PINK FLAMINGOS - Review By Greg Klymkiw in "Electric Sheep - a deviant view of cinema"

PINK FLAMINGOS is screening as part of
It isn’t Very Pretty…
The Complete Films of John Waters (Every Goddam One of Them…)
6, 19, 25 September 2015 at BFI Southbank

Here's an excerpt from Greg Klymkiw's review of
John Waters' Pink Flamingos featured in the
latest issue of UK's coolest online movie mag

‘Just look at these,’ the Egg Man beams proudly. ‘Eggs so fresh you could hardly believe it. How about it, Edie? What will it be for the lady that the eggs like the most?’ Though Edie is placated, her ‘egg paranoia’ seems to rear its head once more, this time in the Egg Man’s presence as she begins to shudder desperately, almost orgasmically, screaming ‘Oh God, Oh God!’ However, the Egg Man will have none of it when he declares, ‘Miss Edie, as long as there are chickens laying and trucks driving and my feet walking, you can be sure that l will bring you the finest of the fine, the largest of the large and the whitest of the white. ln other words, that thin-shelled ovum of the domestic fowl will never be safe as long as there are chickens laying. I am your Egg Man and there ain’t a better one in town!’

So, does anyone reading this summary of egg obsession feel like the events are perfectly normal?

Oh, good. I’m glad you think so too.

READ THE FULL REVIEW BY CLICKING HERE

VIDEODROME - Review By Greg Klymkiw at "Electric Sheep - A Deviant View of Cinema" (UK's premiere online journal of the most aberrant, heretically perverse and downright divergent motion picture product).

David Cronenberg, along with the likes of Atom Egoyan, Guy Maddin, Peter Mettler and a clutch of other visionary filmmakers in English Canada, generated product which can be viewed as Canadian by simple virtue of the fact that both the style and content of the films could only have been made in a North American context that prided itself on uniquely indigenous qualities in spite (and perhaps even because) of the southerly Behemoth of Uncle Sam. And though plenty of Canadian dramatic product was (and often continues to be) almost unbearably tasteful, this has happily never been a problem for any of the aforementioned filmmakers – especially not David Cronenberg. “Tasteful” has seldom reared its ugly head anywhere near his films. Videodrome is as Canadian as Maple Syrup, beavers and the MacKenzie Brothers, but with the added bonus of almost hardcore sadomasochistic snuff-film-style torture weaving its way throughout the picture as narrative and thematic elements.

Read Greg Klymkiw's
full review at:
Electric Sheep
- a deviant view of cinema
HERE

Here are the full specs on the Arrow Video release: LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
Original uncompressed mono audio tracks for all films, Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for all films, Limited Edition packaging, fully illustrated by Gilles Vranckx, Limited Edition Exclusive Extras

VIDEODROME – BLU-RAY DISC 1 AND DVD DISC 2:
Restored high-definition digital transfer of the unrated version, approved by director David Cronenberg and cinematographer Mark Irwin, Audio commentary by Tim Lucas, the on-set correspondent for Cinefantastique Magazine and author of Videodrome: Studies in the Horror Film, David Cronenberg and the Cinema of the Extreme – A documentary programme featuring interviews with Cronenberg, George A. Romero and Alex Cox on Cronenberg’s cinema, censorship and the horror genre, Forging the New Flesh – A documentary programme by filmmaker Michael Lennick on Videodrome’s video and prosthetic make up effects, Videoblivion: A brand new interview with cinematographer Mark Irwin, A brand new interview with producer Pierre David, AKA Jack Martin – Dennis Etchison, author of novelizations of Videodrome, Halloween, Halloween II and III and The Fog, discusses Videodrome and his observations of Cronenberg’s script, The complete uncensored Samurai Dreams footage with additional Videodrome broadcasts with optional commentary by Michael Lennick, Helmet Test and Betamax – Two featurettes by Michael Lennick on effects featured in the film, Camera (2000) Cronenberg’s short film starring Videodrome’s Les Carlson, Fear on Film: A round table discussion from 1982 with Cronenberg, John Carpenter, John Landis and Mick Garris, Promotional featurette with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Cronenberg, James Woods, Deborah Harry and Rick Baker, Original theatrical trailer

