Film Friday Weekly Roundup

It's shaping up to be a fantastic week for the classic film fan, especially the ones who live in Toronto. First, we get the totally fab news that Blancanieves is Spain's official nom for Best Foreign Language Film at next year's Oscars. Stay tuned fo...

Watch: Never Weaken (1921)

Never Weaken, Harold Lloyd's last short film, was released on September 28, 1921. Directed by Fred Newmeyer, this 3 reeler with its thrilling, building dangling stunts might fairly be seen as a ramp up to the Lloyd feature <...

Watch: Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)

Ah, Louise Brooks! Diary of a Lost Girl (Tagebuch einer Verlorenen)  was released on September 27, 1929 silent film. It was directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst and starred Louise...

First Keystone Productions Release is 100 Years Old Today

The first Keystone production hit movie screens on September 23, 1912. Released through Mutual, this one reel of film held two silent shorts Cohen Collects a Debt and The Water Nymph. Of course, we ...

Watch: Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt) is a 1927 German film directed by Walter Rut...

Watch: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917)

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, starring Mary Pickford, was released on September 22, 1917.  Directed by Marshall Neilan, the script was based on...

The Strange Fate of Kim's Video

This article from The Village Voice chronicles the sad, strange tale of what happened to the collection from New York's Kim's Video. Kim's Video was a very strange place, and a very New York place. Despite that this twisted story ends up in Italy, it...

Film Friday Weekly Round Up - The Catch Up Edition

Do you have a post TIFF hangover? I certainly do. Even though it's been 5 days, I'm not sure I'm completely recovered. Also, I'm not sure what movies I saw. TIFF is now a popcorn grease strained blur. I do know I saw Blancanieves...

TIFF 2012 Review: Men at Lunch

You know that photo of New York City iron workers eating lunch on a steel girder hundreds of feet above the sidewalks of Mahattan? You definitely know this photos because as the new documentary Men at Lunch from Seán Ó Cualá...

TIFF 2012 Review: Passion

As I was leaving the theatre after seeing Brian De Palma's Passion I overheard two women discussing the film. One said to the other, "He was trying too hard." Yes he was. He always does. Personally, it's a thing I love about...

TIFF 2012 Review: The Act of Killing

Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing is one of the most difficult to watch films I've ever encountered. That's not to say it's not a good documentary, but you should brace yourself to look evil directly in the eye. Seriously, a woman sitting behin...

TIFF 2012 Review: The We and the I

How I long for the Michel Gondry of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep. That Gondry was inventive, weird, and wildly endearing. That Gondry was the reason I signed up for...

Interview with Pablo Berger, Director of Blancanieves

I wish that each one of you may see Blancanieves. I also wish that each of you could sit down for a few minutes with Pablo Berger. He is delightful, articulate, and passionate on the subject of silent cinema. And seriously, ...

TIFF 2012 Review: Short Cuts Canada Programme #5

Having seen two of the Short Cuts Canada programmes, I'm up to 14 shorts in this fest. I'm trying to collect them all, like baseball cards. But, seriously, short films can be really freaking amazing and some of these are. Turns out Canadians can be w...

TIFF 2012 Review: Blancanieves

I saw Pablo Berger's Blancanieves and it left me speechless. I'm apparently not the only one blown away by this movie. Just this Blancanieves was shortlisted to represent Spain at t...

TIFF 2012 Review: The Central Park Five

Look, I knew going into The Central Park Five there was a high probability that I was going to get Burnsed. But I thought, hey this was directed by Sarah Burns not Ken Burns and if ever the was rich doc fodder it wa...

TIFF 2012 Review: Short Cuts Canada: Programme #1

The best film I say at TIFF 2011 - hell the best film I saw in all of 2011 -  was a short film titled Le Trotteur

TIFF 2012 Review: Yellow

The TIFF 2012 premiere of Nick Cassavetes' Yellow was packed to the rafters on Friday night...

Film Friday Weekly Roundup: The Before the Madness Edition

This is it people... I officially start TIFFing this afternoon. Life is crazeee hectic right now, which kinda sucks. I wanted to enjoy TIFF. I swear to the heavens that next year I'm taking two whole weeks off and not answering the phone dur...

Review: The Original Felix the Cat (1922 - 1930)

It is damn near impossible to understand the popularity and influence of Felix the Cat during the silent era. Impossible to watch this cool kitty pull some really surreal tricks, that is. Since I'm sometimes sad that I no longer get to indulge in Sat...

Toronto Urban Film Festival

Hey, did you know there's another film festival going on in Toronto? The lines are still kinda long, but it will fold into your average day far more neatly. You can catch one-minute, silent films on screens across the TTC this week, brought ...

Pretty Clever Films Goes to TIFF

It's that time of year again. The cottage is shuttered, the first hint of autumn is in the air, and hordes of cinemaniacs descend on once peaceful Toronto to gorge on movies - It's TIFF time! Also known at Pretty Clever HQ as "that time of year when ...