Tag Archives: The Last Gladiators

My take on TIFF 2011: The Good, the Bad and the Zombies

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Just got back from my final screening at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.  I saw six movies this year, which is maybe a bit more than usual; it seems I generally go to four or five.  As with past years, I hand-picked a handful of independent Canadian and foreign films, avoiding the premiere galas in the process.  I just don’t see the point in paying upwards of 40 bucks (once you add the tax) for a shitty seat off to the side of a theatre, where all the good ones are reserved, just to catch a glimpse of Brad Pitt–especially when his new movie opens next weekend.  That said, I kinda wanna see Moneyball, but I’ll wait till it’s out in theatres.

The six screenings I attended can be placed under three categories: The Good, the Bad and the Zombies.  Because everybody needs a little Sergio Leone in their lives from time to time… ;)

The Good

Sons of Norway.  A side-splitting Norwegian punk-rock coming-of-age story, featuring the music of the Sex Pistols and a cameo from Mr. Rotten himself, who also showed up at the screening.  Great stuff!

The Last Gladiators.  A gripping documentary about the hockey goon centred around ex-Habs star Chris “Knuckles” Nilan, but featuring candid interviews with other former fighters as well.  This one’s actually showing one last time tomorrow nite at 9:15.  Well worth the price of admission, if there are any tickets left.  Should win the People’s Choice Documentary award in my humble opinion.

Goon.  Although the sight of Seann William Scott on skates may seem a little strange, he stars in this Michael Dowse-directed film as a kind-hearted hockey scrapper who fights his way up to the top minor league.  I’d imagine this one will get some sort of theatrical run north of the border, but I didn’t mind paying a couple extra bucks to see the premiere–even if I was seated way off to the right of the screen.

The Bad

Play.  This Swedish film just didn’t resonate with me, for whatever reason.  A true-life tale of teenage bullying, it left me feeling cold and detached in spite of the subject matter.  There is a recurring scene with a crib on the train that, while mildly humourous, doesn’t add anything to the storyline, yet they kept going back to it for comic effect.  (A bit of levity, perhaps?)  The ending scene is also slightly strange, to say the least.

Hard Core Logo II.  My curiosity drove me to see this film, despite the strong belief that a sequel to Hard Core Logo should never have been produced.  An egotistical attempt at an art film with a tenuous connection to the original, bringing back the great Bucky Haight (played by Julian Richings) as a record producer and with Toronto band Die Mannequin replacing the Hardcores.  Bruce McDonald reprises his role as the documentary filmmaker while also casting himself as the ever-present narrator, unlike in the original, where his on-screen presence was minimal.  If McDonald really wanted to reuse the name, he should have called his last film, Trigger–which I quite liked, actually–Hard Core Logo II and renamed this one Die Mannequin!  Kill!  Kill! (or something like that), ditching the Joe Dick Exorcist bullshit in the process.

The Zombies

Juan of the Dead.  The first zombie film ever shot in Cuba, Juan is certainly more like Shaun, rather than Dawn of the Dead.  It follows two loveable losers and their offspring as a zombie outbreak strikes the communist country.  There is plenty of Cuban-spiced humour on tap, like the state TV news anchor who keeps referring to the zombies as political dissidents paid by the Americans, or the mass exodus of homemade rafts from the island.  An interesting new take on a classic horror theme.

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My TIFF take on… hockey-fighter films

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Although it’s taken a bit of a backseat in the past few days to concussions and faulty Soviet aircraft, fighting in hockey remains a hot-button issue.  And while I’m sure the TIFF organizers had their lineup of films put together months in advance, the fact that there were two movies about the fine art of hockey pugilism screening today at the festival couldn’t have been much more timely.

The Last Gladiators was a truly great documentary, following the career and post-hockey struggles of ex-Habs enforcer Chris “Knuckles” Nilan, while taking a broader look at that side of the game by interviewing tough guys like Terry O’Reilly, Tony Twist and the late Bob Probert.  (They also shot footage of Probert’s funeral.)  We even got both sides of the McSorely/Brashear incident from the men themselves.  Incidentally, when they shot Brashear, he was playing semi-pro hockey in Quebec, and the film crew got access to one of his games, as well as a day in the life of another not-so-famous minor-league fighter.

Nilan himself was in attendance, even for the 9:15 am second screening of the film.  Walking on crutches, you could tell he’s had a rough time, but he was just as dynamic in person as when you saw him on film.  He even showed a bit of distaste for Gary Bettman, who he feels is trying to take fighting out of hockey, warning that if you take it out of the game–and piss off all those Canadians and the American rednecks who watch hockey–it’ll be hard to put it back in.

My second screening of the day was a big premiere event, though hardly a black-tie affair.  The movie Goon, directed by Michael Dowse of FUBAR fame (fuckin’ giver eh!) is based on the autobiography of real-life minor-league scrapper Doug “The Thug” Smith and stars Seann William Scott of American Pie fame in the leading role.  Though I haven’t read the book, it’s safe to say that Dowse and the crew did their homework after having seen a documentary about the real deal.  At one point, the antagonist Ross Rhea (a tribute to Rob Ray, perhaps?) is suspended for a McSorely-like stick-swinging incident, and there is definitely a Gretzky/McSorely relationship between Scott and Marc-André Grondin, who stars as a cocky, Ovechkin-inspired Québecois star player who’s lost his touch after suffering a big hit to the head.  (Sidney Crosby, anyone?)

Although the on-ice action is pretty true-to-life, the locker-room and bus-ride scenes pay homage to Slap Shot while clearly showing that this movie was directed by the same guy who did FUBAR.  Some of the supporting cast, like the pill-popping goalie from Saskatchewan and the two wisecracking Russians are pure comic gold!

For the record, I gave The Last Gladiators a perfect five points on my People’s Choice ballot, while Goon got a four.  Great movie, but sometimes there ain’t nothing like the real thing, and The Last Gladiators is worthy of the People’s Choice Award in my humble opinion.