DAVID CRONENBERG’S EARLY WORKS: BLU-RAY DISC 3 AND DVD DISC 4 [LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE]: High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of four Cronenberg films, Transfer (1966) & From the Drain (1967), Cronenberg’s previously unavailable short films newly restored by the Toronto International Film Festival [7 & 12 mins], Stereo (1969) & Crimes of the Future (1970): Cronenberg’s early amateur feature films, shot in and around his university campus, prefigure his later work’s concerns with strange institutions (much like Videodrome’s Spectacular Optical) as well as male/female separation (Dead Ringers) and ESP (Scanners). Newly restored from original lab elements [65 & 70 mins], Transfer the Future – Author and critic Kim Newman discusses Cronenberg’s early works

COLLECTOR’S BOOKLET [LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE]
An illustrated 100-page hardback book featuring new writing including Justin Humphreys on Videodrome in a modern context, Brad Stevens on the alternate versions, Caelum Vatnsdal on Cronenberg’s early works, extracts from Cronenberg on Cronenberg featuring Cronenberg’s reminiscences of getting started in filmmaking and shooting all the films in this collection, plus more, illustrated with original archive stills

DETAILS:
Region: B
Rating: 18
Cat No: FCD1133
Duration: 6/13/63/63/89 mins
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1/1.33:1/1.66:1
Audio: Mono
Discs: 4
Colour/B&W

COFFY - Review By Greg Klymkiw @ Electric Sheep Magazine - Pam Grier Cleans Up Good

PAM GRIER is COFFY, a lean, mean, KILLING machine with a soul that’s ALL WOMAN. By day, she’s a caring, highly skilled inner-city nurse, but by night, she transforms into a DEADLY show-no-mercy VIGILANTE who takes on the whole underworld --- thug by thug --- pusher by pusher --- gangster by  gangster --- corrupt politician by corrupt politician --- john by john & PIMP by DIRTY, STINKING PIMP.

READ GREG KLYMKIW'S blistering **** RAVE REVIEW @ ELECTRIC SHEEP - a deviant view of cinema by clicking HERE.

READ GREG KLYMKIW'S REVIEW @ ELECTRIC SHEEP - a deviant view of cinema by clicking HERE

GREG KLYMKIW interviews JOHN BOORMAN on QUEEN AND COUNTRY at ELECTRIC SHEEP

Greg Klymkiw Interviews the legendary director
JOHN BOORMAN about QUEEN AND COUNTRY,
the sequel to his much-beloved Hope and Glory
at Electric Sheep Magazine. Read it by clicking HERE

GREG KLYMKIW interviews TONY BURGESS on EJECTA at ELECTRIC SHEEP MAGAZINE in UK

Greg Klymkiw and Tony Burgess
share pulls from a jug of Peninsula shine
and discuss writing, aliens and EJECTA,
the latest screenplay from the writer of
PONTYPOOL, SEPTIC MAN & HELLMOUTH
Read on by clicking HERE

RED ARMY and FOXCATCHER - TIFF 2014 - Review By Greg Klymkiw - Canada vs. America: The Politics and Propaganda of Sports in Gabe Polsky’s Red Army and Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher - My latest "Colonial Report (on Cinema) from the Dominion of Canada" column in the super-cool UK film mag "Electric Sheep - a deviant view of cinema"

The politics and propaganda in American Sports
The politics and Propaganda in American Cinema

Red Army (2014)
Dir. Gabe Polsky

Foxcatcher (2014)
Dir. Bennett Miller

Canada vs. America: The Politics and Propaganda of Sports in Gabe Polsky’s Red Army and Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher

By Greg Klymkiw

Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 2014) report in my latest "Colonial Report (on Cinema) from the Dominion of Canada" column in the super-cool UK film mag "Electric Sheep - a deviant view of cinema" Here's a couple of snippets to whet your appetite:

Foxcatcher, one of the most exciting American movies of the year, very strangely employs propagandistic elements within the narrative structure provided by screenwriters E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, which, in turn, the director Bennett Miller superbly jockeys in his overall mise-en-scène. Astonishingly, the filmmakers manage to have their cake and eat it too. By offering a detailed examination of propaganda within the context of American history and society, as well as a mounting an ever-subtle critical eye upon it, Miller might continue to add accolades to his mantle in addition to the Best Director nod he copped at Cannes.

