Boys to Men

Yesterday it has officially happened. The Arsenal so called boys are now men. Arsenal yesterday took apart Chelsea for the first time in a very long time. Full Time score, Arsenal 3 Chelsea 1

Being an Arsenal fan I have been through a lot since starting to support them. Mind you I have not been an Arsenal fan for a long time. It's been around 6 or 7 years and considering I've supported Ahly all my life and AC Milan since the early 90's it is brand new. I have yet to see them lift a trophy as a full fledged supporter and a club member. The closest I've come was the League Cup final when our reserve team lost to Chelsea's full team 2-1 (can't recall the year) and the Champions League final against Barca. Year after year I saw us fail to reach our true potential. Year after year I saw critics pounce on the Wenger and Arsenal philosophy. We need to buy ready made stars, nurturing youth is not working, we need to spend big in the market. Wenger had said no to all of this and yesterday at last he had something to smile about.

It was not just the fact that we beat Chelsea that was pleasing, it was the way we did it. Yes Chelsea are not on form but on any given day a team that has the likes of Cech, Terry, Essein, (Lampard) and Drogba is a force to be reckoned with. Wenger was gutsy to decided to shuffle things around. Tactically we did not change how we line up but the players involved were put there for Chelsea. Wenger played it right. Obviously Cesc and Fabianski back to the starting line up was a no brainer. In my opinion if Cesc is fit he should not leave the pitch. He is this kind of player, he can conjure up something out of nothing. His presence lifts the people around him. He is still lacking form, too many miss passes by his standards but then all of a sudden the killer pass or killer run and no one remembers his short comings. Yesterday he scored a goal and made one, what else could you ask for?

Playing Walcott was a surprise for me. He was not getting enough minutes and was not on that great of a run, form wise. It seems that Arsene has had enough with Arshavin, frankly I'm starting to get annoyed too. He is not putting in enough effort and seems uninterested at parts. He is a world class player talent wise but world class players show up every game, not every other game or when they feel like it! Theo was there for a reason. To keep Ashley Cole lodged back and to frighten the some what slow Chelsea center backs. In the first half he was not great but he did keep Cole at bay. Ashley never ventured forward. The second half he got room to run behind Cole and the Chelsea defense thanks to some excellent midfield pressure (our midfield was fantastic but I'll come to that later) and he ripped them apart. First laying off unselfishly a tap in for Fabregas and then finishing off brilliantly after being put through by the Fabregas via a killer through ball.

The real surprise from me was the central defense paring of Djourou and Koscielny. I think Djourou should be a starter, hes been fantastic and gives much needed height to our defense. I'm not sure if there was something wrong with Squillaci but Wenger saw that Djourou must be better equipped to deal with physical presence of Drogba. He was right and Djourou was very solid in containing the Drogs. Koscielny was there probably to add some pace to the core because frankly I'm still not convinced by him, although I think he was very good in the last two games vs top opposition. It is against the Stokes and the Birminghams that he is still prone to errors but in his defense he is still adjusting to the league.

The center midfield paring of Song and Wilshere were phenomenal and they were one of the main reasons we won that game. For once we bossed around the midfield. They dominated Essein, Mikel and Lampard who on paper should eat them alive. Wilshere who is still a boy was a titan and Song did his new job (scored a goal) and kept true to his main role as a destroyer. They out played, out passed, out ran, out muscled and out scored Chelsea!

Overall Arsenal was better. We dictated the pace of the game and were more aggressive. Also and more importantly we won most of the duels and 2 of these lead to goals. Van Persie gives something different to the team than Chamakh. He has a softer touch so easily maintains the rhythm and seems to know the other player more. He also adds a fear factor when in the team. Chamakh has been excellent and is a truly wonderful signing but on his day I would pick RVP over him. However Chamakh will get there and having a bench that includes him, Arshavin, Diaby, Bendtner and Rosicky shows us that for once we have a very strong overall squad. There is also Vermaelen still missing due to injury and if he plays with Djourou I think we will leak less goals. I am ecstatic however not to be seeing Almunia and frankly I wish I never have to see him again. I have to mention Nasri, although he was not a goal scorer he has been our player of the season thus far and possibly the best player in the league. It is good for him to be able to share the weight of the team with Theo, Cesc and RVP. Sagna too has been excellent but for me our weakest link has to be Clichy. He is not as good going forward and defensively he seems to be playing football for the first time. He has no sense of danger and that is a huge problem for a defender, the goal Clark scored for Villa will always be proof of that.

This win however will mean nothing if we go and lose to Wigan on Wednesday. We need to be consistent and although I'm pessimistic about actually winning the league I am hopeful. I think we should win the league cup at least this season to get the "not winning trophies monkey" off our backs and off the back of the players.

Most of all I am happy for Arsene Wenger. He has had to put up with criticism from every one and to defend his players and the club philosophy day in and day out. I'm looking forward to playing Evra the clown at the Emirates and watch Theo rip him to shreds like he did Cole

Come on Arsenal!

