A progressive and moving filmic adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize winning book? Check. Short cynical films about love? Check. A feminist satire of the slasher genre? Check. A sexy re-imagining of a book about propriety and infidelity? Check. A movie with Nicolas Cage in it? Check. This week we have movies to make you think, movies to make you watch and movies for you to eat popcorn. Bonus points if you can identify just which is which. Whether it's an adaptation of a book or a Hollywood blockbuster, we've got thrills and chills, love and hate, sex and violence — this week has it all.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 15TH / TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD / CINEPLEX / 7PM

Cineplex's ever-popular Classic Film series hits gold this week with the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lawyer Atticus Finch finds his career in jeopardy and his family threatened as he defends a black client against an outrageous rape charge in the deep south. Gregory Peck plays Finch, in one of the strongest roles of his career. His portrayal was so moving that the American Film Institute declared his Atticus Finch to be the greatest hero in cinema. Tickets are $5 and the film repeats on Sunday February 19th at 1pm.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 15TH / A WORLD OF SHORTS: ROMANCE IN RUINS / NFB MEDIATHEQUE / 6PM & 8PM
CFC's monthly shorts screening, Romance in Ruins, is an "antidote" to Valentine's Day this month, with a selection of screenings that highlight the tragedy and comedy found in relationship or romantic misfires. A kissing game with unintended consequences, a webcam experience goes awry, an aging Don Juan details his encounters and a man receives an unexpected guest when he attempts to hire a call girl. All of these and more for the low, low price of $6. Tickets can be purchased at the Mediatheque.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 16TH / SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE / TORONTO UNDERGROUND CINEMA / 9:30PM
One part parody, one part serious slasher flick, Slumber Party Massacre embodies the classic cinema conundrum of the right hand not speaking to the left. Written as a satire of sexist slasher flicks by writer Rita Mae Brown (of Rubyfruit Jungle fame) but shot as a straight horror film, it's funnier, slightly more subversive but also a familiar cinema experience about a bunch of co-eds being stalked during a sleepover (while scantily clad) by a mysterious murderer. The best part? The weapon of choice is a large, phallic drill. Very fitting. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased at the cinema.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18TH / CON AIR / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 10PM

Yet another gem from the Nicholas Cage retrospective, Con Air is a loud, brash and totally unrealistic film about a group of convicts taking over an airplane while being transported from one prison to another. Of course, Cage plays a guy "almost ready for release" who decides to defy the rebelling prisoners to try to protect the innocent crew on the plane. Featuring a motley crew of criminals like Dave Chappelle, Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi, Con Air is definitely one of the more ridiculous films of Cage's career. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online or at the cinema.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 19TH / AGE OF INNOCENCE / REVUE CINEMA / 3:30PM
Screening as part of the Book Revue is the second adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize book this week, The Age of Innocence is a tale of a gentleman, Newland Archer who, to impress fiancee, decides to help integrate her scandalous cousin into society. This would all have been fine and good if he hadn't found himself falling in love with the woman while in the process. And the more Newland falls in love with this mysterious beauty, the less his poor fiancee appears to be his ideal mate. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the cinema

ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS

• Fri Feb 17-19 - Puppet - Royal Cinema - Multiple Times
  
• Fri Feb 17 - DOA - Toronto Underground Cinema - 7pm
  
• Sat Feb 18 - Super Punch Saturdays - Projection Booth - 9pm & 11pm

For Toronto movie showtimes, view our Movie Listings section.

Still from Con Air

IN THEATRES

We Need to Talk About Kevin (Varsity)

We also need to talk about character development, apparently. One of the most anticipated projects of the last few years — mostly due to the typically brilliant Lynne Ramsay's decade-long absence after Morvern Callar, protracted to this point after she was detached from that The Lovely Bones debacle — is also one of the most earnest failures of the millennium. It's not for a lack of trying. Ramsay does her best to abstract and fracture this Columbine-esque tale of an evil son who does evil things at his high school, but when it coalesces into a recognizable narrative, she fatally forgot to do one thing: direct. As a result, Tilda Swinton — playing the role of "ramen noodle" — gives the worst performance of her career, while the three actors who play the problem child do no more than glare and stare at the non-parenting around them, effectively convincing audiences that the word "nuance" no longer exists.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 3D (Scotiabank)

Everyone's favourite prequel is back, and the Force has compelled us all to drain our wallets once again on this nth edition of the classic sci-fi/fantasy sextet. So basically, a la Titanic and Beauty and the Beast and countless others to follow, the entire Star Wars saga is going to be re-released in cinemas over the next few years in converted faux-3D versions. Beginning with the middle, err, the first episode, the first couple of these will unfortunately be rather insufferable (Jar Jar in 3D! Hayden Christensen's acting gets another dimension!), but in a year or so it might actually be kind of cool to see the original trilogy given the 'upgrade.' It's all in good fun anyway, right?

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (The Royal)

In 1952, Henry King adapted Hemingway's novel The Snows of Kilimanjaro to the screen in a film that is looked back upon as something of a classic; this new film by Robert Guédiguian, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes last May, is based on neither the novel nor the film. Instead, we have a film in which a happily married bourgeois couple are tied up, beaten and robbed senselessly. Knowledge is gained that one of the men involved in the assault is the brother of a pair of adorable orphans. Of course, he only did what he did because he had no choice; how else will he be able to care for them? If it all sounds like a rather pat and cloying bit of readymade humanism, that's because it is a little bit. As Le Havre showed us last Fall, though, that's not always a bad thing.

Also in theatres this week:

• Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (AMC Yonge & Dundas)
• Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D (AMC Yonge & Dundas)
• Safe House (Carlton, Rainbow Market Sq., AMC Yonge & Dundas)
• This Means War [Starts Tuesday, February 14] (AMC Yonge & Dundas)
• The Vow (Carlton, Rainbow Market Sq., AMC Yonge & Dundas)

IN REP CINEMA

For recommendations on what to catch at Toronto's rep cinema's this week, check out This Week in Rep Cinema.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Black Venus (Saturday, February 11 at 7PM)

In 2007, actor-turned-director Abdellatif Kechiche captured the full attention of the arthouse world with his epic, belly dancing-infused concoction known as The Secret of the Grain (or Couscous, for those who don't have the time), a film that even went so far as to land on legendary French publication Cahiers du Cinéma's Top 10 of the Decade list. We were all gung-ho for his follow-up, and when it finally got made in 2010 in the form of Black Venus, Torontonians got the dissatisfaction of watching it skip from Venice to New York, bypassing TIFF (as well as the Cinematheque in the 18 months since).

Well, the time has come to take a look, and the wait was worth it. Kechiche's latest shows the harrowing final years of Sarah "Saartjie" Baartman, AKA Hottentot Venus, AKA Black Venus. The South African's physical 'eccentricities' baffled European scientists; the rest, as wrenchingly portrayed in the film, is indeed history, but history is so much better when viewed through the lens of an auteur. This screening will take pace at the NFB Mediatheque as part of their French-Language Black History Month Program for Adults, and is being preceded by Nicolas Brault's 9-minute short film Hungu. Tickets are $10.

Stepping Between Projections - video work by James Diamond (Sunday, February 12 at 4PM)
Pleasure Dome and the Rhubarb Festival (an experimental performance festival) are co-presenting the video works of award-winning director, producer and writer James Diamond. Diamond's résumé is perhaps best known for his 2006 film Mars Womb-Man, winner of the Best Experimental Work award at imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. This programme, in addition to screening that film, will include pretty much all of the work that he has made over the last decade. After the films, Diamond will speak with Ananya Ohri (an artist, activist and curator) before opening up for a Q&A. This event is being sponsored by Vtape, and takes place at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander St.). Pay what you can.

