tiff50 JOHN CANDY I LIKE ME: This Is How You Prep For A Red Carpet Arrival!

 

John Candy: I Like Me the new documentary about one of the great on-screen comedians of all time John Candy had it's world premiere at the 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. The documentary was directed by Colin Hanks. It was produced by Mr. Hanks and Ryan Reynolds and a slew of other notable folks. How do you arrive the red carpet premiere? In a 1986 Chrysler LeBaron convertible of course! The car made famous in Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Look below for an exclusive video of the stunt person face timing Ryan Reynolds as he gets The Lebaron in perfect....or not so perfect red carpet shape! 

tiff50 PROJECT Y: Poster Reveal and Film Still

 Ahead of it's world premiere in the Special Presentations selection of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival Lee Hwan's latest film Project Y debuts it festival poster. As included is an official film still featuring actors Han So-hee and Jun Jong-seo. 

tiff50 THE EYES OF GHANA: Exclusive World Premiere Poster Gallery

 

 

The Eyes of Ghana a 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival official selection received a standing ovation Thursday night at it's world premiere documentary selection opener film. The documentary is directed by Ben Proudfoot the Academy Award winning filmmaker of The Queen of Basketball The Eyes of Ghana puts a spotlight on soldier of cinema Chris Hesse preserved over 1300 film reels documenting the history of Ghana. Barack and Michelle Obama are Executive Producers of this extortionary Chris Hesse and this incredible look at his life. Enjoy these great posters!

My First Midnight Madness Screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. Ong-Bak at the Uptown 2003.

            Iko Uwais interviewed by Robert Mitchell at the 2011 The Raid World Premiere

 A few days ago, we posted the memories of MM Photographer Ian Goring, today we're sharing the first Midnight Madness screening of another MM Blogger who you don't hear from much around here, MM Interviewer, Videographer and Man On The Scene, Robert A. Mitchell. This was originally published on the 2008 Midnight Madness blog as, "The Genesis of a Midnight Madness Junkie, (a.k.a., The Night I Met Prachya Pinkaew)." ~The Editor

 

Howdy All.

As a way of introducing myself, and also to take a little time to do a some reminiscing, I wanted to talk about my first Midnight Madness screening.

It was a Saturday, the second day of the 2003 film festival and the second year I was attending. I was set to watch two films that day. The first was Takeshi Kitano's latest film Zatoichi at the Elgin theater theater at the base of Yonge street followed by a screening of Alien with Sir Ridley Scott in attendance. That is already an amazing day of cinema. Little did I know what the night would bring. Suffice to say Zatoichi was amazing and I wasn't the only one who must've thought that because several days later the film would win the audience award. 

 

Zatoichi

Leaving the theater and stepping into the bright early September daylight I slowly wandered up Yonge street bopping in and out of stores looking at DVDs. My mind wandering, thinking of the amazing sword sequences I had just watched. 

By five o'clock I found myself standing in what was supposed to be my second and last line up for a film that day. Perhaps because of kismet, the unifying field or just one of those things, the woman who stood directly in front of me had stood directly behind me hours earlier while I waited for Zatoichi.

We began to talk about many different films and she asked me if I would be going to Midnight Madness that night. I replied that I had heard of Midnight Madness but that I had never gone. She then informed me that there was a film playing that night entitled, Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior.

Since my teenage years encompassed skateboarding, eating pizza and watching kung fu films every Saturday, I was always up for a good martial arts film, but, alas, I did not have a ticket. The woman informed me she was a volunteer and that she would use one of her vouchers and procure me a ticket. True to her words she came back from the box office with a ticket for Ong-Bak and what would become my first Midnight Madness film.

Oh yeah, the Alien reissue was amazing and, not only was Sir Ridley Scott in attendance, but Yaphet Kotto sat in the audience with us and watched the film ... but I digress.

Cut to INT.: The Uptown Theater Saturday night around 11PM.

                                                The Upton Theatre. Long live the Uptown!

With the usual energy that comes with a warm Saturday night, this particular night had the added excitement of a world premiere. The crowd had changed, they were younger and much more enthusiastic. Although it was a long day and I was fighting exhaustion, one could not not get caught up in the moment and feed off the energy that you were surrounded with.

We were finally seated in the amazing theater that was the Uptown 1 (see above photo (R.I.P)) and a man came onto the stage and introduced himself as "Colin Geddes, the Midnight Madness programmer" to a huge amount of applause and cheering. He then went on to relate a tale of seeing Ong-Bak at the buyers market at the Cannes film festival and that Luc Besson, the director of La Femme Nikita, had already bought the film.

Colin Geddes then introduced the director of the film, Prachya Pinkaew, who had almost not made the screening due to being held up by customs and had to resort to taking a cab from the airport to the theater to make the screening on time. In fact, he had had no time to stop off at the hotel to unpack his luggage. When Prachya stepped out and onto the stage you would never have known that a mere hour or so before he had been on a plane coming from the other side of the world.

With the introductions finished the house lights dimmed and the curtains were slowly drawn and little did we know what we were about to see. You could look in a thesaurus and no amount of adjectives could ever do Ong-Bak justice. The film was completely and utterly amazing. When the final credits rolled and lights came back on, sitting in that theater - which was now in the wee hours of Sunday morning - you knew you had just witnessed the emergence of a new talent unleashed upon the world. The star of the film Tony Jaa without a doubt would become the next big action star.

                                                                                 Ong-Bak

As Colin and Prachya came back onto the stage the crowd rose in a standing ovation and if you had ever been in the Uptown 1 you can attest to how many people that was.

After the Q&A I stumbled out of the theater and into the night, dizzy from the amazing I had just watched. Wandering around the local neighborhood I popped into a store and bought a chocolate milk, when the thought crossed my mind to double back to the theater and see if I could get a picture with the director.

Outside of the box office stood Colin  and Prachya with a few other people. I approached them and asked if I could have a photo. Colin then snapped a picture at a crazy angle and the moment was captured.  I'm the dork with the red beard standing beside one of the greatest action directors to emerge in the twenty first century.

I don't speak a word of Thai and I believe Prachya didn't speak much, if any, English. But, when I said to him that Ong-Bak was the best fighting film I had seen since Drunken Master II, a flicker of recognition passed through his eyes. We had bridged the language gap through action films.

When the house lights came back on that Sunday morning I immediately thought to myself how many times are you going to be in a world premiere audience and be able to say I was there the night the world was introduced to the next big thing. In an instant I was hooked and have been attending Midnight Madness ever since. This will mark my sixth year.

I also would like to thank that volunteer for taking me to my first Midnight Madness screening.

                                                      

                                                        Prachya Pinkaew & Robert Mitchell

I STILL SEARCH FOR YOU: A Cinematic Sketch by Robert Aaron Mitchell

 

I have been living in the middle of a cattle ranch in South Texas for a couple of months now. The area is very isolated and has amazing visuals. Everyday I have some sort of encounter with wildlife. Be it a snake chasing a frog I saw when out driving. A baby owl trapped near a cactus. The fleeting glimpse of a deer jumping over a barbed-wire fence. I wander the ranch in the hot Texas sun formulating ideas to create several short films. I decided to edit some of my cellphone footage I have been taking, to put together, what I'm calling a cinematic sketch. I used several filter and editing tools available at the app store to play around and manipulate the images. This is the result. 

I Still Search For You. A man walks in around a cattle ranch ranch in South Texas in a hallucinogenic state. 

BROOKLYN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2021: WHAT JOSIAH SAW Reflections by Robert Aaron Mitchell

                                 WHAT JOSIAH SAW (USA) Directed by Vincent Grashaw

Out on old willow road on the outskirts of a small Texas town is a dilapidated farmhouse surrounded by a good swath of land. This is the Graham homestead. Tommy (Scott Haze) is on a rusted out tractor trying to get it started. He cranks the ignition. It pops and puffs. Plumes of smoke billow out. Inside Josiah (Robert Patrick) looks on. His powerful patriarchal presence felt through the glass of the window. Out on an old oak tree is the inscription;
 

                                                        Miriam Graham
                                                        Darling Wife
                                                        Beloved Mom

Josiah and Tommy sit around the kitchen table. Tommy says a prayer, “God, God I just love you and thank you from the bottom of my heart. For this food today. I pray for ma. I pray for pa. I pray for the man he lied to Amen.” Josiah tells Tommy a story and tells his son he is ignorant to believe in God.

The small town is like a lot of towns these days. Barely hanging on. A main street with a few shops. Oil developers are circling the town trying to buy up land relevant to their shale oil extraction. A couple of Devlin Oil company men meet with one of the assemblymen of the town. They want to buy the Graham property. Assemblyman Gentry points to a map, “Well, this is Willow Road. That’s the Graham property that’ll be a tough sell.” The company men do not seem to phased. “Most have a price.” Gentry continues, “That place has a bad history...something awful has come about.” He proceeds to tell them a story about the Graham family.

On a night when the winds are whipping up something fierce, the farmhouse creaking away. Josiah wakes up in a panic. He sees something above him. He is transfixed and frozen in fear. The next morning Tommy sees Josiah standing beside the oak tree. “Whatever bad you got inside you come from me. Everything good comes from your mother.” Josiah eyes wide and unblinking says God is indeed watching them. They can right their ways, right their wrongs. Getting right has to begin with spit shining the house. Tommy gets down to work. Whatever Josiah saw sure has changed him. At the kitchen table Tommy is about to pour him some whiskey. Josiah covers the coffee mug with his hand “Leave it be.” “No morning tea?” Tommy asks. “Not no more.” Things are turning around. Tommy sets upon the old tractor and it pops and puffs more smoke and wouldn’t you know it, the tractor starts.

Robert Patrick as Josiah is a dominating presence. He stalks around quietly and on the turn of a dime flies into rage. His wide-eyed, unblinking blue eyes are a force of nature. The eyes that can be infused with drunken lunacy, outright terror, menace and malice. Scott Haze playing the son who has returned has the formidable task of sharing scenes with Robert. He rises to the challenge. From Tommy’s posture, dialect or the way he muses and cares for his pa even when his father is in a mean drunk is a role full of empathy and a longing to stay in pa’s good graces. Resolve and courage are two exemplary traits of good actors. Robert Patrick and Scott Haze display these traits as the story moves into unsettling and disturbing ways.

Eli arrives in the story in a frenzied moment of passion. As Josiah remarks about his son, “First step that boy took was a mud pile of trouble.” Looks like Eli continues to step in a mud pile after mud pile of trouble. Eli navigates a violent, rough and tumble world of gambling, whoring and drinking. Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Nick Stahl as Eli personifies such a man. A man who is perpetually down on his luck.

One of Eli’s many vices is gambling. He owes Boone, a bar owner and all around shady guy a shit ton of money. Boone is going to kill Eli. Unless. Eli has to accompany two of Boone’s guys, Logan (Troy Powell) and Billy (Ronnie Gene Blevins) on a job. Job don’t go well, Eli is dead.

The three man crew arrive at a gypsy carnival. “They say if a dog howls for no reason, there’s trouble coming. Gypsy lore.” Billy says, ”Lightning without rain these are omens” Eli sits in a trailer as Logan and Billy go on about things. Eli is approached by a young woman, they get to talking. She mentions Eli should meet with the median. He reluctantly agrees. The gypsy median tells him some things. Bullshit everyday platitudes or ominous omens? A lot of shit goes down. Looks like Eli might very well have a second chance. He shows up to his trailer with a letter from the oil company sitting on the floor.

Mary (Kelli Garner) is Joisah and Miriam’s daughter. She is married to Ross (Tony Hale). They are not doing well. They are trying to adopt a child. Mary is meeting with a therapist as a part of the adoption process. Eli shows up with the letter from the oil company shattering a peace that was never quite there to begin with. 

Thomas Wolfe's posthumous novel is entitled, “You Can’t Go Home Again”. Mary and Eli have spent a lifetime with this as a guiding principle. The allure of the oil company money is the impetus. The confrontation with the past is the pull. A heart wrenching reunion with Tommy in the front yard of the farm house. The hugs and warm feeling is short lived. When Tommy informs Josiah his other children have returned the ominous tone ratchets up in intensity.

I like the novel structure of the film. There are also some great story telling moments in the beginning of the chapters when assemblyman Gentry (Ben Hall) and bar owner Boone (Jake Weber) relay a yarn. The film moves among its stories, characters and tones. Sometimes with ease, sometimes jarringly.  That is probably the point. There is a lot of movie here. A film full of great faces. Vincent Grashaw makes some great distinct and visual choices to tell the story. There is such an ominous feeling of dread that permeates the film.

Film is a combination of so many things. Visual, musical, sound design. In a good movie one should not notice these things. However, for me, that is like going to the symphony and not seeing the musicians gathered around a half-circle on stage. When the elements of a film mesh well together it is pure cinema. Cinematographer Carlos Ritter brings a great look to the movie. Composer Robert Pycior's score is haunting, beautiful, and versatile as the tone of the film changes. Last but certainly not least, the sound design team of What Josiah Saw have done an amazing job. The sound design is exquisite.

What Josiah Saw is a southern gothic crime thriller. The film has a great foundation with Robert Alan Dilts screenplay and is anchored by strong performances from a great character actor ensemble. The story twists and turns in unexpected ways. Suspenseful, creepy, disturbing. Director Vincent Grashaw and his team of filmmakers keep the story moving in unique and compelling directions.

One of the core elements of What Josiah Saw is the stories people tell. The truth and lies. Through the murky lens of memory and manipulation.

Family reunions, much like film endings can be complicated affairs. What Joisah Saw will definitely have much discussion after the credits roll. That is a testament to a film that is unafraid to go there.

BROOKLYN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2021: WHEN I CONSUME YOU Reflections by Robert Aaron Mitchell

 WHEN I CONSUME YOU (USA) Directed by Perry Blackshear

When I Consume You is Perry Blackshear’s third feature film. His 2018 film The Siren was the closing film of the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. He returns to the festival with his core acting troupe.

The film opens with a frenetic pace. Incredible images of physical pain. A woman is bruised and bloodied. She is in a bathroom. Locks the door. Standing over the sink she regurgitates a lot of blood. She reaches into her mouth. A distinct and jarring snapping sound. She pulls a loose tooth from her mouth. Another jarring sound as the tooth hits the porcelain. Washing her hands a tattoo of appears to be a stick figure is on the inside of her wrist. A man calls out. The woman runs the shower. She says she is good, she is finishing the shower. She sits on the floor, fully clothed, the water pouring over her as a victim of a horrendous encroachment would.

A nightmare is revealed in the closet.

The woman is in the mirror applying cover up to a bruise. Two people sit on a balcony. Daphne (Libby Ewing) and Wilson (Evan Dumouchel). Wilson says, “I decided I want to be a teacher because I want to help people. People who have had a hard time, need help, and protection and to feel safe. Like kids. It’s really scary to be a kid.” He is really focused on getting this out and has clearly spent a lot time rehearsing his words to get them out in a concise manner.

Daphne hands Wilson a necklace. It is inscribed with a quote, “I sought my brother” They are siblings who have endured a lifetime of pain and hardship together. They have a bond that is inseparable.

“Are you okay?” Wilson asks. A memory. She nods her head in a way that says I’m not quite okay.

The Shaw siblings are forging ahead and pursing paths to better their lives. Daphne is trying to adopt a child. Wilson is going to have an interview for a new job in a couple of days. The adoption process is not going well and has revealed some deep psychological aspects to Daphne’s personality.

Wilson preparing for his big interview leaves the iron on his good shirt too long marking it with a burn. He practices tying a tie. Keeping up appearances to a cold, indifferent society. Wilson is not doing well the night before the interview and shows up at his sister’s apartment in the middle of the night. There is a sense that is a familiar routine. A lifetime of developing coping mechanisms. Intense workouts. A fantasy card game. Three am visits. Hanging out on the balcony. Wilson and Daphne are there for each other through thick or thin.

Wilson stands outside the school waiting for his interview. He self consciously rubs at the stain on his shirt, holding his jacket a little bit higher. While waiting he is approached by someone who works at the school and is informed he will not get an interview. He does not have a college degree. Wilson stands shattered. Another hit from a cold, indifferent society

Wilson returns to Daphne’s apartment. Tragedy. Wilson spots someone running out of the apartment and onto the balcony. On the roof and down the fire escape. He gives chase. To no avail. Wilson stands in the glow of first responder blue and red lights. The chaos of sirens. He frantically is communicating that he saw someone run out the window. An integration. An examination.

At the grave site Wilson holds the words he wrote to eulogize Daphne. “I love my sister very much. When we were little, she protected me though she was younger. I would probably be dead if it wasn’t for her and how strong she is.”  He chooses a different set of  words. He also makes a vow to find the evil that is still out there. The evil that murdered his younger sister.

Wilson wanders the dark New York City streets inquiring about the person he saw flee Daphne’s apartment. Approaching people if they saw the person who he describes. They treat him as people do in a cold indifferent society as a delusional person. Wilson continues to work as a janitor. Invisible to the people around him.

Wilson falls further into himself. Searching for solace at the end of the next bottle. Is he indeed alone? He obtains a box of keepsakes. He opens a leather bound book. Daphne’s diary. Her voice fills Wilson’s mind. The diary compels him to search for the mystery surrounding Daphne. The path leads to intense violence. A mysterious figure has great plans for Wilson Shaw.

When a supernatural event occurs Wilson begins a personal transformation to avenge Daphne. The seeds of letting go and moving forward are also being planted.

When I Consume You is Daphne and Wilson’s story. Libby Ewing and Evan Dumouchel carry the film with outstanding performances. Performances that run the gamut of range.

When I Consume You is a violent, meditation of personal pain and loneliness. A struggle with mental illness in a society that moves on its own accord and has not the luxury or desire to pause and listen and to help. Perry Blackshear navigates genre storytelling elements as an allegory for physical and mental abuse. The film is also a study in loss and grief. How do you continue to navigate through grief?

In a cold, indifferent society the bonds of love are a powerful adherence that spans across different planes of existence.

Losing someone there is no such thing as closure. That kind of pain now becomes a part of you. Perhaps, there can be a moment of peace. A moment of acceptance. Maybe, at the end of the day, it’s a victory to hold the demon at bay, for one more day.

BROOKLYN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2021: NIGHTMARE FUEL Short Film Block

 

If a feature film is a novel, then a short film is a poem. I took a look at the following short films that were curated by the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival under the program, Nightmare Fuel. Hope I can sleep tonight….

THE THING THAT ATE THE BIRDS (U.K). Directed by Sophie Mair & Dan Gitsham

The film opens on a beautiful vista. A man walks the countryside. A bag slung over his shoulder. He points a flashlight ahead of him. The music swells. The man stops walking. A bird lies dead before the man’s feet. Something is wrong in the countryside.

Wonderful sound design and musical score. Fully realized characters. It feels as though we are getting a momentary glimpse into a larger conflict. The makeup effects are top notch. The Thing That Ate The Birds does a great job operating with the confines of a short film. A wonderful piece of horror cinema. No birds were harmed making the picture.

IGNORE IT (USA) Directed by Sam Evenson

A kid sits on a bed playing a GameBoy. The kid’s father comes into the room and tells Justin that an unwanted visitor is back. He must follow the rule. “Stay focused.” The father says.

Great use of light as well as fun, creative shots of the unwanted visitor. Ignore it does a superb job of creating suspense and a tone of dread.  

Family dinners can be awkward and forced. Hopefully your next dinner is not as tense as this one…

CUTTER (USA) Directed by Dan Repp & Lindsay Young

Cutter wastes no time drawing you into its world. The opening shot is powerful and horrific.

I had no idea where this film was going, which is a considerable feat in the short film running time. A film with this kind of gravitas only works on the strength of the actors involved. Nadia Alexander who plays Raelyn and Leslie Fender (Raelyn’s Mother) anchor the film with strong performances.

Loneliness and heartbreak are very painful experiences. Sometimes the emotional pain manifests into self-inflicted physical pain. Sometimes other forces are at work. Cutter was an uncomfortable watch. I believe that is a compliment. The film does a great job with the horror people inflict upon themselves as well as the possible supernatural elements that can create havoc.

WEEE WOOO (USA) Directed by Charlie McWade

A night in. Playing some tunes. Sipping some red wine. Good times. A door creaks open.

I personally hate looking in a mirror and seeing something off. This happened to me just a couple of days ago.

Snow gently falls from the night sky. Good at changing tones. Great use of lighting. Sound design that really amps up the story telling. I really dug the changing of subjective and third person in the film.

Tara Pacheco does a great job in the lead role.

Very effective at being creepy. Perfect for some nightmare fuel. 

THIS IS OUR HOME (USA) Directed by AK Espada

The short begins with “No animals were harmed in the production of this film”. It continues with, “However, real archival footage of an animal in distress has been used.”

Full disclosure, I had a mouse problem when I was living in indiana and resorted to glue boards. While brutal the traps were highly effective. I had a rule, I never went out into nature to mess with mice. However, if you come into my house, you have to get out as soon as possible. Thankfully I never stepped on a glue trap with my bare feet.

Dina (Mor Cohen) and Ruya (Ruba Thérèse Mansouri) are roomates. They also have every New Yorkers nightmare of a mice infestation. While they differ on methods they do agree that the mice have got to go.

The never-ending squeak of mice at night is so unnerving. War is war. This Is Our Home is ultimately a film about colonialism, roomates and veganism. I promise to never use a glue trap again.


OUZO AND BLACKCURRANT (U.K.) Directed by Nat Luurtsema

From the font of the title, to the infectious reunion of friends you get the immediate impression you are about to have some fun.

Friends wander through a field of wrecked cars reminiscing. To say more would be to say far too much.

I dug the look of the film. Ozuo and Blackcurrent does a lot in the condensed run time of a short. A nice slice of horror cinema.

BRACKISH (USA) Directed by Christa Boarini

Opens with beautiful widescreen cinematography. Hypnotic underwater photography. A body is submerged. An idyllic summer scene. People are enjoying being out on the lake and a woman sets up an easel to paint the landscape.

This film being in a program entitled nightmare fuel things cannot stay idyllic for too long.

You ever get that sense that you are being watched? Naw me neither.

As I have mentioned the photography quite a lot in a few sentences, kudos to Director of Photography Colin Treanbeath. Great score by Justin Hogan. The film reminded me of Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock.

LA OSCURIDAD The Darkness (USA/MEXICO) Directed by Jorge Sistos Moreno

Marina, a former elementary school teacher, emerges badly bruised on the shore of a lake. After a lengthy track through the hot Mexican sun, she lands at the primary school where she once worked. 

A pickup sits by a lake as the sun rises. A man stands at the shore and spits into the lake. It starts. LOUD. The truck rumbles away but the evil deed the driver has performed remains out in the open in the form of a purse and a pair of heels.

The tone is a slow dread. Some exquisite shots in the film. Sometimes the darkness claims it’s vengeance.

The art house meets horror. La Oscuridad is a haunting and effective story.


 

BROOKLYN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL SESSION 9: 20th Anniversary Screening Reflections by Robert Aaron Mitchell

 

SESSION 9 USA 2001 (Directed by Brad Anderson) 

 

Session 9 is getting a twentieth anniversary screening during this years Brooklyn Horror Film Festival at the beautiful Nitehawk Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This Tuesday, October 19th 9:30pm. You can get tickets clicking on here.

 

Several years ago I was living in Worcester, Massachusetts and took a drive up to Danvers. It is was a crisp, clear October day when I arrived at the former Danvers State Hospital.  Not much remains of the former State Lunatic Asylum at Danvers is kind of misleading, the original center building is beautiful and remarkably tall. It is also very imposing. The red bricks stood out especially as they contrasted the blue skies of that autumn morning when I visited the grounds. The original building is actually only a tiny remnant how large the sprawling hospital was. The Danvers State Hospital has served as inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham Sanatorium as well as Arkham Asylum in the Batman universe. While the building has been influential in fiction, the true-life horrors that happened here are indeed very disturbing. 

 

Today the site is now comprised of renovated apartments. The past of the state hospital is only a short walk away down an unmarked trail and through overgrown bushes that leads to a large granite stone. The stone reads, “The Danvers State Hospital Cemetery “The Echos They Left Behind”” The cemetery contains hundreds of graves of Danvers patients. Only numbers marks the graves. Through the efforts of Pat Deegan and many others, hundreds of the dead have been identified. Many remain anonymous. A lot of times when reading about a film it is remarked that the location is another character in the movie. This sentiment is extremely true about the former Danvers State Hospital in Brad Anderson’s Session 9.

 

The film opens on two men waiting in van bearing a company name and slogan, Hazmat Elimination Co “Asbestos Abatement Professionals” outside a gate to the hospital. The two men are Gordon (Peter Mullan) & Phil (David Caruso) they await Bill Griggs (Paul Guilfoyle) who is holding bids for the asbestos removal job at the former insane asylum. They meet up and proceed on a tour of the grounds.

 

“It’s a pretty simple layout really, if you consider a giant flying bat.” Bill says as they walk down a hallway. Danvers as I mentioned has been a visual inspiration for Arkham Asylum in the Batman universe. Christian Bale who played Batman in the Christopher Nolan films also acted in Brad Anderson’s The Machinist.

 

“Whoa, what the fuck is this?” Phil asks as he looks into a metal tub filled with water “What are you a little scared Phil? This is hydrotherapy. Used to be cutting edge. They’d stuff the nut jobs into cold water I guess as a way to chill them out. Or they’d give them a lobotomy. The prefrontal lobotomy was perfected here at Danvers.”  Bill Griggs (Paul Guilfoyle) As they leave the room we see the full extent of what they were seeing. A sheet with restraints covers one of the tubs. Hydrotherapy would consist of placing a person into extremely hot or cold water, as it was believed this torture would alert the parts of the brain the psychiatrists wanted to affect.

 

As Bill continues the walk through “Oh there’s a lovely cemetery behind the machine shop. No headstones, just numbers.“ As they get further into the building it gets darker and darker. “This is where they keep the extreme patients…psychotic. You know what they call ward A? The snake pit.” Gordon pauses and looks down the hallway and sees the chair from the opening shot of the film. “Hello, Gordon” some strange voice says as Gordon stays transfixed on the chair. Phil snaps him out of this reverie.

 

The camera movement and the use of light and shadow really infuse Session 9 with the sort of creepiness that really disturbs someone watching the movie. I believe of all the types of emotions and scares a horror film can achieve, to create a truly affecting foreboding that literally gets under ones skin is very difficult tone to achieve and sustain. Brad Anderson and his team elicit this feeling to an amazing extent in the film.

 

“Reclaiming the dark past to build a brighter future.” Bill says as the walk through winds down. As far as the job goes, it is difficult and a huge space. Gordon looks up the ceiling and points out that it contains crocidolite asbestos. Otherwise known as blue asbestos. It is considered the most hazardous type of asbestos. The job was severely undercut by the owner of Hazmat Elimination Company. Time is also limited; Bill wants the job done before Columbus Day, in order to get construction crews in. Phil says it’ll take three weeks to get done. Gordon says two weeks, much to Phil’s chagrin.

 

Just before stepping back outside, Phil stops and asks Bill, “Hey, what’s this?” Phil enters a room, which is covered in dozens, and dozens of illustrations cut out from magazines and books. “Seclusion, that’s what they called the patients rooms back then. A part of some therapy that was big in the seventies. Art therapy.” Gordon is once again transfixed. Outside Gordon tells Bill they’ll get the job done in one week.

 

Gordon sits outside his house and watches his wife with their new baby. A palpable sense of dread is felt.

 

The crew begins to work. Another member of the crew is introduced, Hank (Josh Lucas) Turns out Hank is dating Phil’s ex-girlfriend Amy. The other guys on the crew are, Mike (Stephen Gevedon) and Gordon’s cousin Jeff (Brendan Sexton III). The crew has lunch and Mike relates the horrific tale of Patricia Willard. Is it real or urban legend?  They get back to work.

 

The screams of the patients are in the flakes of paint falling off of the walls.

 

Everyone leaves, except for Mike. He has found an old reel-to-reel tape recorder. He sits in a dilapidated office and hits play. Voices from the past come alive. “I know this is difficult Mary and that’s why we are here to help.” Mary’s distraught and anguished voice fills the room. These are the recorded sessions of which Session 9 takes it’s title from. To say more would be to say far too much.

 

The crew is falling apart. Is it the extreme workload in a short amount of time, the personal relationships, the home life stress, the asbestos or is it the sinister past of the very building and horrors that unfolded within affecting the crew? It could very well be, all of it.

 

The film works for a lot of reasons, in large part because this five-man crew really feels as though they are indeed a crew of asbestos removal guys in Massachusetts. I find this story of an asbestos team working on the building even more remarkable, now that the actual building has become high-end apartments. The doctor (Lonnie Farmer) and Mary aka Princess, Billy and Simon (Jurian Hughes) really have to be mentioned. The audience only hears their voices through the recorded sessions; together they are really the foundation of the mystery and unsettling tone of the film. 

 

I believe that the very place of Danvers State Hospital seeps into the film. The score by Golden Climax Twins (The Mangler, The Chained) is haunting. Ultimately, the horror of the film is not built off of cheap scares but a slow I hesitate to use the word slow. Meticulous is a far better world. Session 9 is a meticulous buildup towards the haunting tale of Mary as well as the five guys working in her lingering presence. Session 9 is twenty years old. Revisiting the film today I can say, it still holds up as an unsettling, scary movie.

MR. PUZZLES: The First Horror Movie Written Entirely By Bots

 

Netflix Is A Joke worked with Keaton Patti to make a bot watch over 400,000 hours of horror movies and then write its own horror movie. This is what it came up with. This is destined to be a perennial horror classic. Here is the film:

TIFF 2021 SALOUM Clip #1 “Malembe”

 Hey check out this first clip the filmmakers of Saloum have just released prior to the film premiering at Midnight Madness at the Toronto International Film Festival.

SALOUM Clip #1 - "Malembe" from LACME STUDIOS on Vimeo.

SHINOBI NO MONO (1962) ONE OF THE GREAT NINJA FILMS

 

 

SHINOBI NO MONO (1962)

Directed by Satsuo YAMAMOTO

Starring Raizo ICHIKAWA

Before Sho Kosugi, before Michael Dudikoff donned Ninja hoods there was Raizo Ichikawa who was also known as the "Japanese James Dean". Raizo would act in over one hundred and fifty movies all for the Daiei motion picture company. In fact two years after Raizo's death in 1969 the Daiei studio would go bankrupt. Of all of his films it was the Shinobi series which would propel Raizo into super stardom.

Shinobi no Mono is set in the first year of the Tensho period (1573). The Tensho period would be marked by the the daimyo Oda Nobunaga the ruthless warlord whose burning ambition was to conquer all of Japan. Nobunaga was opposed by a coalition of other daiymo and Buddhist sects. It was in particular the Buddhist people that Oda was particularly fond of displaying his penchant for destruction. In 1571 (two years before Shinobi is set) Nobunaga destroyed a Tendai monastery and massacred all of the occupants of this holy ground. Historical context is needed to fully appreciate this film as it is very much rooted in history.

We begin the film by meeting Goemon (Raizo Ichikawa) a mid ranking ninja of the Momochi clan. He is a young man with endless ambition who one day wishes to assume the head of the clan. He and the other ninja are summoned to a meeting led by Momochi (Yunosuke Ito). During this meeting we learn the origins of ninja. The art of Ninjutsu was created by En-no-ozunu during the reign of Emperor Tenchi. Ninjutsu was then spread to various monks to extend and protect Buddhism. The very religion that Nobunaga is so bent on destroying. The Momochi clan has vowed to work for daimyo opposed to Nobunaga as mercenaries.

Along side this political context lies personal dynamics. Ninjas for all their special abilities are after all only human and it seems personal rivalries are amongst one of the many problems of a ninja clan. Goemon and fellow ninja Yohachi vie for top spot in the Momochi clan. The Momochi ninja clan and the Nagata ninja clan are rivals. Kizaru (Goemon's counterpart in the Nagata clan) vie against other ninjas for the honor of top ninja.  Goemon gives into his carnal needs and begins to have an affair with Momochi's wife Ino-ne who is very much neglected by Momochi. If this sounds very much like a soap opera it is because it is and takes up the first act of Shinobi.

A scene that really shines for me is when Ino-ne is fraught with paranoia that Momochi is watching her and Goemon. It is here we see the power of the ninja. Using deception, secrecy and stealth the ninja can confuse and get into the mind of an opponent. To give away anymore of the plot would be to ruin the film.

I must confess I have always been intrigued by Ninjas since I was a small boy so I will always have a soft spot for films featuring Ninjas. I recommend Shinobi no Mono to aficionados of ninjas but more importantly to Japanese cinephiles. Shinobi no Mono is a film very much steeped in Japanese history. The "action" scenes of the ninjas are very much a standout for me. We see the ninja use all the skills of their trade, shurikens, smoke, dexterity etc etc. One final note the cinematography of Takemura Yasukazu is absolutely exquisite.

A DECADE OF INTERVIEWS 2010 - 2019: Soldier Of Cinema Robert Aaron Mitchell

As the decade draws to a close I thought it would be cool to look back at a decade of interviews I have conducted. This is no small undertaking I have been fortunate to interview a lot of people over the past ten years. What follows is one interview for each year. This is not be exclusionary, I am thankful for every person I have met under the strange circumstances of meeting them for a few seconds and then asking questions as a video camera records. What follows are only from video interviews not the numerous email and phone interviews from the now soon to be past decade.

2010 STAKE LAND TIFF World Premiere

At the 2010 Midnight Madness program I spoke with Director Jim Mickle who has gone on to make several more feature films as well as Hap & Leonard featuring the beloved characters of Joe R. Lansdale, actor and writer Nick Damici and as well as genre legend Larry Fessenden who in the past decade has continued to produce and direct provocative genre films as well as co-produce and contribute to Tales Beyond The Pale a horror podcast in the spirit of 1930s radio dramas. Larry has also written horror video games Until Dawn and Man Of Medan. These interviews would wind up on the DVD and Blu-ray release of the movie.


2011 OFF! NXNE Music Festival
I was working with my good friend Ryan O'Shaughnessy and his Tune In TO website. I interviewed Keith Morris, Dimitri Coats, Steven Shane McDonald and Mario Rubalcaba the members of the punk group OFF! this was a huge thrill for me because Keith Morris was the first singer of Black Flag. I have always enjoyed running around doing interviews at music festivals, a completly different vibe than my usual film festival beat.


2012 THE LORDS OF SALEM TIFF World Premiere Interviews with Rob Zombie, Sheri Moon Zombie and actor Jeff Daniel Phillips. Doing world premiere red carpet interviews are very short usually not substantive affairs. I try to infuse something unique in this quick snippets of conversation. My research lead me to the fact that Rob Zombie was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts which is not far from Salem. I brought this up as an ice breaker and our quick conversation lead to Stanley Kubrick. At the moment I felt we were vibing one another the moment was over. It was also cool that the film was well received at Midnight Madness and holds up. 2013 R100 TIFF World Premiere with Hitoshi Matsumoto This was an extremly fun interview. It is always great to meet filmmakers from all over the world and it was a huge thrill to meet Mr. Matsumoto especially in this setting where red carpets are a rarity in Japan most filmmakers only do formal press conferences. It was also awesome that I was able to make the great comedic legend laugh. 2014 TUSK World Premiere Interview with Kevin Smith There was a lot of things swirling around this night behind the scenes. Time was running out and it looked as though I was not going to speak with Kevin Smith. I did and said it was great that he was back to making movies and he gave me a huge bear hug which has since been written about in a dissertation and published in a book. 2015 SLUMS THE CITIES OF TOMORROW The In Light Human Rights Film Festival I was the videographer for a new film festival that was created in the anthropology department at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Later in 2015 I would interview Sir Patrick Stewart at the Green Room premiere but I went with this conversation with professor Nicolas Reeves because I really enjoyed our conversation and the documentary is becoming more and more relevant as the wealth divide increases. 2016 THE BAD BATCH TIFF Premiere with Jason Momoa This is one of my most talked about interviews I have done and happen before already star Jason Momoa was launched into superstardom. It also features another bear hug. Guess I am a huggable guy! 2017 BODIED TIFF World Premiere with Dizaster This was the opening film this year and was great to research and learn more about the underground hip-hop battle scene. I had no idea that Toronto had such a vibrant scene. The film was very provacative and in your face so was battle rapper Dizaster. It was also another interview that ended in a hug! 2018 THE WIND TIFF World Premiere It is great to go into a movie not knowing anything about it. From an interview and research stand point though it makes an interview quite difficult. I really enjoyed these interviews at THE WIND Premiere with director Emma Tammi, writer Teresa Sutherland and actors Caitlin Gerard, Julia Goldani Telles The flow and ease of the interviews went really well and I was happy to support this film. 2019 FIRST LOVE Interview with Takashi Miike This was another year that featured some very cool interviews. The long awaited return of Richard Stanley and the few minutes with elusive Nicolas Cage, third time really was the charm this year but I went with my interview with legendary filmmaker Takashi Miike. In my film collection I probably have more films by him than any other filmmaker, in large part to how prolific he is. This would mark the second time I have interviewed Mr. Miike this time it was great that I could sit down with him for a longer interview. Interviews with a translator can always be difficult but I feel this interview flowed well. Honorable Mention SADAKO VS KAYAKO 2016 The photo on this post is from this premiere and one of my favorite photos my good friend Ian Goring has taken of me over the years. This was a really fun premiere and threw out the normal interview process out the window.

[REVIEW] CULT FILMMAKERS: 50 Movie Mavericks You Need To Know by Ian Haydn Smith

Ian Haydn Smith's new book Cult Filmmakers: 50 Movie Mavericks You Need To Know is a book well suited to the cinephile world of lists and discussions. Mr. Smith chronicles fifty filmmakers ranging form David Lynch to Ana Lily Amirpour to Abel Ferrara. I don't want to mention too many as part of the fun for me was turning the pages to see and read about the next filmmaker. The directors span over a hundred years of cinema.

"What makes a cult film, or characterizes its filmmaker as a cult figure?" Is the first line of Mr. Smith's introduction and the question is indeed the crux of the book. It is a pertinent question and the book shines as Mr. Smith gives us insights about his thought process to his answers. In this modern cinema era films are sometimes positioned and marketed as "cult" films. As the local movie theater is dominated more and more by giant blockbuster films by a handful of media companies it is also a nice reminder that in every decade filmmakers were and are operating outside of traditional systems. Directors throughout the decades are telling stories that are unique, weird, provocative, compelling, a reaction and a reflection of the generation they were created in and ultimately theirs.

Another aspect of Cult Filmmakers: 50 Movie Mavericks You Need To Know that is really outstanding and elevates the book are the beautiful illustrations by Kristelle Rodeia that accompany every filmmaker page. It's great to see what set piece or prop accompany the filmmaker.

As Ian Hayden Smith writes, "Rather than offering an authoritative guide through the rich history of cult filmmaking, this book aims to be another voice in the conversation about cult cinema." I surmise  this book will indeed begin and renew discussions and disagreements of what is a cult film and what makes one a cult filmmaker and will definitely stir passionate conversations of the filmmakers featured within and those not included. The book will also certainly bring delight as a reader looks back at well known directors, upcoming filmmakers and forgotten auteurs.

You can by Ian's book here. 

[REVIEW] QUENTIN TARANTINO The Iconic Filmmaker And His Work by Ian Nathan

As the old adage goes, "One should not judge a book by it's cover" that went out the window when Ian Nathan's book on Quentin Tarantino arrived at my office. The book takes it's color scheme and font from Tarantino's Kill Bill complete with the image of Japanese steel from Okinawa. As if that wasn't stylish and striking enough the book also has a slip case. These stylistic choices are fitting for a book about one of the most stylistic directors to call out "action!" working today.

"I didn't go to film school, I went to films." - Quentin Tarantino

Anyone who has ever watched an interview with Tarantino can attest to, he talks in rapid fire encyclopedic cinema references with a lot of ego and is extremely quotable. Nathan's book excels at peppering the book with quotes. The above quote is the first sentences you read in the book and are located in the contents page. There are ten quotes in the contents page for the ten sections of the book and this cannot be a happenstance structure as it has long been mythologized that Quentin will craft ten films and retire from film making.

Speaking of mythology the first section in the book entitled Video Archives gets into the talking points about the Tarantino's beginnings. Nathan asks "Why is Quentin Quentin?" he then takes us on the journey from Tarantino's earliest years in Knoxville, Tennessee and the talk of his grandfather being a bootlegger to his growing up in the neighborhood of Torrance south of Los Angeles. As well as Tarantino's first jobs at the Pussycat Theater to Video Archives. The first chapter also details some of Tarantino's many cinematic and television influences.

Another standout chapter begins with another quote "I think of them as like old girlfriends..." and chronicles Natural Born Killers, True Romance, From Dusk Till Dawn. The trio of films that were written by Quentin. This trifecta of screenplays were originally written to be his first feature length effort film (My Best Friend's Birthday not withstanding and subsequently buried in the mythology surrounding Tarantino) Killers, Romance and Dusk help to cement Tarantino's place in early 1990s film and pop culture.

Ian Nathan's book is a glossy sprint through the films and influences of Quentin Tarantino. Film being a visual language Nathan and Tarantino's words are complimented with a beautiful collection of photographs from the Kobal archives throughout the book. Myself being married to an academic something else I very much appreciated is the fact that the many Tarantino quotes are backed by four pages of sources.

With Once Upon A Time In Hollywood arriving on home video as I write this Ian Nathan's book on Quentin Tarantino is a great look back for those of us who have fond memories of discovering Reservoir Dogs on VHS and have been anticipating new Tarantino films ever since. Quentin Tarantino The Iconic Filmmaker And His Work is also a great companion piece for film lovers who have discovered the films of Tarantino in the subsequent years.

You can buy Ian Nathan's book here.  

Robert Aaron Mitchell Interviewed by Michael O'Keefe on Mystic & Severe CKCU 93 FM

Robert Aaron Mitchell interviews Anne Winters at the Mom & Dad world premiere Sept 2017 I was recently interviewed by Michael O'Keefe on his Mystic & Severe cinema radio program on CKCU 93 FM. We talked about my ten years of coverage from the Midnight Madness red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival. Some of my earliest horror movie memories.As well as my preparation for conducting interviews and some of my favorite Toronto International Film moments. 

COLOR OUT OF SPACE: Premiere Interviews Richard Stanley, Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson

                                 Richard Stanley speaks with Robert Aaron Mitchell

One of the most anticipated films of the 2019 Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival was Color Out Of Space, the H.P. Lovecraft adaptation by Richard Stanley who also made his return to the program - Hardware premiered in Toronto in 1990.  Here are my world premiere interviews with Mr. Stanley, Nic Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Brendan Meyer and Elliot Knight.

NEKROTRONIC: World Premiere Interviews with Monica Bellucci, Caroline Ford, Tess Haubrich, Kiah Roache-Turner

                   Caroline Ford speaks with Robert Mitchell at the premiere of Nekrotronic

We all know that the longer one surfs the net the waves can take you into dark places. In Nekrotronic - the Roache-Turner brothers next film following their feature length debut Wyrmwood - Howard North discovers that there are literally demons in the the internet. A fight to save himself and the world ensues. The film defies genre classification. The Nerdist says this, "(Nekrotronic is) like if Tarantino's been watching Edgar Wright and Wachowski films and than made Ghostbusters."

Robert Mitchell was the world premiere at Midnight Madness at the Toronto International Film Festival and spoke with the lead actors and writers and director. Here are those interviews as well as the world premiere introduction and post-screening Q&A:

THE DISASTER ARTIST: James Franco, Ari Graynor, Paul Scheer, Scott Neusatader, Michael H. Weber World Premiere Interviews

      James Franco speaks with Robert Mitchell at The Disaster Artist World Premiere

The Disaster Artist was one of the most anticipated films premiering at the 2017 edition of The Toronto International Film Festival. The movie lived up and exceeded expectations. Robert Mitchell was on the red carpet and spoke with James Franco, Ari Graynor, Paul Scheer, screenwriters Scott Neustader, Michael H. Weber and Composer Dave Potter.

Robert A. Mitchell on IMDb

I'm excited to say that I now have a page on IMDb. Click HERE for the page.