With 55 full-length features and 73 shorts, the Edmonton International Film Festival is gearing up to be a week full of great stories told on the silver screen.
Edmonton is the kind of market that has trouble getting the best of independent and foreign cinema or the great documentaries that seemingly vanish before they even appear here. This then is the one shining moment when local residents can enjoy watching what they've gone without for so long.
The great news is that there's also a series of works that are dedicated to movies that have strong connections with this beautiful province of ours. Called Our Own Backyard, the series shows what movies have been made by Albertans or at least in Alberta.
"Every year the quality of the films that Albertans are creating continues to improve," said festival producer Kerrie Long. "There's an amazing indie filmmaking underground going on in Alberta. These people are making movies mostly through their passion and perseverance."
One of those films, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, leads the Gazette's coverage of capsule reviews.
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
I never thought I'd use the phrase 'horror comedy' in the same way that people say 'romantic comedy' but Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is actually a great 'horror-romantic-comedy'. Make that a 'horror-romantic-comedy of errors'.
The two men are really just well-meaning rubes, the kind that you've seen in Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Deliverance, except they don't want to kill. They just want to fish.
That's why Dale saves a young skinny-dipping college girl from drowning. They take her back to their newly-purchased rustic cottage (previously owned by a booby-trapping psychopath) and, well, one thing leads to another with mistaken identities and mishaps involving wood chippers and inordinately sharp tree stumps.
This brilliant spoof of horrors pits anti-heroes versus anti-villains as Tucker and Dale learn there's a difference between education and intellect, especially when it comes to inept college students who are prone to prejudice against country folk.
Pitch perfect performances prove that smart writing and acting can overcome even the lowest budget film while still including laugh-out-loud scenes and scenarios and characters more fleshed out than in tripe like Shark Night or camp wannabe-classics like Piranhas.
So what if the pacing and the tone need a little work? This film is genius and incredibly funny. Not bad for Sally Field's kid (writer director Eli Craig). It's a made-in-Alberta gem that you must see.
Playing tonight at 11:59 p.m. at the Metro Cinema in the Garneau Theatre.
— Scott Hayes
Big in Bollywood
Half documentary, half reality show, Big in Bollywood has the material to reveal the behind-the-scenes world of screen stars, an environment few are privileged to witness.
Unfortunately, it gets lost in the cacophonous hype of too many paparazzi, over-zealous crowds and extravagant awards show.
In this true story, Omi Vaidya, a struggling American actor lands a comedic dream role in a Bollywood film – 3 Idiots. His university buddies fly to Mumbai with cameras to document the premiere.
When Vaidya arrives in India, he's an unknown. Within a week of its release, 3 Idiots breaks all box office records and Vaidya is an instant celebrity.
The 70-minute documentary shows Vaidya relishing the instant recognition, but is also troubled by unceasing adulation.
"It feels like you're in a zombie movie and the zombies want to eat your brains," he says.
In one segment, he appears perplexed by a rush of fans and frets, "Kids get stepped on for a crappy photo on the cellphone."
Big is shot in short scenes with quick cuts between real life and Bollywood exaggeration. The Bollywood music is energetic, the frames of India are compelling and the obscurity-to-fame storyline has pull.
But Big lacks a beating heart. We only see the surface of Vaidya's notoriety wrapped in glitz and glamour and ultimately it's tough to care.
Having said that, Vaidya is scheduled to appear in person at the festival premiere Sunday, Sept. 25 at 4:45 p.m. at Empire Theatre.
Anna Borowiecki
A Bag of Hammers
Two ne'er-do-well young men find themselves faced with the prospect of growing up as they become acquainted with a 12-year-old boy, Kelsey, needing good parental figures.
Ben and Alan pose as parking valet attendants in what must be the most improbable auto theft enterprise imaginable. They live in undeserving luxury while Kelsey has to microwave his own meals. His chain-smoking mom Lynette (Carrie Preston) is too busy looking for any job in order to support herself and her son. Preston's performance is self-absorbed, bitter and absolutely perfect. Rebecca Hall, who plays the sister of one of the thieves, knows how to get good roles and should be more prominent. But that will certainly happen with time.
The ending might be a little pat, as it should have had the last two minutes cut off. Otherwise it's a pretty satisfying story with some sympathetic characters turning their lives around because of unexpected situations.
A Bag of Hammers screens as the closing night film at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Metro Cinema in the Garneau Theatre. Director Brian Crano will be in attendance for this crowd pleaser.
— Scott Hayes
