The EX

August 24 2009

My Mom, Sydnee (also her friend no idea what her name is now), Liz and myself went to the Canadian National Exhibition. It was long day for me as I worked and then met my Mom and the girls and Liz came around after she was done work. The Ex is always kinda fun but this year it seemed to miss a bit of the magic. My Mom and I spent a bit of time walking around the buildings and we all had lunch at the food building. The crowd seemed small to me but that was OK with us. After we ate and walked around some more Liz and the girls hit the rides. I gave up on the rides after a bad experience on a ride years ago. My stomach just isn't into them anymore...to old maybe lol. Well they did a bunch of rides and generally had a good time.
Liz, my Mom and me ended the night watching a Kenny Rogers cover band (I know!) as the girls walked around playing games and just spending time without us adults. Syndee ened up winning a BIG yellow dog.
All in all, an ok time but maybe my Ex days are over...who knows we'll see next year

garry

It was fun to hang out and do all the rides with the girlies. I really enjoyed it until I did the ride that looks like lots of hang-gliders (see one of the photos for the culprit). Spinning around facing the ground - ugh. I was done after that one. My nausea may have been related to the fact that I'd eaten a lot of yummy Indian food followed by a large slice of brownie cheescake. But at least it all stayed down!
Liz

Bathroom pics

August 23 2009

We wanted to post of pics of the bathroom here are a few before and after they ripped everything out. They say in about a week and half they will be done....we'll see.

Mom's Birthday

August 23 2009

Happy Birthday Mom

Tuesday, August 25th is my Mom's birthday (I'm not supposed to say on here how old she is though) but we thought we'd have the party on Sunday. Liz and I spent the day putting up decorations and getting ready. It was actually really fun getting ready and she seemed very surprised when she finally got home. We had her favourite meal, KFC, and Sydnee made an outstanding chocolate cake. I think she loves her new TV and BBQ that Jack (husband/father) bought her.

I think she had a great day and I know Liz and I had fun putting it together.

Happy Birthday Mom!

garry

Yep, we did have fun getting ready. By the time we were done there were ballons on every available surface and a huge sign out front that said "Happy Birthday". Margaret seemed really happy with the decorations and very surprised even though she knew we were having a little party. Nancy and Jim and Madhoo and Madhura all came over for Sydnee's cake. The cake was made from scratch and looked and tasted fantastic (as evidenced by the fact that I ate two large pieces). So everyone enjoyed themselves and clean up was a breeze.

Happy birthday Margaret!

Liz

Inglorious Basterds

August 22 2009

Saturday afternoon and we wondered what should we do - I thought 'what about a movie?" Liz was shocked and surprised, it was about 14 hours since we last saw a movie. We do go to the movies alot but you know it's never really boring to us and I guess the best thing is that Liz and I found each other. But OK movie...

Inglorious Basterds: I love Quentin Tarantino movies and it's been a while since I saw one but still this movie was kind of boring. The critics seem to love it but I couldn't get into it. The trailer and stuff I saw made the movie seem like it would be violent and fun. To me it was not either. I just want him to back to buddy gang kinda films.

But it should be said that most people on-line and in print loved the movie but it just wasn't for me.

2.5 out of 5 (Brad Pitt was good in the movie)

garry

I can't say I loved this but I didn't hate it either. It's the same way I feel about all Quentin Tarantino movies. They have some fun parts but they're overly long and often times slow. This one was no different. It was nice to see a Tarantino movie on the big screen as I'm less likely to fall asleep than on the sofa at home (where I've never actually stayed awake all the way through one of his movies). And I did wonder if Jewish people might like seeing the Nazis be the brunt of some on-screeen nastiness for a change. It was certainly interesting for me to see the tables turned. Conclusion: worth seeing but don't clear your schedule to fit it in.
2.5/5
Liz

Grace

August 21 2009

Well final night of the After Dark Film Festival. Last night we didn't go - we were just too tired. I think it was a good decision but we did miss a couple of movies, oh well.

