Looking at David Cronenberg's diverse, endlessly fascinating and distinctly original body of work, I have come to the assured conclusion that Eastern Promises is the Toronto auteur's best film to date. Although Videodrome will always hold a special kooky place in my heart, the London-set crime drama is his most accomplished and sophisticated in terms of pure cinematic storytelling. And it's by far the best film that's made by a Canadian this year.

Being an American-Canadian-English co-production, Eastern Promises is also one of the most multi-national pictures of the year: its screenwriter Steven Knight is an Englishman; cinematographer Peter Suschitzky is Polish; stars Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel and Armin Mueller-Stahl are from America, Australia, France and Germany respectively. Even the film's very premise centers on Russian immigrant families settled in the shadowiest district of London, England. It's one vision channeled through and enriched by the disparate talents of many; that, my friends, represents more Canadian-ness than any other film this year.

This year's eclectic and genre-tolerant selection for the One Minute Film and Video Festival includes 52 international shorts, all of which are -- as promised -- exactly sixty seconds and focus on and around the theme of "secret". As one might guess, some filmmakers adhere to that theme quite literally, while others stray in all sorts of creative and unusual directions.

Highlights for me include: Baywatch (which has nothing to do with Pamela Anderson larking about on a beach) has an eccentric lifeguard who rescues a dummy before giving it a proper burial; Postering: Reading the Secrets of the City is a slickly edited montage featuring the political poetry of phone pole banners; and the nicely ironic Childish Thoughts has a punch line just as good as its simple but effective visuals.

Our resident film writer and masterful self-promoter Matt Brown will not only be hosting the event, but has appearances in not one but two oddball companion pieces (This Thing is Bigger than the Both of Us: These Are Facts and This Thing is Bigger than the Both of Us: The Secret of String). Matt's not the only one capitalizing on precious screen time though, the one and only Dave Foley shows up (accidentally?) in two screwy gonzo skits (Dave Foley vs. The Hulks and Dave Foley and Fans: the 2nd Sequel).

The screening starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Bloor Cinema. Tickets at the door are $10.

Photo: One Minute Film Festival

The Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival kicks off tonight with Justin Lin's mock-doc Finishing the Game. Stars Rogers Fan and Dustin Nguyen will be in attendance.

Curious about what to check out at the fest? I got your reviews after the jump.

A frog farmer, a famously corrupt politician, an ear surgeon, and a man who drives a bullet-proof car are just some of the wildly diverse and loosely connected subjects in the bold and visually arresting doc Manda Bala (Send a Bullet). Probing the endless scourge of violent kidnappings that are plaguing the streets of Saol Paulo, Brazil, Jason Kohn's debut film manages to manipulate the bleak subject matter just enough that it doesn't drown in ponderous misery. And the catchy, wall-to-wall Brazilian pop tunes also help.

Along with a subtle ironic tone, Kohn, a former protégé of Errol Morris, has appropriated -- effectively -- much of the same techniques to interviewing his subjects as that of his pioneering master. The often odd looks the interviewees give after an accidental slip of natural humour or unassuming witticisms is such a Morris touch by now that it's hard not to miss the influence.

Manda Bala won the Cinematography Award and Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last winter. It screens twice tonight at the Bloor (6:30 and 9:15 pm) as part of the November Doc Soup.

Photo: Manda Bala

A crowd-pleaser when it played at Sundance last January, Justin Lin's comic satire Finishing the Game will be the Opening Night Gala for this year's Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.

Lin, who shot to fame with the dark teen drama Better Luck Tomorrow, returns to his indie roots after a quick foray into big budget studio movies (Annapolis, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift). The young Taiwanese-American director had also at one point seriously considered doing a remake of Oldboy (well thank God that fell through).

Finishing the Game is a played-for-laughs account -- in the style of This Is Spinal Tap -- of what might have happened after the sudden death of Bruce Lee and the fate of his passion project Game of Death. Leaving behind just 12 minutes of footage from the movie that would become famous for the yellow jumpsuit and the battle with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, studio execs -- not wasting any opportunity to cash in on the icon's popularity -- went on a wild and absurd search for Lee's replacement.

The Reel Asian International Film Festival runs from Nov. 14 - 18, check out the website for the full schedule.

The calendars of all self-respecting horror and genre fans in this city don't need the reminder. Today's date is clearly and boldly circled, and in bloody red no less. That's right, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival starts tonight at the Bloor Cinema with the city premiere of Mulberry Street. The indie-horror about citizens of New York transforming into giant rat creatures will kick-start this seven-day feeding of the most horrifying, twisted, and perverse movies you'll likely see all year.

Only in its second year running, this fest is impressively jam-packed. The program includes: cutting edge shorts, special guests (including Uwe Boll AKA the only director to ever box out his critics and Troma king Llyod Kaufman), late night pub parties, the second annual Zombie Walk, and -- the creamiest of the crop -- the coolest features (all premieres) this city has yet seen. Com'on, with titles like Blood Car and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, how do you go wrong?

Stay tune as blogTO film staff are going to roll out the blood-soaked fest coverage all week long.

For more info, listen to Andrea Nene's recent interview with festival director Adam Lopez.

(Photo: Mulberry Street)