Nightmare Revew – Rue Morgue Cinemacabre at the Toronto Underground Cinema (Kirk Haviland)

Nightmare – aka Nightmare in a Damaged Brain (1981)

Starring Baird Stafford, Sharon Smith and C.J. Cooke

Written and Directed by Romano Scavolini

Toronto Underground Cinema

Rue Morgue Magazine

UPDATE: Rue Morgue has announced that May’s Cinemacabre will be the amazing The Loved Ones on May 17th at the Underground. If you have not seen this movie, you owe it to yourself to go. I will be there, wearing a drill proof hat for protection!

Hello All,

I’ve been meaning to write about the great series of films presented each month by Rue Morgue Magazine at the theatrical gem of Chinatown that is the Underground for quite sometime now. Nightmare from 1981 finally gives me the perfect opportunity.

As I walk in the theatre, I find Alex and Nigel, two of the owners of the Underground, at the box office warmly greeting me to the evening’s festivities as they usually do. I proceed down the stairs, yes the Underground is actually UNDERGROUND, to be greeted by Rue Morgue editor Dave Alexander and ticket taker, and friend, Harvey Lalonde. As usual the Rue Morgue table is buzzin with people checking out the wares available for purchase. I proceed to the concession stand where owner number three, Charlie, is behind the counter with Brendan, part-time popcorn schiller for the Underground. Hanging out with the boys is Rudy, actor and another former Blockbuster refugee, and as usual a more casual vibe exudes from the theater as conversation fills the air before the show. I take my treats to my seat and prepare for the film. Dave hops on the mic and provides his intro for the film and preps the crowds with some trivia and prizes. Unfortunately, the usual classic trailers reel was missing in action this time around, so we went directly to the feature.

Nightmare is a classic of the slasher genre that gained its reputation as one of the most notorious of the “video nasties” in the UK, a list of films that were banned for decades due to their graphic context. In fact the producer of Nightmare was sentenced to 18 months in prison for refusing to make cuts to the film.  The film is the story of the George Tatum (Baird), a man who is constantly hounded with the nightmare of a child wielding an ax against a woman involved with sexual intercourse with his father. This bloody visage has tormented George for years to where he is institutionalized and constantly medicated to keep him docile. Under constant psychiatric supervision, George appears, over time ,to have become more adjusted and possibly able to rejoin society. After a evening stroll through the seedy streets of New York in the 80’s and a particularly funny sequence in a peep show, George decides to hop in a car and drive. Along the way the deranged George carves a bloody path from New York to his ultimate destination in Florida. We are introduced along the way to the Temper family, Susan (Smith) and boyfriend Bob who spend many an afternoon tryst on Bob’s boat. C.J. (Cooke) the precocious pre-teen who, ever the prankster, is the proverbial “Boy who cried wolf”, and his two sisters, Tammy and Kim, who usually bear the brunt of his pranks. Susan is having issues with the macabre nature of C.J.’s pranks and feels constantly overrun by his antics. Bob tries to intervene and help as he can, but when a incident occurs with a friend, C.J.’s doubt prevails. And that is just the start of the problems for the Tempers.

Unfortunately Nightmare doesn’t hold up as well as I would have hoped it to. Baird’s performance is over 60% random screaming, which actually starts to become grating. Smith’s performance as the mother is very bland and downright wooden at times. Cooke as C.J. is what manages to keep the film together, he puts in some solid work here, even if his character lacked originality. Then again back in 1982 perhaps C. J.’s character was more of an original concept. The effects work is decent enough for the time, Tom Savini famously denies working on the film, and I can clearly tell he did not. His level of make-up mastery could have elevated some of the rougher spots.

After the screening the discussions continued , until it eventually moved to the pub for the remainder of the evening; another successful Rue Morgue night in the books. Rue Morgue has yet to announce their next Cinemacabre showing, but keep an eye on www.Rue-Morgue.com to see when the announcement is made. Dave promises it to be ghoulish fun.

Overall I highly recommend checking out a Cinemacabre, if not at least paying the boys at the Underground a visit. I guarantee you be in good hands.

Til Next Time

Movie Junkie TO

follow me on twitter @moviejunkieto

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HOT DOCS 2012 (Toronto) – Petra’s Poem\The Frog Princes (double-bill) Reviews (Paolo Kagaoan)

HOT DOCS 2012 (Toronto)

Petra’s Poem

Directed by Shira Avni

The Frog Princes

Directed by Omar Majeed and Ryan Mullins

Tickets are still available for May 5, 2012 9:45pm: CLICK HERE

Tuesday started with a screening of the 4-minute movie Petra’s Poem, which I’m not sure can be classified as a documentary. It’s a well choreographed piece where a Petra Tolley recites her poem about having Down Syndrome and living in our society. Her words have this Kahlo-esque simplicity, but what captures me is on the screen. She’s surrounded by people like her, occasionally depicted through animation and captions that she drew herself, which reminds me that I can’t draw. The short movie’s second half is when she gives the audience her penetrating gaze, making me forget how she was born.

