2011 Toronto International Film Festival Wrap-Up

I jumped heavier into this year's Toronto International Film Festival than I'd ever had before seeing a total of eleven films over the festival's eleven day run. Overall, I'm glad to say that everything I saw was good to great, although having seen a number of films that were dark, grim, or just plain weird, I'm motivated for next year to see more comedies.

Gus Van Sant's newest film "Restless" was a great start to the festival, a quiet, quirky film about life and death, and the budding romance between two social misfits. There was a very nice balance between the sombre and the uplifting elements of the story and both lead actors, Henry Hopper as Enoch Brae and Mia Wasikowska as Annabel Cotton were excellent. My favourite scene in the film was the graveyard conversation.


Q&A, 'Restless': photo by Michael Ligon

Directed by and starring Ryan O'nan (and who also wrote and performed many of the songs in the film), his directorial debut "The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best" turned out to be a great little indie comedy. In the film, a pair of fate-matched musical losers come together to form a guitar / multi-instrumentalist indie rock duo and go on tour. Part comedy, part drama, part road movie, this was a fun film with surprisingly good musical performances to boot. The three leads (Ryan O'Nan, Michael Weston, Arielle Kebbel) may be relative unknowns but were fantastic and there were some familiar faces (particularly Andrew McCarthy, Christopher McDonald, Jason Ritter and Wilmer Valderrama) that filled out smaller roles to great effect.


Q&A, "The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best": photo by Michael Ligon

I took the Sunday route with a laid back screening of the new Todd Solondz film "Dark Horse" at the VISA Screening Room at the magnificent Elgin Theatre. Having rewatched Solondz' 1998 film "Happiness", I was reminded of his skewed perspective on everyday life, even borderline uncomfortable to watch, depending on the company you were watching it with. While Solondz hasn't necessarily changed his world view on things, he's reigned back the weirdness just a tad on his new film. In this new film, Solondz' story of a man-child's pursuit for love is comedic, yet tragic, fantasical yet grounded in real life.


Q&A, "Dark Horse": photo by Michael Ligon

With famed director Jonathan Demme already hemming Neil Young's previous concert films: 2006′s "Heart of Gold" and 2009′s "Trunk Show", it was only natural that he come on board to document Young's shows at Massey Hall in May of 2010. This newest concert film entitled "Neil Young Journeys" is not only of document of Neil's two night stint at Massey Hall in May of 2010 but also intersperses clips of Young's musings of his childhood as he makes the drive from his childhood hometown of Omemee, ON to Massey Hall in Toronto. Concert films will never take place of a real show but this one comes close with perhaps the finest audio quality I've ever heard during a concert film. During the Q & A, Demme and Young spoke about some sort of new audio technology used I believe to record the sound, and believe me the sound quality was fantastic.


Q&A, "Neil Young Life": photo by Michael Ligon

Apparently, if you're Australian, the mention of "Snowtown", conjures horrific stories of serial killings that took place in the impoverished small town in South Australia between 1992 and 1999. In his directorial debut, director Justin Kurzel does a superb job, given the difficult subject matter, in firstly directing mostly unknowns who gave fantastic performances, and secondly, creating an the films appropriately grim atmosphere. It's not really a film I can say I took 'pleasure' in watching, given it's subject matter, but I appreciated the craftmanship that went into it.


Q&A, "Snowtown": photo by Michael Ligon

And what would a film festival be, without at least watching a foreign film with subtitles. "Kotoko" a Japanese film directed by Shinya Tsukamoto, tells the story of the unravelling mental state of a young mother with double vision which affects her ability to take care of her baby, eventually being suspected of child abuse and having her baby taken away from her. The film does a great job with editing and camera shows in illustrating the realm of pyschosis, to the almost unbearable point of feeling the sickening madness myself. Tsukamoto stars in the film as a writer who's drawn to Kotoko's maudlin singing on the bus one day, eventually pursuing her romantically even after realizing her mental unwellness. At this point, this sounds like a Hollywood formula, but believe me this film is far from it.