DVD & BluRay

• Alfredo, Alfredo [DVD]
• All Quiet On The Western Front [BLU-RAY]
• American Teacher [DVD]
• Boeing Boeing [BLU-RAY]
• The Dead [BLU-RAY]
• The Devil's Rock [DVD]
• The Geisha Boy [BLU-RAY]
• Greetings to the Devil [DVD]
• How to Die in Oregon [DVD]
• The Interrupters [BLU-RAY]
• The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) [DVD]
• The Mill & the Cross [BLU-RAY]
• Modus Operandi [DVD]
• My Kingdom [DVD]
• The Other F Word [DVD]
• The Perfect Weapon [BLU-RAY]
• Pianomania [DVD]
• Ransom Baby [DVD]
• Rock-a-Bye Baby [BLU-RAY]
• The Rum Diary [BLU-RAY]
• The Sons Of Tennessee Williams [DVD]
• Suspicion [DVD]
• Three Outlaw Samurai [BLU-RAY]
• Under The Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story [DVD]
• Urbanized [DVD]
• Yakuza Weapon [BLU-RAY]

The Christmas releases are finally making their way to the small(er) screen this week, look for Tintin at the Fox and The Muppets at the Royal, as well as a little Dragon Tattoo at both. Also, remember that little indie movie I mentioned last week? Moon Point is in full release at the AMC Yonge & Dundas this week, from Monday to Thursday for now, give it a look! And last but not lease, PADDLING ENTHUSIASTS (yes you, the one with the canoe) take heart, the Reel Paddling Film Festival takes place on Thursday at the Royal Cinema.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 6TH / INSIDE LARA ROXX / ROYAL CINEMA / 9PM

In 2004, a young Montrealer, Lara, travelled to L.A. to work in the lucrative adult entertainment industry and quickly found herself diagnosed with a fierce case of HIV from one of her first scenes. The media quickly picked up this story and exploited the issue, abandoning Lara and the others once public interest waned. Inside Lara Roxx picks up where the news cameras left, with a woman desperately trying to keep afloat in a mental institution while struggling to manage her life-threatening disease. Tickets will be available 30 minutes before the screening and the film also screens at 9pm on Feb 7 and Feb 8.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 7TH / THE PONZI SCHEME / THE PROJECTION BOOTH / 9PM
There's no doubt in my mind that the recent influx of bank/financial related thrillers in the past few years are created to soothe the public into believing how slick these criminals are, to make people feel better about being swindled. I much prefer the documentary method, which is to get very angry and confront the thieves where they live. That is exactly what happens in The Ponzi Scheme. After an artist loses $20,000 to a fraudulent company, he connects the dots to figure out how he got there in the first place. The Ponzi Scheme plays every night at 9pm until Feb 9.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 9TH / A MAN ESCAPED / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 6:30PM

The Robert Bresson retrospective, A Poetry of Precision begins with A Man Escaped featuring an introduction by film scholar Bart Testa. The film retells the story of a man's escape from his Nazi captors during WWII and his memories of the hours before his attempt, but it becomes transformed through Robert Bresson's personal experience as a prisoner of war during that same time. With this film, Bresson used routine and memory to create a poetic understanding of the violence of confinement. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the cinema.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 10TH / RUN TIGER, RUN / INNIS TOWN HALL / 7PM

To lull you into the weekend before Valentine's, CINSSU is showcasing a double bill of slapstick Hong Kong comedy from the mid 80's, promising tastelessness and debauchery. Run Tiger, Run features a Prince and the Pauper-like tale, of a young heir who goes into hiding to escape his evil uncle and the doppleganger who takes his place. Also? It's by John Woo. The film will be followed by bizarre horror comedy Til Death Do We Scare. Both films will be shown in 35mm with accompanying HK trailers to start the evening off right. Screening is free.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11TH / OSCAR SHORTS / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 7:30PM & 9PM
To gear up for the 84th annual Academy Awards, take the opportunity to see the nominees for best short film this week at the Lightbox. This may be a good investment for those who bid on Oscar pools, or just a way to see some amazing films that don't generally see the light of day. For Canadian content, look for Wild Life, an NFB short about an Englishman coming to homestead on the wild, wild western Canadian plains only to realize it's not the picnic he had envisioned. The Live Action showcase is at 7pm and Animated at 9:30pm, tickets are $12.

ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS

• Midnight in Paris - Projection Booth - Tue Feb 7th - 7pm
  
• My Week With Marilyn - Revue Cinema - Fri Feb 10th - 7pm
  
• The Muppets - Revue Cinema - Sun Feb 12th - 2pm

For Toronto movie showtimes, view our Movie Listings section.

IN THEATRES

The Salesman (Cumberland)

The only feature film in this year's Canadian top 10 that didn't play in the film festival last September (Hobo with a Shotgun doesn't count because it was ineligible after opening wide in the spring)? That would be Sébastien Pilote's The Salesman. Perhaps not coincidentally, it's also, tied with Amy George (snubbed completely from the top 10!), the best Canadian feature of last year. Gripes aside for a moment, this is a wonderful, leisurely paced film about an apocalypse. An apocalypse of "what," though, is the film's leading question, so I shan't elaborate too much here, but it clearly involves the auto industry in some capacity (key point: when the cars have taken their toll, it's worth noting just what kind of vehicle it is that we're shown in the last shot). A totally unexpected knock-out, when all is said and done.

Miss Bala (AMC Yonge & Dundas)

Gerardo Naranjo is a pretty darn good director. He's also Mexican, and yet he's never included among that Thee Amigos, Cha Cha Cha clique thing comprised of Iñárritu, Del Toro, and Cuarón. To each his own, but this strikes me as borderline ageism, only letting the big kids play in the schoolyard, that sort of thing. (I won't even get started on Carlos Reygadas' exclusion from this elite club) The injustice is particularly vexing now that Miss Bala exists, because there are some action scenes and moments that are more exhilarating and corrosive than even the best moments of, say, Cuarón's Children of Men. Additionally, you get to see a movie with a naked beauty queen running around for half the time, and then side with its feminist outlook as an excuse to turn any wagging fingers in the opposite direction. This is one well-thought out movie.

W.E. (Carlton)

Madonna is a woman of many talents, and if she wants to make a motion picture, then by God she is going to make a motion picture. So she did, and it played at the Venice Film Festival days before it played TIFF, and you'd think you were hearing the reaction to a certain other Madonna pet project directed by her ex-husband. Truth is, when it comes to mega stars crossing over into new media, they have to play it safe if they want to avoid the wrath of a thousand angry critics flexing their muscles in the spotlight of an amped-up festival frenzy. Madonna didn't do that, so even though W.E. is 10 times more interesting and strange than 90% of the crowd-pleasing "whatevers" that get a nice, polite applause when the credits roll — including the wretched, Audience Award-winning Where Do We Go Now? — it gets called a disaster of epic proportions. She deserved better.

Also Opening This Week:

• Albert Nobbs (Varsity)
• Big Miracle (Scotiabank)
• Chronicle (Carlton)
• The Innkeepers (TIFF Bell Lightbox)
• Inside Lara Roxx (The Royal)
• Pink Ribbons, Inc. (Carlton, Rainbow Market Sq., Scotiabank)
• The Woman in Black (Rainbow Market Sq., AMC Yonge & Dundas)

IN REP CINEMA

For recommendations on what to catch at Toronto's rep cinema's this week, check out This Week in Rep Cinema.

