TIFF 2024 bonus episode 2: ghosts and monsters

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, hello everyone. It's Conrad here for the second of our bonus episodes on my experiences

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_01]: at TIFF and again I am joined by...

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Hello, it's still Jolib said I'm still bothering you all.

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_01]: No, it's wonderful. We wouldn't be anywhere without you. So our first episode focused on a whole brace of body horrors

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_01]: because there were so many of them this time we're going to talk about the other horror movies that we've seen at the festival

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER_01]: quite a few good ones to pick from the very first one which you haven't seen yet

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_01]: so you're just gonna have to quiz me on this one

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_01]: was Went Up the Hill which is directed by Samuel Van Grinsven

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that correctly but he is from New Zealand.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh really? Okay for some reason I didn't think that.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so it's a New Zealand film and I wanted to see it because I really enjoyed his first film Sequin in a Blue Room

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, okay.

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, which is a LGBTQ erotic thriller I would say.

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, kind of fever dreamy right?

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and this very much has that sort of sense about it as well

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and there is some queer representation in there too because it focuses on a queer couple

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_01]: one of them played by Vicky Creeps. Is that hey, perhaps that's something?

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I believe so.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so Vicky Creeps is just lost her wife who is an artist

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and her dead wife's son is arriving and that's played he's played by Daco Montgomerie

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_01]: from Stranger Things, The Lifeguard.

[00:01:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so he is arriving at the funeral of his mother who has never really had a relationship with

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_01]: they were separated when he was very very young he doesn't exactly know why

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_01]: so there are a lot of family secrets there it's quite clear that the rest of the family

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_01]: doesn't want him to be at the funeral and even more alarming it's not clear who actually

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_01]: invited him because he believes he was invited by Vicky Creeps character Jill

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_01]: but she has no memory of inviting him.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so is this a mystery movie?

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Somewhat yes it's it's sort of one of those movies where as it progresses you learn more

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_01]: about the characters backstories and therefore it fills in the blanks on how why they are

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_01]: behaving the way that they are behaving and why they have become the people that they have

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: become. Okay, so this is a bit of a soft genre film then because what I've gathered is that it's

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: a little stately like this sounds a bit slower maybe a little bit moodier?

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: It is, yeah and and it benefits from being shot in New Zealand in winter so it's very much the

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_01]: sort of glacial frosty almost scandy noir sort of landscape that you're set in so it's very

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_01]: slow they are staying in for the wake they are staying in this home that was designed and

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_01]: built by the artist and again sound design I noticed I do pay attention Dan you keep hearing

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_01]: all of these creaking and groaning wood noises in the wind as the wood is cooling and contracting

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_01]: or what have you so it very much feels like these two characters are trapped inside the belly of a

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_01]: beast slowly being consumed by the grief this character has left behind and what happens is

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_01]: it's a ghost story essentially okay because the two main characters Jack and Jill oh no went up the

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_01]: hill no yes I know I did grown in the theater when I realized that Jack and Jill the son and the wife

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_01]: discover that when they go to sleep at night one or both of them at some point during the evening

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_01]: will be possessed by the spirit of the dead woman the artist oh interesting and of course

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: they have very different types of relationships with her so do they know what's happening when

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_00]: they're being possessed or have they completely forgotten it when they wake up they have no idea

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_01]: but in some cases when they wake up in the morning they get a sense of what might have happened the

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_01]: night before and this can be disturbing to them for all kinds of reasons so we're entering into

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: sort of birth territory oh Jonathan Glazer 2004 20 years ago shocked when I saw that oh gosh yeah

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_01]: so we're getting into that sort of territory there's a point at which because there is some

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_01]: malevolence in what's going on maybe a sense of wanting to seize control of a body and be alive

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: again so there starts to get a feeling of we're afraid to go asleep so we're in sort of

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_01]: freddy kruge territory but again very much shot through with this very stately as you say slow moody

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: quiet scandy noir setting and in terms of just to give you a sense of the tone of the movie

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_01]: the soundtrack in particular I noticed it's by uh the score is by a composer called