Gabe Polsky’s feature length documentary Red Army is as much about the propaganda machine (of Cold War Russia) as it is pure propaganda unto itself, by placing undue emphasis upon the rivalry between America and the Soviet Union on the blood-spattered battleground of ice hockey competition. Polsky has fashioned a downright spellbinding history of the Red Army hockey team, which eventually became a near-juggernaut of Soviet skill and superiority in the world. In spite of this, many Canadians will call the film a total crock-and-bull story. While a Maple Leaf perspective might provide an eye more sensitive to Miller’s exploration of the propagandistic gymnastics of American blue blood powerbrokers, there is bound to be more than just a little crying foul over Polsky’s film.

Read the FULL article by clicking HERE

Red Army and Foxcatcher are Mongrel Media releases.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ORDER ANYTHING FROM AMAZON BY USING THE LINKS BELOW. CLICKING ON THEM AND THEN CLICKING THROUGH TO ANYTHING WILL ALLOW YOU TO ORDER AND IN SO DOING, SUPPORT THE ONGING MAINTENANCE OF THE FILM CORNER.

AMAZON.CA

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Carré blanc - Reviews by Greg Klymkiw - Recent SciFi that makes Under the Skin pale in comparison

Under The Skin, a film by Jonathan Glazer, is awful. I respect Glazer for trying to make a contemporary Science Fiction picture that isn't just a dumb action movie disguised as Science Fiction, but alas, it truly does fall flat on its face.

There is, however, a great film that made my 10 Best Films of 2011 list that hits all the right buttons that Glazer misses by several country miles. Harkening back to the great 70s science-fiction film classics, Jean-Baptiste Léonetti’s debut feature Carré blanc is easily one of the finest dystopian visions of the future to be etched upon celluloid since that dazzling decade.

The tale is, on its surface and as in many great movies, a simple one. Philippe and Marie grew up together in a state orphanage and are now married. They live in a stark, often silent corporate world bereft of any vibrant colour and emotion.

Philippe is a most valued lackey of the state – he is an interrogator-cum-indoctrinator. Marie is withdrawing deeper and deeper into a cocoon as the love she once felt for Philippe is transforming into indifference. In this world, though, hatred is as much a luxury as love.

Tangible feelings and simple foibles are punished with torture and death. Indifference, it would seem, is the goal. It ensures complete subservience to the dominant forces. Love, however, is ultimately the force the New World Order is helpless to fight and it is at the core of this story. If Philippe and Marie can somehow rediscover that bond, there might yet be hope – for them, and the world. It is this aspect of the story that always keeps the movie floating above a mere exercise in style and makes it an instant classic of science fiction. First screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 2011)

Love in Dystopia: Contemporary SciFi in a 70s tradition.

Carré blanc is a great film. I've written 2 pieces on it for the ultra-cool UK film magazine Electric Sheep - a deviant view of Cinema. The first is a review that can be accessed HERE and the second is a critical essay on the astounding score and soundscape. Here's a brief excerpt from the article which can be accessed in its entirety by click HERE:

When Score and Sound Design Become Indistinguishable: The Universality of Evgueni Galperine’s Music for Carré blanc

excerpt from Greg Klymkiw's
Electric Sheep article:

The goal of the Brave New World that Léonetti presents appears to be little more than indifference, and as such it’s especially important to make note of the astounding score by Evgueni Galperine [which is unlike] the horrendously bombastic ‘action’ scores so prevalent in contemporary science fiction films, with Michael Giacchino’s pounding notes in the J. J. Abrams reboots of Star Trek, or the wham-bam-in-your-face styling of Ryan Amon’s Elysium score and, lest we forget, any of John Williams’s sweeping orchestral noodlings in George Lucas’s Star Wars space operas.

If anything, Galperine successfully roots his music in a spare blend of electronic soundscape, eerie source music and very light orchestral background. In fact, it’s sometimes impossible to distinguish between score and sound design – something that was so integral to dystopian science fiction films of the 1970s, most notably, the creepy crawly work of Denny Zeitlin in Philip Kaufman’s immortal remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Read the full article HERE and the review HERE.

