TIFF Day Seven

Day Seven is one-word title day.

Blondie [Sweden, Jesper Gaslandt, 4] Fraught relations between control freak matriarch and her three daughters come to a head when they return home to help run her 70th birthday bash. Places the expected meltdown at the first act break, then follows the aftermath.

Mushrooming [Estonia, Toomas Hussar, 4] Resentful parliamentarian's Sunday forage in the woods goes spectacularly awry. Barbed comedy of errors.

Thale [Norway, Aleksander Nordaas, 3] Guys abating a death scene find a feral woman in a basement lab. Folkloric creature feature invests loads of atmosphere in a rudimentary storyline.

Motorway [HK, Soi Cheang, 4] Two traffic patrolmen, a young hotshot (Shawn Yue) and a savvy vet counting the days till retirement (Anthony Wong) pursue a cop-killing robber and his ace getaway driver. Leans into its police movie cliches as it reconfigures the car chase set piece for Hong Kong's confined spaces.

Sign o' the times: of all the films I've seen so far at this year's festival, this was the first projected on celluloid. They had to stop a couple of times to fix the focus.

TIFF Day Six

So far my schedule has been weighted toward the serious side of world and indie cinema. Today took a swerve into genre territory, with vampires, demons, and a werewolf. Okay, there's a Detroit gas station in here too.

Byzantium [UK, Neil Jordan, 4] Vampires on the run (Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan) take refuge in a seaside resort town. Mood-driven contemporary gothic tips the hat to the Hammer tradition.

Detroit Unleaded [US, Rola Nashef, 4] Young man stuck managing the family gas station/convenience mart falls for gorgeous girl in similar boat at phone store--but they're Arab-American, which is all the complication you need.Vibrant indie comedy buzzes with social observation.

Here Comes the Devil [Mexico, Adrian Garcia Bogliano, 3.5] Strained couple confronts weirdness after their son and daughter disappear overnight on a hill said to be haunted by ancient entities. Replaces the usual religious imagery of the demonic possession flick with domestic and sexual hysteria.

A Werewolf Boy [South Korea, Jo Sung-hee, 4] Sickly girl and her family take in and tame a feral teen who is more than he seems. Funny, romantic crowdpleaser.

TIFF Day Five

Act of Killing [Denmark, Joshua Oppenheimer & Christine Cynn & Anonymous, 5] Gangsters who acted as death squad leaders during the 1965-66 Indonesian military coup comply enthusiastically with a project to self-document their war crimes on film--complete with drag roles and a musical number. Documentary exploration of an evil that is everything but banal, and still very much in power, drops one's jaw from start to finish.

Because the killers are still in command in Indonesia, every local crew member, as a protective measure, is anonymously credited.

Fitzgerald Family Christmas [US, Edward Burns, 4] Large, fractious Irish-American family experiences experiences an uptick in its Yuletide crisis quotient when the father who abandoned them twenty years ago wants to come to the big dinner. Well-written comedy drama delivered by a skilled ensemble.

Fin (The End) [Spain, Jose Torregrossa, 4] A once-tight group of friends reunites at a mountain cottage for the first time in two decades, scarcely suspecting that they're about to number among the last people left on Earth. Although I'm guessing this omits a layer or two from the best-selling novel it adapts, this is still an engaging entry in the quiet apocalypse sub-genre.

A Hijacking [Denmark, Tobias Lindholm, 4] When Somali pirates hijack one of his firm's freighters, a CEO disregards his expert's advice to conduct the negotiation himself. Gritty ticktock focuses on authenticity over thrills.

No One Lives [US, Ryuhei Kitamura, 3.5] Ordinary criminal gang get more than they bargain for when their resident psychokiller waylays a super-psychokiller who has his own kidnap victim stashed in his trunk. Inventive gore thriller features heightened dialogue few of its actors are able to convincingly deliver.

TIFF Day Four

Something in the Air [France, Olivier Assayas, 4] High school student navigates the contradictions of art, politics, and love in the early 70s. Evocative autobiographical drama sticks to matter-of-fact approach, resisting the usual urges to either romanticize the era, or send it up.

The Last Supper [China, Lu Chuan, 4] Shaky memories and revised histories intermingle as the dying first Han emperor recalls the betrayals that allowed his rise from street rat status. Uses the resources of the historical epic to present a fragmented political allegory.

The Land of Hope [Japan, Sion Sono, 5] After Fukushima repeats itself at another nuke plant, a farm family on the literal edge of the evacuation zone struggles with the aftermath. Sweetly drawn--and therefore, all the more harrowing.