Tonight we went and saw the movie Grace which was showing for the Closing of the Film Festival. Here is what it says on the web site: "A mother’s instinct to protect her newborn child at all costs is pushed to shocking levels in Grace". Sounds fun right? Well guess what, it was actually kind of boring. It was slow and the baby zombie thing just boring. I am pretty sure Liz slept through a bit of this. For a closing movie I thought it would have been better.
2 out of 5

Over all I think the festival was fun. I think the movies last year where better but to be honest I can't really remember. Next year we will be back at Toronto After Dark, like that's a big shock - lol

garry

Can't say much that's positive about this movie. It was by a first time film make so I guess that from that point of view the movie had a more polished look than you might expect but the story was less polished. The premise of the movie appealed to me - a Mother wills her dead new-born back to life but the baby isn't really alive and what will the she do to feed her undead baby. And as it was the closing movie I had high hopes for it. But it failed to be as creepy as it should have been and instead was slow and predictable. The director made a movie that he should be proud of and anywhere else in the line-up it might have made sense (not that I'd have liked it any more than I did) but not nearly good enough for a closing movie at After Dark.
2/5

It was a good festival. Am sorry that we didn't make it to anything from the Thursday night line-up but that was the night of the really bad storm in Toronto, apparently they lost power a bumch of times and there was no AC, so maybe it was for the best. Saw some great movies and saw some crap and really that's what it's all about.

Liz

Must Love Death

August 19 2009

Toronto After Dark Film Festival Day 6

Okay, it's official, I've seen enough movies this week! But since I love movies I made my way down to the Bloor for another. Tonight Liz and I saw Must Love Death. It's billed as a "brutal romantic comedy" . I'd argue with that as I didn't laugh that much and it wasn't near as brutal as I like. That being said, it was okay and there where a few laughs but over all just okay.

maybe 2.5 out of 5

But on a bright note the renovations have begun with a bang. WOW! The old bathroom is no more. I have to say the space where the old bathroom was looks soooo small. I can't believe there was ever one there. It's supposed to take 2 weeks so we will see. All I know is the house is a mess and very dusty. We will post pictures later for you to see.

2 more days of the festival = 2 movies for me and 3 for Liz. Tonight Liz has 2 movies but I can tell you right now Liz will be sleeping and miss the second one. The first one I'm skipping so I can have a nap after work and head down to the Bloor around 8:30pm. I know! On a school night and everything!

garry

As per Garry's review - this movie just failed to hit the mark. Not terrible but not great. It was interesting to hear that it's made by film students from Germany who were attempting to make an American movie. It explained some of the odd accents and their impressions of what made a movie American resulted in a few smiles. But can't say much more than that.
2/5

The bathroom reno though! That IS exciting! I'm a little concerned about a small area of rotten wood that they haven't removed though. It was where the old shower was leaking. The wood varies from crumbling (closest to the leak) to soft and squidgy to regualr wood over an area about 8 inches long. It's by the floor on the wall that divides the bathroom from the laundry room. It's not a structural wall or anything but I'm concerned about it getting worse rather than clearing up, even though the leak will be gone. Best speak to Carly about this methinks.
Liz

The Children

August 18 2009

After Dark Film Festival day 5. This movie was excellent and the funny thing is Liz and where going to skip today all together so we could get ready for the renovations. I am sure glad we change our minds.

The premise of the movie is kids going bad. Simple enough but wow was it done well. Not much gore or blood but enough and the music was very good. In fact the music really helped with mood in the Bloor. I have to say maybe the best movie of this kind at the Festival and a movie for ANYONE reading this blog to see. It maybe hard to find but if you get a chance, see it. The kids in the movie are excellent. Just a great night at the movies. I will let Liz talk more about what the movie was about as I think this is her favorite movie at After Dark so far. This is the kind of movie we go to this festival for !

I would say 4.5 out of 5

3 more days and 3 more movies for me and 4 movies for Liz

The house should be a mess today as they start work on the bathroom so in about 2 weeks we should have a great new bathroom....fingers crossed.

garry

LOVED it! I always love when the directors send a note for the audience. In this instance the director said that this movie is dedicated to all the people that are stuck with the screaming kids of their friends who make lame excuses for their kids' shitty behaviour by saying "poor Sammy is over-excited/tired" etc whilst you try to recover from your hangover lol. The kids gave amazing performances and really creeped me out. You never knew if they were going to hug their parent or hug them and stab them in the eye with a colouring pencil. The adults were diverse characters which gave a well rounded feel rather than being too flat and simplistic. This was an usual movie for this festival as it was quite subtle. As an example, the movie that's following this one tonight (called Someone's Knocking at the Door) was promoted by the festival director as having a chase scene involving a 15" penis. So this was a refreshing change from that.