JODY SHAPIRO: A GUY FOR ALL SEASONS - By Greg Klymkiw - Visionary Canuck Producer/Director Jody Shapiro Launches BURT'S BUZZ @ TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX (the year-round home for all of TIFF's activities, including the Toronto International Film Festival) & several American Cities via FilmBuff (in addition to exclusive USA access via iTunes). Shapiro's Documentary on the legendary Burt Shavitz of the world-famous "Burt's Bees" health products opens June 6 in the US and June 13 in Canada. Mr. Shapiro receives the full-on Klymkiw myth-making body massage in an all-new feature profile exclusive to the UK's coolest online film mag "ELECTRIC SHEEP - A DEVIANT VIEW OF CINEMA" as part of Klymkiw's ongoing Jesuit Relations-inspired column, the "COLONIAL REPORT ON CINEMA FROM THE DOMINION OF CANADA".

JODY SHAPIRO: A GUY FOR ALL SEASONS - By Greg Klymkiw - Visionary Canuck Producer/Director Jody Shapiro Launches BURT'S BUZZ at the majestic TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX (the year-round home for all of TIFF's activities, including the Toronto International Film Festival) & several American Cities (in addition to exclusive access via iTunes). Shapiro's Documentary on the legendary Burt Shavitz of the world-famous "Burt's Bees" health products opens June 6 in the USA and June 13 in Canada. Mr. Shapiro receives the full-on Klymkiw myth-making in an all-new feature profile exclusive to the UK's coolest online film mag "ELECTRIC SHEEP - A DEVIANT VIEW OF CINEMA", part of Klymkiw's ongoing Jesuit-Relations-inspired "COLONIAL REPORT ON CINEMA FROM THE DOMINION OF CANADA".

Burt Shavitz, visionary bee-keeper & public face of the insanely popular
"Burt's Bee's" health products is profiled by filmmaker Jody Shapiro in the
feature-length documentary BURT'S BUZZ, which following its June 6
theatrical/iTunes release in America, enjoys a Canadian Theatrical Premiere @ TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX (the year-round home for all of TIFF's activities, including the Toronto International Film Festival) on June 13, 2014.

JODY SHAPIRO: A GUY FOR ALL SEASONS by Greg Klymkiw

can be read in Electric Sheep - a deviant view of cinema

by accessing UK's coolest online film magazine HERE

JOURNEY

with Jody Shapiro into the very heart, soul and mind of Burt Shavitz

DISCOVER

the special bond twixt two men from two generations

who share one object of affection

LIVE

the humble beginnings of a nice Jewish Boy

in the neighbourhood of Mel Lastman's North York

EXPERIENCE

Shapiro's post-secondary adventures at York University
and his STRICT tutelage under Niv Fichman

ENJOY

an ALL-EXCLUSIVE Guy Maddin pitch
for a highly-charged erotic scene involving
Jody Shapiro

BASK

in the glory that IS Jody Shapiro as the likes of
STEVE GRAVESTOCK + ISABELLA ROSSELLINI + GAY MADDIN
extol the Great Man's considerable virtues

DELVE

into Shapiro's most intimate personal fantasy
involving culinary arts and wildlife

SHARE

a rare fantasy with two men among men

ALL THIS AND MORE WHEN YOU READ:

JODY SHAPIRO: A GUY FOR ALL SEASONS

BY GREG KLYMKIW at ELECTRIC SHEEP

at http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/features/2014/06/05/jody-shapiro-a-guy-for-all-seasons/

WILLOW CREEK - Review By Greg Klymkiw - Updated piece at ELECTRIC SHEEP MAGAZINE - UK on Bobcat GoldthwaIt's All-New Horror Classic. Now on DVD in UK, but still no sign in North America.

WILLOW CREEK (*****) is being released in UK, but where, oh where, is it in North America? Here's an except from my (Greg Klymkiw) all new updated review on Bobcat Goldthwait's terrifying horror movie about Bigfoot.

In the wilderness, in the dark, it’s sound that plays tricks upon your eyes – not what you can’t see, but what your imagination conjures with every rustle, crack, crunch, moan and shriek. When something outdoors whacks the side of your tent, reality sinks in, the palpability of fear turns raw, numbing and virtually life-draining.

You’re fucked! Right royally fucked!"

The full review can be found at Electric Sheep Magazine (UK) - a deviant view of cinema by clicking HERE

AND YES, YOU CAN BUY THE MOVIE NOW FROM AMAZON.UK. JUST CLICK BELOW.