FILM FESTIVALS

The Great Digital Film Festival (February 3 to 9 at the Scotiabank)
That this is being advertised within its own title as some kind of epic event that we've been waiting our whole lives for is reason number #47 for us to worry about the future of cinema, and yet I can't not get excited at the prospect of seeing films like Jurassic Park, Robocop, and Scarface on a massive screen, surrounded by monolithic speakers. (Not to mention a bunch of 80s classics) In fact, this little week-long squirt of a festival maybe have the most consistently solid film-by-film quality-level in the history of Toronto film festivals; they're all classics! It's also dirt cheap to attend with prices set at only $6 a film. Not that I condone this sort of thing.

Cinéfranco: Youth Program (February 6 to 17 at the Scotiabank)
Before adults get to have their Franco-fun at the Cinéfranco proper in late March, youth groups, teens, and anyone else who is up for some family-friendly French movies will be able to get their fix right here at the beginning of February. While there is plenty of light entertainment in the eight-film line-up, one can also find some serious-minded fare in the form of a film based on a novel by Albert Camus (The First Man), a film about 'war' (War of the Buttons), and a film dealing with irreverent racism (Free Men). Check the website for specific dates, times, and venues, the latter of which may vary from the headquarters at Scotiabank.

DVD & BluRay Releases

• Anonymous [BLU-RAY]
• Another Happy Day [DVD]
• Casino Royale (1967) [BLU-RAY]
• The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) [DVD]
• Elevate [DVD]
• Far from the Madding Crowd [DVD]
• A Fish Called Wanda [BLU-RAY]
• Frida [BLU-RAY]
• Get Shorty [BLU-RAY]
• Going My Way: Complete Series [DVD]
• If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front [DVD]
• It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World [BLU-RAY]
• Two Films by Chris Marker: La Jetée/Sans Soleil [BLU-RAY]
• Karen Cries On the Bus [DVD]
• Knuckle [DVD]
• Lady and the Tramp [BLU-RAY]
• Love Story [BLU-RAY]
• The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall [BLU-RAY]
• The Piano [BLU-RAY]
• The Rebound [DVD]
• The Song of Lunch [DVD]
• A Star Is Born (1937) [BLU-RAY]
• Story of a Love Affair [DVD]
• The Sunset Limited [DVD]
• Texas Killing Fields [BLU-RAY]
• 3 [DVD]
• Throw Momma from the Train [BLU-RAY]
• A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas [BLU-RAY]

We're on the cusp of February, and that means that some unmentioned rep cinemas haven't uploaded their calendars for the new month yet. I can't help people see films if nobody knows what you're screening! But all hope is not lost, the Fox is screening some major films from 2011, the NFB is on cruise control and if you're looking for foreign, Cage-y, Soviet or Turkish flicks, the Lightbox has some interesting selections for everybody.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 1ST / BEST IN SHOW / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 7PM
TIFF'S Science in Film program seeks to educate as well as entertain you and the first lecture will be based on Christopher Guests's comedic dog-show romp, Best in Show. Part film, part science class, the screening will include a full lecture about the canine species by Pamela Reid, certified Animal Behaviorist and trainer. A good take-home for dog owners and lovers alike! For $36, it's a bit pricier than the average film, but you just might come out smarter.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 2ND / MOON POINT / ROYAL CINEMA / 7PM

A shiftless twenty-something embarks on a road-trip to ask his elementary school crush to a family wedding. Sounds simple? It's always more complicated. Throw in a friend with a potentially life-threatening disease and a fellow (attractive female!) wanderer and first intentions are not always as clear. With a slew of recognizable Canadian faces, Moon Point is a sweet and funny take on the road-trip-turned-life-changing-adventure story, one that will hopefully resonate. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased 30 minutes before showtime.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 2ND / ELEGY / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 6:30PM
Screening as part of the retrospective of Kurdish director Yilmaz Guney, Elegy stars the director himself as a bandit trapped in a mountain and forced to interact with one of the villagers he terrorized. Interesting that he cast himself in the role of the outlaw; Guney was constantly on the outs with the law, jailed for revolutionary thinking several times throughout his career. While Elegy is the most recognized of his works, the series in general ends this Sunday so catch these hard to see films while you can. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the cinema.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 4TH / THE ROCK / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 10PM
It saddens me to see what Michael Bay has become, what with Transformers 16 on the horizon. What the Nicolas Cage retrospective can do however, is help you revisit his hey-dey with his cinematic tour de force, The Rock. A group of embittered Marines have locked themselves in Alcatraz with a missile and only a nervous scientist and a slick ex-con can save the day! Complete with helicopter shots and sunsets, this is Bay at his best. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the cinema.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 5TH / THE INNKEEPERS / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 9PM

A favourite at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, The Innkeepers is an extremely funny and intimate portrait of a haunting. A young pair of clerks man the front desk of a spooky hotel for the last weekend before it becomes a demolition zone and it's their last chance to document the ghostly happenings onsite. It's all fun and games until the creaks and scares become a bit too real. Look out for newcomer Sara Paxton as the lead, an actor who should see her career blow up. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the cinema.

ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS

• Urban Roots - NFB Mediatheque - Wed Feb 1 - 7pm
  
• The Diving Bell & Butterfly - Innis Town Hall - Fri Feb 3rd - 7pm
  
• Solaris - TIFF Bell Lightbox - Thurs Feb 2nd - 8:45pm
  
• The Friend - TIFF Bell Lightbox - Sun Feb 5th - 6:30pm
  

For Toronto movie showtimes, view our Movie Listings section.

IN THEATRES

Monsieur Lazhar (TIFF Bell Lightbox)

The advertising campaign prefers to proclaim that this film is "from the team that brought you Incendies", but it'd be far more exciting to say that it's by the same filmmaker behind (the far superior) It's Not Me, I Swear! (Philippe Falardeau, who didn't direct Incendies). This is a story of a teacher who takes over an elementary school class after their previous teacher...quit. The manner in which she quit is revealed in the first scene of the movie, but it's still a much more striking event when you don't know what it is beforehand. What Monsieur Lazhar is actually about, however, is something much more touchy-feely, or not — you'll see. This is one of the more solid Canadian films from last year.

Tyrannosaur (Cumberland)

The Sundance film festival is currently winding down in Park City, just in time for the Canadian theatrical release of one of the bigger hits from last year's festival. The film details the life of a hothead with a drinking problem - with an emphasis on the anger management issues — who gets in a 'relationship' with a nice, selfless Christian woman. While protection and redemption are on the surface of where this is all going, certain unrevealed secrets throw some kinks into the wholesome stereotype of such a premise, gravitating the film into very gritty territory. Potential spoiler: there are no dinosaurs in this film.

The Grey (Scotiabank)

In what on paper sounds a bit like Con Air meets Cast Away, The Grey shows an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks, led by Liam Neeson, whose plane crashes into a remote Alaskan wilderness. Severe injuries and frigid weather make things as hard as possible for anyone to know where in the world they are and how to get help, and the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements before they physically succumb to Mother Nature...and a pack of hungry wolves. Bleak, savage, and often kind of mesmerizing, this is no ordinary January brainless action movie.

