Two weeks ago now I somehow messed up on the showings at Carlton Cinema. I had planned on seeing Heavy Metal on Friday right after work, but it had closed Thurs. (rather than Friday). I saw that Scrapper, which had gotten good reviews, and was actually having a premiere at TIFF Lightbox. I definitely considered it, and may see it when it is in wider release (at least at TIFF) but I wasn't quite in the mood and it also seemed to be the case that the only tickets left were for TIFF members. I definitely wasn't going to stop by just to see if a seat opened up (as sometimes happens). In the end, I went and saw Theatre Camp, which Glenn Sumi had said was hilarious. It really was very funny, though I did agree with some critics who said that the mockumentary format didn't really add much to the film (and was dropped by the middle act...). I was never a "theatre nerd," but I was in the high school marching band. In my home town, the marching band or being in band generally was not niche. But we didn't go away for band camp or anything like that. We did, however, come back to school early (maybe a week or two at the end of August) to learn the music and practice the marching routines.
The following day (Sat.) I went and saw Grave of the Fireflies. My son joined me, which was nice, though I felt a bit bad after we realized just what a sad movie it was. And how pointless all the suffering was. I get that a young teenaged boy will make bad decisions out of too much pride, but no one (not least of all his aunt and uncle) would track him down and make sure he and his sister would survive at least? Certainly a major downer, but I have seen it now.
The following week I saw 5 Cm a Second, which is sort of about thwarted love, though it gets maybe just a bit squicky when you consider that the kids start out in 7th or 8th grade (so really puppy love...), though they seemed drawn as high schoolers to my eyes. Anyway, I was the only one in the theatre! The movie was just over an hour (though felt longer) and had lots of visually beautiful moments.
I'm not going to try to see The Boy and His Heron at TIFF during the festival, which has just ended at any rate. I'll just wait until it opens (apparently in early Dec.). One thing that has become clear is this is not a straight adaptation of How Do You Live? but rather it is about a boy and a magical talking heron. The boy occasionally reads and is inspired by the book. Anyway, this seems like something I'll definitely want to check out.
It does seem that I have to trek back up to Richmond Hill to see Howl's Moving Castle at the end of Sept. I guess that fact that I am not going to Ottawa for TAC after all (a sad story which I may or may not elaborate on) will make this a lot easier to do. And then I'll probably do the same for Spirited Away in the original Japanese (not dubbed) right around Halloween.
There are one or two other animated films coming to Carlton, but they don't have the times out yet. One of them is Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko, which I'll try to squeeze in somehow.
I think I'll pass on Queer Cinema Club this month (this Wed. actually) when they are screening To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar. I just have a bit too much else on my plate.
I guess I missed one of the Varda screenings at Paradise, but it wasn't one that grabbed me. I'm still a bit miffed that I missed out on Cleo from 5 to 7 by a day in Pittsburgh. I find it hard to believe TIFF Lightbox hasn't shown it once since then.
I probably will see Body Double on Friday* and then Demy's The Young Girls of Rochefort at 5 on Sat. They follow the Demy with Varda's One Sings, The Other Doesn't, but I think I'll be heading into the night for Nuit Blanche by that point.
Anyway, I think the only Varda I'll check out this month is The Beaches of Agnes on Monday the 25th -- and possibly Demy's Bay of Angels just before it. It's been ages since I've done a double-bill, though I used to at Film Forum in New York when they would show film noirs back-to-back.
* I was planning on doing this, but it turns out there is a free comedy set by Fred Armisen at the same time, and I think I'll go to that instead.
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