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: honan town send who I believe worked with Terrence Marley con things like tree of life

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01]: okay so it's a score entirely composed of human voices oh whispering and moaning oh interesting yeah

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I can imagine that being very effective for what you described oh it is yeah I was really taken up

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_01]: by the atmosphere of the movie some of it feels a little bit mannered okay there are moments where

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_01]: it feels like that every time the possession ends both of them fall over and pass out and

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_01]: it starts to look like interpretive dance in slow motion or a kate bush music video right it gets a

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_01]: little bit too self-serious in places and personally I felt as though it had two climaxes okay and I was

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_01]: kind of done after the first one and it kind of felt like the second one was a repeat of the

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: first one although I understand they needed to give both characters an emotional resolution

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_01]: of course to the issues that they were trying to address which content warning touches on

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: self-harm and domestic abuse oh okay so it sounds like you're not quite as high on this title as you

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: were with others but it sounds like you enjoyed it I did enjoy it yeah and in particular I found

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_01]: that I was emotionally involved in it because there is a scene where day come and gumry confronts

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_01]: his mother about being abandoned oh and it got me okay I thought ooh day come on gumry can act

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: that's interesting because I mean he's obviously a very pretty face but I've not seen him in any kind

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_01]: of meaty dramatic performances before no I haven't and this was definitely you know the clip that you

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_01]: would use in your oscar nomination yeah yeah no he was very very good and vicky creeps was very

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_01]: good at sort of well of course mysterious and cold yeah I think she kind of excels at that kind

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_01]: thing anyway okay yeah I enjoyed it it was that was my very first movie of the festival like 845 in

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_01]: the morning just when you want a mannered ghost story yeah but I had my coffee I can't see it getting

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_01]: a huge release but I enjoyed it I think it's well worth seeking out if that sort of mood takes you

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_01]: very different film and one that you can contribute to

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: dead talent society yeah so this is a film from Taiwan by John Su and he previously did detention

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: which I had not seen so this is not detention from another filmmaker that we're going to talk about

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_00]: in a couple moments um detention is a video game adaptation okay it seemed like some people

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: liked it some people didn't but uh we're carrying over the lead actress but yeah dead town society is

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: interesting I've seen people describe it as a kind of beetle juice-esque story so it concerns a main

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: character called the rookie who is sort of newly dead and she and her best friend Kamila are

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: trying to negotiate the ghost world and you basically have to survive by becoming popular

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: in the afterlife so if you don't want to disappear in 30 days you need people to remember you and

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_00]: the best way to do that is to go viral on social media by scaring people yeah so it's a very

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_00]: outlandish premise but the film has this just really deep bench perspective on how the world

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_00]: works what the rules are it's very fun it's a very fast-paced moving it's almost like a heist film in

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_00]: a couple of different parts uh and surprisingly not just funny but very gory like there's moments of

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_01]: genuine horror in this film there are yeah but the audience was really into it I mean I was in a

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_01]: public screening right okay um but yet it went down a storm it is very high energy it is very

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_01]: funny it's full of lots of lovely details like the tradition of family members burning items

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_01]: for you to have in the afterlife and them actually showing up yeah so the you know the characters

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_01]: are complaining about the fact that they haven't gotten your food recently and people competing for

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_01]: haunting licenses yeah and bickering over their favorite haunting spots so it's it's full of

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_01]: lots of lovely details that make you want to know more about this oh yes afterlife world

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_01]: that they're inhabiting but it goes at such a breakneck pace and it is full of such gothic glee

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_01]: yeah that you kind of just get swept along with it and just accept these light brush strokes that

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_00]: sort of color the world around the main characters yeah there's enough detail that you feel like

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_00]: you understand but that you would welcome more like if I heard that this film was getting a

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: sequel I would be the first person in line because not to give anything away but this is my favorite

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: film of the festival right and I think it's just because it is doing everything so well

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and it feels so effortless and like it's a creative triumph in terms of just how it's

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_00]: visually executing all of these things but yeah I love spending time in this world

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's got a lot of hearts like at at its base it's really about this girl trying to find her way