Also Opening This Week:

• All's Well That Ends Well 2012 (AMC Yonge & Dundas)
• Back to the Sea 3D (AMC Yonge & Dundas)
• Man on a Ledge (Carlton, Scotiabank)
• One for the Money (AMC Yonge & Dundas)

IN REP CINEMA

For recommendations on what to catch at Toronto's rep cinema's this week, check out This Week in Rep Cinema.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Moon Point (Thursday, February 2, 7PM at The Royal)

After screening at a couple of fall festivals (Cinefest Sudbury & Edmonton International Film Festivals), Moon Point makes its Toronto premiere at the Royal with the director in person for a post-screening Q&A. The film tells the story of 23 year-old Darryl Strozka (Nick McKinlay) who still lives with his mother. As his cocky cousin Lars' wedding approaches, he decides to track down his crush from way back in elementary school (now an obscure B‐movie actress shooting a horror film in Moon Point), and bring her to the wedding. Hilarity (or something) ensues (hopefully). Tickets are $10 (cash-only) and available at the door starting 30 minutes prior to the screening.

Toronto Festivals Panel Discussion (Thursday, February 2, 7PM at LIFT)
This is an information session/panel discussion about the future of independent filmmaking, tackling hot topics like funding, film stocks, and evolving distribution strategies. That last point should get an especially thorough once-over, as the talk is going to be comprised of five local festival programmers: Hot Docs' Lynne Fernie, Images Festival's Scott Miller Berry, Planet in Focus' Kathleen Mullen, TIFF Short Cuts' Magali Simard, and the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival's Angie Driscoll. This ought to be an incredibly provocative discussion, and it's certainly a must-attend event for all types of filmmakers in Toronto. The discussion is expect to last two hours, and is free and open to the public.

FILM FESTIVALS

The 8 Fest (January 27-29)
For the fifth consecutive year, Trash Palace will be hosting The 8 Fest, Toronto's only film festival strictly devoted to showcasing 8mm, Super 8, and 9.5mm films. From DIY filmmakers to semi-professionals to artists, from screenings to installations to lectures and talks, this is a festival filled with insight, charm, and surprises, and above all, it's a much-needed celebration of thick, dancing film grain, endangered as it is these days. Tickets are $5 per event, and festival passes are $25; check their website for programming specifics and details on the screening venue.

NEW ON DVD AND BLU-RAY

• Adaptation. (BLU-RAY)
• Afghan Luke (BLU-RAY)
• The Big Year (BLU-RAY)
• Blubberella (DVD)
• Breakaway (BLU-RAY)
• Cold Mountain (BLU-RAY)
• Comic Strip Presents: Complete Series (DVD)
• Dream House (BLU-RAY)
• Il Bagno Turco Hamam [Steam: The Turkish Bath] (DVD)
• In Time (BLU-RAY)
• Into The Universe with Steven Hawking (BLU-RAY)
• Monsignor (DVD)
• Night Train Murders [AKA Last Stop on the Night Train] (BLU-RAY)
• Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (DVD)
• Spiderhole (DVD)
• The Thing [2011] (BLU-RAY)
• To Kill A Mockingbird (BLU-RAY)
• 2-Headed Shark Attack (BLU-RAY)
• Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show (DVD)
• Uninhabited (DVD)

Comedy, satire, sci-fi, oh my! There are a wealth or worthy films screening this week whether it's one of the new programs at the Lightbox, some classic cinema at the Royal Cinema or one of the anticipated monthly programs at the Revue Cinema. As all eyes move from the winners of the Golden Globes to anticipate the possible outcome of the Oscars, rep cinemas are buzzing with favourites and underdogs in anticipation of a rise in attendance. Yes, that means that Midnight in Paris is still in theatres, but so is The Help and J. Edgar even has some legs. But me? I'm going to Solaris.

TUESDAY JANUARY 24TH / THE GRADUATE / REVUE CINEMA / 6:45PM
This month the Book Revue takes a good, hard look at one of cinema's favourite anti-heros. Our subject? Recent college graduate and confused twenty-something Ben (played by a young Dustin Hoffman), whose first step to adulthood leads him into the arms of an older, married woman. The Graduate is an oft-referenced yet rarely screened work with every actor at the top of their game. Come for the film, stay for the discussion and the cookies. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the cinema.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 25TH / DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB / ROYAL CINEMA / 9:15PM

Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick's blackest of black comedies is long, risky satirical joke about nuclear war during just that period of time after the Cuban Missile Crisis and during the Cold War when tensions were at their highest. In the vein of a Vonnegut novel, Kubrick decides to work with the question of, "What IF some idiot drops the bomb?" and parlay it to the highest comic relief. Dr. Strangelove also screens Tuesday Jan 24th at 9:15pm and Thursday Jan 26th at 7pm. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased cash-only at the cinema 30 minutes prior to each screening.

THURSDAY JANUARY 26TH / BABETTE'S FEAST / REVUE CINEMA / 6:30PM
The Epicure's Revue couldn't have picked a better film about food this month, be sure to eat beforehand! The film follows Babette, a sweet maid and refugee who has been working for 14 years for a pair of older sisters. The two women are all that's left of their father's strict Christian sect and were social beauties in their time but suffered when their pastor father rejected all their beaus. When Babette wins the lottery, instead of staking her own claim in the world she slaves over a gourmet feast for the two kindly women who took her in, so many years ago. Food for the heart and soul (and the stomach!)

SATURDAY JANUARY 28TH / VALLEY GIRL / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 10PM

Late Night: Bangkok Dangerous: The Cinema of Nicolas Cage, the ingenious series dedicated to cinema's most baffling man kicks off this week with his earliest leading role as an attractive punk in Valley Girl. The story of a girl from the right side of the tracks and a boy from the wrong isn't necessarily the stuff that originality is made from, but somehow, Cage makes it work. A sort of contemporary non-musical homage to Grease perhaps? Whatever, I don't need to sell this, it sells itself. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the cinema.

SUNDAY JANUARY 29TH / SOLARIS / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 2:30PM
Screening as part of the Attack the Bloc series, this is a must-required film. I'll say it once and I'll say it again, run, don't walk to the Lightbox to see this film. One, it's one of the best cerebral science fiction films of all time. Two, out-class your friends by saying you can't go to brunch because you're headed to see a Russian sci-fi film. Three, take a date and impress upon them about how even in sci-fi love triumphs over all. Four, seriously? I haven't convinced you enough? Solaris also screens Thursday February 2nd at 8:45pm.

ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS

• Dancing in the Dark - TIFF Bell Lightbox - Wed Feb 25 - 7:30pm
  
• The Birds - Toronto Underground Cinema - Thurs Feb 26 - 7pm
  
• Ferat Vampire - TIFF Bell Lightbox - Fri Feb 27 - 9:30pm

For Toronto movie showtimes, view our Movie Listings section.

Still from The Graduate

Despite being a dedicated science fiction fan, this series really had me at a loss. The only films from this program that I'd had seen previously Solaris and The Silent Star. While both are high quality examples of the depth and creativity of Cold War-era sci-fi, I knew I just had to see more. While I've caught up a bit, there's still so many more films to see. I'm personally quite curious to see the films that were obvious examples of targeted propaganda, such as Adolescents in the Universe and The Great Space Voyage. But for the curious, here are some of the series highlights.