Really this would be at home in any Cineplex theatre - I hope it finds a really wide release as any movie fans will enjoy it. Word of warning though: whilst there is very little gore there are a few things that will turn any weak stomachs out there so some may want to approach with caution.
5/5
Liz

Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl

August 17 2009

Well it is now day 4 of the After Dark Film Festival and I can say we are both getting a little sick of movies. I know, shocker! But seriously since Friday we have seen 7 movies. That's a lot. So on tonight's bill was Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl. Ok not a great title I know but the movie to me was a lot of fun. Not near as good as the film from the same guy last year Tokyo Gore Police but a fun film. There was gallons of blood, some very weird after school clubs and an oversexed school nurse....what more could you want lol.

Japanese movies are really hard to explain but people mostly love them or hate them, this one was OK. I liked it and I had a good time watching it. But not for most people who read this blog. If you want to get a feeling for it look for the trailer on line.

So I would say 3.5 out of 5

After this we were going to stay to watch Strigoi but we were toast so we just head home instead.

Tomorrow they start work on our new washroom - yeah!

4 more days of the festival and 4 more maybe 5 more films - yikes!

garry

I didn't enjoy this one as much as I'd hoped. But I'm loath to come down on it too hard as the writer / director went to some trouble to allow us to see this movie. Japanese movies rarely get distribution outside of their home country (apparently) because Japanese directors make their money at home and therefore don't care about the rest of us - fair enough really. BUT Yoshihiro Nishimura not only went to the trouble of insisting that his Japanese distributor made this movie available to certain (very small list of) film festivals around the world - including the Toronto After Dark - but he wrote a note explaining some of the Japanese subcultures to help us in our understanding of his movie. How nice is that! So whilst it wasn't one of my favourites I'm endorsing it for Nishimura's efforts to bring world cinema to all of us. And because Tokyo Gore Police was so so so excellent!
3/5

Then we headed home so I could stress out over what tiles to pick for the bathroom. I don't know what to do - there are just so many options! But I think I've made a decision. Wait until I write it out and hand it to Carly and he says you can't have THAT on the floor and THAT doesn't go on the wall either! lol

Liz

The Revenant

August 16 2009

Now Liz and I see our last movie of the night and we are both very sleepy. Four movies in a day is just too much. I know some of you will say one movie a day is too much but for Liz and I 2 a day is good. But this is the big day of the festival so we decide to keep going.

Anyway the movie was The Revenant. It's being billed as a wildly entertaining undead buddy comedy. I would say for me it missed the mark. To be honest I was kinda sleepy and may have passed out for a few scenes, but I did catch most of it. The movie was suppose to be like Shaun of Dead (one of the best zombie movies ever) but it was not even close. I think the worst part was it was just too long and really kind of dumb. I most say though the crowd went wild at the end and they seem to love it, so maybe it was just me.

I would say 2 of of 5

5 more days to go..could be deadly sleepy by the end

2 movies Monday and then 1 a day after that, till the closing gala on Friday

garry

Boring movie although I did sleep through a significant portion of it. And as Garry said the rest of the crowd seemed happy so maybe the parts I slept through were the best bits?

1/5
Liz

Dead Snow

August 16 2009

After watching a not so good movie and then a really good movie it was time for the first Zombie movie of the night. Woo-hoo! Dead Snow. The best movie of the festival so far. Simply put, the movie is fantastic. These are the kind of movies Liz and I both love. Nazi Zombies....what a combo. Like the tag line says "the only thing worst then zombies is Nazi-zombies".

This Norwegian splatter comedy sees parties travel to a secluded mountain cabin in the middle of winter. Their boozing, sex and snowmobiling are interrupted when a disturbed local appears at the door and tells of a legend about a group of Nazi soldiers who, during WWII, were driven into the Norwegian Alps – along with a fortune in stolen loot – to die. The valuables are hidden beneath the cabin and the rotten Reich has returned to claim them. What ensues is an EVIL DEAD-influenced gore-fest of flying limbs, blood-soaked snow, self-amputation, a literal cliff-hanger involving zombie intestines and enough grue-drenched weaponry to make gorehounds weep with joy.

The best movie I have seen in a while and I am thinking the best movie at this festival

5 out of 5

garry

I'd just like to point out that the synopsis / review above was totally stolen from the After Dark website. I'm sure you'd have guessed as it entirely too well written to have either of us lay claim to it!

5/5
Liz