7 Boxes [Paraguay, Juan Carlos Maneglia & Tana Schembori, 4] Delivery kid's assignment to transport the titular containers in his wheelbarrow leads to pursuit, danger and death across a sprawling market. Sharp, fast-paced action thriller from an unexpected quarter.

Dust [Guatemala, Julio Hernandez Cordon, 4] Suicidal busker searches for the remains of his father, disappeared by the death squads, while pursuing a vendetta against the man who denounced him. Strikes an elusive tone mixing quotidian naturalism, incongruous humor, and blunted pathos.

Tiff Day Three

Out in the Dark [Israel, Michael Mayer, 4] The security fence between Ramallah and Tel Aviv becomes a barrier in the budding romance between an out Israeli lawyer and a Palestinian student for whom the closet is a matter of life and death. Taut political melodrama.

That Thing I Always Say: in the digital era, out-of-sync subtitles are the new film burning in the gate.

The End of Time [Canada, Peter Mettler, 4] Disorientingly beautiful images of the natural and man made worlds comprise a meditation on accelerated particles, island volcanism
and urban decay. Unlike many documentaries, this consciousness-altering essay piece demands to be seen on the big screen.

The Color of the Chameleon [Bulgaria, Emil Christov, 3.5] Oddball loner, fired from
his job as a student infiltrator, forms his own rogue secret police operation. Absurdist satire of the informant state would be even funnier if it picked up the pace a bit.

Everyday [UK, Michael Winterbottom, 4] A five-year sentence turns a man's (John Simm) relationship with his wife (Shirley Henderson) and four kids into a series of prison visits. The strength of this generous slice-of-life piece lies in the honesty of the script and performances.

The film was shot in segments over the course of five years, so you see the child actors age in the time frame the story covers.

The director, kid actors and Shirley Henderson were present to introduce the screening. She stood on tiptoes to reach the podium mic.

Tai Chi 0 [China, Stephen Fung, 3] One-horned martial arts prodigy seeks fighting secrets from insular village, placing him in the path of steampunk railway developers. As the numeral in the title implies, this knowing and hyper-stylized fu romp doesn't bother to stand on its own, but instead stops on a series-establishing cliffhanger.

With action direction by Sammo Hung, and a healthy dollop of Scott Pilgrim influence.

TIFF Day Two

The Great Kilapy [Angola, Zézé Gamboa, 2] Handsome player's yen for the good life puts him in the crosshairs of the secret police, both as a student in Lisbon and then in his native Angola. Rookie screenwriting mistakes show the failed struggle to fashion a compelling narrative from a colorful true story.

Note to aspiring screenwriters: if your script has more than one instance of friends hugging, cut out all instances of friends hugging.

The We and the I [US, Michel Gondry, 4] A crosstown bus ride on the last day of classes takes a group of NYC high schoolers from raucousness to melancholy. Energetic, Altmanesque group portrait with occasional flash-cuts to the director's trademark whimsy.

Dead Europe [Australia, Tony Krawitz, 2] A hallucinatory confrontation with dark family secrets ensues when an Australian photographer ignores his Greek parents' pleas not to visit the old country. Heavy-handed exercise in Polanskian paranoia.

Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff: Gen Con ‘12

This week’s episode of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff mines topics galore from the wonder that was Gen Con ‘12.

TIFF Day One

That time of year has rolled around again, and it's time for me to attend my 26th go-round of the dazzling, exhausting, overwhelming Toronto International Film Festival. Every year they seem to make it tougher for the diehards: this time they've squished the slots closer together, making it harder than ever to move between venues. And eating between screenings? Forget about it. This will be an experiment in how long one can survive on hardboiled eggs, trail mix, and hoarded Starbucks sandwiches.

Here’s the standard drill, if you’ve forgotten how it works around the Cinema Hut at TIFF time or are joining the festivities for the first time:

I’ll be writing capsule reviews of everything I see, and then gathering them up in order of preference in the festival’s aftermath. Until then, I’ll be giving provisional ratings to the films, which are bound to change as they settle into memory. Ratings range from 0 to 5, with 0 arousing my active ire and 5 ascending to rarefied heights of masterpiece-dom.

Interspersed between the capsules will be expansions on the reviews, stray observations, and whatever logistical complaining I fail to suppress.

