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On this episode of the Sound On Sight podcast, special guests and SoS contributors Julian Carrington and Eduardo Lucatero join Ricky D and Justine Smith to discuss three of the highlights from the Toronto International Film Festival: Starting with Take Shelter, the sophomore fort by director Jeff Nichols, moving on to Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia and ending with Sean Durking’s outstanding directorial debut Martha Marcy May Marlene.

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Music playlist:

“Toronto Sucks” – Three Dead Trolls In a Baggie

“Schizophrenia” – Sonic Youth

“Tristan and Isolde” – Wagner

“Marcy’s Song” – John Hawkes

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We are now four days into the Toronto International Film Festival which runs a total of ten days so I felt it would be best to look back at some of the coverage we’ve posted thus far. Admittedly we are all a bit behind but we do intend on catching up before the fest if over. So far this year the festival hasn’t been as exciting for me as compared to previous years. Most of my time is spent running around from one cinema to the next, networking and trying to find some time to maintain the site and do some writing. The first day is usually a write off spent picking up tickets, finding a place to stay and meeting up with some old friends, so unfortunately my movie watching only began on Friday evening. So I’ve decided that in the future, I will arrive in...

This year the Sound On Sight crew will be invading the Toronto International Film Festival to offer the best coverage possible. Confirmed to head down to the fest is Sos staff members, Justine Smith, Michael Waldman, Dave Robson, Ricky D and Simon Howell, as well as new contributors Gregory Ashman, Julian Carrington, Jaffer Hasan and part time contributor Eduardo Lucatero. We will have daily blogs, reviews and record several podcasts dedicated solely to the festival. So please keep coming back to our site in the next two weeks for a ton of coverage. Below is a list of just some of the movies we’ve confirmed we will be covering.

Duch, Master Of The Forges Of Hell

Into The Abyss

The Boy Who Was A King

Paradise Lost 3

Crazy Horse

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Outside Satan

Elena

Hunter

Melancholia

Twitx

Shame

Livide

Miss Bala

Martha Marcy May Marlene...

It’s been too long since we checked in on the world of documentaries – not aided by the cinematic scheduling discrepancies between Montreal and Toronto – so it seemed time to finally talk about two of the summer’s best-loved ones: Werner Herzog’s 3D opus Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and the self-explanatory Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times. Simon is joined by two excellent returning guests: filmmaker/felon Eduardo Lucatero and professional rapscallion Mike Waldman, who also selected the hour’s third film, the 2002 doc Bus 174.

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Playlist:

Hüsker Dü – “Turn on the News”

Candy Claws – “A Strange Land Discovered”

The Jam – “News of the World”

Obits – “I Want Results”...

Pedro Almodóvar is back with his latest feature The Skin I Live In starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya and Marisa Paredes and based on Thierry Jonquet‘s novel Mygale.

I’m a huge fan of the director and I am really excited to see this film, despite what Sos contributor Eduardo Lucatero (who is one of our toughest critics) had to say about the picture in his daily Cannes report:

This year, however, definitely hasn’t lived up to the promise of its filmmakers. For his latest Cannes entry, El Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In), Pedro Almodóvar drops the melancholic lyricism of his past couple of works and went back to his usual model: a convoluted plot with a couple of ridiculous twists, gorgeous cinematography and art direction (and one of the greatest musical scores of his career, by regular Alberto Iglesias) but not much else. Elena Anaya...

Three clips and a second trailer have been released for Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In (La Piel Que Habito) by French distributor Pathe. I’m a huge fan of the director and I am really excited to see this film, despite what Sos contributor Eduardo Lucatero (who is one of our toughest critics) had to say about the picture in his daily Cannes report:

This year, however, definitely hasn’t lived up to the promise of its filmmakers. For his latest Cannes entry, El Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In), Pedro Almodóvar drops the melancholic lyricism of his past couple of works and went back to his usual model: a convoluted plot with a couple of ridiculous twists, gorgeous cinematography and art direction (and one of the greatest musical scores of his career, by regular Alberto Iglesias) but not much else. Elena Anaya is always a welcome presence,...

The Cannes film festival wrapped up not too long ago, and Rick, Justine and Simon got to see this year’s Palme D’Or winner – Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life – bright and early. Predictably, they have plenty to say about it, so be prepared for an epic-length review. Also up for discussion: another Palme winner, celebrating its 35th anniversary this year: MArtin Scorsese’s iconic Taxi Driver, on which we have at least one mildly dissenting voice. (Guess who.) Finally, Simon chats with occasional SoS contributor and eternal globetrotter Eduardo Lucatero, who was at Cannes again this year and reports on this year’s festivities.

