So, the 2010 edition of Fantasia has kicked off with the Canadian premiere of The Sorcerer's Apprentice and you know what? It aint half bad. As popcorn movies go, it's pretty damn good, actually.
For my full review you're going to have to wait until tomorrow - when it will run in my weekly column at Showcase - but let me say this. Though Nicholas Cage wobbles dangerously close to being Bad Nick a couple times it's only a couple times while for the rest of the outing he cruises along comfortably on a sort of moderate setting on the Nic Cage 'Batshit Insanity' scale. Not as crazy as Bad Lieutenant by any means but still very entertaining. Alfred Molina matches him step for step on the crazy cycle with the duo's interactions proving very fun to watch, indeed - Molina was born to play this sort of campy villain - while Rock N Rolla's Toby Kebbell turns up in a surprising (to me at least) support role as a sort of metrosexual Criss Angel. Because, you know, the guy who spells his name 'Criss' isn't metrosexual enough already. Throw in some great in-jokes - the best ones are nods to Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark - and you're cooking up one very pleasing time waster.
And that's before we even get to Jay Baruchel, the local boy - he's from here in Montreal - done good who stars and not only matches Cage and Molina but frequently steals scenes from both. Now that Baruchel has proven that he can be more than an indie star or support player it's only going to go up for him.
And speaking of Baruchel, this man has either never been to media training or he just absolutely does not give a damn. The post-screening Q&A was an absolute blast with a completely unrestrained Baruchel just letting fly. I may have felt differently about it if I had the boy there with me as he let off - there were some kids in the audience - but from an adult perspective: absolutely hilarious. And actually kind of informative, too, as he dropped plot details on the proposed sequel - time split between New York and London with Excalibur factoring in along with creatures and sequences lifted from later in the original Fantasia - and declared that The Trotsky director Jacob Tierney's upcoming serial killer film Good Neighbours contains the most brutal on-screen killing of the year. Consider he dropped this nugget right after telling us how he freaked out his Sorcerer co-star Monica Bellucci by telling her Irreversible was his favorite film of all time - I quote: "Nobody get's raped like you!" - I tend to believe he knows a thing or two on the subject of brutality.
If anybody out there happened to record this Q&A please get in touch and SEND IT TO ME. I would love to transcribe this and get it online.
And, finally, though I'm not here for the entire festival - just the first few days - I will be Twittering about the goings on while here and I expect Mack will be doing the same once he arrives. Maybe Kurt, too. So if you want up to the minute news from the festival you might want to follow Twitch's Twitter account.
For my full review you're going to have to wait until tomorrow - when it will run in my weekly column at Showcase - but let me say this. Though Nicholas Cage wobbles dangerously close to being Bad Nick a couple times it's only a couple times while for the rest of the outing he cruises along comfortably on a sort of moderate setting on the Nic Cage 'Batshit Insanity' scale. Not as crazy as Bad Lieutenant by any means but still very entertaining. Alfred Molina matches him step for step on the crazy cycle with the duo's interactions proving very fun to watch, indeed - Molina was born to play this sort of campy villain - while Rock N Rolla's Toby Kebbell turns up in a surprising (to me at least) support role as a sort of metrosexual Criss Angel. Because, you know, the guy who spells his name 'Criss' isn't metrosexual enough already. Throw in some great in-jokes - the best ones are nods to Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark - and you're cooking up one very pleasing time waster.
And that's before we even get to Jay Baruchel, the local boy - he's from here in Montreal - done good who stars and not only matches Cage and Molina but frequently steals scenes from both. Now that Baruchel has proven that he can be more than an indie star or support player it's only going to go up for him.
And speaking of Baruchel, this man has either never been to media training or he just absolutely does not give a damn. The post-screening Q&A was an absolute blast with a completely unrestrained Baruchel just letting fly. I may have felt differently about it if I had the boy there with me as he let off - there were some kids in the audience - but from an adult perspective: absolutely hilarious. And actually kind of informative, too, as he dropped plot details on the proposed sequel - time split between New York and London with Excalibur factoring in along with creatures and sequences lifted from later in the original Fantasia - and declared that The Trotsky director Jacob Tierney's upcoming serial killer film Good Neighbours contains the most brutal on-screen killing of the year. Consider he dropped this nugget right after telling us how he freaked out his Sorcerer co-star Monica Bellucci by telling her Irreversible was his favorite film of all time - I quote: "Nobody get's raped like you!" - I tend to believe he knows a thing or two on the subject of brutality.
If anybody out there happened to record this Q&A please get in touch and SEND IT TO ME. I would love to transcribe this and get it online.
And, finally, though I'm not here for the entire festival - just the first few days - I will be Twittering about the goings on while here and I expect Mack will be doing the same once he arrives. Maybe Kurt, too. So if you want up to the minute news from the festival you might want to follow Twitch's Twitter account.
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