So tonight was a new experience for me, as it was my first go-round with the Toronto After Dark Film Festival.
Bob has been suggesting to me for a while that I should give it a go. It's not exactly in my wheelhouse, as I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of genre films...but the fun times I've had at the small handful of TIFF Midnight Madness screenings I've been to - not to mention last month's blast at HOUSE - led me to give it a try. Got off to a bit of a slow start though.
Despite the festival running for almost a week, tonight was my first screening - Neil Marshall's CENTURION. It's a hyper-violent sword and sandal epic about a platoon of Roman soldiers on the run from a legion of Celtic warriors on the fringes of The Empire. It stars Michael Fassbender, Noel Clarke, Olga Kurylenko and Dominic West, and draws more from GLADIATOR than it does THE 300. Unfortunately though, it wasn't nearly as much fun as either one of those movies.
One of the best things about it is Olga Kurylenko playing a rather badass tracker - who's mute, but still manages to let loose a damn good scream. She has a confidence about her, and her character seems to have this Terminator-like unstopability. She plays the sort of hunter you'd desperately try to hide your tracks from, because once she finds you - she's going to take you apart.
Then there's Michael Fassbender as our lead roman, a dude named Quintus Dias. He plays the part well, but isn't given a whole lot more to do besides continuing to lead his band of foxes from the would-be hounds that are perusing them. No badass lines, no wicked cool fighting moves...nothing to make the character particularly memorable in that Leonidas or Maximus sort of way. Again - not much fun.
These shortcomings (and there are many more) aren't a bad thing per se, as this festival isn't exactly about bringing in the best films the world has to offer. Unfortunately though, this wasn't quite the sort of B-Film to get the crowd ramped up. Don't get me wrong, they certainly were appreciative of a handful of delightfully gory deaths...but it didn't quite seem to connect with them on a level that I'm told PHOBIA 2 and ALL ABOUT EVIL achieved. Not too sure what this says about CENTURION's mainstream chances if it didn't click with an After Dark crowd.
Oh well, ya gotta start somewhere...and it's always fun to spend a night with my fellow Toronto movie bloggers.
Look for more TADFF coverege on Saturday when I recap my experience watching RUBBER - the film about a killer tire.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Hunter, The Hunted (CENTURION Plays Toronto After Dark)
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7 comments:
I was not a fan of this one either. Some good action but I found myself drifting off by the halfway point. I hope to get my full thoughts posted either today or tomorrow.
Marshall is usually an interesting genre 'schlocketeer'. Even "Doomsday", as terrible as it is, was pretty fun to watch.
And I still claim that "The Descent" is the last great horror film.
I loved this movie, it’s a crappy B movie but like all Neil Marshal movies it was great fun.
You might recall that this film made my top 5 most anticipated for the year, and it has yet to wash up on the shores of Vancouver Island... at least I think so.
Neil Marshall is one of my faves among my "Second tier" director set, and the subject matter is right up my alley. Really breaking my heart to hear it's not up to snuff.
Have you seen Dog Soldiers or The Descent?
CS... Didn't realize you were there man, woulda said hey if I did (though given that you've been at every show). I'll look for you at RUBBER tonight.
Likewise, I'm off to read your post!
@ Chase... It wasn't a complete waste of time or anything, just given what I know about the guy...I expected it to be a bit more on the grusome side. This was more on the long, drawn out footchase side.
@ Fandango... Really? I'm gonna have to find your post about it and give it a read.
@ Cynics... I'm almost ashamed to admit that I haven't been listening to you boys quite that long (I jumped on board around The Olympics). But I'll certainly be curious to hear what you have to say about it once it goes west.
Never seen any other Marshall films, though I have THE DESCENT on the list for a night I want a good freak-out.
It figures that your first exposure to After Dark was this film. I have pretty much the same feelings as most - not terrible, but just not what it could have been. Olga Kurylenko had a great death stare though.
Hopefully "Rubber" proves to be a bit more of a full bore After Dark experience. "Phobia 2" would've been a great introduction - really solid set of 4 creepy horror stories and a fifth one at the end that hit every note and had the audience roaring with laughter.
See ya there in a few hours...I should be at Paupers (2nd floor) around 5-ish to meet John. Swing by if you can (you too CS!).
@ Bob... Y'know, when my subway sat delayed in Yonge station for 20 minutes, I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get to actually attend RUBBER.
Thankfully, my badass cab driver made it happen.
Thanks again for suggesting I start coming to this festival. I'll definitely go full-bore at it next summer.
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