tries to survive the night. Perrier’s Bounty is in the vain of guy Ritchie and really works well. The characters are quirky and the actors are great. Broadbent’s coffee eating, sleep deprived character is hilarious, and murphy’s reactions to him are priceless. It really is a fun dark gangster-filled comedy. As of yet it doesn’t have North American distribution but I hope it will. I would love to watch it again.

Well, that’s all for now. We’ll see what the rest of the week brings.

A Needed Update...

Well, I’m really far behind. Between moving, Fanexpo, and general life I haven’t had time (or internet access) to update here. Now I find myself waiting for the cable guy and I thought it a perfect time to run down what has happened in my fandom in the past couple month.

Game of Thrones is taking the internet by storm. The Westeros forum and Winter is Coming have been keeping up all up to date with casting news and rumours. I have to say, there communities are some of the best I’ve been involved with. Aside from the completely horrendous Tamzin Merchant bashing incident, the boards are a great place for actual intelligent discussion. GRRM has been keeping us on our toes with casting games, giving us hints for each new actor cast. Not only does it keep the fans entertained while we wait it seems to generate noticeable buzz. The last two releases from the Hollywood Reporter have commented on the hype and internet buzz this PILOT is getting. It’s amazing to think so much news is coming from something that has a chance not to be picked up. Friends of mine who only know of Thrones through my constant babbling heard of the latest casting news through other channels. The word is spreading fans, and that can only be good news.

Down to Casting Business

Let’s look at the names that are attached to this show
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion
Sean Bean as Ned Stark
Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon
Kit Harrington as Jon Snow
Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen
Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon

Since my last post we have...
Jennifer Ehle as Catelyn Stark-best known for her role as Lizzie Bennett in the BBC Pride and Prejudice
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister-New Amsterdam
Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy-from Equus, brother to pop singer Lily Allen
Tamzin Merchant as Dany Targaryen-The Tudours
Richard Madden as Robb Stark-a mostly unknown from the stage
Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont-noted character actor
unknown child actors, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner as Arya Stark and Sansa Stark

and most recently

Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister-which solidifies Throne’s hold on the geek demographic

GRRM has given us one more character/actor clue and all signs point to the casting of Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane. It hasn't been made official but many fans are taking this deducation as fact.

There are only a few leads left to cast but quite a few roles I'm waiting to hear about: Bran, Drogo, Benjen Stark, Maester's Luwin and Pycelle, Hodor...

X-men Origins: Wolverine 2

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i367bfce562b7ee621c8ea584d5aa21e5

So...this is actually happening...awesome...

Review: G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

Well they got me into the theatre. All summer this movie was in the back of my mind. The trailers made me want to skip it completely but free food lured me in. Good marketing on AMC’s part, free popcorn and pop and I’m in their seat. To be clear, I was never a big G.I. Joe fan. I vaguely remember watching the show, say “and knowing is half the battle” more than anyone should, and remember marrying my brother’s Cobra Commander to a slew of my Barbie dolls. My favourite action figure was with red-bearded guy with a white t-shirt that I found in a fire-pit when we were camping one summer. I don’t know the back stories or remember the history. I read the recent G.I. Joe: Cobra comic mini-series but that’s where my knowledge ends. So what did I think of this movie? I thought it was a whole hell of a lot of fun! Was it deep? No. Was it plausible? No a chance. Is Channing Tantum likeable enough to carry a movie? Just barely. Did things explode? And how! This is one of those movies where you have to shut off your brain and just go with it and that’s ok. The movie knows what it is. It’s ridiculous, plot points are guessed at and there are a few too many coincidences but it doesn’t matter. Shit blows up. Evil tries to take over the world. Good saves the day. G.I. Joe knows each scene is only there to get to the next big explosion, and unlike some of this year’s big action movies (CoughWolverineCough) they don’t try to sugar-coat it. Let me explain.
In one scene Duke grabs the case of warheads and bashes Storm-Shadow with it. It doesn’t do any good, but in the next scene Breaker announces that he’s been watching the warhead signal in case it comes back on, and now it has. I could have missed something but apparently bashing warheads=activating tracking signal. They could have tried to explain away what Duke was doing. They could have come up with a better reason for the tracking to work or for the Joes to find the base, but the movie knows it really just doesn’t matter. When we get there things will explode and everything else will be forgotten.
I may seem like I’m talking down but I’m really not. I’m actually surprised that there was any actual story at all. It wasn’t ra-ra American propaganda by any means and the characters were generally good too. Marlon Wayans as Ripcord was a little annoying, Channing Tatum was a little bland but it seemed to work. I especially enjoyed Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (imdb says he played Heavy Duty but I had no idea what his name was through the entire movie). I’ve only seen him play somewhat crazy people (OZ, Lost) so it was a nice surprise to see him in this. The casting of Joseph Gordon-Levitt still boggles my mind but for some reason it worked. And Brendan Fraser? I’ve also learned that I kind of love Sienna Miller and/or wish I looked that good in a skin-tight body suite...
When watching the trailer I thought this movie could possible have been the worst film of the summer but for me it wasn’t. It wasn’t the deepest or most insightful. It was an action movie with all that entails. Hell, I came out of this feeling enormously better than I did after Funny People. If you want something with high emotional moments and heart-wrenching scenes skip G. I. Joe but otherwise I’d say have fun and be eight years old again. Watch rockets and lasers kill things. Watch cars crash as no one is held accountable for collateral damage. Watch the Sequel because they are clearly planning one. Have fun with it and don’t think too hard. Was is great? no. Was it good? Probably not. But I will say it again, it was fun. Also, +100 points for not yelling “NOOOO!” over the body of a dead girl.