Q&A, "Kotoko": photo by Michael Ligon

The most 'star-studded' film I saw was the co-production between Canadian actor Shawn Ashmore and British actor Dominic Monaghan for their post-apocalyptic film "The Day". The short of it is, the film is about a rag-tag group who try to survive in a post-apocalyptic world but then encounter a hurdle. What is it you might ask? No, it's not zombies. Go watch the film. Not much depth to the plot, but as a Midnight Madness entry it was appropriately fun, especially with some of it's kick ass kill sequences.


Q&A, "The Day": photo by Michael Ligon

Better known as stand-up comedian, Bobcat Goldwaithe's directorial effort entitled "God Bless America" turned out to be a surprisingly affecting film. It definitely has a satirical edge and a sensibility that reminds me somewhat of the 1993 film "Falling Down" starring Michael Douglas. But amidst the film's satirical components, is the unconventional friendship between a middle-aged divorced father and a dissatisfied, independent teenage girl. Albeit, as touching as that sounds, the premise of the story is that they do go on a Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque killing spree. Better than I expected, and admist the violence and satire, there was a wonderfully human message.


Q&A, "God Bless America": photo by Michael Ligon

The zombie film genre is something I've grown attached to over the years and was psyched to see that the Cuban-Spanish co-production entitled "Juan Of The Dead" was in this year's festival. It definitely leans towards the side of "Shaun of The Dead" with it's comedic angle, and the humour while cheesy at times, was at other times uproariously funny. Part of me was a little disappointed at times that the zombies weren't as visually threatening as they could have been, the zombies being of the slow and sluggish-paced variety. Director Alejandro Bruges uses the characters' dialogue at times to make commentary about life in Cuba, which somehow fits in well with the characters' situations. Admirable addition to the zombie film genre.


Q&A, "Juan Of The Dead": photo by Michael Ligon

My penultimate film of TIFF was the midnight madness screening of UK film "Kill List" directed by Ben Wheatley. A strange and suspenseful twist on the hit-man film, I especially enjoyed the pacing and buildup of film. By the end film which turns out to be a suckerpunch, your reaction is like, holy 'eff did that just happen? Intensely, dark atmosphere, maybe too dark for some, it won't be everyone's cup of tea but I'll recommend as an intriguing curiousity.


Q&A, "Kill List": photo by Michael Ligon

My last film of TIFF was the Swedish film "Play". Intriguingly shot entirely in long shot, "the film is based on an actual incident in Gothenburg where a group of black kids manipulated other teenagers, mostly from "ethnic" backgrounds, into surrendering their valuables." As a closer for the festival for me, it was an insightful film and its use of long shots an example of how wonderfully cinematography in filmmaking can be. As a story which touches on issues of bullying, race, and the like, it was an insightful film.

And that's it. Let's do this again next year.

And more of my pics during TIFF below:


Elgin Theatre: photo by Michael Ligon


TIFF Volunteers: photo by Michael Ligon


Red Carpet at Roy Thomson Hall: photo by Michael Ligon


Princess of Wales Theatre: photo by Michael Ligon


Mounties by Mr. Brainwash: photo by Michael Ligon


Spray Cans by Mr. Brainwash: photo by Michael Ligon


Alfred Hitchcock by Mr. Brainwash: photo by Michael Ligon

For my complete TIFF photoset, check out the link below:

Photos: 2011 Toronto International Film Festival (September 8-18, 2011)

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ps. Apologies to anyone who's stuck around for the last 2 1/2 months hoping for a post. I lost all motivation for posting gig reviews during the summer partially out of laziness but also partially because of the dearth of really anything extraordinary to post about. Mind you, I saw some good shows during the summer, and did the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago this past July but otherwise the bands and artists that I did see, you've all heard and read about anyway. While my motivation for writing has waned, the pleasure of grabbing a few photos at gigs still remains. At the very least, photos will still provide content to this site, but I'm rethinking the writing angle. I'd like to keep the writing off-the-cuff and spontaneous and rather leave the act of music writing to those of who you who do it for a living, or at least do it better. One of the books I'd read over the summer was called "The Cult of the Amateur - How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture", a harsh critique of user-generated internet/web content in many ways, but one thing I've gained from the book is that I'll probably tighten the quality control on what I publish and don't publish.