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_00]: through a new space and feeling like she hasn't accomplished anything like there's this recurring

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_00]: motif where she goes to see her parents who are slowly forgetting her and that's why she has to get

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_00]: the haunting license and get a big scare or else she will disappear and die a second time

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_00]: but in terms of true Chinese culture you know the expectation on this girl was that she was

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_00]: going to be something exceptional so there's a trophy case that the family has with a designated

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_00]: slot for her accomplishments which she never accomplished in real life so her whole afterlife

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_00]: is being driven by this idea that she still wants to make her family proud and the movie

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_00]: ultimately becomes a kind of ode to found family which other people relate to very strongly

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_00]: but it's got such a great amount of hurt but then you also get as you said swept up in these people

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_00]: just running around getting involved in madcap heists and activities and the movie is so quick

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and well edited and those comedic punches are just coming all the time like it's just

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_01]: a really really enjoyable film to watch yeah especially for a genre fan because it is so much

[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_01]: conversation with the genre just talking about the mechanics of setting up scares

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_01]: just watching this group of ghosts engineer behind the scenes how they're going to escalate until

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_01]: this final scare point this moment that will make it go viral and just complaining about

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_01]: the fact that movies and social media have really made it difficult for them to compete

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_01]: yeah and how apathetic and tired the audience is getting so you've got these jaded zoomers

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_01]: who are still filming with their mobile phones while they're screaming at the scare that's

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_01]: happening in front of them yeah so it's it's very much the deconstruction of the genre

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_01]: is very playful with horror movie tropes as well yeah but we're still paying homage to them

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_00]: like yeah one of the the most successful ghosts has gone viral effectively because she recreated the ring

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_00]: and her costuming in the film is tantamount to the main character from perfect blue so like this is

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_00]: this is a creative who who knows about the genre who is poking fun at it the skating critique

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_00]: of influencer culture in this movie feels so timely and so relevant particularly to someone

[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_00]: who is getting impatient with influencers and influencer culture um i mean maybe that just

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_00]: has more about me than it does about the film but i like that the film had a point of view

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_00]: but it was doing it in as you said that playful way yeah it's very loving at the same time so

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_01]: it's not filled with the anger that you find in no the substance for example no i was fortunate

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_01]: enough because i was in a public screening john sue was there okay with his lead actor jingle

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_01]: wang and it was lovely to see them and he told this really good story about the genesis of the film

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_01]: he was watching one of many j horror movies right because he's a huge fan and he he suddenly had

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_01]: this moment where he saw this you know woman in white with long dark hair crawling awkwardly

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_01]: through a public toilet that was covered in filth trying to execute as a scare you know it's

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_01]: supposed to be a scary moment and he wasn't scared because he'd seen it dozens of times before

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and thought it was kind of tired so instead what he experienced was this odd kind of empathy for the

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_01]: ghost and finally just concluded this must be the shittiest job in the world right that you

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: have to do this look at this environment look at what you are physically having to do it's not

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_01]: because this can't be fun and that was the the germ of the idea for him is what is that like

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_01]: doing that yeah so it eventually turned into his elevator pitch was monsters ink but with ghosts

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_01]: right yeah j horror ghosts yeah and that is essentially what it is yeah and it's very personal

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_01]: as you said it's full of heart but it comes from a very personal perspective for him because

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_01]: despite his first film being so successful he and jingle both said that they felt imposter syndrome

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_01]: that they didn't feel as though they deserved their sudden fame because he was that main character and

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_01]: his family does have the awards display case with a shelf on it and his shelf is empty so if he wins

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_01]: the people's choice award here at tiff they were joking that he would finally have something

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_01]: to put on that display case oh my gosh high stakes high stakes indeed yeah i think that's

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_01]: one of my favorites for sure i think ultimately my my favorite is the substance but you saw that

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_01]: before you came to tiff with it i did yeah but this was definitely another favorite it was a really

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER_01]: good time so that's our two ghost movies should we do heretic sure so Hugh Grant in a creepy puzzle

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_01]: box of a movie the central premises that to their latter-day saints aren't they yes they're

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Mormons yeah so they are on their mission which is where they have to go and spread the good word