FRIDAY JANUARY 20TH / I KILLED EINSTEIN, GENTLEMEN / 9PM
Those looking for a laugh and for whom Woody Allen's Sleeper was a great example of sci-fi comedy may enjoy this Czech gem. In the DISTANT YEAR of 1999 on an Earth where women are infertile (and bearded!) due to terrorist bomb, a group of scientists try to turn back the clock, so to speak. Their plan? To travel back in time to assassinate Albert Einstein before he sets the wheels in motion for their unfunny future. Obviously, this leads to mayhem.

SUNDAY JANUARY 22ND / DEAD MOUNTAINEER'S HOTEL / 7:15PM
The summary provided for this film does not do it justice. After watching what I thought would be a late 80's interpretation on the film noir genre was anything but. This Estonian film struck me more of a European homage to American crime films of the 70's. The sci-fi element is well hidden until the last chapter of the film, up until then the film is mostly a surrealist mystery about a stranded cop struggling to solve a crime in a hotel full of narcissistic, insane people. There's disco, bad dubbing and talented St. Bernard too. Dead Mountaineer's Hotel will screen a second time on March 23rd at 9pm.

TUESDAY JANUARY 24TH / TEST PILOT PIRXA / 9:15PM
In a space industry that believes humans to be less trustworthy than androids, a controversial crew is assembled and Captain Pirxa must judge their ability to work together. To reduce bias, he's not told the identity of his team, a fact that haunts him. Throughout their mission, Pirxa develops an overwhelming obsession with his crew, studying their reactions and plying them with questions and tests. But while he's busy analyzing their moves, he's privy to confessions from both sides and begins to distrust his whole team. A chilling example of space and technology paranoia.

SUNDAY JANUARY 29TH / SOLARIS / 9:30PM
The pivotal film in this series has to be the sci-fi classic Solaris, a haunting film about a planet that has the ability to draw information and memories from humans to create vivid and realistic depictions of their fears and dreams. A psychologist sent to investigate and assist affected astronauts in contact with the planet finds himself targeted by Solaris, as he is reintroduced to his late wife. Described as the Soviet response to 2001: A Space Odyssey, instead this work is of an emotive level not found anywhere in Kubrick's classic work. Solaris also screens Thursday February 2nd at 8:45pm.

FRIDAY APRIL 6TH / GOLEM / 9PM
A contemporary reimagining of the Golem tale in a future where genetic modification and cloning has become commonplace to keep the population up. The result is a world full of consumerist excess that resembles a dilapidated version of the past. One of these manufactured men is Pernat, a slow-witted watch-maker, clueless about his own origins and plagued by memories he can't quite recall. A grim fairy-tale, Golem is a warning but shot in a cinematic style which may have gone on to influence grim dystopics like Jean Paul Jeunet.

While the meat of the series takes place within the next two weeks, Attack the Bloc runs weekly until Friday April 6th. All screenings will take place at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, tickets are $12 for non-members and can be purchased online or at the cinema. Check the program for more screenings and showtimes.

Still from Solaris

IN THEATRES

A Separation (Varsity)

First it won the Golden Bear at the 2011 Berlinale (not to mention top honours for the entire ensemble cast), then it screened in Toronto and New York film festivals to unanimous gushing from critics small, medium, and large, and now, upon its Canadian release, it's announced as part of the controversial shortlist of Best Foreign Language Film oscar potentials. And it deserves every additional accolade it gets, still. You'd have to go back to late-90s Mohsen Makhmalbaf, or maybe even early-90s Abbas Kiarostami, to find Iranian drama this gripping, devastating, and transcendant (although filmmaker Asghar Farhadi's previous film About Elly ain't exactly deli meat). For those wanting to know what it's 'about,' well, let's just say 'a separation' will do just fine to get you going.

Haywire (Carlton, Rainbow Market Sq., Scotiabank)

I'm just as unsure of why this film — a perfectly solid, over-the-top action flick — is being released in the dead of Winter as I am of how Steven Soderbergh, supposedly on the verge of retirement, already has another film in the multiplexes (let alone one that is, once again, getting solid early word). I'll just ignore the fact that the even-more-prolific Michael Fassbender is in this, too, but then maybe that'd help to explain all of the adrenaline pumping through Haywire's veins. Anyway, I know everyone is antsy for Soderbergh to hurry up and finish that Channing Tatum stripper movie, but this isn't filmography-filler, despite what we've come to know about the month of January.

Coriolanus (Varsity)

Shakespeare, Ralph Fiennes, face scars, Gerard Butler. In terms of Shakespeare modernizations on the silver screen, a Baz Luhrmann film this is certainly not, but it is just as creative in its approach to the source material, even if it forgot to put some Prince on the OST. With its evocation of contemporary topics (i.e. Afghanistan and Iraq's modern warfare), not to mention a trendy faux-doc shooting style, it is almost more in conversation with Paul Greengrass. Yeah, it's all over the place, but an intense and enthralling mess is still intense and enthralling.

Also Opening This Week:

• The Divide (Scotiabank)
• The Front Line (AMC Yonge & Dundas)
• In the Land of Blood and Honey (Cumberland)
• Not Since You (Carlton)
• Red Tails (Rainbow Market Sq., AMC Yonge & Dundas)
• Underworld Awakening (Carlton, Rainbow Market Sq., AMC Yonge & Dundas)
• The Viral Factor (AMC Yonge & Dundas)

IN REP CINEMA

For recommendations on what to catch at Toronto's rep cinema's this week, check out This Week in Rep Cinema.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

30 x 30: LIFT 30th Anniversary - January 19-21, 8PM (AGO Jackman Hall)
That LIFT - AKA the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto - is blowing out 30 candles on this year's cake is its own gift to cinephiles, artists, and filmmakers alike, but selflessly giving us a birthday gift in the form of three days-worth of thirty commissioned avant-garde shorts is really just spoiling us. Featuring work from John Price, R. Bruce Elder, former-Wavelengths curator Susan Oxtoby, Alan Zweig, Mike Hoolboom, and many, many more, all three evenings - Thursday through Saturday - are sure to be filled with gems and loving tributes to form, celluloid, and the communal spirit that LIFT represents. Admission to each programme (10 films each) is $8; check their website for further details on all three programmes.

Black Orpheus - January 20, 2012, 7PM (Innis Town Hall)
The Cinema Studies Student Union's second Free Fridays screening of the season is of Marcel Camus' lush, Palme d'Or-winning Black Orpheus. Capturing the weight of the Greek mythology of Eurydice and Orpheus is a task in itself, but setting it amidst the colourful euphoria of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro - shot on-location during the actual event with miraculously divine photography - is where this touchstone film achieves its utter singularity. Admission is free (hence, Free Fridays).

Blinding - January 21, 2012, 7PM (Innis Town Hall)
This is the Toronto premiere of Steve Sanguedolce's fifth feature film, Blinding — presented by Pleasure Dome — in which the internationally recognized filmmaker pushes his fascination with home movies to a poetic and political climax. The non-fiction film maps the journeys of three characters: "Jackie, a lesbian police officer grappling with corroding forces of perception both within and outside her profession; Jamie, for whom the horrors of the Rwandan genocide are tempered by the distance offered by technologies of the military industrial complex; and Ryan, who has progressively lost his sight, retaining just one per cent of vision in one eye." Praised as adventuresome, mesmerizing, and hypnotic, this special screening will be attended by Sanguedolce, and followed by a Q&A. Admission is $8.

