I've been scanning the film list for this year's toronto international film festival. I've always wanted to go, but in the past I was either not in the city or too lazy. But this year's gonna be different.. I've got my eye on a couple of films..

The Dish -- a funny retelling of the events surrounding the Apollo 11 moonwalk.

Brother -- another Takeshi "Beat" Kitano film (deadpan comedy and explosive violence). 'nuff said.

Those are the two that I'm really interested in seeing, though there are a couple more that have intriguing titles...

Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, The Most Fertile Man in Ireland, and Girlfight.

The only problem is that I don't know anyone who'd be interested in seeing these films.. and I'd hate to go alone *makes face*.

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Friday night was another Savage Garden deal (amacpher got a ride into town with his roommate).

Saturday I saw two filmfest movies, Kaza-hana (japanese prostitute-redemption) and Placido Rizzotto (docu-drama). They were ok.. the best was the film I saw Wednesday night, The Man Who Bought Mustique, a wonderful little auto-biographical work examining Lord Glenconner of Glen, now a crusty old curmudgeon. A revealing, amusing and touching film. The other cool thing about it was that the director and producer were both at the showing, giving a little speech at the beginning and taking questions afterwards.. I really like that kind of personal touch. I heard that Al Pacino talked individually to the people waiting in line to see his film.

Sunday, a2chow and I went shopping at Scarborough Town Center.. and almost got locked in. Well, not really, but we left the building with the other employees. Then we played counterstrike at my place for a good 6 hours or so. Oh, which reminds me, they've released cts7.1b! That was sorta quick.. uhm, the changes are mostly minor, though they played with the weapon accuracies a bit.. now if you jump with a sniping rifle and try to fire at the same time, it goes WAY off target... makes sense, though I wish they'd reflect the change in the crosshairs. Oh, and they added an APC to cs_siege.. it's actually HILARIOUS to watch. Be careful though.. you can run over friend and foe alike with it.

Oooh, the biggest addition is that headshot kills are given a new death icon (like in Team Fortress). Nice.

Monday, I locked myself out of the house (and the car), so I didn't bother going to work... instead, I called up Shahab and tagged along for a few errands. I also got a chance to get fitted for my tuxedo for Growl's upcoming wedding (I suggest you not read anything on the site as it's terribly saccharine).

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DANG.. I forgot about the Toronto Film Fest, and now tickets are sold out. Damn and blast. This THIS is what happens when a) you don't watch tv or read the paper or listen to the radio and b) none of your friends are interested in such things. Ah well, no big deal I guess.

Hey, did you hear about that gas-canister bombing in Berri-UQAM (the main subway station in Montreal)? I found that pretty weird. Like, why would anyone do it? What's the reasoning? Thankfully it was non-lethal, more of a major annoyance than anything. But it disturbs me.

Oh, I remember now what I was playing so late last night (other than counterstrike): junkbot, a cute and addictive puzzle game. But I stopped once the puzzles upgraded to "To be done in 20 moves or less", which is way too many at 4 am in the morning to contemplate.

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On a recommendation I saw Ghost World (the link goes to the official movie website which is well made. It's interesting to note that most film-based websites are well done. Must be all that Hollywood cash) and was impressed. I guess judging a movie by the cover of the comic it was based on is fallable. Who knew?

Erm, anyway the movie was very approachable -- you felt that you knew these people (or maybe even were them...) and their attitudes. Living apart from (above?) the plebes, mocking them from afar. And the music! So much good music.

September is upon us and that means Toronto International Film Festival. Of course I forgot to get tickets. Well, I'll try getting some tomorrow. Which reminds me, my sister's band is playing at The 360 tomorrow, so I suppose I'll be downtown for a while.

Man, I just love that "Jaan Pehechaan Ho" track! Hehe.

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Huzzah! My co-worker came through for me and gave me tickets to Gwoemul ("The Host"), a film that was shown as part of the Toronto International Film Festival's "Midnight Madness". It did rain heavily last night, but thankfully we did not have to wait in line long to get into the theatre, and we were able to manage some pretty good seats in the balcony. The film was wondeful. Action that took your breath away, characters that you could really associate with and root for, and a fearsome, memorable special effects creature. I loved it, probably the best film I've seen this year. I don't know where or how you'll find it, but it's worth seeking out. Oh, it's the story of a discovered river monster that terrorizes Seoul with a deadly, communicable virus. A family decide to take it on after it nabs a family member.

The director was there, who fielded a few questions. I think I shall seek out his Salinui chueok ("Memories of Murder"), which was also seeded by a real event.

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So I procured myself a copy of Salinui chueok ("Memories of Murder") and watched it with Angela last night. What can I say? Another awesome film, this time a police thriller/murder mystery based on South Korea's first serial killings. Chilling, with ups and downs and twists and an increasingly disturbing trail of clues. Again, a strong emphasis on the dynamics, the interplay of the protagonists, this time with a country "instinctual" cop versus the city "documents never lie" cop. Lots of attention to detail, giving the movie a satisfying richness, a depth often missed in this era of zigga-zagga action. The ending, as with all of my favourite films, leaves an indelible impression, a general uneasiness not easily forgotten. I still like The Host more, but this film is also very good. They are of different genres in any case, which I'd say speaks highly of the director's ability.

On visiting the end bit of "A Taste of Toronto", we overheard and consequently investigated a hubbub by Roy Thompson Hall. Apparently a bunch of celebrities were attending a film showing and all the press and such were there, including a small group of fans. I grabbed a few pictures before continuing to HoSu for some kampongee. Parker Posey, Catherine O'Hara, Jennifer Coolidge, Samuel L. Jackson, Eugene Levy were the ones I saw, though I wasn't able to get a good view of them all.