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_01]: played by Sophie Thatcher who plays barns sister barns i think she's from yellow jackets which i

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_01]: haven't seen yeah she's the makeup artist in maxine as well yes that's just a brief single scene

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and Chloe East who plays sister paxton they show up at Hugh Grant's house he's very charming

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_00]: he's very British he invites them in to tell him about Jesus yeah finding your savior and of course

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_00]: they're not meant to go in alone because as Mormons there should always be a woman present

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_00]: along with a man and he reassures them that his wife is in the kitchen baking a blueberry pie

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_00]: they can just come in and then of course the locks go in and we can't find a way to open

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_00]: the door and what's interesting is that if you watch the trailer for this film this is by Beckenwoods

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_00]: so they're responsible for things like the Adam Driver dinosaur movie 65 they wrote the screenplay

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_00]: for a quiet place the first film so they're pretty accomplished horror writer directors

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and i think that this film has a great sense of style in terms of its production design the

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_00]: using the camera to create a lot of movement and feeling because it's all set in Hugh Grant's house

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_00]: but at the end of the day this is a religious dogma film yeah it's a philosophical debate yeah

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_01]: he's essentially testing them and their beliefs through what amounts to sort of a labyrinth of

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_01]: puzzles very much like the labyrinth at one point quite literally yeah he presents them

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_01]: with two doors you know do you want to go through the left door or the right door yeah

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_01]: the first thing to focus on is Hugh yes he hasn't been in a horror film since layer of the white worm

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_01]: i love that you have that just in your back pocket yes which we did on the podcast and we

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_01]: enjoyed it very much this is his first time playing a villainous role in a horror movie

[00:18:00] [SPEAKER_01]: though although he has been a very good villain in things like the Paddington movie yeah the

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and i think this is the horror movie role he was born to play because gosh he is an intellectually

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_01]: very astute he is incredibly articulate oh yeah in his arguments there's a lot of religious

[00:18:19] [SPEAKER_01]: dogma and philosophy to get through and he delivers it with such a plon and keeps you engaged

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_01]: he's charming he's witty he's funny he's putting in so funny yeah little modern references

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_01]: and so on and callbacks to previous scenes he really is sort of the showman that's keeping

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_01]: this magic trick of a movie humming along it's true yeah i mean i think it's going to be

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_00]: impossible for people to walk away from this film not praising him i do think you'd be remiss

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_00]: not to recognize the two women though because really if you don't care about what happens to them

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_00]: the whole film ultimately falls apart and we can have a discussion about whether or not we

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_00]: feel this is an ultimately successful film i think you saw this in a different screening than me

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_00]: but you mentioned that you could immediately imagine this as a stage production and i think in

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_00]: some ways that's a bit of a compliment and i think to a lot of people that's going to be something

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_01]: of a detraction yeah i think it would be i actually don't think that it's a bad thing to do

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_01]: like a movie adaptation of a stage play or vice versa i think it's a fine thing they're very

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_01]: different art forms but i could see this being because it is it's a locked room drama yeah and so

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_01]: it entirely hinges on the performances and yes if you had nothing to play against then it wouldn't

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_01]: matter yeah and uh yeah both barns and paxton are engaging characters is it too much of a spoiler

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_01]: for me to say that it goes in surprising directions in terms of those two characters

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_00]: i don't want to say too much yeah people haven't seen it i think we we dance around it but yeah

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_00]: the the film doesn't always do what you expect i would argue that it too early telegraphs that

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER_00]: that's the case so when something happens i thought oh okay well i anticipated that you weren't going

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_00]: to do the thing i thought you were going to do which is maybe too much of a nudge nudge wink

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_00]: wink but yeah um i found that maybe that's actually my ultimate problem with the film

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_00]: i did enjoy it but i think it's a little pedantic in terms of it really just wants to

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_00]: sermonize at you about the deficiencies in all contemporary religions and there's something

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_00]: fun and playful about the way that Hugh Grant's character dissects that and tests these girls

[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_00]: but at the same time it is a lot of speechifying and it's very little action so for traditional