METAL MACHINE MUSIC ON LITHIUM: Greg Klymkiw's Full Report on the Jim Jarmusch Opera TESLA IN NEW YORK

Here's an excerpt from my Full Report in "Electric Sheep Magazine" on the World Premiere of the Jim Jarmusch and Phil Kline work-in-progress, the opera entitled TESLA IN NEW YORK:

‘Music,’ says Jarmusch after the performance, ‘is the most beautiful form of artistic expression and I sincerely believe film is the most closely related artistic form to music. It’s why I make movies, but it’s also why I feel the need to make opera.’

To say that music is often the driving force behind Jarmusch’s cinematic visuals, if not their very heart and soul, might well be an understatement. Can anyone imagine Eszter Balint in Stranger Than Paradise dragging her luggage through the monochrome warzone of New York without Screamin’ Jay Hawkins intoning his crazed seductive yelps of ‘I Put A Spell on You’, or for that matter as the film’s Greek Chorus of ennui and passion?

‘Music’, Jarmusch elaborates, ‘is my guide into the greater world through the medium of film. There were many places I’d never visited and wanted to get to know because of the music that came from them. The music of New Orleans and Memphis, for example, are what led me to eventually make films like Down by Law and Mystery Train. As for Tesla in New York, I know New York intimately, but I’m hoping the opera will allow me, through fact, fancy and imagination, to get to know Tesla’s New York.’

Music and made-in-Winnipeg-cinema have always nestled cosily under the fluffy blankets of glorious warmth and forgetfulness. To wit: earlier in the evening, while grabbing a smoke outside the Centennial Concert Hall in the -40 climes, I spied Guy Maddin, surely one of cinema’s great working film artists. He was scuttling maniacally up the granite front steps, strewn with sand to prevent icy tumbles, hurtling himself into the balmy ticket vestibule. I sucked back the remainder of my bâton de cancer filled ever so generously with tax-free all-Natural Native Tobacco I secured earlier that day on a nearby reservation populated by my entrepreneurial Aboriginal Brothers. I then made my way to greet the esteemed Mr Maddin who was waiting patiently in line at the ‘Will Call’ wicket...

You can read the full article in my column: "Colonial Report on Cinema from the Dominion of Canada" at ELECTRIC SHEEP MAGAZINE (UK) - a deviant view of cinema. Click on the handy link HERE.

SORCERER (New Digital Restoration of the 1977 Classic, Supervised By Director William Friedkin) - Reviewed By Greg Klymkiw in his Colonial Report on Cinema from the Dominion of Canada in the super-cool movie mag in the UK, "Electric Sheep - a deviant view of cinema".

SORCERER
*****

(1977)

Dir. William Friedkin

Starring

Roy Scheider

Francisco Rabal

Bruno Cremer

Amidou

Reviewed By Greg Klymkiw

In 1977, my virginal plunge into the sweaty, nerve-wracking maw of this insane jungle thriller about four desperate men transporting nitroglycerine across the most treacherous topography imaginable, was, for me, an epiphany. During a myriad of subsequent viewings, and now, with this brand new digital restoration overseen by director William Friedkin, Sorcerer was always, still remains and always will be a movie that repeatedly whacks you with a two-by-four across the teeth.

My review of this new restoration can be found in my column "The Colonial Report on Cinema from the Dominion of Canada" in the ever-so-cool UK-based movie mag "Electric Sheep - a deviant view of cinema".

My full review of SORCERER can be read HERE.

The Toronto International Film Festival’s TIFF Bell Lightbox will be screening the all-new digital restoration (supervised by director William Friedkin) of the 1977 remake of The Wages of Fear, Sorcerer on 12, 15 and 18 April 2014 as a TIFF Cinematheque Special Screening. This is part of a grand spring series that includes a new 35mm restoration of Joseph Losey’s The Servant, new 35mm prints of Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped, Nagisa Ôshima’s Boy, Alain Resnais’s Je t’aime, je t’aime, Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Avventura, a new digital restoration of the 248 minute ‘roadshow’ version of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Cleopatra, new 4K digital restorations of Roberto Rossellini’s Voyage to Italy, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House/Hausu, John Sturges’s The Great Escape, Elio Petri’s Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion, and 35mm Archival prints of Humberto Solas’s Lucia and most excitingly, H.G. Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear.

