Interview

REVIEW: Aside from being one of the best character actors of his generation (turned unlikely celebrity), Steve Buscemi is more than a capable director; given that, he has worked with some of the best (Tarantino, the Coens, and Jarmusch just to name a few). His new film Interview is a remake of the Dutch drama of the same name by the late Theo Van Gogh, who was tragically murdered by a Muslim extremist in 2004 for his portrayal of Islam in his short subject Submission Part 1.

When I met up with team Whale Tales, the entire cast and crew had already been up all night filming and cutting their submission for the Toronto Film Challenge. Ben the Editor showed me the dailies they shot at around 4:00 AM, which was also accompanied by a rough score he had composed while most of us were still sound asleep. Drowsy but excited, everyone huddled around the Mac, munching on BBQ chicken burgers for lunch while gazing affectionately at the fruits of their creation; their joyous energy was palpable.

It was just the beginning of the team's 48-hour marathon filmmaking -- from conceiving the concept straight through to final cut -- and they were hitting every milestone on their tightly compressed schedule with stride; so far so good.

Whale Tales was one of the many teams that competed in this weekend's Summer 48 challenge. Each year, The Toronto Film Challenge puts on three events (Spring 24 and Fall 24 are the other two) where local filmmakers, amateur and professional alike, receive a package of story ingredients (conflict, location, prop, character trait and a line or word), and then it's up to their imaginations to connect and fill in the rest.

The Boss of It All

REVIEW: Lars von Trier is a funny guy -- albeit of the darkly mordant and sardonic type. Remember the outrageous conclusion to Dogville where Nicole Kidman goes on an all-out murder spree; even killing babies in the interim? The mad brat of Danish cinema returns with a new film called The Boss of It All, and right after the opening title-card, the voice of von Trier, as acerbic and guiltlessly pompous as ever, makes it plainly clear: "this is a comedy, and is harmless as such." That said, the film is more Beckettian in tone than, say... the Farrelly brothers. So we expect it to be dry and slightly contemptuous towards humanity (oh, but wait, that sorta applies to Dumb and Dumber too; never mind). And also, if you're anticipating a rolling joke-count, you'll be forcing yourself to laugh -- it's not that kind of comedy.

The setting is a small but sterile-looking IT company in Copenhagen, which we automatically expect themes of anomie and complacency a la Office Space to be central. Fortunately, von Trier isn't into easy-pickings, he's got bigger fish to fry (like American culture). Thus, the setting doesn't really stand in to represent the post-tech bubble zeitgeist, as much as it seems like von Trier is deriving perverse pleasure in watching people destroy one another in confined spaces. Kafka would be proud.

Transformers

REVIEW: The fact that Transformers is based on a beloved -- albeit silly -- 80's cartoon show that was based on a toyline is not lost on Michael Bay. The movie about giant alien robots is big and jokey; the latter of which is both a good and a bad thing. The good is that it makes all the exposition -- that is everything in between the action sequences -- bearable; we might as well laugh while we wait for the explosions. The bad is that too often we cringe at how stupid the dialog is. We can't have our cake. I suppose you might argue that it's meant to be like a cartoon... well, then WHY isn't this thing a cartoon instead of a nearly three-hour Jumbo-tron?

Bay's signature flair for orchestrating impressive but ultimately confusing action sequences is fully intact. With his abuse of whip-pans and over-the-top staccato editing, his absence since The Island hasn't been spent learning how to tell a strong cinematic story. The former music video director does nothing new or interesting here, it's Bay all the way. But for what it's worth, we're talking about Transformers here -- let's try to remember why we liked them in the first place: they're gimmicky and fun.

We're getting closer -- The Toronto International Film Festival announced some of its most exciting selections this week. We already know that blogTO film critic Matt is all hyped about Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age, which is getting a Gala Presentation. Now here's what I'm excited about:

Starting tomorrow and for the rest of the summer, some of the greatest Science Fiction flicks ever made will be shown at Yonge-Dundas Square. It's all free and outdoors. So be sure to catch your favourites under the starry skies this summer. The projector rolls at 8pm every Tuesday night; here's a rundown of the movies: