Historicist: "The city that nobody loves"
Elsewhere in the Ist-a-Verse
Going to see all three films in Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher Trilogy, one after another in one night, is one of this Torontoist’s most treasured cinema memories, and although we did it at 2005’s Toronto International Film Festival, anyone who missed that chance can now do it at the Brunswick Theatre (296 Brunswick Avenue) tonight and tomorrow night starting 7 p.m. It’s $10 for one film or $15 for the lot, so obviously you should see all three.
Why? Because they’re amazing. Pusher, starring Kim Bodnia as small time drug dealer Frankie, progresses with a pounding intensity, and Pusher II: With Blood On My Hands features Mads Mikkelsen (recognizable from Casino Royale) as Frankie’s disgraced sidekick Tonny, in perhaps the role of his life. Pusher III: I’m The Angel Of Death might seem like a step backwards, arguably to be really more of a (very) black comedy than anything, but trust us; every single one is worth the price of admission. Go and see them!
They might be our absolute top tip of the week, but it was in the face of some incredibly strong opposition. Cinematheque Ontario (Jackman Hall, 317 Dundas West) has an amazing double bill tonight with Angels With Dirty Faces (6:30 p.m.) followed by Ken Loach’s Poor Cow at 8:45 p.m, and the Cinefranco Film Festival (given good overviews in both Now and Eye), has its opening gala on Friday night, with Le Génie Du Crime at 6:30 p.m. at the Royal Cinema (608 College) and the Canadian Filmmaker’s Festival continues, including the science fiction comedy Run Robot Run!, called “endlessly amusing” by Now’s Glenn Sumi, at 8:00 p.m.
Unarguably, Toronto film lovers are spoiled this week. It’s absurd! You can’t walk a foot without tripping over a cinema showing something noteworthy on Friday night! If you’re a total cheapskate or love Colin Farrell, for example, you could even go and see The New World (showing thanks to the CINSSU) at the Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex) at 8 p.m.
So let’s just say your Friday night is full, even though we’ve already missed loads of other things, but you might want to see something else later in the week.
What could you see? Well, it shocks me to say this: if you’re a video gamer, and you can stomach what is obviously a very average “serious” Adam Sandler vehicle, you might want to see Reign Over Me. Why? Well, it features Shadows of the Colossus (an artistic and utterly wonderful PS2 game) in a small role as the game that Sandler plays while trying to forget his family died in 9/11 (I suppose Katamari Damacy wouldn’t be a good idea). None of the reviews have mentioned this, and it’s probably because it’s not (really) that important, but it’s interesting!
If that doesn’t float your pop-culture boat, there’s always the return of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in TMNT. Sadly, no Vanilla Ice in this one, and even worse…no Shredder! No Krang! Utterly pointless. “The exceptionally slick and striking action sequences will impress your inner 12-year-old”, says Eye’s Jason Anderson, but with the turtle boys cutting the evil Shredder slack, I find it hard to believe they’re the world's most fearsome fighting team, frankly.
Moving on, if you’re cool but crude (or perhaps a party dude?) you might prefer Air Guitar Nation, though it doesn’t have “enough material here to justify the movie's feature length” according to Anderson.
You could go and see Pride, The Last Mimzy, Sharkwater, or Amazing Grace, even, this week, but who are we kidding? You’re not going to want to watch any other films this week because you’re know that nothing will live up to the fantastic experience of seeing all three Pusher films back-to-back when you go tonight (or tomorrow night). Seriously!
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When I saw all 3 Pusher films back to back I came out of the cinema feeling like a Rock Star. I really did. $15 is a bargin.
It's so tempting, but the Pusher films are being projected from DVDs, right? If they were on 35mm, I'd probably already have my ticket, but I don't know if I can justify to myself $15 for video... And for each person I've heard call them insanely awesome, I've seen a review that says they's simply good.
But you think it's still worth it, huh... I'll have to think about it.
is it too late to get Pusher Trilogy added in to the torontoist march madness bracket???
cant wait to see this.
The kotaku article on Reign Over Me and Shadows of the Colossus was really interesting, I couldn't believe they put that much fore-thought into a film about a guy severely detached from the world, when it really DOES make sense that he's playing an MMO.
I saw the first film, PUSHER, but I did not manage to see it right through to the end. I did not buy it on DVD or go to see the film at a cinema, I watched it on FilmFour. I really liked Mads Mikkelsen's performance but I felt he was under-used in the film and I was upset when his character got beaten up in the bar. I was hoping to see much more of Tonny. I did not particularly care for Tonny's rather radical haircut either, but Mads performance was great.
He was still gorgeous despite the bad haircut and he acted well. He has such a cute face, strong-featured, very defined bone structure, piercing eyes and a rather sinister mouth. It all combines to give him the perfect looks for a film baddie, a sort of perverse sex appeal which intrigues me.
He was also excellent and on true baddie form as Le Chiffre in the James Bond film Casino Royale. I was upset to see his character get killed in that film too, but he had a far larger role in that movie which he filled with evil and menacing charisma as James Bond's arch adversary.
I really would like to live in Denmark or another scandinavian country, as I currently live in Britain and am not too fond of living in the UK. I would have to learn to speak Danish, however, and that prospect is a very daunting one. I wonder how difficult the language is to learn? Copenhagen sounds like a large and very cultural city with a strong, european feel to it. If Mads Mikkelsen lives there it has to be a decent place and it looked nice in the film PUSHER where the city of Copenhagen was used as a backdrop.