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_00]: horror purists they're going to look at this and say nothing happens in this movie yeah and i would

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_00]: argue ultimately the outcome isn't overly surprising so it's not as though it's breaking too much new

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_00]: ground so it really does in my mind live and die on those three performances as well as

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_00]: how good beckon woods are at making this not feel too too stagey yeah no i think you're

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_01]: absolutely right i do think it runs out of steam yeah it's too long it's too long i got a

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_01]: little bit bored in the middle section i think it's a fantastic premise i think the first act is

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_01]: absolutely thrilling oh fantastic and i think once it gets beyond that i started to i thought it was

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_01]: sort of diminishing returns as it kept testing and expanding its central premise yeah and ultimately

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_01]: landed somewhere that i thought was a little bit tween yeah i don't think the ending is quite

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_00]: satisfying enough for me and not as a bit of a payoff for those meandering last two acts

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_00]: still it's never not entertaining but i think it it could have either pushed it further and maybe

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_00]: been a bit more excitable or could have really tried something different and it sort of settled

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_00]: for i'm going to say a bit of a safe ending yeah i think so still i enjoyed it very much yeah i

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_01]: wouldn't say it isn't like a scary horror film no it's engaging yeah it's a thinker it's a thinker

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: do i think that i will still be talking about this at the end of the year i'm not sure no really

[00:22:19] [SPEAKER_00]: not sure about that no maybe for Hugh Grant's performance maybe and i think this was the

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_01]: screening that i i walked out of this screening and as i was walking through scotia bank i passed

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_01]: brandon cronenberg lining up for another screening okay i didn't say anything to him

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and then uh when i got outside i was asked if i could just stay still for a second and i thought

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_01]: why and it turned out that denny villner needed to go past me to get into his car that was waiting

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_00]: oh look at you hobnobbing with all of the famous canadian directors i know so that was

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_01]: quite the morning for me okay yeah i did sort of message my friends and say hashtag typical tiff

[00:23:01] [SPEAKER_01]: tuesday right now it is quite fun wandering around here and bumping into people i think you saw

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_00]: brandon cronenberg on the street did i did yes and and the weirdest thing is i mean probably not

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_00]: at all surprising to anyone who has ever encountered anyone famous but they really do

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER_00]: just look like us it's not you know they're maybe getting some special treatment because they've

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_00]: got a car waiting for them and we need to hold the line but apart from that they're just regular

[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_01]: folks walking around in the movie theater yeah no it's been fun for that just not knowing who you

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_01]: might bump into right so our last film after we've done two ghosts and one hugrant is a 50s

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_01]: monster movie or in the style of 50s monster movie is very much styled on the blob and perhaps

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_01]: it's 90s equivalent the faculty so this is ick by joseph kahn yeah i hadn't seen his previous film

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_01]: you had warned me before i went into it that i may find his style challenging right i uh

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_01]: definitely did yeah it's an interesting premise i do love the premise so the town has been invaded

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_01]: by something that they colloquially call the ick it's sort of like mold that sometimes grows into

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_01]: like tentacled splodges of sort almost what is organic it's not quite a plant not quite an animal

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_01]: it's just sort of there yeah doesn't seem to move doesn't seem to react to people particularly

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_01]: so everyone has just become apathetic towards it and forgotten that in fact you're spanning

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_01]: i think about 10 years i think 20 20 wow okay yeah because you're forgetting we're getting all

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_01]: the 2000s music it's the 2000s nostalgia so you're introduced to hank played by brandon marylth is

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_01]: it him in the 20 years ago segment being dh digitally or is it another actor oh it's not digitally

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_00]: dh it's just a terrible terrible wig oh it's a it's a frightful wig i knew that i mean period

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_00]: accurate but horrifying yes to look at now yeah it's sort of sitting on his head like a fire hazard

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_01]: it's it's quite impressive so hank was the the jock yeah he had his whole life ahead of him scholarship

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_01]: and fame and fortune but unfortunately her girlfriend yeah played by minas avari it's lovely to see her

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_01]: in something again and um yeah unfortunately the ick trips him up yes on a crucial play and he

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_01]: breaks his leg in about 86 different places by the look of it and that completely changes the

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_01]: direction of his life he loses the cheerleader girlfriend and he ends up a school teacher

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_01]: trapped in his hometown and he has a new student who is the daughter of his head cheerleader girlfriend

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_01]: from his high school days yep grace who may or may not be his yeah so the film is very

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_00]: interested in exploring the potential father daughter relationship between these characters

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_00]: but also the ick has begun making moves so we learned that it has entered into a new phase in

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_00]: which it is rapidly beginning to consume all kinds of living creatures so the town effectively

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_00]: comes under attack by the ick and people have to fight to save themselves or you would think

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_00]: this is what they would do but the film is also very interested in satirizing people's

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_00]: ambivalent responses so we're actually lampooning I would say both the left and the right

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_00]: quite strongly in this movie so there's this one fantastic scene after a bunch of teenagers have

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_00]: been killed at a house party where the town has come together at the most important establishment

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: in town which is a play on a walmart and they're told by the army that they need to stay inside

[00:26:58] [SPEAKER_00]: they need to barricade the doors you know stock up on supplies do not go outside absolutely do not

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_00]: go to the prom and all of the residents just reject this and we start throwing around words like

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_00]: crisis actors and you know don't infringe on my rights uh you know we'll sue you and so on

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's it's such an outlandish but also very familiar response I just can't help but laugh

[00:27:25] [SPEAKER_01]: oh yeah it's very good so you have all of the sort of flag waving types and the rejection of

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_01]: specialists and experts yes so you have an authority figure saying no this is what this

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_01]: situation is please follow these guidelines and you have somebody else edging up to the microphone

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_01]: saying yes but you might be this and have these credentials but isn't it great that

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_01]: all of us can have an opinion and her response is no no it really isn't it really isn't a good idea

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and we even have a wonderful lampooning of the scene where the the town science teacher which is

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Hank suggests what could be a solution for destroying the yick and that is pretty harshly

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_01]: satirized and lampooned by the official figure who points out yeah yeah we figured that out first

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_00]: get that out yeah that was our first guess thanks very much yeah and I for me this worked a lot better

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I think in part because I am familiar with Joseph Kahn's previous films so if folks have seen

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_00]: bodied or more appropriately the other detention that I mentioned earlier in this episode so

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER_00]: this one is from 2011 it stars Josh Hutcherson very similar kind of energy so I explain this

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_00]: to Conrad that I think if you're being generous you could call this kinetic and if you're not

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_00]: being generous you would call it manic Joseph Kahn does have a background in music videos

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and he has very much carried over that sense of style to his feature films so you are running

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_00]: at 11 the entire film and that can get really exhausting so I think these moments of really

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_00]: successful satire or comedy they land well but then there's no respite there's no moments of calm

[00:29:15] [SPEAKER_00]: for you to even just appreciate the kind of widows systems that the movie has because it is go go go

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_01]: the entire time yeah and for me it completely undermined the delivery I thought it was a very

[00:29:27] [SPEAKER_01]: very funny script yeah it reminded me of the kind of impact that joss weeden had with his

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_01]: buffy style dialogue particularly with grace who we should mention played by Melina Weisman

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_00]: who is so funny yeah folks may recognize her from the Netflix version of a series of unfortunate

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_00]: events she played Violet yeah very different role very different she was so funny in this film like

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_00]: very sardonic you're right the joss weeden comparison is so apt because she is credibly

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_00]: acerbic she's very smart except when the script doesn't want her to be smart and then she's up

[00:30:05] [SPEAKER_00]: necking with her clearly terrible boyfriend on the bluff after the ick has killed half of her

[00:30:11] [SPEAKER_00]: classmates for no apparent reason she is completely confident just being out with this junior sociopath

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_01]: yeah it's very peculiar because you feel as though the movie has reached a crisis point

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_01]: with the ick attacking the town yes and then they just take their foot off the gas and don't

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_01]: do anything which is okay for the joke after the sort of town gathering together see yeah but it

