toronto film festival: day 7

hype surrounding the uk splatterfest has been pretty high (heck, i even buzzed it a few weeks back). but the truth is, severance is nowhere near being as clever as shaun of the dead or any film that spoofs the genre. it does however have enough scares and laughs to mark it as a cut above the rest.

when the sales crew of the arms company palisade defence, go on a group bonding trip, they end up lost and in a secluded cabin that may or may not belong to a serial killer.

as the body count adds up, the remaining survivors find themselves going against something bigger than they bargained for.

not amazing, but i definitely left the theater in a good, spooked mood.



if you didn't like the dixie chicks before, then after watching dixie chicks - shut up and sing you'll wanna go out and not only buy their latest amazing album 'taking the long way' but also watch them in concert immediately.

chronicalling the backlash after lead singer natalie maines said the words "we're embarassed that the president is from texas" to a london audience in 2003, documentary filmmaker barbara kopple captures how 8 words can affect the careers of the biggest selling female group in america.

the end result is not only a look at how blindsighted national pride can spin it's ugly head on their targets (natalie got death threats), but how true artists can use the experience to come up with the best album of their career.

in the middle of all this are the defiantly strong threesome; funny, honest and finally able to tell their version of the past three years.

i was in line for death of a president (which won the fipresci prize) but the packed screening forced me to go and check out the highly spurned 'the fountain' next door.

if you haven't read reports, the hugely expensive darren aronofsky film was panned at the venice film festival (i think the sound of boo-ing was at the premiere). so when a movie is that bad, i always have an inkling to check out the scene of the crime for myself.

so my verdict? it's not good, but it's not horrible either.

spanning three stories between two lovers in three different eras, the main crux centers on a scientist (played quite nicely by hugh jackman) who is trying to find a cure for a fatal brain tumor; something his dying girlfriend (rachel weisz) is also suffering from.

the concept of time gets played through all three stories and by the middle, the thread of all three come together quite nicely.

it's only when the film reaches it's last section that the fountain just goes awol with spiritualism, folklore and the concept of undying love.

yeah... not good.