What I saw on my way home from work...

~1 person getting tattooed
~1 crowd waiting for...Jeremy Piven?

Violet-The Book Trailer

This is a little off topic, but i think the illustrations in Violet are amazing. Vanja Vuleta Jovanovic's artwork really makes it stand out. Art, education, and tolerance all wrapped up in one pretty cool picture book. Take a look at the trailer HERE.

Game of Thrones Update: It's Official!!!

The news we've been waiting for has arrived! The Hollywood Reporter has officially announced Sean Bean has been cast as Ned Stark in a Game of Thrones. George R R Martin has updated his blog in confirmation.



Ned is not our only news. The Role of Robert Baratheon has gone to Mark Addy, who I know (and LOVE) from sitcom Still Standing, and various Heath Ledger projects. I'm actually really excited about this choice. I think Addy will definitely do Robert justice.

Also, new-comer and relatively unknown Kit Harington is playing Jon Snow. I can't wait to see what this guy can do.

Jack Gleeson (Batman Begins) has been cast as Joffrey Baratheon and Viserys Targaryen will be played by Harry Lloyd (Robin Hood).

Martin says there is still many important casting decisions still to be made, such as the Lannisters, the children, and Dany.

This is all great news.
http://grrm.livejournal.com/95840.html

Game of Thrones Update: Has Ned Been Cast?

Rumours say Sean Bean, best known as Boromir in Lord of the Rings, staring in the Sharpe tv series, and dying in countless roles, has been cast as Eddard Stark. Winter is Coming cites an anonymous inside source for the information. The Daily Mail also has reported a similar story, but does not clarify their source and manages to get some of their series information incorrect (asoiaf is not a computer game, it will be but it isn't now...).
I would be thrilled with Bean as Ned. His involvement would bring a lot of fans to the project. I've always thought Ned a little thinner, but if that's my only complaint it's barely worth mentioning. Let's hope HBO, GRRM, or Benoiff and Weiss don't keep us in the dark much longer. Is Bean your Ned?

What I saw on my way home from work...

~1 three piece band
~1 tarot card reader
~1 life-like chalk drawing of Michael Jackson (with dedication)
~1 designer from Project Runway Canada

This Week in X-books

Only two books to talk about this week (I spent the rest of my money on lead statues and a Fables trade)

Dark Avengers #7

Writer~Matt Fraction

Pencils~Luke Ross

The Avengers/X-men Utopia cross-over continues in Dark Avengers #7. Osbourn is frustrated by Dark Beast's Omega Machine and the tension in the Avengers is rising. Neither the Dark Avengers nor the Dark X-men want to be put on the side-lines and it ends in a fight between the two groups. Cyclops flies in on a jetpack (?) and threatens Osbourn, who in turn promises the death of Scott summers. Meanwhile, Emma Frost sees mutant prisoners being treated badly (surprise!) and demands to be shown to the cells. Xavier contacts her telepathically, telling her that beast has been tortured, but Dark Beast has used holographic protections to trick Emma into seeing a storage closet inside the cell. Oh, and there's something about Simon Trask mind controlling hospital patients.

Best/Worst Quotes~Do you need medical attention?

~My fingernails just fell out. So you tell me, professor.

Okay,I love this cover. An homage to X-men #4, it shows two of the key players lording their power over the squabbling pawns. I'm not sure what Emma's thought process in all this is but I'm intrigued. I wouldn't say it's the best cross-over I've read, but I don't have as big of a problem with it as many seem to. Cyclops standing with his hands on his hips in a jetpack however...

And what are they doing to Beast?! The guy's life just sucks more in more. I swear Fraction, if you kill him I'm done with Uncanny (Yeah, that's a lie). 3.5 Stars

X-Factor #46

Writer~Peter David

Pencils~Marco Santucci (although is says DeLandro on the cover)

Mind controlled Monet fights Darwin and Siryn. Jamie, Layla, and Ruby talk to crazy old Dr. Doom and tells them about "doomlocks," which apparently make time travel actually affect continuity. He also tells them to duck as sentinels attack, but are sent into the past (conveniently into the fight of Monet and Siryn) By Trevor Fitzroy.