The Hart of London - January 25, 2012, 7PM (AGO Jackman Hall)
I'll just repeat what I wrote when The Hart of London screened last December at the Gladstone Art Bar: "This ambitious 80-minute sprawl of a film permanently linked Chambers' name — at least among the avant-garde community — with the medium of film (not unlike how Michael Snow's Wavelength initiated a drift in discussions away from his paintings or iconic Walking Woman works). Composed of stock TV footage, this uncompromising film braces for the downfall of civilization via an unfortunate incident involving a hart (a male Red Deer) in London, Ontario. In it's own way, it is the quintessential Canadian experimental film." This is a great opportunity to see a major, canonical film; even if you saw it only a month ago, go, especially since it's Free.

DVD

There are a lot of essential releases this week, so I've put them all in sub-categories for easier reference. Hopefully everyone still has some leftover gift money from the holidays.

Alfred Hitchcock:
Notorious (BLU-RAY)
Rebecca (BLU-RAY)
Spellbound (BLU-RAY)

Jean Rollin:
Fascination (BLU-RAY)
Lips Of Blood (BLU-RAY)
The Iron Rose [AKA Rose of Iron] (BLU-RAY)
The Shiver Of The Vampires [AKA Strange Things Happen at Night] (BLU-RAY)

Woody Allen:
Annie Hall (BLU-RAY)
Manhattan (BLU-RAY)

2011 Hits:
Drive (BLU-RAY)
50/50 (BLU-RAY)
Paranormal Activity 3 (BLU-RAY)
Restless (BLU-RAY)

Classics:
The Apartment (BLU-RAY)
The Barbarian Invasions (BLU-RAY)
Godzilla (BLU-RAY)
Midnight Cowboy (BLU-RAY)
The Moment of Truth (BLU-RAY)
Wings (BLU-RAY)

Docs:
Hell and Back Again (BLU-RAY)
Limelight (DVD)
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure (DVD)

As we enter awards season, Fifty Years of Discovery: Cannes Critics Week heats up at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, featuring highlights from the beloved festival. From Anna Karina's devastating affair in Living Together, to contemporary slacker classic Clerks, the difficult nature of history and cruel childhood in the Spanish film Spirit of the Beehive to the over-the-top violence found in Man Bites Dog, there's something for everybody in this series, walk, don't run. Also at TIFF, Attack the Bloc: Cold War Science Fiction from Behind the Iron Curtain begins this week, opening up with classics by Andrei Tarkovsky. Combine that with a musical documentary, short films and zombies, mix it all up, add an olive and you have This Week in Rep Cinema!

TUESDAY JANUARY 17TH / THE SWELL SEASON / ROYAL CINEMA / 9:30PM

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova fell in love filming Once, a touching film about two strangers bonding over their love of music, winning an Oscar in the process. But their struggles were only just beginning as their fledgling romance was put to the test when the couple underwent a two year worldwide tour for their band The Swell Season. This intimate documentary highlights the excitement and exhaustion as their differences catch up to them. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased 30 minutes prior to the screening.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 18TH / WORLD OF SHORTS: PAST PERFECT / NFB MEDIATHEQUE / 6 & 8PM
This month's World of Shorts screening focuses on nostalgia, or that fine line between remembering the past, reliving it and obsessing. Selections include 1994 a mockumentary about an Iranian family that moves to Norway just before the Lillehammer Olympics, only to find that the locals aren't as friendly as once portrayed and Just Before Dawn about two friends trying to relive their glory days at a party, a task that might be more harm than good. TIckets are $6 for adults, $4 for students and seniors and can be purchased at the NFB.

THURSDAY JANUARY 19TH / THE DEAD / TORONTO UNDERGROUND CINEMA / 9:30PM

This politically charged zombie nightmare puts a spin on a tired genre. An American soldier finds himself stranded in Africa, as an evacuation flight crash lands just off the coast. Dangerous enough considering he's in a war-torn area, there's a zombie infestation taking place. He teams up with an African soldier who witnessed his village being torn apart literally by zombies, the two try to find the latter's family and make it out of the continent alive. Presented by Rue Morgue's Cinemacabre, the screening will feature some classic horror trailers and prizes. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online or at Eyesore Cinema, Suspect Video or the cinema.

SATURDAY JANUARY 21ST / STALKER / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 3PM
Stalker is director Andrei Tarkovsky's second foray into science fiction, after his masterpiece Solaris. In this dystopic world, the military harbours a great secret, a heavily guarded area called the Zone which includes a room that allows dreams to come true. To infiltrate the Zone, the services of a 'Stalker' are required, a guide who can lead common folk through the terrain, allowing them to return whole on the other side. In this journey, two intellectuals hire a stalker to help them find inspiration in the Zone and it's up to him whether they return alive. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online or at the cinema.

SUNDAY JANUARY 22ND / THE ORPHANAGE / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 4PM
Produced by Guillermo Del Toro, The Orphanage is a fantasy-horror film so engrossing and terrifying that I can barely remember the plot for the fear. It's the story of Laura, an adult orphan who returns to the facility where she grew up, with the intention of renovating it into a school for children with disabilities. But the more time she and her family spend in the house, the more unsettled she becomes, especially after her son meets an invisible friend who wears a sack over his head. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online or at the cinema.

ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS

• Cafe de Flore - The Fox Theatre
• Solaris - TIFF Bell Lightbox - Thurs Jan 19 - 9:30pm
  
• Man Bites Dog - TIFF Bell Lightbox - Sat Jan 21 - 10pm
  
• Loving Memory - TIFF Bell Lightbox - Sun Jan 22 - 1pm

For Toronto movie showtimes, view our Movie Listings section.

Still from the Orphanage

IN THEATRES

A Dangerous Method (Varsity, Scotiabank)

For those who were unable to snag a ticket to the Canada's Top 10 screening of Cronenberg's latest, it will be of some comfort to learn that it will be opening the very next day in general release. How well the film will sit with audiences, or even the Canadian master's fanbase, is another story. Taking a backseat are his signature motifs of body horror and camp aesthetics; this is a heady film driven by dialogue and subtle character developments, and it seems to be intentionally (fittingly) repressing itself. Those primarily drawn to the sexual wing of Cronenberg's oeuvre will have much to chew on, even if that is all there is to chew on, and in the most cerebral manner imaginable. It's a film to see several times, and I'm leaning toward the possibility that, in the end, it's worth that extra effort.

Pariah (AMC Yonge & Dundas)

An urban companion piece to Céline Sciamma's Tomboy, which opened last month at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, this Brooklyn-set coming-of-ager from director Dee Rees is, for my money, the more poetic and affecting film. Like Sciamma's film, it's a straightforward telling of a girl trying to balance her non-hetero desires with living a 'normal' life in the eyes of her parents. Adepero Oduye is brilliant as Alike, giving the film its sturdy emotional center. It was a hit in Sundance last year, and has the ability to be a sleeper hit in the cinemas, too.

The Iron Lady (Varsity, AMC Yonge & Dundas)

A biopic on Margaret Thatcher. It looks like this year's The Queen, only a little more unnecessary. I'm sure Meryl Streep will be riveting, give a great impersonation, etc., but this has the veneer of a by-numbers Oscar grab for an actress who really doesn't need to do that any more. Either way, it appears to be working; last I heard she was the Best Actress favourite. Wake the world up when she goes for something like Adaptation again.