[00:30:34] [SPEAKER_01]: sort of deflates the forward momentum of the movie until it then goes for a second climax

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_01]: which is just so impossible to follow and so tedious at the same time yeah the style I found

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_01]: very difficult it undermined what I thought was a very witty script because nothing was given

[00:30:53] [SPEAKER_01]: the comedic timing to land nothing was given a moment to breathe no to emotionally land either

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_01]: because you try to develop the father daughter relationship which you could tell with the performers

[00:31:04] [SPEAKER_00]: could really work yeah yeah they were doing their best the problem is that the characters don't act

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_00]: like people they're either very shallow one-dimensional they're verging on caricatures I would say

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_00]: even our main leads don't behave like real people in a crisis and you're right it does

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_00]: sometimes work for the joke but it doesn't work to help create stakes or emotional investment I was

[00:31:28] [SPEAKER_00]: so checked out in the climax of this film because it was so obvious we were not going to kill

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_00]: anyone important but we are very prepared to kill every red shirt on screen oh yeah and then the

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_00]: other issue I had is we actually have a clip of the Chuck Russell Blob from 1988 or 86 and

[00:31:47] [SPEAKER_00]: you know it's a nice reference it acknowledges that we know what this film is playing off of

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_00]: but the ick itself is CGI and it looks like CGI it is yeah it looks like cheap it does not look

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_00]: good like and sometimes it looks interesting the way it moves I'm particularly like how it

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_00]: bubbles when it creeps under you know doors and around windows and that kind of stuff but

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_00]: especially in the end when the ick has become this gargantuan town devouring blob it looks like the worst

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Marvel CGI that you've seen and I honestly just completely tuned out of the ending because

[00:32:31] [SPEAKER_00]: it didn't matter none of it mattered and it didn't look good no it didn't it's a shame because

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I think there is a really great script there yeah with a bit of fine-tuning and a different

[00:32:41] [SPEAKER_01]: directorial approach I think it could have been something you had the blob in the 50s the

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_01]: great blob in the 80s the faculty in the 90s yeah you could have had this for a new generation and

[00:32:52] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe I'm just too old maybe this is this will land perfectly and this is hilarious and I'm just

[00:32:57] [SPEAKER_01]: too old to be able to follow it along and appreciate it but yeah it definitely has a

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_00]: youthful energy to it that maybe we have grown out of I would say folks if you're a fan of

[00:33:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Khan's detention film this is probably going to play reasonably well because they do feel very similar

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_00]: but I guess the only other reason I would really say seek this out I mean Raina Ruth is great it's

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_00]: nice to see him get a nice starring role again but the other reason is the soundtrack because

[00:33:27] [SPEAKER_00]: as you said Conrad this is a throwback to the 2000 so if you have been missing Stacey's mom

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_00]: or songs by Creed this is the soundtrack of our youth yes in fact the screening that I was in

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_01]: which was a press screening so not a public screening there was no laughter whatsoever

[00:33:48] [SPEAKER_01]: oh okay I appreciated all of the jokes but I was just sort of smiling to myself or sort of breathing

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER_01]: through my nose I wasn't laughing out loud the only time that people in the audience were

[00:33:59] [SPEAKER_01]: laughing were when certain tracks started on the soundtrack yeah and I think for a lot of people

[00:34:04] [SPEAKER_01]: it really was sort of a throwback like oh god I haven't thought about Stacey's mom for 20 years

[00:34:09] [SPEAKER_01]: exactly yeah so there was a lot of that a lot of recognition laughter but other than that

[00:34:14] [SPEAKER_00]: the jokes didn't land at all it's so interesting yeah because I was in a P&I screening as well

[00:34:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and it was a little more silent than I think I would have cared for I now wonder what the

[00:34:26] [SPEAKER_00]: experience would have been like because this is a midnight madness film so I wonder if it would

[00:34:31] [SPEAKER_00]: play better with an energetic appreciative audience yeah may well do but it was a miss for me this one

[00:34:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I enjoyed elements I appreciated aspects of it but it was a miss I thought yeah yeah

[00:34:45] [SPEAKER_01]: so there you go that's another four films four horror films that I've seen while I'm here

