The pickings do not look good for January at my main movie houses, although perhaps all is not lost.
A preliminary skim of the listings for the Royal, Revue and Paradise theatres had me thinking I won't be idling away much time at any of them. It looked to be a steady parade of humdrum mainstream sheit.
The Royal
However, if you're a punk rock fan, mark down Monday, Jan. 17 or Tuesday, Jan. 18: a double bill of the excellent End of the Century, about the seminal Ramones (my review here), and The Filth and the Fury, a terrific doc about the Sex Pistols.
If you like Japanese gangster movies (pick me!), Takeshi Kitano's Sonantine is playing on Jan. 19 and 20 (Kitano starred in the recent Zaitochi: The Blind Swordsman).
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, is supposed to be a terrific work of anime. Akira, which plays with it on Jan. 12 and 13 at the Royal, was a well-reviewed 1989 work of anime.
Infernal Affairs is back for another go-round after playing T.O. this past fall. It's a Hong Kong police drama involving two cops: one deep, deep undercover with a triad, and the other a corrupt detective on the way up.
The T.O. critics loved it. It got a 98 per cent positive rating on Rottentomatoes.com. I thought it was okay, like six or seven out of 10, but left the theatre wondering why the critics lost their minds over it.
For a full dose of cult madness, Thursday, Jan. 27 is your day at the Royal: The double-bill is John Waters' Pink Flamingos and Bruce LaBruce's The Raspberry Reich, a selection of the Midnight Madness program at this year's TIFF.
However, the Royal didn't have specific Cult Madness Thursdays this month.
The two Kung Fu Fridays offerings this month are Life of A Ninja (Jan. 7) and The Stranger and the Gunfighter (Jan. 21).
Revue Cinema
I have enjoyed the classics series at the Revue, but there doesn't appear to be a winter version.
Their line-up looks pretty blech.
Paradise Cinema
The Paradise looks better. On Jan. 12 and 13 is a double bill of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the Richard Linklater films with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.
Zhang Zimou's Hero, which I confess to liking more than House of Flying Daggers, screeens Jan. 19 and 20. On both days, it screens with a 2003 Korean film called Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring. I know nothing about it.
Maria: Full of Grace plays on Mon., Jan. 24 and Tuesday, Jan. 25. I've seen it and can highly vouch for it. It's a small film about the grim lives of Colombian girls who become drug mules as a way out of otherwise dead-end lives. It plays with Since Otar Left -- again, a film about which I know nothing, other than its a 2003 Georgian film.
My Architect (Wed. Jan. 26 and Thursday, Jan. 27) is a look at Louis Kahn, architectural giant and a piss-poor father.
If you like dense, complex sci-fi, Primer is playing at all three theatres this month. Bukowski: Born Into This, a doc about the barstool poet/genius, is also making the rounds.
Bloor Cinema
A Canadian premiere on Jan. 12 is Liberia: An Uncivil War. "Uncivil" is an understatement. Director Jonathan Stack will be there.
On Jan. 25, the Trailer Park Boys and their creators will be putting in an appearance. This is a Canadian Film Centre gig.
The World's Best Commercials run from Friday, Jan. 14 to 20.
Another film on Thursday, Jan. 20 is the director's cut of Alien 3. It's presented by Rue Morgue magazine.
On Wednesday, Jan. 26 and Thursday, Jan. 27 is a mini-Coen Brothers fest, with one of my favourites: Blood Simple. Others might like The Big Lebowski, Fargo or Intolerable Cruelty.
Turn Left at the End of the World could possibly be interesting. It's about "French" Moroccans and "British" Indians who experience some severe culture clash in the Israeli desert. It screens on Saturday, Jan. 29.
And finally, Vittorio de Sicca's The Bicycle Thief is showing on Jan. 26.
Hmmm. Not as bad as I first thought! :)