Also Opening This Week:

• Contraband (Carlton, Rainbow Market Sq., Scotiabank)
• Joyful Noise (Carlton, Scotiabank)
• Nanban (AMC Yonge & Dundas)
• Red Light Revolution (Carlton)
• The Swell Season (The Royal)

IN REP CINEMA

For recommendations on what to catch at Toronto's rep cinema's this week, check out This Week in Rep Cinema.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Silent Sundays: La Bohème - Sunday, January 15 at 4PM
One of Toronto's best recurring series - albeit all too infrequent these days - is Revue Cinema's Silent Sundays, and this week they offer up another rarely-screened gem. King Vidor, whose awesome name I still cannot believe is real, translates Giacomo Puccini's opera to the screen for the first time. Starring two of the silent era's biggest stars (John Gilbert and LIllian Gish), this was a bona fide hit back in 1926, and yet it isn't even available anywhere on DVD. Really any silent film is a must-see, but this one should be especially high up on any cinephiles essential lists. Will feature live piano accompaniment by the acclaimed William O'Meara.

Early Monthly Segments: Print Generation - Monday, January 16 at 6PM
This month's edition to the popular avant-garde series is a special release party for the PUBLIC issue #44, which is dedicated to discussions and talks with took place during the 2010 Experimental Media Congress held in Toronto. If the release of the journal weren't enough, there'll also be a screening of J.J. Murphy's sublime 1974 film Print Generation. The 50-minute film traces the degradation and regeneration of home movie images, set against a sonic backdrop of ocean waves that inverts the deterioration process seen in the images. The event begins at 6PM at the Gladstone Art Bar, but the screening will start at 6:30 sharp, so don't be late. $5 suggested donations are accepted at the doors.

Short Films by Jack Chambers - Wednesday, January 18 at 7PM
If you were intrigued by Early Monthly Segments' screening of The Hart of London last month, here's an opportunity to see the rest of his filmic output (Note - if you missed the aforementioned screening, it will also be screening at the AGO the following week). Chambers' concerns with nature and its parallel life cycles are on full display in all four of these short-to-medium-length films. This screening will be attended by legendary filmmaker, professor, and writer R. Bruce Elder, who will introduce and discuss the films throughout the evening. This screening, which takes place at the AGO's Jackman Hall, is free to the public; entrance is granted on a first-come-first-serve basis.

DVD

• Abduction (BLU-RAY)
• Belle de Jour (BLU-RAY)
• Caterpillar (DVD)
• Dead Poets Society (BLU-RAY)
• Dirty Girl (BLU-RAY)
• 50/50 (BLU-RAY)
• The Ides of March (BLU-RAY)
• Mysteries of Lisbon (BLU-RAY)
• The Sweet Hereafter (BLU-RAY)
• Three Popular Films by Jean-Pierre Gorin (DVD)
• Traffic (BLU-RAY)

Still from Pariah

Half the challenge with shorts programs is that finding a great group of shorts can be complicated. Some festivals focus on themes to tie each film in with another, perhaps sacrificing quality for a similar narrative. But when asked what was part of his criteria for selections, founder James McNally answered, "I generally look for films that are visually dazzling or whose characters draw me in quickly. Short films don't have a lot of time to set up their premise, but the good ones are able to get your attention without it feeling clumsy."

This month's program is composed of a selection of films from the Future Shorts pop-up festival, a current partner, but McNally was also able to schedule a few NFB shorts as well. In particular, Wild Life by Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, a shortlisted film for Best Animated Short at the Academy Awards this year about an Englishman who comes to Canada to be a homesteader, which is all fine and good until winter comes and his whole world falls apart.

Another short that really stands out and embodies exactly why it's important to see these works on the big screen, is the fast-paced, colourful and bizarre short,The External World. A dark comedy seemingly on speed about fear, failure and disappointment, it's 17 minutes full of 15-30 second 'episodes' that come across as a more avant garde and CGI version of Robot Chicken. The short features an array of cartoon characters that are just a step away from being familiar, spliced with video game references, cynical asides and some colourful bodily functions. Also: It's pretty funny.

Other highlights include Luminaris, a stop-motion film from Argentinian director Juan Pablo Zaramella, a former Claymation director turned live action, who took the principles of one art form to another. The result? A short film two years in the making, featuring human actors trussed up like living dolls, alight on the staggeringly grandiose streets of Buenos Aires as they wake in the morning and head to work. Get your Oscar ballots ready, this film is also on the shortlist for Best Animated Short at the Academy Awards.

Shorts That Are Not Pants has been around since 2009 but mostly as a series hosted in founder James McNally's basement; an exclusive gathering of cinephiles interested in the underappreciated medium. By expanding to the NFB Mediatheque, the series is now a paid public event which means your admission helps pay the filmmakers, the rental fee and to fund any future screenings.

An interesting promotional tie-in for the screening goes beyond DVD prizes for guests via a unique challenge. If you wear a pair of shorts on Friday, you can buy a ticket discounted to the fine price of $5. When asked if he would be participating in this leggy endeavour, McNally said, "I was worried about getting this question... If I want any of the audience to return for our next screening, I don't think showing my pale and skinny legs, especially in January, would be good for business!" Nonetheless, I'll be interested to see who attempts this feat.

Shorts That Are Not Pants starts at 7pm on Friday January 13th, tickets for the screening are $8 and can be purchased online in advance (keep in mind, the NFB screening room is quite small) or at the door for $10. Those brave souls who wish to actually wear shorts to the screening can buy tickets at the door for $5 but the weather report for Friday may discourage you. For more information about the series and for some bios on the filmmakers, be sure to visit the Shorts That Are Not Pants website.

Still from Wild Life.

The Fox Theatre loves alliteration this week, screening not just My Week With Marilyn and Margin Call, but also Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene for good measure. The Lightbox takes a bit of a break with programming to focus on Canada's Top Ten this week, all is still silent at the Underground, but there's more than enough to see this week with a kung-fu double bill at the Projection Booth, the return of Silent Sundays at the Revue and Free Friday Films at Innis Town Hall. The dog days of (early) January are apparently over!

TUESDAY JANUARY 10TH / STARBUCK / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 7PM
This Quebecois comedy introduces us to David, a middle-aged layabout who one day realizes that his weekly trips to the sperm clinic have made him the father of not just a handful, but a few hundred kids. (I thought there was some rule against this so populations would have diversity, but what do I know...) Curious, David starts to check up on his 'donations' while using this discovery to prove to his current girlfriend that he'd be a good dad to their upcoming baby. Starbuck repeats on Wednesday the 11th and Friday the 13th. Tickets can be bought online or at the cinema.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11TH / THE SKIN I LIVE IN / REVUE CINEMA / 7PM
Almodovar, acclaimed Spanish director of Academy Award winner All About My Mother, has received mixed responses for his newest work The Skin I Live In. The film is an adaptation of a book that is partially science-fiction horror, paired with Almodovar's usual melodramatic-interpersonal-family-drama style. The film features a controversial plastic surgeon and his unethical experimentation in techniques. While we're used to Almodovar characters being emotionally battered, this film takes that abuse to a whole new level. That said, it's not the easiest of pills to swallow. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the cinema.

FRIDAY JANUARY 13TH / FISH TANK / INNIS TOWN HALL / 7PM
Jury Prize winner at Cannes in 2009, Fish Tank follows Mia, an angry teen who develops a crush on her mother's new boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender.) As their relationship develops (unbeknownst to her mother), Mia learns some startling news about this older man and her stunning reaction and subsequent action highlights the frightening rage of adolescence and uncertainty. This is a free screening as part of the Free Friday Film Series at CINSSU.