Broken Social Scene @ Harbourfront Centre (Sirius Stage) - July 11, 2009

The cancellation of Broken Social Scene's Toronto Island show due to conflicting with the Honda Indy(and the band not wanting the noise from that to interfere with their music festival) may have been a blessing as the band ended up making up the date for fans with a free show at Harbourfront. The only other time they'd played a free show at Harbourfront was back in August 2004. A five year gap between those shows hardly constitutes a tradition but perhaps they can start one and play Harbourfront's main stage with a little more frequency. Harbourfront could barely contain the massive crowd that came out for the show last Saturday, so an annual or bi-annual show from them is probably out of the question, but if it takes them another 5 years to play Harbourfront again, let's just say I hope to be there.

Barely a week since last Saturday's show and my recollections of the show are like the best summer memories, a combination of memorable moments and blurry images. I was fortunate enough to get a photo pass for the show allowing me and small group of other photographers to shoot for the first 3 songs. Canadian film director Bruce McDonald was filming the show for posterity for a future concert film tentatively entitled "This Movie Is Broken" and is also inviting fans at the show to upload their own photos and video footage "to create a portrait of a hot July day in Toronto."

With the band returning to Harbourfront this warm summer evening after a five year absence since they first played the main stage, they took it as an opportunity for a reunion of sorts. The night was full of poignant, heartfelt and euphoric moments. More recently Broken Social Scene had been performing with the core group of Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Andrew Whiteman, Kevin Drew, Sam Goldberg and Brendan Canning and featuring guests like Julie Penner and Lisa Lobsinger(all who were in attendance that night) so it was a definite treat to see so many past members join them for this special evening. But rather than just emphasize the Broken Social Scene moniker, the spotlight was also given to various members' own projects. Three quartersHalf of Metric were in attendance with James Shaw on guitar, and Ms. Emily Haines joining in on vocals and one of the highlights of the evening was the stirring acoustic rendition of Metric's "Gimme Sympathy" with it's lyric "I can feel it in my bones" prompting an audience singalong. Mr. Evan Cranley from Star provided some nice trombone arrangements. Feist came out earlier and much to the glee of the photo pit (as some of us thought we'd not get the opportunity to photograph her up close during the first three songs) as she sung energetically during "7/4 Shoreline". Later, Leslie would break into her own "I Feel It All" for a few bars. Mr. Jason Collett seemed to be a particular favourite especially with his own tune "I'll Bring The Sun" which segued nicely into Guided By Voices' "Glad Girls" for a few bars, particular its lyric "And they're alright". Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and Amy Millan also each contributed a song from their own respective projects to the night's setlist. However, it was the old faves that ruled the night.

Like old times Amy, Leslie, and Emily collaborated with stunning results on the goosebump-inducing "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl" as the trio swayed to the song's mantra-like chorus. The rockin' "Almost Crimes" was an adrenalin rush as usual. It was the encore that was the clincher of the night for many including myself. The summer-y instrumenal "Pacific Theme" was a definite mood setter creating a euphoric rush that most people didn't want to come down from. During the opening guitar strains of "KC Accidental", Kevin immersed himself into the front rows of the audience, not as a performer but to become part of the crowd in worshipping the band's musical prowess as he raised his arms towards his bandmates, before he jumped back onto the stage to begin the song's vocals. For all intentions, this seemed like the band's last song as Kevin thanked the crowd and the band walked off but to the audience chant of "one more song", they came back for an ecstatic rendition of "Major Label Debut". A stunning conclusion to a stunning evening. The memories of the evening may likely fade away but it's the good feelings which will remain. Thank God for Bruce Macdonald for filming the night for posterity. I plan to upload my photos of the night to Mr. McDonald's film website soon and I'm looking forward to the completed project which I can only hope will include a photo or two of mine.

Photos: Broken Social Scene @ Harbourfront Centre (Sirius Stage) - July 11, 2009

Fortunately someone's posted the setlist online. Thank you. And apparently there's some video footage from the night on YouTube but I'll leave it to you to search for the videos on your own.

MySpace: Broken Social Scene

Junior Boys, Max Tundra @ The Mod Club (March 29, 2009)

concert review: Junior Boys, Max Tundra at The Mod Club (Toronto, Ontario) - March 29, 2009

   Junior Boys @ The Mod Club (Mar 29, 2009): photo by Michael Ligon


A cause for celebration at The Mod Club last weekend as it'd been a good two years since I'd last seen Junior Boys live and they were celebrating the release of their recently release third full-length "Begone Dull Care" out through Domino Records. Joining them for the show was labelmate Max Tundra who came brandishing his own poptronics. I consider myself fortunate to have caught the second show of their two night stint at The Mod Club as I'd read that the first show became victim to the venue's early curfew (in order to prepare for the venue's dance party night) and Junior Boys only got so far as to performing only six songs.