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Playlist

Taxi Driver Theme Song - Bernard Herrmonn

Tree Of Life Theme Song - Alexandre Desplat

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Murder. Suicide. Pedophilia. Prostitution. Just another day at Cannes. The murder came from the very last competition film, Once Upon a time in Anatolia, the longest, most demanding film of the official selection. Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s previous movie was the very accessible, entertaining drama Three Monkeys, but this time around, he returned to his previous style: quiet, bleak, without giving much information. A group of men are driving through the country, looking for a corpse after the murderer has confessed the crime. They can’t find the body and while searching, they engage in what appears to be random chatter. They find the body after 90 minutes, and by this point the audience realizes that most of that apparently pointless talk has major significance, not in the crime itself, but in the different lives of all the men involved in the procedure. This is not an easy film, but if...

In the old days, film festivals were the place to see movies about values; a hero rising against adversity or epic stories about freedom. This year, it is difficult to keep a tab on all the dead bodies, from the school massacre on the very first day of the competition in We Need to Talk About Kevin to Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In, not to mention the entire Earth being wiped away by planet Melancholia.

There was only one death (onscreen) on This Must Be the Place, the English-language debut of Italian Paolo Sorrentino, but it is an important one. Now living at a castle in Ireland off of his royalties, a former superstar (Sean Penn) lives a very quiet life. When his father dies, he goes to New York to attend the funeral and discovers that he spent a good part of his life trying to get...

Every year it’s the same: critics arrive thinking that the line-up is very strong, then they get disappointed as the festival advances, and near the final weekend a foul mood sets in and they claim it is the worst festival in years. Then they realize that they saw at least 5 of their Top Ten films here and can’t wait to get back to the festival for another strong-looking year…

This year, however, definitely hasn’t lived up to the promise of its filmmakers. For his latest Cannes entry, El Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In), Pedro Almodóvar drops the melancholic lyricism of his past couple of works and went back to his usual model: a convoluted plot with a couple of ridiculous twists, gorgeous cinematography and art direction (and one of the greatest musical scores of his career, by regular Alberto Iglesias) but not much else.

Another day, another controversy. This time around, it was all about the highly anticipated Melancholia, from Danish provocateur Lars von Trier. Looking well fed and in good spirits, this time he was all jokes, including saying that his next film is religious porn starring Kirsten Dunst and the he understands Hitler. That was enough for some people to tune him out, as if they had never seen or heard the man.

And there were some others that really hated his new movie, Melancholia. It contains with enough beauty, intensity and compelling ideas to earn a recommendation. Actually, in a way, it turned out to be what The Tree of Life was aiming for; an intimate portrait of the complex and difficult way many families function, in the forefront of the largest scheme of things. The movie starts with the end: everybody dies when a giant planet crashes into Earth. A...

One of the pleasures of a festival like Cannes is that there are so many films a day that sometimes it is possible to walk into a film you don’t know anything about, just because it fits the schedule, and be pleasantly surprised. It was the case for Skoonheid (Beauty), the South African entry at the section Une certain regard. The second film by the young Oliver Hermanus is a flawed yet absorbing portrait of a group of Afrikaners (white South Africans) who just don’t seem to accept that life has changed. At the center, a middle aged man who can’t accept the fact that he prefers the company of gentlemen. Successful, married and with two daughters, he attends sex parties where they will just do any men, except for “fags and coloreds.” When he reencounters Christian, the hunky young son of a former friend (who used...

Film people (this writer included) tend to be jaded and bitter, always ready to scoff at teenagers who can’t wait to see the next Twilight or are counting the days to the new Batman movie. Yet, film catnip such as a new Terrence Malick makes even the most serious filmgoer wait and gasp at the sight of a ticket for The Tree of Life. That’s why it was very shocking to hear the booing at the press screening, among, yes, a few applauses and mostly baffled silence. It was going to be impossible to survive such hype to any movie, let alone one with such flaws as the fifth film in 40 years directed by the maestro.

Yes, it is one of the most stunning achievements in image and sound in the medium’s history; unfortunately it is so ambitious and almost every frame is loaded with such heavy symbolism,...