This is the part in my review where I should be extra careful with my words, especially while writing about people who are differently abled and comparing them to people with normal mental capacities, whatever that means. Because as with Petra it’s not as easy to see whether this or that performer of the acting troupe featured in Frog Princes are differently abled or not, which, non spoiler, they all are. There’s actually this scene when we hear the drawls within the singing voices of some of the troupe’s members performing for a pre-opening fundraiser, sounding like other great musicians would. That’s the mission statement of one of the doc’s subjects, Dr. Stephen Snow, an avuncular man with a baritone and always wearing a sartorial nightmare of a Hawaiian T-shirt. But unlike most of us, he’s helped others, founding the acting troupe to rehabilitate adults who are differently abled through their artistic abilities. His method is that of collaboration, work-shopping these adults into fashioning their own rendition of the musical The Frog and the Princess.

As expected of a movie about people of different abilities in our politically correct climate, the movie starts out as a cherubic sun fest. But the movie’s turning point comes when Stephen gets a bit stern with these kids. The deadline of their opening performance means that he’s pushing them to perfection, and it’s not necessarily the best thing for the troupe’s self esteems. We hear one of them say ‘I’m a failure,’ which is grating to hear yet makes me react and want to tell them that they’re not and they’re just having a bad minute or hour. But the actors also use Stephen’s collaboration ethos for equally forceful leverage. One actor or one of the teaching assistants asks him if he’s ok, her own subtle way of putting him in his place. Another actor, Tanya Guidon, who’s aware of her own past victimizations, becomes the troupe’s rebel, gradually shifting from tearfully fearing the script in front of her to lashing out as a cursing machine.

Although, at the risk of repeating myself, a documentary about a large enough of a population will always make me want a longer, more comprehensive group portrait of these subjects. I wanted to know about the other actors who had the great voices. Who are those two post-punk kids and what’s their motivation to help? I know their answers might be mundane but deeply I still feel like I need a confirmation of what I already know. And I do have this feeling that Tanya and another actor, Ray-Man (named after Man Ray and not who you think it is) are chosen as the focus subjects for maximum dramatic effect. As much as we feel for those people who have family and romantic issues like Tanya and Ray-Man (separately), I also just want to watch slightly boring people who are really good at what they do.

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HOT DOCS 2012 – Glow: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (Paolo Kagaoan casts a fictional version of Glow)

Hot Docs 2012 (Toronto)

Paolo here. Kirk and I keep seeing the same movies, which is going to be a problem unless we do doubleheaders all the time during the festival.

The first movie we saw together is Glow: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, about an all-female wrestling league of the same name that ran in between 1986-1990 and had short-lived revivals afterwards. Kirk’s review is also on the site and out respect for him I’ll forfeit mine. Although I’ll say that the movie has too conventional of a structure and its ‘feminist’ self-projections are kind of wonky for me, but I smiled and laughed more at this movie than any of the ones I’ve seen this year. And more importantly, it’s one of the few docs that can be source material for a feature film.

This idea came to me when the doc put its focus on Mt. Fiji and I kept thinking about Gabourey Sidibe, not just because of the size issue. Mt. Fiji as a character would be interesting to play, having the jovial, lovable quality despite of her toughness in the ring. She’s also had her share of health troubles after GLOW’s short run, which can make for some captivating drama.

What about the rest of the roles? Yes, GLOW fans, those wrestlers are irreplaceable. Many of the GLOW girls were healthy, Carrie Otis/Tia Carrere types with a Joan Jett/Jem doll kind of attitude. Exoticism and diverse body types are missing in the actress pool today. But here are some suggestions.

For the good girls:

Tina Ferrari (Her real name, never revealed on the doc, is Lisa Moretti . She also became WWE Champion ‘Ivory’. She apparently was the focus of GLOW’s second season) – Lyndsy Fonseca. She’s known more as Bob Saget’s daughter in How I Met Your Mother but she was also in Hot Tub Time Machine, where she fearlessly climbed on John Cusack and then stabbed him with a fork. For training, that’s not bad.

Americana – Alison Brie. She shares the spotlight with the ensemble cast in Mad Men. This season her character Trudy is becoming more comfortable as a suburban housewife. She already gives hints of what she might become when she gets older. This will be helpful in any project with plots involving long time spans, if the movie chooses to show both the 80’s and the GLOW girls on present day.

Babe the Farmer’s Daughter – Hayden Panettiere. The actress has to be rewarded by being the best part of the hot mess known as Scream 4, and that reward should mean more work.

For the bad girls, whose personalities often had to do with fictionalized countries of origin:

Godiva (She actually made an appearance after our screening and still looks like the way she was in the 80’s) – Jennifer Lawrence. She proved that she can do a fake British accent in The Hunger Games, which is important because Godiva wasn’t really British. Besides, the other thing she proved in The Hunger Games was kicking ass.

Matilda the Hun (Who was often matched against Mt. Fiji) – Samantha Morton. Morton often plays vulnerable types but she showed her bad side in that scene in The Messenger where she tries to scare off men who were trying to recruit her son into the military. It might not be a bad idea to see another side of this actress.

