This week on Screen Grabs: Reality TV that lives up to its name, small screen stars brought to the cinema, badass Brad Pitt, killer lizards from South Korea, and more!

56 Up

Without sounding hyperbolic, it’s safe to say that Michael Apted’s Up series is one of the most interesting experiments in the history of film. The documentaries, beginning with 1964’s Seven Up produced by Granada Television, cast the spotlight on 14 children and have since returned to them every seven years (see: 14 Up, 21 Up, 28 Up, etc) to track the progression of their lives. 56 Up is the latest instalment, and sees several original participants return after a multiple film absence. Make sure to pack a hankie…

Killing Them Softly

Writer-director Andrew Dominik may … Read More

This week on Screen Grabs: Warm bodies, cold feet, interstellar viral vids and chaos theory in the third dimension. Life finds a way…

Lowlife

This weekend (Nov. 16-18), DIY drug-horror mudcurdler Lowlife screens in 23 cities across Canada (including a stop at Broken City in Calgary). Whet your appetite once more with this “behind the scenes” clip, and visit their site for a full list of screening locations. More importantly, read Fast Forward Weekly tomorrow for a cover story on the film.

World War Z

Thanks to 28 Days Later, monster mash-up novels and meta-zom-coms like Juan of the Dead there are few fresh angles left on the reanimated. However, that hasn’t stopped German director Marc Forster (whose wide-ranging CV includes Monster’s … Read More

This week on Screen Grabs: An operatic nursing home, the Necronomicon redux, a whole new spin on soy sauce, and a double dose of Bruce Willis. Yippee ki-yay!

Quartet

One of my more embarrassing guilty pleasures is the period drama / soap opera Downton Abbey. There’s not much I could say to my dude friends to justify watching it each week, but hey, the snarky scene stealing of Maggie Smith is totally fun. The distinguished Dame takes on a similar role in Quartet as a retired opera singer, starring alongside fellow silver foxes Billy Connoly, Pauline Collins and Michael Gambon. Clearly, the directorial debut of Dustin Hoffman isn’t aimed at my demographic, but pop on the kettle and let’s get cozy.

Evil Dead

On the other hand, one thing that’s … Read More

This week in Screen Grabs: Tarantino, Tarantino, sad-sack superheroes, Rwandan cyclists, and the sound and vision collaboration of my dreams.

Django Unchained It’s hard to imagine the bar being raised from the outrageous heights of Inglorious Basterds, but Quentin Tarantino has never been one to back down. The second trailer for his rip-roaring genre flick shows off some more action from Django (the D is silent), Dr. Schultz, Calvin Candie and the unmistakable voice of Samuel L. The wide release date is December 25th, so stick this in your stocking and smoke it!

The Man With The Iron Fists RZA’s ape-shit martial arts extravaganza has been hyped up for a while now, but the appetite of Wu Tang bangers will be satisfied with two new … Read More

After the pinch-hit home run on last week’s column from Mark Teo, I’m back up to the plate, but we’ll be alternating editions from here on out. The hivemind theme this time is awesomely unhinged women. And… action!

Price Check

Parker Posey’s appearances on season three of Louie provided some of the funniest moments of the awe-inspiring anti-sitcom, so it’s great to see her back in feature-length flip-out mode. So far this film has received mixed reviews, and even judging by the trailer its plot looks pretty hacky, but her performance should still be worth the price (*cough*) of admission.

Stoker

That all said, PP looks relatively restrained compared to this crackers family. Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, the Vengeance trilogy … Read More

It’s full on CIFF-apalooza here at Fast Forward Weekly, and that includes Screen Grabs. Switching it up from the usual format, this week’s column narrows its focus to trailers for films at the 2012 fest. I’ve mentioned several of these titles before, and many of them will be featured in more detail in the issue that hits the stands tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy the sneak peek!

Beauty is Embarassing
Wayne White is the puppet master behind Pee-wee’s Playhouse and the source of some of the ’90s most unforgettable imagery. This documentary follows his pre- and post-Pee-wee path into the world of music videos, TV and “legitimate” art, with testimonials from Mark Mothersbaugh, Matt Groening and more. Let the cartoon begin!

Amour

On the … Read More

With TIFF in full swing and CIFF on the way, the big screen hype machine is churning out trailers at a furious pace. If there’s a micro-trend for the week, it might be movies about drugs. Spark it up!

Smashed

Aaron Paul has experience with onscreen amphetamines through his role as a meth-chef on Breaking Bad, but in this film he plays the lesser of two addicts. Mary Elizabeth Winstead has picked up some festival buzz for her performance as Paul’s wife struggling to kick the habit after a bender, while the supporting cast features comedy super-couple Meghan Mullaly and Nick Offerman (looking especially goofy in a goatee and sweater vest).

How To Make Money Selling Drugs
If The Wire piqued your interest in the world’s fastest growing … Read More

With just over a week to go until TIFF, it’s been a mad dash to keep up with the barrage of new trailers. The big ones I’m waiting for are Terrence Malick’s To The Wonder and the Graham Chapman tribute A Liar’s Autobiography, but until those hit the web, there’s no shortage of titles to get excited about. Let’s go!

Io e Te (Me and You)
Bernardo Bertolucci is probably most notorious for the sexed-up Marlon Brando classic Last Tango In Paris, but his lengthy filmography also includes The Last Emperor, Once Upon A Time In The West and too many more to list here. For his first film in 10 years (screening as part of the TIFF Masters series), Bertolucci returns to more hormonal territory with this story of a 14-year-old hiding out in the basement with … Read More

Screen Grabs returns this week with a fresh bag of goodies. From Judd Apatow to Jack Kerouac, Rudy-inspired sports films to the long-delayed remake of a cult classic, there’s a metric tonne of fun in the world of trailers.

Killing Them Softly
Bang! This stylish crime flick got a lot of love after premiering at Cannes, and it’s now set for wide release in October. Director Andrew Dominik reunites with Brad Pitt after their previous team-up The Assassination of Jesse James and casts him as a swift-acting enforcer. After a pair of junkies stick up a poker game, several competing forces are hired to clean up the pieces, but it can’t be that simple. Look for James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Casey Affleck and more in the badass hit of the fall.

 … Read More

Before we get to our regularly scheduled trailers, I wanted to include a brief eulogy for French experimental filmmaker Chris Marker, who passed away this week one day after celebrating his 91st birthday. Marker is best known for the meditative travelogue Sans Soleil and stunning sci-fi short La Jetée, bending the medium and the brain with its use of still photos (plus inspiring Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys). Both titles are available as a set from Criterion, but you can also watch the latter in full below.



Cloud Atlas

David Mitchell’s 2004 novel Cloud Atlas is one of the most impressive pieces of fiction in recent years, weaving together dizzying narratives, time periods and literary techniques. It’s the kind of thing that … Read More