The Good, the Bad, the Weird is good fun

The Good, the Bad, the Weird
Review: ****
The highest budgeted film in the history of Korean cinema is an action-packed, candy-colour­ed, pop-art homage to the spaghetti Western, starring some of the finest genre actors in the country (including the incredibly versatile Kang-ho Song). 

The filmmakers have no real agenda beyond pure entertainment, but Ji-Woon Kim directs with such confidence, precision and style that it’s hard not to get caught up in the goofy shenanigans.

Few movies at the festival are this gleefully entertaining even if few are as episodic and absurd.
– Phil Brown/For Metro Toronto

$9.99
Rating: **** 1/2
Want to know the meaning of life? The stop-motion animation film $9.99 just might help you find it.

Voyeuristically delving into the lives of several apartment dwellers from a child who befriends a piggy bank, to an old man who just wants someone to talk to, $9.99 provides intimate, identifiable snapshots of life in action. The film combines elements of comedy, tragedy and revelation, made cohesive by starkly effective characters and their artless interconnectedness.
– Brian Coulton/For Metro Toronto

Control Alt Delete
Rating: *
Boy meets girls, boy meets computer porn, boy loses girl, boy discovers the personal in personal computer — this is the plot of Cameron Labine’s Y2K period piece in a nutshell. The director’s brother, Tyler Labine, plays sad sack computer nerd Lewis, whose online porn habit leads to him skipping the middleman and discovering a passion for violating PCs after his girlfriend leaves him.

Cheerful and sordid at the same time, it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “Dude, you’re getting a Dell!”
– Rick McGinnis/Metro Toronto

Adam Resurrected
Rating: **
There was a time when Paul Schrader was one of the most important filmmakers in America, but sadly those days are over. Adam Resurrected is the latest disappointment by the Taxi Driver scribe, starring Jeff Goldblum as former clown and holocaust survivor struggling to deal with his past and his sanity. Goldblum delivers a solid performance through a sketchy German accent, but Schrader’s direction and use of symbolism are about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face and just as enjoyable.
– Phil Brown/For Metro Toronto

Pride and Glory
Rating: ***
Gritty and dark but occasionally lacking some of the gravitas it purports to have, Pride and Glory works well enough as an examination of corruption, morality and honour.

Led by solid performances by Ed Norton and Colin Farrell, the film provides some decent intrigue but at times feels contrived. Although with plenty of blood and F-words to go around, it's not enough to sink it.
– Raf Brusilow/For Metro Toronto

Deadgirl
Rating: ***
The premise for Deadgirl is so wrong and disturbing that it’s shocking the horror film ever got made in America.

Two high school friends discover the restrained naked body of an uncontrollable monster girl in an abandoned medical hospital and decide to use it for a little illicit fun.

As time goes on, the girl appears to be more than she seems. Jealousy, obsession, and a bloodbath ensue. The twisted project is legitimately frightening and surprisingly funny.

Despite a smattering of weak acting and dialogue, Deadgirl should please the midnight movie crowd. But don’t even think about taking your mom to this one.
– Phil Brown/For Metro Toronto

Only
Rating: **
The fact it takes 50 minutes for the main characters to introduce themselves is indicative of the glacial pacing in Only — a lo-fi drama about Daniel and Vera, two pre-teens stuck in rural Canada.

While exploring the wintry countryside, the pair bond over their hopes (Vera wishes for “safety”) and fears (Daniel is scared of “being tortured”?).  Most of the time, however, the youngsters just walk around looking at inukshuks, eating cheese and talking about Daniel’s love of bacon.
– Steve Gow/For Metro Toronto

Better Things
Rating: ****
Loosely related stories of love, loss and loneliness are brought together in Duane Hopkins’ powerful, first full-length feature, Better Things.

With minimal dialogue, the film communicates primarily through visual expression, a task performed impressively by a cast of mostly first-time actors.

It’s not for mainstream audiences, but for modern artistic cinema buffs, it doesn’t get much better than Better Things.
– Brian Coulton/For Metro Toronto