Slightly disappointing (given his usual record), the latest from Nanni Moretti has turned out to be a relatively safe affair. Habemus Papam (for those who are not catholic or their Latin is rusty, We have a pope) is being sold as a comedy, rather than a light-as-air drama about the existential crisis of a newly elected pope. Moretti plays a shrink summoned to the Vatican to solve the pope’s issues. Given that Moretti is an atheist, and this follows his very acid political comedy Il Caimano, many were expecting a devastating expose on the hot button issues that the church is facing these days; it turns out to be a very gentle portrait of the pope as a very average man doubting if he will be up to the job somehow randomly assigned to him. Veteran actor Michel Piccoli delivers a very nice, subtle performance that will surely bring him some awards.

The ripe, plump tomatoes, the gorgeous cherries, the nice breeze, the topless old women sunbathing on the beach… Yes, it is May in the French Riviera and that also means Cannes. Last year, the economic turmoil and the volcano in Iceland seriously affected the festival, but this year everything seems to be back to the way it used to be.

The opening ceremony had a couple of moving moments; the presentation of Jury President Robert de Niro, with selected clips of his career; with so many recent misfires it is easy to forget that the man has a really impressive résumé and is indeed a great actor. Another highlight was the award, for the very first time, of the honorary Palme d’Or, to a wheelchair bound Bernardo Bertolucci, who sported a tuxedo with running shoes and claimed to be happy to finally receive the award, even if he hadn...

Fest president Gilles Jacob and artistic director Thierry Frémaux announced the official selection of the 64th Cannes Film Festival at the Grand Hôtel in Paris today. I warn you that after reading over the list, you’ll be insanely jealous if you’re not one of the lucky people attending the festival. The list includes films from Pedro Almodóvar, Gus Van Sant, Lars Von Trier, Lynne Ramsay, Nicolas Winding Refn, Radu Mihaileanu and Aki Kaurismäki.

Our contributor Eduardo Lucatero will be at the festival and he’ll be providing us with a daily blog with his thoughts on the festival as well as the films he’ll see. As previously reported, Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, will still be getting its worldwide premiere in Cannes. Apparently there was some confusion since a studio decided to release it in the UK sometime in April. However after some legal threats, it...

#1 – Black Swan

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Darren Aronofsky does not have a medium setting. However one might feel about any of this films – from the agitated anti-drug parable Requiem for a Dream to the time-bending metaphysical sci-fi mini-epic The Fountain to working-man’s tragedy The Wrestler – it’s difficult to argue that he holds back in any respect. Black Swan acts as a sort of greatest-hits of Aronofsky’s past pet themes – contorted bodies (Requiem), pathological obsession (Pi), and the transformational/destructive properties of the performing arts (Wrestler), but in execution it takes a bold leap in a different direction, throwing caution to the wind and delivering an over-the-top, consistently heightened, and gloriously insane film that isn’t afraid to skirt with the ridiculous in order to engage with its high-art millieu and troubled central figure.

Both a deeply Freudian melodrama and a body-horror nightmare, Black Swan is anything but subtle.

Zipangu Fest, London

When it comes to off-the-scale weirdness, Japan comes out on top. And as the name suggests, it's that side of the nation's cinema this inaugural festival celebrates, with a menu of cult/indie/exploitation film, animation, and outsider documentary and other oddities. Where else will you find naked hippies on motorbikes (music doc Rock Tanjo: The Movement 70s); cartoons about lecherous carnival freaks (Midori: The Girl In The Freakshow); a transgender performer dressed as a giant bouquet of flowers (documentary Pyuupiru 2001-2008); and a kick-ass squad of mutant girls (er, Mutant Girl Squad). Indie movement leader Tetsuaki Matsue, meanwhile, introduces his amazing one-take street music documentary, Live Tape.

Various venues, Tue to 28 Nov

ID Fest, Derby

What makes a person English? What makes a person a person? Are English people people? These and other questions might be answered at this new festival exploring identity (exclusively English identity...

A graduate of Concordia’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Eduardo Lucatero is a Mexican-Canadian filmmaker who has worked on a variety of television and film projects in both countries. His first feature, 2007’s Corazón Marchito, is a romantic comedy made for and by cynics. It demonstrated Lucatero’s strengths as a writer who could mould a satisfying character-driven drama that balanced charm and warmth with pitch-black humour. His new film Preludio, is a deceptively simple full length single-take film that craftily distills Lucatero’s interest in character and realistic dialogue over formulaic plot devices. Both the story and the camera follow two unnamed strangers at a party over the course of a conversation with too many cigarettes, too much tequila, and one entirely inappropriate Cancer joke. The characters also become familiar to us as well, as Lucatero uses this experiment in eavesdropping to invite us to become his voyeuristic accomplices.