SATURDAY JANUARY 14TH / IMAGE OF BRUCE LEE & BRUCE LEE FIGHTS BACK FROM THE GRAVE / PROJECTION BOOTH / 9PM
Super Punch Saturdays is a twice-monthly kung-fu double bill, a recent and welcome addition to the innovative Projection Booth program. This month, a pair of fun, perhaps unusual Bruce Lee films; in Image Of Bruce Lee, Lee plays a secret agent working with Hong Kong cops to break a smuggling ring and oddly, Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave doesn't even feature the eponymous hero! Nonetheless, get ready for some ridiculous fight choreography all the same. Tickets are $8 each or two for $14 and can be purchased at the cinema.

SUNDAY JANUARY 15TH / LA BOHEME (1926) / REVUE CINEMA / 4PM
Silent Sundays returns to the Revue Cinema, with a screening of the 1926 film adaptation of the opera, La Boheme, starring Lilian Gish, one of the best-known silent actors of all time. Gish plays Mimi, a poor, beautiful but sickly embroiderer trying to make ends meet in Paris, who falls for Rodolphe, a handsome playwright struggling to create art while keeping a roof over his head. A box-office smash at the time, this film is currently unavailable on DVD, so see it while you can. The screening will also feature live piano accompaniment by William O'Meara. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the cinema.

ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS

• Le Havre - Projection Booth - Daily from Jan 9 - Jan 13
  
• The Muppets - Revue Cinema - Sat Jan 14 & Jan 15
  
• Fright Nights Double Bill - Projection Booth - Fri Jan 13 - 9pm
  

For Toronto movie showtimes, view our Movie Listings section.

Still from The Skin I Live In

IN THEATRES

The Devil Inside (Cumberland, Rainbow Market Sq., AMC Yonge & Dundas)

Distributors are giving Torontonians a bit of time to catch up on notable December releases by releasing virtually nothing on this first weekend of the year. The only wide release this week is this here exorcism flick — its claim to fame basically being that the Vatican doesn't endorse its existence (the last film to carry this distinction was, I believe, Ron Howard's Angels & Demons). Supposedly based on a true story, I can't help but feel like this movie is capitalizing on the trend of 'real' horror films, especially with the employment of the whole documentary aesthetic. Ought to be a great date flick, provide a few jump scares, etc., but really, is there any chance that the 9-1-1 call at the beginning of that trailer is real? I'll call that obvious bluff.

Players (AMC Yonge & Dundas)

Why did directors Abbas & Mastan Alibhai Burmawallawe decide to remake The Italian Job? "Quite simply, we loved it and realized that a lot of people hadn't seen the film. However, we could not use Italian Job as it was. Indian audiences love the drama and masala of Bollywood movies, so we have added situations, songs and emotions to the movie to make it more appealing to them." I've never really paid all that much attention to the weekly Bollywood openings over at the AMC Yonge & Dundas, but fans of either the Mark Wahlberg-starring remake or the original might want to check this out to see how insane it is.

IN REP CINEMAS

For recommendations on what to catch at Toronto's rep cinema's this week, check out This Week in Rep Cinema.

FESTIVALS

Canada's Top Ten - January 5-15, TIFF Bell Lightbox

Certainly the most exciting cinema event in Toronto this week will be these screenings of all of the top ten Canadian shorts and features at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Many of the titles (you can find the full list of selected films in our post here) are by some of Canada's biggest names, like Cronenberg, Maddin, and Vallée, but there is also a healthy showing of promising new faces, especially in the shorts programmes. Eight of the top ten features played at TIFF last September, while Hobo with a Shotgun had a brief theatrical run last Spring, leaving Sébastien Pilote's Le Vendeur [The Salesman] as the lone Toronto premiere. As usual, many of the filmmakers and cast members will by present at the evening screenings for Q&A sessions, which makes pretty much all of them unmissable. Regular Lightbox ticket prices apply, and they can be purchased either at the box office inside the building, online, or by phone at 416-599-TIFF.

DVD

• Aurora (DVD)
• Billy Elliot (BLU-RAY)
• Citizen Kane (BLU-RAY)
• Film Socialisme (BLU-RAY)
• Higher Ground (BLU-RAY)
• The Hills Have Eyes [1977] (BLU-RAY)
• The Magnificent Ambersons (DVD)
• Moneyball (BLU-RAY)
• Night and Day (DVD)
• 1911 (BLU-RAY)
• Omar Killed Me (DVD)
• There Be Dragons (BLU-RAY)
• What's Your Number? (BLU-RAY)

Still from the Devil Inside

It's pretty quiet on the rep cinema front this week, as January, or as I like to call it "Oh crap, I haven't watched half the acclaimed releases from 2011!" begins. Throughout this month, while rep cinemas will be falling all over themselves to screen whatever will be deemed the 'sleeper hit' at the Oscars this year, I'll also try to recommend some classics wherever they pop up. But these are the dog days of January after all.

TUESDAY - THURSDAY JANUARY 3RD-5TH / LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 2PM
Come in from the cold with Peter Jackson's adaptation of the grandpappy of all fantasy worlds, the Lord of the Rings. Screening as part of the Family Classics program, for three days the Lightbox will be transformed into Middle Earth as we revisit the helicopter shots and slow-mo that have remained cinematic cliches a decade later. Hard to believe that The Fellowship of the Ring premiered 10 years ago this holiday season, isn't it? But don't fret, The Hobbit is set to screen around Christmas 2012. Tickets are $12 and can be bought online or at the cinema.

THURSDAY JANUARY 5TH / THE INHERITORS / THE PROJECTION BOOTH / 7PM

Soak in some knowledge and awareness in your post-holiday-glaze with The Inheritors, a Mexican documentary about the plight of child labourers and their families. Unending labour is a reality for rural Mexicans as their basic survival is only tenuously assured with constant work and labour, even of small children. The film highlights the trouble with this cycle, as generations of Mexicans continue to remain in poverty, with no possible end in sight. The film runs from January 3rd to January 5th and tickets can be purchased at the cinema.

SATURDAY JANUARY 7TH / RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 2PM
I blame Harrison Ford for the startling realization I had in my first year Anthropology course that not all teachers who focused on relics would have his chisled good looks. Boy, was that embarrassing! But I can take solace with Indy on the big screen as he kicks some Nazi butt while hunting for the Ark of the Covenant alongside Sallah (John Rhys-Davies, aka Gimli from Lord of the Rings!) in the comfort of the cinema. Tickets are $12 and can be bought online or at the cinema.

SATURDAY JANUARY 7TH / FINDING FIDEL: THE JOURNEY OF ERIK DURSCHMIED / ROYAL CINEMA / 7PM

In 1958 a young war journalist Erik Durschmied, equipped with a camera and not much else, had the opportunity to meet a young revolutionary named Fidel Castro. Over the course of a few weeks he interviewed members of his camp, and left with the only known interview Castro did prior to power. Returning 50 years later, Durschmied revisits Cuba , revealing more details about his time with Castro and how that fated interview launched his career. Director in attendance. Tickets are $10 and can be bought 30 minutes prior to the screening at the cinema.

ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS

• To Catch a Thief - TIFF Bell Lightbox - Wed Jan 4 - 6:30pm
  
• Romancing the Stone - TIFF Bell Lightbox - Fri Jan 6th - 2pm
  
• My Week with Marilyn - Revue Cinema - Sunday January 8th - 4:15pm/7pm

For Toronto movie showtimes, view our Movie Listings section.

Still from the Lord of the Rings