If you’ve heard of a release that’s playing TIFF, chances are that it’s because the film will be coming out shortly and is getting a big PR push. I tend to skip films that have distribution in place in favor of those I might never get another shot at. So I’m not the one to ask about the Oscar-bait movies with the big stars in attendance.

Do you want to see these movies right away? Well, these titles are beginning their long journey through the distribution chain. Many will continue to appear on the film festival circuit over the next year or so. The high profile releases I tend not to schedule at the fest may appear in theaters as early as next week. Indies and foreign titles will score theatrical releases over the next year or so, and DVD releases after that. Some may appear only on DVD, or vanish completely.

While a few of last year’s films still await theatrical release, most have made it through the chain. So if you want to enjoy some fine cinema right away, you could do worse than to check out my recommendations from last year.

And now, let's start the capsule reviews rolling, with the two films I caught on opening night:

After the Battle [Egypt, Yousry Nasrallah, 4] Pro-democracy activist involves herself in the family affairs of a disenfranchised tourism worker who disgraced himself by taking part in a horse and camel attack on Tahrir Square protesters. Written and shot concurrently with the events it portrays, this political drama takes the time to round out its characters.

The director was present to introduce the film and movingly call heed to the recent arrest by the Syrian government and documentarian Orwa Nyrabia, who he described as having been accused of crimes against inhumanity.

Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story [US, Brad Bernstein, 4] Documentary profile of groundbreaking illustrator who was blacklisted as a children's author over his scathing political posters and shocking excursions into erotica. Filmmakers take full advantage of their subject's wit and eloquence as he takes them from a childhood under Nazi occupation to his present state of uncomfortable acclaim.

Ungerer was present for the screening and will be signing at the Beguiling on Sat. Attn: local illustrator peeps.

This is the first film I've seen to list Kickstarter in the credits. It sure won't be the last.

Full Bleed

New Tales of the Yellow Sign, my anthology of weird tales conjuring Robert W. Chambers’ classic King in Yellow mythos, is in print as of September from Atomic Overmind Press, and in ebook form from vendors including Amazon/Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, Apple iTunes, and Paizo.

This post is first in a series looking at the individual stories.

In “Repairer of Reputations”, Robert Chambers writes one of the canon’s earliest tales from the point of view of an unreliable narrator. The reading experience trains us to accept the words presented to us by the author—without that trust, we are unmoored, disoriented. What device could be more appropriate to a cycle of stories about a book—a collection of untrustworthy words—that spreads madness and perhaps even reshapes reality itself?

“Full Bleed” plays with both ideas by siting them in the present day, through the action report of an agent determined to stamp out new eruptions of the Yellow Sign in print—in this case, by tracking the activities of an indie comics artist.

In his introduction to New Tales of the Yellow Sign, Kenneth Hite says of “Full Bleed”:

“Full Bleed” riffs off “The Repairer of Reputations,” through a procedural tenor recalling both Dashiell Hammett’s hard-boiled fictions and the first-person “fantasy of competence” that fearful 21^st-century readers crave from their security romances.

Secret hint: downloading the free sample on the Kindle page and elsewhere gets you all of “Full Bleed,” and Ken’s intro in its entirety.

The Birds: Thread

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Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff: Purely Medicinal

Kenneth Hite and I talk worldbuilding, creating interesting female pregens for con games and freeforms, Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and time-traveling health care in a brand new episode of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff.

And the Winner of the 2012 Gen Con Buzzword Contest Is…

Since the inception of the Gen Con Buzzword Contest in 2008, with the infamous wheelhouse, one contestant, despite his hard-charging efforts and intense training, has seemed perpetually relegated to second place. He has been the Susan Lucci, the 2002 Oakland A’s, of Gen Con buzzwordery. Consistently he’s come out hard from the gates, earned an early first place, only to be passed in the stretch by such thoroughbreds as Kenneth Hite and Great Cthulhu himself.

This year, then, with pride and a not inconsiderable sense of relief, the judges declare that Kevin Kulp, the Artist Formerly Known As Pirate Cat, has finally outpaced all comers to win the 2012 event. They salute his determination, his heart, and his cavalier willingness to despoil the trust placed in him as moderator of the Gen Con Keynote address on the future of D&D. He achieved his grim victory by slipping the dread word incubate into his concluding question, before the innocent ears of a packed ballroom and the pixelated eyes of a worldwide streaming audience. Kevin’s brazen act of linguistic vandalism can be heard on YouTube or in the Tome Show podcast’s recording of the event.

Congratulations, Kevin. May your victory lap be as sweet as it was long in coming.