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I went to a TIFF Midnight Madness show to see Sukiyaki Western Django, the latest from Takashi Miike (Rekka, Ichi the Killer, Audition, Full Metal Yakuza). Actually, I haven't seen any of his previous work, though after this film I'm curious to see what they're like. Sukiyaki was, well.. like a heavy metal rock video version of Ran, except based on Shakespeare's Henry VI (The War of the Roses) instead of King Lear. It made me laugh, anyway.

Oh, and I guess it's also loosely based on Django, the old Italian western. But I hadn't seen it. Buh yeah.. eh, not much else going on that I haven't already mentioned. Maybe I'll bring back a story or two from Washington.

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I have, thanks to the generosity of a co-worker and friend, been able to see no less than four TIFF films thus far.

Ghost Town, the new Ricky Gervais romantic comedy of a jerk who can see ghosts, a kind of Sixth Sense, only replace scary bits and whispering with Gervais' signature awkwardness. He was actually at the showing (no pictures, sorry), but he didn't speak. Also there was the director, an editor, as well as Kinnear and Kristen Wiig, who was wearing this great electric blue dress with lacy black stockings. Oh, the movie was mildly good. It's a romantic comedy, has a "feel-good" message.

Detroit Metal City, a story of a country boy moving to the city in the hopes of becoming a "trendy" pop music star. Instead, he finds himself as the lead singer of a death metal band Detroit Metal City. Eh, it was fun and all but I often find with these Japanese films that for all their quirkiness there's an equal amount of lulls and missed jokes. A little tighter editing and this would've been a pretty good film. As it was, eh.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Kevin Smith's latest offering. I freely admit that I was not looking forward to this. I think the last thing I really enjoyed was Clerks, and it was generally downhill from there. I look upon Smith's films as live-action versions of South Park, only with less likeable characters. At the same time, I had no idea who was in it or what it was about, apart from what the title implies. So it's with a big, surprised smile that I find myself liking (and possibly even recommending) Zack and Miri. I blame the cast, which is chock full of talent. I laughed quite a bit and some of the scenes rang quite true, which for a raunchy romantic comedy is saying a lot. I dare say this is Smith's best film, but only because I do not care much for the hyper-articulate characters of his previous works -- here they are quite down to earth and likeable.

Not Quite Hollywood, a documentary on the exploitation films of 1970s Australia. In structured, precise format, director Mark Hartley manages to give all the goods on this little known pocket of B films. Plenty of anecdotes, interviews, stories, trivia, it's quite a ride and given in the spirit of those pioneering directors and actors. Both entertaining and exhausting.

Whew! I do have The Good, The Bad, The Weird lined up for this Saturday. I may also try to catch Chocolate.

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I didn't bring my hat, which perhaps is just as well: the weather in New York was cloudy and wet. Drinking at night, sleeping in the morning, walking around the city during the day, resting in front of the TV and getting ready for the next night. Throughout it all I got to know my cousins a lot better, we not having much contact for the past, oh, 17 years? That's really the thing I take away from this trip. Oh, sure, I took some pictures. There are a bunch of that High Line walkway, a section of raised train tracks converted into a park around a mile and a half long. It reminded me of that Asimov story, the one where the man travels back in time to shoot dinosaurs and accidentally steps on a butterfly, changing the course of history. Anyway, it was nice to see the park before it is inevitably ruined for everyone.

I have, somewhat against my will or inclination, been playing Civ3 again.

I had decided to not drink for the rest of September, but I have already rashly broken this promise to myself once and will probably do so again this Saturday.

The Polish Festival was this weekend! I went alone, forgetting to ask anyone if they wanted to pig-out with me. So I ate a lot of street food alone; ribs, pierogies, corn on the cob, candy apples, smoothies, churros. And on Sunday I had my first anchovy pizza. Salty, oily, salty; I could barely finish a slice. I did however find myself craving it later that day, so maybe this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Last thing to mention: I saw Youth in Revolt at the Winter Garden theatre, a somewhat magical place to sit. The film was excellent, likely to straddle that line of indie-golden-child and mainstream success.

This blog/webjo entry brought to you by an unlikely force.

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2010/08/03 Hwan I won't say that all is well (for I don't believe it to be so), but I am better. Thanks to all for asking!
2010/07/20 QYV Expected range for Creatinine for guys is 60 - 110 umol/L
2010/07/20 llamariffic Hmm, macrocytosis here as well, but to be honest I've had it since before I truly embarked on drinking as a proper hobby. Similarly, stopped drinking entirely, and it didn't go away. Just one of those things, I think.
2010/07/19 girl ack!! It's weird to think that I am now a parental unit. It was nice to see you hwan!
2010/05/21 Hwan I recall trying earplugs well back in my undergrad years, to mixed results. My sleep was troubled by feelings of claustrophobia. I also have a, perhaps unfounded, fear of not hearing the essential alarm in the mornings. However, I may give these another go, thanks.
2010/05/21 llamatron Have you tried sleeping with earplugs? My flat faces out onto a main road, so I've started using the standard foam plugs. It took a few nights to get used to them, but they make a big difference.
2010/05/21 girl The original swedish title: "Men who hate women". I'm not sure if it's the fault of the translation, but I never liked the reporter dude.
2001/03/07 Hwan Damn.. it seems Unweb has since died. http://www.gamegrene.com/node/183
2001/03/07 TY SHARDEL YOU CAN TRADE WITH THE UNIVERSE AND ENABLE SOCIAL NEEDS, OR PERHAPS POST WISH LISTS, HUG THE GLOBE LIKE A BIG OCTOPUS... TY
2010/03/24 Hwan I am amused by the John Irving comparison. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Irving#Recurring_themes