Yeah, I know, the festival is in its second day and Toronto is exploding with stars! Glitz! Glamour! Michael Moore attending a press screening of “Michael Clayton”!
More importantly, Metro is finally putting my TIFF capsules online after years of print-only availability. Check out today’s offerings here.
I’ll be absolutely slammed over the weekend, but I’ll check in when I can. In the meantime, amazingly enough, they’re still releasing movies for regular people:
“The Brothers Solomon“: There are few things that chill a man’s soul more than the phrase “From the people who brought you ‘Let’s Go to Prison’ “, but Bob Odenkirk and Will Arnett’s latest project is a slight improvement on that debacle. (The cleverish script was written by co-star Will Forte, who appears to have had a dented version of a Wes Anderson film in his head.) But Odenkirk just doesn’t seem to care about the movies he’s making these days. Which is sad, because the man is a genuine talent. Or used to be, anyway.
“Hatchet“: For everyone who scratched their head at the success of Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” last weekend, here is the slasher movie the way it’s supposed to be: Cheap, efficient, slightly witty, and really, really violent. Writer-director Adam Green has no greater ambition than to equal “Friday the 13th Part 4”, and he very nearly does so. And he’s good with actors.
“Shoot ‘Em Up“: Clive Owen is Bugs Bunny. Paul Giamatti is Elmer Fudd. Michael Davis is some kind of mad savant of physics. I’m not the first person to say this, but it’s a point worth repeating: This has the potential to be the movie “Snakes on a Plane” could have been. Preposterous, sure, but very entertaining.
“3:10 to Yuma“: James Mangold finally makes a movie I can enjoy all the way through — a solid remake of a low-key Western sporting terrific performances (except for Ben Foster, who’s quietly ridiculous, and then loudly so) and excellent production values. Some people are hailing it as a classic, and that’s silly, but if you’ve been suffering through a drought of mediocre studio pictures, I guess your quality compass might get a little dented.
Back soon …