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Film Friday: No End In Sight For Rep Cinema
The Revue cinema is due to reopen its doors on October 4th, and if you’ve been waiting for the chance to buy tickets for the opening night, they’re now on sale at She Said Boom (393 Roncesvalles Avenue) at $20 for the film and the after-party or $10 for just the party at the Lithuanian Hall (1573 Bloor Street West). The opening night film is secret, but it was selected by an online poll, so it’s one of the films on this page, probably!
The Fox Theatre (2236 Queen Street East) reopens on October 1, too, and this weekend it’s open for free, showing classic Warner Brothers cartoons, offering free popcorn and an opportunity to see the renovated theatre and meet the staff.
Anyway—this week’s new releases. Yet again, most of this week’s films premiered at TIFF and this week’s picks include Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, called “an enveloping, transporting masterpiece” by contributor Danu Mandlsohn in his review; Shake Hands with the Devil, “a powerful rumination on the atrocities of war and its effect on the human spirit,” according to contributor Jayson Young; The Jane Austen Book Club, merely “an entertaining diversion,” according to contributor Christopher Bird and Silk, which no one reviewed.
Perhaps that’s for the best, as it didn’t get very much praise elsewhere. Metro’s Norman Wilner calls it a “stultifying, mind-numbing bore.”
Hot Docs is trying to muscle in on this week’s TIFF splurge with the first screening of the new Doc Soup season No End in Sight. Winner of the special jury prize at Sundance this year, No End in Sight is a critical look at the Iraq invasion and the aftermath and is showing at the Wednesday, October 3, at the Bloor Cinema at 6:30 and 9:15 p.m.
Speaking of Iraq, now serves a good time to mention that HeavyMetalinBaghdad.com is open for donations to help Iraqi metal band Acrassicauda to escape from Syria before they’re deported. They’re trying to raise $20,000, and frankly, we think the band are worth every penny. See our review of the film and our interview with the co-director Suroosh Alvi.
Also on release this week: The Kingdom, Feast of Love, Puffball (from Nick Roeg!) and The Game Plan. The first post-TIFF festival, Commffest, also began last night and runs through the weekend. Check the website for details.