A few good movies

I've been lucky enough to get out to the Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West) twice in the past few weeks; once for the North American premiere of Repo! The Genetic Opera, and the second time for the Toronto Palestine Film Festival. Bloor Cinema has a nice, turn-of-the-century feel, and caters to artists, students, and the unemployed quite well. It also has midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show all this month - how cool is that?

The Bloor Cinema seems to always have a great line up playing, and I haven't been disappointed yet. The premiere of Repo! was sold-out, and as I arrived only twenty minutes early, my seat was at the back. Despite the distance between my seat and the screen, I managed to enjoy myself during this new cult classic. Well, it's not a cult classic yet, but I suppose it soon will be. A lot of die-hard fans waited in line for several hours for the premiere, dressed in horror garb though Halloween was not yet near. It's created quite a buzz over the Internet as well, pegging itself as a "Rocky Horror meets Blade Runner rock-opera/musical." (Phew!)

Repo! is a rock-opera of sorts; a Rocky Horror for a new generation. It takes place in the near future, where replacing internal organs is the new fad under the guidance of a mega-corporation named Geneco. They own most of society, and they make the rules. They allow you to take out payment plans so you can have as much surgery as you want, but if you're late, their Repo Man will meet you in the street and repossess your organs on the spot - it's a messy business. The storyline also follows seventeen-year-old Shilo Wallace, who cannot venture in the streets due to a rare condition and wishes she could be like her idol, the Geneco model and singer Blind Mag. As it turns out, her father is the Repo Man and Blind Mag is her godmother, and everything turns into a big mess. The movie is fairly gory and a touch disturbing at times, but it makes a good story out of a fairly far-out concept. There's the typical archetypes at work, and great performances by Sarah Brightman, Anthony Stewart Head, Paris Hilton (surprisingly, especially during her final scene), Alexa Vega, Paul Sorvino, and even Repo! writer Terrance Zdunich. The songs are catchy, the scenes well-done, and the story packs a few laughs throughout the gore. It's playing this month at the Bloor Cinema before it debuts at theaters across North America.

As for the Toronto Palestine Film festival, I caught most of the closing day screenings last Saturday, and I was impressed by the quality of the work. It was the first annual film festival, and it sold over 3,000 tickets. The coordinators said they received over 200 entries - full-length and shorts - and spent much time whittling it down into a great line-up. Two noteworthy movies I caught were US vs. Al-Arian and Slingshot Hip Hop. The first follows the story of Sami Al-Arian, a Florida professor who was accused of funding terrorist activities overseas. The trial and his treatment generated great controversy, and much of the documentary follows his family's reactions to the trial and his subsequent sentencing. It's an interesting case, made even more interesting by the lack of evidence upon which Al-Arian was convicted by the state, following a post-9/11 cleaning spree. It's worth a watch.

I thought the film fest was highly informative, and figured the last showing would be more of a documentary-style showcase than a movie, but I was wrong. Slingshot Hip Hop is a documentary, edited from over 700 hours of tape, but the feel is almost that of a Hollywood movie. Much of the camera work was done by the hip hop artists themselves, the director confessed, as she could not always travel back to Palestine to shoot film. The end result, however, was incredible, and very moving. It follows the story of several political hip hop groups in Palestine, separated by the physical divide in their nation, and their attempt to unite to carry a message to the people. But the story goes deeper, exposing the racism and injustices the Palestinians face at the hands of Israelis. At times, it was incredible to see some of the footage that made it back to the editing desk, with content that angered the crowd and alternately made them cheer. To fully sum it up would take some time, and to be honest, I'm still taken aback by it. I've started recommending it to friends and await its release. The DVD will go on sale soon; pre-orders are necessary as it is being distributed solely through their website at www.slingshothiphop.com.