[00:34:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I do have a few more that I am due to see okay is there anything left that you're looking

[00:34:54] [SPEAKER_00]: forward to seeing yeah so there's one remaining midnight madness film that I'm quite excited to see

[00:34:59] [SPEAKER_00]: it's a low budget almost local found footage film called it doesn't get any better than this

[00:35:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and I've heard from multiple people that it's actually quite good and quite effective at what

[00:35:11] [SPEAKER_00]: it does so I don't really know any of the details I was just recommended nay ordered to go and

[00:35:17] [SPEAKER_00]: check it out by a couple of folks so I'm eager to see if it lives up to expectations

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_01]: yeah I'm down to see that one too I'm also seeing Steven Soderbergh's presents

[00:35:27] [SPEAKER_00]: okay I have seen that one okay I saw it with a friend of mine who has seen some of his other

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_00]: ventures into soft horror I'm going to say so if you've seen it's not dissimilar to that

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_00]: but I would describe presence as something more of an exercise than a successful film

[00:35:48] [SPEAKER_01]: okay it's a ghost story but from the perspective of the ghost as I understand it yes yeah I'm also

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_01]: going to see Mike Flanagan's new Stephen King adaptation ah yes okay I saw Stephen King actually

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_00]: yes he was here which is apparently very rare he doesn't leave Maine very often no it was ridiculous

[00:36:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I was just wandering through scotia bankland and I thought to myself oh that elderly gentleman

[00:36:12] [SPEAKER_01]: looks like Stephen King and it was and I walked past him thought oh no actually it was it is

[00:36:17] [SPEAKER_01]: he was here yeah so he was here to support the life of Chuck which

[00:36:22] [SPEAKER_01]: yes not horror no as I understand it this is more in the vein of Shawshank perhaps yes yeah

[00:36:28] [SPEAKER_01]: it should be quite emotionally affecting well okay yeah I'm up for that so those are the

[00:36:33] [SPEAKER_01]: three that I'm looking forward to not the Sarah Paulson film that is on my list but you

[00:36:38] [SPEAKER_00]: haven't really gotten me excited about that one no yes unfortunately just before we recorded this

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I saw the new film hold your breath which is out on Hulu here in North America in early October

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER_00]: it's a bit of a period film where Sarah Paulson plays a mother whose husband is left to go and

[00:36:57] [SPEAKER_00]: find work during the depression and she's there you know manning the western frontier

[00:37:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and there is a threatening figure who appears and says that he's been sent to check on her

[00:37:07] [SPEAKER_00]: on behalf of her husband and he can't entirely be trusted but also you know we're running low

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER_00]: on resources and also she hasn't been sleeping well and the last time she didn't sleep bad things

[00:37:21] [SPEAKER_00]: happened so it's very much a paranoid is she losing her mind is she being threatened from

[00:37:27] [SPEAKER_00]: external forces you know where this is going and I think the problem that I had with the

[00:37:33] [SPEAKER_00]: film is that I knew where it was going about five minutes in and then I had to watch the

[00:37:37] [SPEAKER_00]: remaining hour and a half it's still on my list okay yeah and it's not costing me anything so

[00:37:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I guess I'll go and have a cheap she delivers a good performance even if the film itself is

[00:37:48] [SPEAKER_01]: not inherently very exciting so a couple more ghost movies and a found footage so should be fun

[00:37:54] [SPEAKER_01]: yes okay so we'll be back again with our tiff coverage thanks Joe so much for joining me on

[00:38:02] [SPEAKER_00]: these and showing me around town oh my pleasure I'm so glad to have finally met you in person and

[00:38:07] [SPEAKER_00]: also get to experience the festival with you yeah where can people follow you and find out more of

[00:38:14] [SPEAKER_00]: what you've seen here yeah if you want to read my attempts to convey some of this in written form

[00:38:19] [SPEAKER_00]: you could follow me at Beast on My Remote and that's the letter B and I've published a

[00:38:25] [SPEAKER_00]: couple of reviews on these films so as well do check it out okay bye for now everyone