Best/Worst Quotes~F...Fitzroy? *As in totally evil, major villain from the future Trevor Fitzroy?*

This was a "move the plot along" issue, addressing the Monet problem from a few issues back. It seems David has so many plot threads that he can't address them all in every issue. Which is fine unless you were wanting to see what his plans for Rictor and Shatterstar are. As of the first page they're still kissing. I'm still confused about who Cortex is working for or what the whole purpose it but I'm having enough fun with this book not to care. Peter David takes a bunch of D-list characters and gives them stories and motivation. I'm reading a book that has Darwin and Longshot as key players. I never thought that would happen. They must give David a list of characters who haven't had relevant story-lines in the last ten years and say "take your pick." #46 wasn't one of my favourite issues but it's still better than a lot of what's out there. 4 Stars

Game of Thrones Update

For years we've heard rumours of George R R Martin's epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, being being made into a television series. Now HBO has ordered a pilot for the project, and it's expected to start filming in the fall. A few months ago we received the first casting news.

Our favourite dwarf, Tyrion Lannister will be played by non other than Peter Dinklage. Known for his work in The Chronicles of Narnia, Nip/Tuck, and Elf (as well as others), Dinklage seems to be the perfect man for the job. He has the intelligence, comedic timing, and genuine acting ability to portray one of the most loved and interesting characters in Martin's saga.

While Dinklage's involvement is exciting, other than the hiring of director Thomas McCarthy (The Wire, Station Agent), fans have had few updates since. There are whispers and casting rumours but nothing concrete as of yet, so any new update is welcomed.

This weekend the westeros.org boards and Winter is Coming, reported new audition sides have been sent out for the character of Cersei and Daenerys. While it's reported Dany's side includes the funeral Pyre of Drogo as seen in the book, Cersei's scene is brand new and confusing to many fans. According to a member of the Westeros boards, Cersei comes to the injured Bran's room and speaks with Catelyn, telling her of her own lost child, a black haired son of Robert.

What will this mean to the story? Will Game of Thrones (as the show has been named) differ greatly from the beloved books? Is Cersei lying? Is she scheming? What consequences does this new scene have for the idea that "the seed is strong?" Of course, we'll have to wait for the pilot to be filmed, picked up, and aired, but without any new casting announcement us fans will spend the time running through scenarios, hoping each change will add to the story and not stray too far from the words of Martin himself.

This Week in X-books

To satisfy my X-men addiction for the week I picked up three books.

X-men Legacy #226 (Utopia Tie-in)

Writer~Mike Carey

Pencils~Dustin Weaver

Rogue, Gambit, and Danger join the fray in San Francisco against the Humanity Now! Coalition. Fighting ensues. Rogue takes on the new Ms Marvel, Danger is compared to a transformer, and Gambit...well Gambit gets his ass kicked. Then they drive away in a tank. Yep, they steal a tank...

Best/Worst Quote~Mom, I got catched by a transformer! Did you see?

The problem with this issue is that it seemed to take place in the midst of the last issue of Uncanny and really didn't add anything to the story. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad, it was just kind of forgetable. Blame it on the tie-in aspect if you want, but I don't think Rogue, Gambit, and Danger make a compelling team. 2.5 Stars

X-men Forever #3

Writer~Chris Claremont

Pencils~Tom Grummett

Xavier probes Jean's and finds her relationship with Wolverine was more than what it seems. Sabretooth is still blinded and Storm wants to finish what she started. Jean awakes and goes on the offensive, but against who? Oh and we find out where Wolverine's missing claw went.

Best/Worst Quotes~You burned the flesh from his bones, you stole away his future, you brought the life of the man I love to an end. and as he fell you laughed. I don't hear you laughing now!

~What just happened? Jean called Logan "the man I love." Worry about that later...time now to focus.

Chris Claremont is single-handedly trying to reinvent X-men continuity. In X-men Forever Claremont picks up where he left off in the the 1990s, ignoring everything that came after. I can't help but enjoy this book. Sure it's bizarre and indulgent. Gambit's name is still Remy Picard for an unknown reason and apparently Wolverine is Sabretooth's son, but it's good old-fashioned X-men fun. Jean, Cyclops, Rogue, Gambit, Beast, Storm, Nightcrawler, Kitty and of course Xavier (before everyone hated him)~It's just a good time. 3.5 Stars


GeNext United #3 of 5

Writer~Chris Claremont

Pencils~Jonboy Meyers

The GeNext team is still in India. We learn a little about Sophie Von Doom. She's connected to Kalima and the shit hits the fan. It looks like the GeNexters have lost until Olivier...does something...I honestly don't know what really happened.

Best/Worst Quotes~ The girl is not what she seems! this is one of Kalima's spells. Forgive me, my friend! It makes me--want to KILL you!

Claremont continues with his continuity nightmare in this second GeNext mini-series. The series follows the kids and grandkids of former X-men and is a loose follow up to Claremont's X-men: The Ends series (which I actually really liked). I admit the fan-fictionish plot is cheesy but like X-men Forever, I'm along for the ride. It's more proof that I will buy anything with Beast in it. Yeah, I want to find out who No-name is or what the hell is going on, but what really keeps me reading is my insane need to know about Beast and Cecelia Reyes. They keep giving vague references about their marriage but I want real info! It's about time Beast got some lovin'!

3 Stars

What I saw on my way home from work...

~3 bagpipers (2 in kilts)
~1 puppet singing improv songs
~1 man ask the streetcar for money