Film Toronto

This Week in Film: Catfish, Rebirth of a Nation, It's All in the Muse-ic, Sharktopus, The Light Thief, Meet the Elisabethz, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Life

Film picks for MONDAY NOVEMBER 15 through SUNDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2010.

MONDAY NOVEMBER 15 / CATFISH / FOX THEATRE / 9:15PM
It is practically impossible to discuss Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman's documentary about relationships in the age of social networking without spoiling the big twist, so I will keep it brief: a man receives a painting from a gifted child artist, and soon begins an online flirtation with the child's older sister that becomes serious - prompting him to pay her a visit that reveals... something unexpected. How the lead and the filmmakers deal with this new information is what elevates the documentary above standard fare. Highly recommended. $7 members, students and seniors, $10 non-members.

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 16 / DJ SPOOKY'S REBIRTH OF A NATION / BELL LIGHTBOX / 8PM
D.W. Griffith's problematic epic about the American Civil War and the rise of the Klu Klux Klan gets the remix treatment in a pair of TIFF Essential screenings led by celebrity multimedia artist Paul D. Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky) and Toronto's own I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble. Using visual effects, found footage, narration and audio sampling, Miller fashions a text that highlights the technical achievements of Griffith's original while laying bare the racist ideologies at the heart of the piece. $25 regular, $20 students/seniors.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 17 / IT'S ALL IN THE MUSE-IC / NFB MEDIATHEQUE / 7PM
The NFB Mediatheque, in partnership with the CFC's Worldwide Short Film Festival, presents an international program of shorts that explores the relationship between music and cinema. Notable titles in the line-up include Canadian Tom Feiler's surreal Sometimes I Dream of Reindeer, Ian Power's musical comedy Dental Breakdown, and Hala Alsalman's provocative Phatwa. Tickets are $6, $4 for seniors and students.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 18 / SHARKTOPUS / BLOOR CINEMA / 9:30PM

Remember when the Syfy Channel used to make critically acclaimed political allegories featuring killer robots instead of bizarre films about genetically engineered monstrosities stalking D-List celebrities? Yeah, me neither. In the grand tradition of Mega Piranha and Mongolian Death Worm comes Sharktopus, a Roger Corman-produced shocker about a shark-octopus hybrid terrorizing Eric Roberts along the beaches of Mexico. Remember Eric Roberts? Yeah, me neither. Presented by Rue Morgue Magazine, tickets are $10.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 19 / THE LIGHT THIEF / BELL LIGHTBOX / TBD
After premieres at both TIFF and in the Directors Fortnight at Cannes, Aktan Arym Kubat's film about an electrician caught between the traditions of his impoverished village in post-Soviet Kyrgyz and the onslaught of modernity begins an exclusive weeklong engagement at the Bell Lightbox. (It should be noted that the opening night for this particular film is actually Thursday.) Showtimes and ticket prices will be posted on the TIFF site as of this Tuesday.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 20 / MEET THE ELISABETHZ / JACKMAN HALL, AGO / 2PM
Screened as part of the Toronto Creole Film Festival, Lucien Jean-Baptiste's La première Êtoile (Meet the Elisabethz) is a goofy Franco-Caribbean comedy about an irresponsible father who is forced to his kids on a ski trip in order to appease his disgruntled daughter and frustrated wife. I confess that I don't know much else about this film, but I do know that familial dysfunction and ski vacations are fruitful sources of comedy! $12 for adult tickets, $6 for students and seniors. For more information on the three-day festival, visit the website.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 21 / UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIFE / BLOOR CINEMA / 8PM

Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's dreamlike and often impenetrable film isn't for viewers easily frustrated by picaresque narratives and loose cause-and-effect. That said, fans of art films and those willing to submit to the Thai filmmaker's distinctive vision are in for quite the viewing experience, with a gorgeous visual and aural journey through the many lives of the title character. Includes ghostly apparitions, animism and a sexual encounter involving a catfish. Tickets $5 for Members/Seniors, $9 for Non-Members.

Find more films to watch on the big screen in our Movie Listings section. There you'll find complete showtimes by movie and theatre as well as trailers and other info.


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