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I Am Curious (Bloor)
Photo by intrepidacious from the Torontoist Flickr pool.
Roughly a year ago, U of T’s Cinema Studies Student Union (CINSSU) presented a brilliant double bill (later repeated at the Bloor) of RoboCop and Starship Troopers, Paul Verhoeven’s satiric sci-fi actioners depicting a small-government dystopia and a large-government dystopia, respectively. A month later, CINSSU followed up by twinning Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin and Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures; in the former, two boys cope with an act of violence by resorting to sexuality and fantasy, while in the latter, two girls cope with sexuality and fantasy by resorting to an act of violence. This month, the Bloor Cinema, now partially being programmed by the same people, was going to offer a double bill to top those both: W. and Being There. Alas, although the theatre was able to track down a print of Being There, a dispute between two studios claiming the rights to the film means that the Bloor won’t be showing it in December. (In order to have a public presentation of a movie, rights have to be obtained from whomever owns them.)
Still, in the last several months the Bloor has entered a new era of relevance, epitomized by the election-night America Votes event (pictured above) and the ongoing Spacetime Star Theatre planetarium series. Combining the playfulness of the Fox, the community spirit of the Revue, the first-run enthusiasm of the Royal, the auteur-worship of the Cinematheque, and the aforementioned creativity of CINSSU, the Bloor is finally becoming the theatre we always hoped it could be. And the improvements extend beyond the programming: a new website just launched on Monday, along with a system that sends the day’s showtimes to your phone when you text “BLOOR” to 226262. (You can also get info for any day of the week or month by typing it in in the format “BLOOR tue” or “BLOOR Dec 17.”)
After the jump, we look at some of December’s highlights:
High and Low (1963): Part of the Bloor’s ongoing thumbing through the Janus catalogue of newly-struck prints of some of the best films ever made, among the few bets surer than an Akira Kurosawa movie is an Akira Kurosawa movie that stars Toshirô Mifune. Wednesday the 3rd through Saturday the 6th. Special prices (see at right).
Confessions of a Porn Addict (2008): The kids these days seem to like Spencer Rice. Funnier to us, though, is the fact that his character’s Porn Addicts Anonymous sponsor is played by Yuk Yuk’s founder Mark Breslin. Various combinations of Rice, Breslin, and director Duncan Christie will be doing Q&As after the first weekend’s screenings. Friday the 5th through Tuesday the 9th. Special prices.
The Toxic Avenger (1985) / Cannibal! The Musical (1996): Yes, The Toxic Avenger is probably good, this is the director’s cut, and Lloyd Kaufman will be there. But the more giddiness-inducing half of this Troma double bill is Cannibal! The Musical, which is Trey Parker’s best movie, after South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. While not quite the against-all-odds miracle that SP:BLU is, Parker’s $125 000 student film is similarly successful as both a rousing send-up of musicals and a stirring, even beautiful, musical in its own right. Just as weird as the fact that it’s based on a true story, is the fact that experimental-film legend Stan Brakhage plays the father of the Dian Bachar character. Saturday the 6th. $10 each or $17 for both.
Let the Right One In (2008): The stereotypical forlornness and existential angst of Swedish cinema and the ruefulness and half-heartedly repressed sexuality of the best vampire stories seem like such a natural fit for each other, it’s rather astonishing that no one has so successfully combined them until now. But that description implies a certain simmering sterility; while the movie does contain shots of people staring off into snow, there’s also a flickering warmth at the centre that puts it closer to A Swedish Love Story than Songs from the Second Floor. Sort of like Audition, Fat Girl, and most of all May, it’s a bittersweet, heartfelt horror movie to watch with someone you love. Friday the 12th, Saturday the 13th, and Monday the 15th. Regular prices.
Ashes of Time Redux (1994/2008) / Fallen Angels (1995): Some people really, really like In the Mood for Love. We prefer Wong Kar-wai’s earlier stuff, before he got lost inside his own head; Ashes of Time and Fallen Angels were his followups to Chungking Express and could thus be marked as transitional works. Angels is a companion to Chungking, an extension of that movie’s universe, while AoTR is Kar-wai’s re-edit of his 1994 wuxia. Ashes Friday the 12th, Sunday the 14th, and Monday the 15th. Angels Monday the 22nd. Regular prices.
Home Alone (1990) / Die Hard (1988): Hearing John Williams’s Home Alone theme twice recently—on an episode of Family Guy and in the bathroom of the Yonge-Dundas AMC—made us want to see the movie again, to find out whether it’s actually any good (at the age of five, our critical capacity was limited); certainly the score is moving. Similarly, listening to Annie Lennox’s “Walking on Broken Glass” gets us excited for Die Hard. Wednesday the 17th. Regular prices.
Christmas Evil a.k.a. You Better Watch Out (1980): The program description of this Rue Morgue presentation notes that the movie is “Widely recognized as the best of the Christmas horror film efforts,” a statement which is funny on several levels. Also, of it John Waters apparently said, “I wish I had kids. I’d make them watch it every year and, if they didn’t like it, they’d be punished.” The director will be there and will be showing 35mm deleted scenes. Tuesday the 23rd. $10 for members, $13 for non-members.
JCVD (2008) / Timecop (1994): Along with Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler, JCVD was one of the best-received movies at this year’s TIFF. A part of the Being John Malkovich-spawned sub-genre of self-parodying meta-movies starring washed-up and/or typecast actors as themselves, Jean-Claude Van Damme apparently vindicates himself with a truly great monologue which everyone who’s seen the film seems compelled to mention. It’s also an excuse to play Timecop. Monday the 29th. Regular prices.
Price chart clipped from the massive PDF of the December schedule. Jonathan Goldsbie assisted the Bloor with the promotion of the Spacetime Star Theatre.