27th Vancouver International Film Festival Picks

The lineup for the Vancouver International Film Festival this year is the strongest it’s been in recent memory. There are some great films playing this year (to be fair there are also some really bad films playing this year as well). The problem is most of the great movies are going to be opening in theatres in a coming weeks. Sure you’ll enjoy movies like Bill Maher’s documentary Religulous or Jean-Claude Van Damme’s tragic comedy JCVD. However unless you value seeing a movie a few weeks before everyone else, you’re wasting your time with most of the Galas and Special Presentations. The key to film festivals is to search out movies that might not get a wide release as this could be your only chance to see them on the big screen, or at all. To make your job of selecting movies a bit easier, here are the trailers for some safe bets as well as show times and links to where you can buy tickets.

I should state I haven’t seen or heard about the large majority of the estimated 4000 films playing at VIFF this year. So I’ll add to this post as I see good ones. I should also state that I’m very bad at making estimates too.

Achilles and the Tortoise
Dir: Takashi Kitano
Country: Japan
A comedy about a young boy with dreams of becoming an artist that is directed by (and stars) Takaski ‘Beat’ Kitano. Come watch the master who made Zatoichi at work.
Sat Sept 27, 6:30PM at Granville 4
Tue Sept 30, 4:00PM at Granville 7
Mon Oct 6, 7:15PM at Granville 6

Filth and Wisdom
Dir: Madonna
Country: UK
What the hell? Madonna directs Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello. The VIFF guide proclaims that this film is proof that Madonna is a better director than Mike Leigh and Guy Ritchie.. As if! Still probably worth checking this one out.
Thu Oct 9, 9:00PM at Granville 4
Fri Oct 10, 11:30AM at Granville 3

God’s Puzzle
Dir: Takashi Miike
Country: Japan
A VIFF favourite returns. Takashi Miike has made a career out of cranking insane movies like Audition, Ichi the Killer, Gozu and Sukiyaki Western Django (out now) at an insane rate. This one is a sci fi and probably crazy as well. By the time you finished reading this, Miike just finished another movie.
Thu Sept 25, 10:00PM at Granville 7
Fri Sept 26, 2:30PM at Granville 3

Gomorrah
Dir: Matteo Garrone
Country: Italy
Italian Mob movie that really has people talking. Watch five storylines all weave together like a bowl of worms. You thought I was gonna say spaghetti, didn’t you? I would never do that. Based on a best selling novel that forced the author to go into hiding because of the secrets it revealed. What a wimp!
Tue Oct 7, 9:30PM at Granville 7
Wed Oct 8, 4:00PM at Granville 7

Hunger
Dir: Steve McQueen
Country: UK
Artstar Steve McQueen directs a movie about an IRA leader’s six week hunger strike. Depressssssing!
Mon Oct 6, 9:15PM at Granville 3
Tue Oct 7, 11:00AM at Granville 4

[Rec]
Dir: Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza
Country: Spain
Terrifying Spanish horror that has already been remade for North American audiences. This is widely regarded as one of the scariest movies to come out in the past few years. The remake is called Quarantine and comes out pretty soon. It stars the sister from Dexter and pretty much everyone I’ve talked to hates her. So maybe you should check this out instead. For the people who watch movies on their computers, I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t let you know a high quality DVD rip of this movie is pretty easy track down online.
Wed Oct 8, 9:45PM at Granville 7
Thu Oct 9, 4:00PM at Granville 7
Thu Oct 9, 9:30PM at Granville 2

Serbis
Dir: Brillante Mendoza
Country: Philippines/France
Arthouse Alert! Strangely similar to 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days. Set in a porn theatre in the Philippines, this one follows the lives of the family who run it and the male prostitutes who frequent the establishment. Oh, and about halfway in, a transsexual gives an onscreen blow job where you see everything.
Thu Oct 9, 9:00PM at Granville 4
Fri Oct 10, 11:30AM at Granville 3

Tokyo!
Dir: Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Bong Joon-Ho
Country: France/South Korea
Three directors one movie. Two of these directors are brilliant. One I’ve never heard of. Can you guess which one? Hint: The Host and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are two of my all time favourite movies. (Sorry, could only find the en francais version of the trailer)
Wed Oct 8, 2:00PM at Granville 4
Thu Oct 9, 7:00PM at Granville 7

Waltz With Bashir
Dir: Ari Folman
Country: Israel/Germany
The easy comparison here is Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, which we’ll gladly use as well. One of the buzz films at the Toronto International Film Festival and rightly so.
Sun Sept 28, 10:00AM at Granville 7
Thu Oct 2, 9:30PM at Granville 7
Sun Oct 5, 1:00PM at Granville 7