Treasure of Far Thallai Concludes

Because August has turned into the Robin D. Laws Fiction Explosion (RDLFE for short) I have failed to point out that with the sixth and final installment in Paizo’s Skull and Shackles Adventure Path comes the swashbuckling conclusion to “The Treasure of Far Thallai.” In “Claw Cove”, a classic ship-to-ship showdown unfolds as Challys Argent sends her ship, the Aspidochelone to intercept the Slicer, captained by the insane Kered Firsk. With final battle comes a strange decision for one of Challys’ reluctant sidekicks. Sail your galleon to the Paizo store, or to your discerning local purveyor of fine gaming products. And while you’re there, keep the plundering to a minimum, willya?

Part Two of “In the Event of My Untimely Demise”

When in doubt, have a dwarf come through the door carrying a grudge. Part Two of “In the Event of My Untimely Demise” is now up at the Paizo blog.

The Birds: Rename

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Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff: The Audacity of Cupcakes

Yellow signs, Kickstarter, idea wrangling and mysticism take center stage in this week’s episode of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff podcast.

Prequeling a Dramatic Hero

The first installment of my web fiction serial “In the Event of My Untimely Demise” is now up at Paizo’s Pathfinder Tales blog. It features Luma, hero of my new Pathfinder novel, Blood of the City. A cobblestone druid attuned to the magic of the marble metropolis of Magnimar, she’s the odd sibling out in a team of urban adventurers for hire. In part one, “The Dead Client”, Luma, having been barred from a prestigious assignment, receives an unusual commission—to perform an investigation purchased in advance by a now-deceased customer.

Writing this serial posed a challenge I didn’t have to deal with when coming up with its equivalent for The Worldwound Gambit. Unlike Gad, the heisting hero of that novel, Luma is not presented as an iconic hero, who does not change in the course of the story but instead changes the world around her by remaining true to her essential problem-solving ethos. Instead she’s a dramatic hero, who undergoes a personal journey that profoundly alters her sense of self and relationship to the world.

Iconic heroes, like Batman, Sherlock Holmes or James T. Kirk, are built for recurring appearances. Dramatic heroes are tougher. I can see Luma becoming an iconic hero, maybe, after the events portrayed in Blood of the City. But going back in time, to a moment prior to the opening scenes introducing her dramatic dilemma, required some head-scratching.

Without giving too much away, the story prefigures her arc and echoes a key theme of the novel, without putting her on the path toward her transformation. It’s both free-standing story and prelude.

Head on over and check it out.

New Tales of the Yellow Sign Now Available For Kindle

New Tales of the Yellow Sign, my book of weird short fiction based on Robert W. Chambers’ King in Yellow Mythos, is now available from Amazon’s Kindle store.

You can also grab it from Smashwords, in the ebook format of your choice. Over the next weeks and days, it will propagate through them to other vendors including Apple, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. As the book appears in these venues, I’ll announce them on my Twitter feed.

A last few copies of the limited hardcover run can be acquired at DragonCon from my eldritch pals at Adventure Retail. Atomic Overmind releases the softcover in September.

My FanExpo Panels

I’ll be doing the guest thing this weekend at Toronto’s FanExpo, appearing at two panels, both on Friday the 24th.

At 2pm I’ll be in room 707 for Robin’s Laws of Gaming, a solo version of the classic GM troubleshooting panel. If your questions wander off that topic, I won’t call security.

5pm will see me on the Crowdfunding panel, in room 717.

I’d hoped to participate in events on Saturday as well, but alas a scheduling conflict says otherwise.

Hope to see you there, GTA-area gamers!

Gen Con Wrap

As usual the day after Gen Con, my brain is mushy and my creative spirits lifted. Thanks to everyone who attended a seminar, asked for a signature, posed questions, or shared responses to my many and various projects. Without an audience this work would not exist. This show serves as a joyous and emotionally overwhelming confrontation with that fact.

Or to put it another way, my current ear worm is the chorus to "Dream Weaver." And I think I like it.

On Sunday, the Pelgrane booth sold out of its pre-release copies of The New Hero and Shotguns v. Cthulhu.

The New Tales of the Yellow Sign sold most of its limited hardcover print run. Remaining copies will go to DragonCon courtesy of Adventure Retail, or to Atomic Overmind world headquarters, where they may be made available via mail order. The main softcover run releases next month.

Now I get to go home and decompress. Oh wait, no, tomorrow's TIFF program book day and the weekend's FanExpo. Belay that. Pass the espresso drum, nurse!