Anyone planning to be in Toronto for these screenings is well advised to order seats in advance. For dates, tickets and further information, please visit the TIFF website HERE.

JEWS OF WINNIPEG - DO NOT MISS SEEING ALAN ZWEIG'S AWARD WINNING "WHEN JEWS WERE FUNNY"

GILBERT GOTTFRIED SAYS:
"HEY, JEWS OF WINNIPEG!
YA' GOTTA' SEE THIS MOVIE!"

DO NOT MISS

WHEN JEWS WERE FUNNY
David Steinberg is fromWinnipeg
He is a Jew
You Can See Him in

WHEN JEWS WERE FUNNY

at the Winnipeg Film Group

CINEMATHEQUE
Jan 10-18, 2014

CALLING ALL JEWS in WINNIPEG!

YEAH, YOU!

GOYIM, TOO!!!

READ MY REVIEW

AT THE LINK BELOW

THEN TELL ME YOU AREN'T GOING

THEN TELL YOUR JEWISH & GOYIM FRIENDS!

GET A LOAD OF SOME OF THE JEWS IN THIS MOVIE:

SHELLEY BERMAN

SHECKY GREENE

JACK CARTER

BOB EINSTEIN
aka SUPER DAVE

Nu, so what are you waiting for?

HEY!

JEWS

of WINNIPEG!

YEAH! YOU!

Alan Zweig's latest film, WHEN JEWS WERE FUNNY, winner of the Best Canadian Feature Film Award at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 2013) is playing theatrically via KINOSMITH across the country and can now be seen in WINNIPEG at the Winnipeg Film Group CINEMATHEQUE:

To read my review (which also encompasses Zweig's entire feature canon, feel free to read my latest Colonial Report column at the very cool UK film magazine: Electric Sheep - a deviant view of cinema. Click HERE!

GO, JEWS OF WINNIPEG, GO!

YOU GOYIM GO, TOO!

NOW! BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

TIFF 2013 - Electric Sheep Report by Greg Klymkiw on MISCELLANY - The final report to coolio UK Film Mag Electric Sheep in my column, Colonial Report on Cinema from the Dominion of Canada - Includes Reviews of Tracks, Le démantèlement, Shivers, L’intrepido, Border and Child of God

TIFF 2013 offers up a Cornucopia of Cinema for ALL! 

Greg Klymkiw's COLONIAL REPORT
from the Dominion of Canada
on the Toronto International Film Festival 2013
for ELECTRIC SHEEP UK - a deviant view of cinema

Miscellany is the theme of this final colonial report on the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, for this is ultimately the fest’s greatest stock in trade. One of the truly delightful activities during the Dominion of Canada’s greatest cultural event (bar none) is watching a variety of motion pictures from EVERYWHERE. So here, dearest scavenger of all things cinematic, is a grab bag of product I snuffled up during 10 days of movie gluttony. No better place to experience a whack of movies than in the colonies.

THE FULL REPORT CAN BE ACCESSED HERE!!!

TIFF 2013 Report for Electric Sheep Magazine on Scadic/Nordic Cinema - Reviews By Greg Klymkiw - CONCRETE NIGHT, WE ARE THE BEST, SEX DRUGS & TAXATION

One of the best things about the Dominion of Canada is that for much of the year, about 80% of its land mass inspires such delightful Weather Channel warnings as: ‘Exposed skin will freeze in under 30 seconds’. I am certainly acquainted with the effects of the weather in the colonies, but save for very few examples, the cinema seldom captures the effects, or rather, the results of said meteorological joys. These delights include the important cultural implementation of physical/ psychological abuse, alcoholism, gambling addiction, criminal activity, suicidal tendencies, devil-may-care iconoclasm, mordantly perverse humour and my personal favourite, deep numbing depression. Luckily, the magisterial Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was, this year, engorged with such cinema – all hailing from the Nordic regions and Scandic cultures of Europe, mostly programmed by the very fine curator and critic Steve Gravestock, who is not only an international programmer specialising in said Nordic fare, but holds the related position of being topper of all things cinematically Canuckian at TIFF. Here in this report, you’ll find a nice sampling of my thoughts on a variety of Nordic bonbons I saw at TIFF 2013.

Read the Full Report HERE