By Mathew Kumar

Dr. Steve Brule. Now, that name either fills you with joy, and probably running straight to YouTube, or it rings absolutely no bells at all. We mention him—John C. Reilly’s character from Tim & Eric Awesome Show Good Job!—because he’s pretty much the reason we rate Reilly so highly. Initially he was lumped in with the list of “people who have been in Paul Thomas Anderson films that we are ambivalent about,” but Dr. Steve Brule is such work of comedic genius, he’s on the list of “good guys” now.
So for that reason we sort of want to see Step Brothers. We considered Talladega Nights a bit dull compared to Anchorman!, admittedly, but advance word on Step Brothers is good enough we’re willing to give it a chance. NOW‘s Norm Wilner exclaims, “damn if it doesn’t work from beginning to end, thanks to the stars’ near-psychotic commitment to their characters.”
Someone not on our list of good guys is Roman Polanski. Well done on Rosemary’s Baby, for example, but we can never forgive him his worst crime—being in Rush Hour 3.
Sorry, that was in poor taste. If you’re interested in the story of his actual crime, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired plays the Royal this week, and it covers the events surrounding his conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. The review from Jason Anderson over at Eye thankfully notes it “isn’t out to exonerate Polanski” but does reveal “the startling and bizarre circumstances around the case.” Which sounds interesting indeed.
Not so interesting is The X-Files: I Want to Believe, apparently. Though fans of the series have (we imagine) been hotly anticipating it, we were never that into the series to begin with (we tried—when Scully went into a coma or something, we gave up). “You’ll want to believe the plot was better,” quips the Globe and Mail‘s Liam Lacey.
Also out this week: Brideshead Revisited, Just Buried, and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer. But the most exciting news this week is the reveal of this year’s Midnight Madness films for TIFF. If like us you’ve been (mostly) nonplussed by TIFF’s announced films so far, the Midnight Madness schedule should be more than enough to lift your spirits—this year’s selection includes The Burrowers (from JT Petty, director of the superb S&Man) and opens with JCVD, a Jean-Claude Van Damme film (really). If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, there’s also Detroit Metal City, a new Japanese film featuring Gene Simmons.