Colonel Ninotchka (A bad girl who sometimes turns good) – Oksana Akinshina. Most of the accents in GLOW were fake (I was also thinking about blonde Emma Stone when I saw her) but what about casting a real Russian for a Russian role? You might know her in the Bourne series but her presence in Hipsters is impeachable and she can no longer be Russia’s cinematic secret.

Hollywood and Vine – Christa B. Allen and Emily Vancamp. Allen played young Jennifer Garner twice. The  first time she did it was in 13 Going on 30 as a young girl in 1987, in her short scenes embodying what it’s like to be young in the 80’s. And I included her Revenge co-star Vancamp because I’m boring.

Heavy Metal Sisters/ Chainsaw and Spike – Kristen Stewart and Alison Brie. Both have been punks and rebels before, Stewart playing Joan Jett and Brie as Woody Harrelson’s troubled yet wise daughter in the underrated Rampart. And yes, guys, when she gives a crap, Kristen Stewart can act, okay?

Little Egypt – Nasim Pedrad. She finds different ways to play a whack job every week in Saturday Night Live, so why can’t Kristen Wiig’s heir apparent jump start her career with a movie like this?

Dementia – Mae Whitman. Tough girl cred: The fourth evil ex in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Palestina – Alia Shawkat. Tough girl cred: Playing bassist in The Runaways.

And for the characters ‘behind the scenes:’

GLOW co-founder Jackie Stallone (yes, Sly Stallone’s mother owned a wrestling league) – Barbara Hershey. She was intimidating enough as Natalie Portman’s mother in Black Swan but what about being a coach to more young women?

Mondo Guerrero, brother of Eddie and part of the Guerrero family of wrestlers. He trained the girls the proper wrestling moves and taught them how to evince pain. – Edgar Ramirez.

Tony Cimber, son of Jayne Mansfield, brother of Mariska Hargitay, director of the GLOW episodes who Mt. Fiji had a crush on – Emile Hirsch. Where has this guy been?

GLOW co-founder and President David MacLane – Vincent Kartheiser. That smarmy smile of his can only be described as perfect.

Seriously, think about a cast of 18-35 actresses, both known and unknown, beating each other up and occasionally performing politically incorrect sketches and rapping. It’s the worst idea ever but it’s also going to be awesome.

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HOT DOCS 2012 – Buzkashi! Review (Paolo Kagaoan)

Hot Docs 2012 (Toronto)

Buzkashi!

Directed by Najeeb Mirza

Tickets are still available for May 6, 9:00pm: CLICK HERE

Horses like ants rush down a Tajik mountain, parched like desert, while a horse and its rider peacefully stand on a dark boundary line slashing the steep slope. That’s the best I can do in describing Buzkashi’s opening shot, defying dimension, making my ask how the movie got this image and why no one famous has ever painted this. But the cameras’ clarity does it justice, and we can thank Najeeb Mirza who directed and shot the movie.

There are other beautiful shots of the titular buzkashi matches, with horses grinding each other’s heads which succinctly encapsulates Cormac McCarthy’s prose. It also shows Azam, a stocky veteran of a bozkashi champion and his extended family living a pastoral existence, playing around with the younger members of their flock of sheep and goats. There’s also like those involving the country’s colourful cuisine, either prepared by Azam’s two wives or by vendors during Nawroz or New Year festivities, all of these capturing fragments of a culture still rooted in the land.

Eventually I did become suspicious of how the movie was going to go after we’re done with the scenery. Intertitles in the movie’s first few minutes explain buzkashi as a way for Central Asian shepherds centuries ago to man up and protect their goats, evolving into a sport that carries a carcass of a headless goat to an arbitrary goal line. I say ‘Central Asian’ because when Azam and the other champions/prospective players discuss the game, they mention Afghanistan and Uzbekistan with their home in Tajikistan, hinting on the tradition shared by the region.

A movie about buzkashi can potentially cover a range of topics that the sport inevitably touches on. It doesn’t even explain how the game really works! But for better or for worse, it chooses to focus on Azam, figuring out his place in the sport, belonging to a triumvirate of champions, all introduced in the movie’s first half. Khurshed is rich and is trying to modernize the sport by introducing teams that inadvertently intimidate the other men playing as individuals. One of those horsemen is young Askar, whose budding talent might be squashed by Kurshed’s influence. We’re watching the three making pronouncements about the game, that winning buzkashi’s prizes – including food, animals and household appliances – is not because of material wealth but  for honour.

My assessment of them does seem reductive, since these men are deeply linked not just to each other, whom they meet once a season, but to their unconventional family structures. Azam has two wives and his firstborn son is more interested in books than with farm animals. Kurshed, an unmarried urbanite living in an estate in Tajikistan’s capital of Dushanbe pratices and works out with his teammates who he practically pays to be around with. Askar is the closest this movie has to a crying talking head, recounting his past and present financial troubles. Through the movie’s less than perfect storytelling and more competent camera work, it shows these men as solitary beings in a country that’s changing in a more surprising direction than we expect.

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