UK one-man-band, electro-pop act Max Tundra opened the night definitely on the playful side of things. His music is like a double-syringed shot of adrenaline on one hand meant for dancing (or at least nodding your head incessantly) and on the other hand his playful melodic vocals do grab your ears for listening pleasure. Always seeming to be in constant motion, he worked his way between his mic, keyboards, sampler, melodics, and a few percussive instruments, and when he had the sparest of moments would even throw in a spastic dance move or two. A nod to rave culture on one acid-laced dance track, or ending his set with an electro rendition of The Sound of Music's 'So Long, Farewell' might seem a little campy in retrospect but it was all in good fun. He's like a kid that never grew up - and he's now making a living at it. We should all be jealous.

While the darker-toned electro-pop of "So This Is Goodbye" remains their masterpiece (at least in my opinion), Junior Boy's new album "Begone Dull Care" doesn't fall far behind. But whereas Depeche Mode feels like a strong influence on "So This Is Goodbye" and does even extend to a few tracks on "Begone Dull Care" (especially opening track 'Parralel Lines'), it also seems like the Boys have been listening to more r n'b (listen to 'Hazel', 'Sneak A Picture', and 'The Animator'). While the set lay most heavily on the new album there was also a generous helping from "So This Is Goodbye" as well as a few from their debut full-length. Their live show hasn't changed much with sampler extraordinaire Matthew Didemus noodling about competently but not much else and vocalist/keyboardist Jeremy Greenspan thankfully being more animated for both of them. As I've said before and will say again, their live set does benefit greatly from their live drummer beefing up the songs and giving them more of a band feel. As their live set showed, Junior Boys make music pop music that you can sing as well as dance to[and dancing many did including myself, or at least my version of it], drawing together such disparate music fans like indie, dance and others. Now how's that for unifying?

Photos: Junior Boys, Max Tundra @ The Mod Club (March 29, 2009)

MySpace: Max Tundra
MySpace: Junior Boys
MySpace: Domino Records

Moving Pictures, Silent Films

My TIFF-ing (yes, I've just made it a verb) was limited this year. I got partially caught up in the all the excitement with daily strolls by Toronto Life Square (I work right downtown) where I'd see the lineup to the box office, as well as the 'big board' of movie listings indicating a continually fluctuating of onsales and offsales. I ended up one Friday night just after work lining up for 2 hours to pick up tickets to one movie "In The Shadow of Naga" which would be the only movie I'd make it to this TIFF. It's premise of "monks with guns" and insight into Buddhist principles seemed promising though having seen it this past Thursday with a friend the pacing of the film was languid and sometimes melodramatic. Although piecing together the pieces of puzzle of the 'crime caper' (and the intertwinement of Buddhist principles) did offer its own thoughtfulness - I just wished I enjoyed the film overall more.

During the duration of the festival, my celebrity-watching was a bust, though not that I'd actually tried to hard (although I did even stroll through Yorkville for a glimpse of something/anything but no luck). I did make it to Yonge Dundas Square for a TIFF-related concert this past Thursday which had Emm Gryner and Great Lake Swimmers performing live as both artists appear on the soundtrack for the Canadian film "One Week". Amidst all the distractions of the surroundings, it'd be the last place I'd want to listen to Great Lake Swimmers but strangely Tony Dekker and band (which included Julie Fader on keys and backup vox) could still conjure up moments of beauty especially on the relevant-titled "Moving Pictures, Silent Films".

The festival's come and gone for another year. Perhaps it's a blessing that I didn't go to more films - I got a crap-load of DVD's at home that I need/want to catch up on.

Photos: Great Lake Swimmers @ Yonge Dundas Square (September 11, 2008).
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Although not TIFF-related, I just want to mention I'll be going to see Goldfrapp (whose music can be certainly cinematic, not to mention the frontpage of their website) at The Music Hall tonight. The Toronto Star and Chartattack did some pre-show press last week.