For Love of the Game

This is a truly inspiring story by BBC's resident blogger Tim Vickery. He is an expert on South American Football.

This takes place in the Peruvian League. It is a must read piece about the true sole of football.

Winning is not Everything

Arsenal's Christmas Card...Very Funny!

To all Gooners or non Gooners

The Arsenal X-Mas Greeting!

Check it out LOL


Here

Ibrahimovic's Greatest Goal

To all Milan fans out there..This is probably Ibra's best ever goal and one of the best I have ever seen. I couldn't keep up with him the first time round

Forza Milan and Enjoy

Awesome Goal...FUT!

Ok nothing to do with real football.

I decided to share one of the greatest goals I've ever scored in FIFA 11

I was playing Fifa Ultimate team and scored this magical goal against Human opposition with Gignac!

Click Here

The Biggest miss in the history of football!

When I saw this last Wednesday I could not believe my eyes and frankly had a lot of trouble keeping a straight face. It was Qatar vs Uzbekistan in the Asian games!

Full Time score?

Qatar 0 Uzbekistan 1

The Culprit: 18 year old Fahd Khlafan

Qatar got knocked out of the Asian Games!

Halloween Weekend at TIFF Bell Lightbox

Finally announced!



Chills! Thrills! Creeps! Freaks!

Halloween Films at TIFF Bell Lightbox!



I'm excited to announce that I've selected four films to play over the Friday and Saturday of the Halloween weekend at the brand new, state of the art cinemas at TIFF Bell Lightbox here in Toronto. I've picked two personal favourites that I programmed in the past at TIFF's Midnight Madness, THE LOVED ONES and S&MAN, and then two films that have NEVER been screened in Toronto, Neil Marshall's debut film DOG SOLDIERS and Ti West's THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL. Plus, before the midnight festivities, on Saturday, be sure to check out a spooky sci-fi double bill selected by Vincenzo Natali - Mario Bava's PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES + Ridley Scott's ALIEN!



Click on the links for to purchase tickets.



Hope to see you at Lightbox for some tricks and treats!



TIFF Bell Lightbox

Reitman Square, 350 King Street West



Friday October 29

11:59PM - DOG SOLDIERS

11:59PM - THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL

12:15 AM - S&MAN

12:30AM - THE LOVED ONES



Saturday October 30

8:00PM - PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES / ALIEN double bill

12:15AM - THE LOVED ONES

12:15 AM - S&MAN

12:30AM - DOG SOLDIERS

12:30AM - THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL



Sunday October 31

6:30 PM - S&MAN

9:00 PM - S&MAN



Ticket prices:

Regular: $12.00*

Students/Seniors: $9.50*

Members (up to Family/Dual level): $9.00*

Members (Contributor level or higher): $6.00*

** Prices do not include applicable service charges



DOG SOLDIERS

dir. Neil Marshall

UK 2002

105 minutes

"Six soldiers. Full moon. No chance."

Grab your silver bullets and pack some wolfsbane for this rare screening of the debut film from cult director Neil Marshall (The Descent, Doomsday). A squad of British soldiers on a routine training mission find themselves pitted against a clan of werewolves in an action-filled romp that knows never to take itself too seriously (we’re talking to you, Underworld!). A cockney mix of Night of the Living Dead and Aliens, Dog Soldiers takes the conventions of the werewolf subgenre and tears them apart as the hairy beasts lay siege to the stranded soldiers in a battle that eschews CGI for deliriously gruesome physical effects. "One of the most gloriously unsubtle and adrenalized extreme shockers since The Evil Dead." – Seattle Times



THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL

dir. Ti West

USA 2009

93 min.



"Talk on the Phone. Finish Your Homework. Watch TV. Die."



Desperate to earn some cash for a deposit on an apartment, pretty college sophomore Sam (Jocelin Donahue) accepts a suspiciously well-paying babysitting job from a very odd couple (cult actors Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov) in their creaky Victorian mansion deep in the woods. As a total lunar eclipse plunges the night into darkness, Sam finds to her horror that there is no baby... yet. Set in the 1980s and based on the "Satanic panic" urban legends that gripped America during the Reagan era, writer-director Ti West's House of the Devil is a remarkable exercise in suspense, a terrific—and terrifying—horror film that can be enjoyed by hardcore genre fans and casual viewers alike. "After years of vivisectionist splatter, here is a horror movie with real shivers." – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

http://www.houseofthedevilmovie.com/



THE LOVED ONES

dir. Sean Byrne

Australia 2009

84 min.



Winner, Toronto International Film Festival 2009 Cadillac People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award



High school senior Brent (Xavier Samuel) lives in a haze of pot smoke and metal music to escape the pain of his dad’s death. His only ray of hope is his girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine), who is grounded, caring and gorgeous—a dream date for the high school prom. His plans to take her to the prom are thwarted by a secret admirer who has sadistic romantic intentions for Brent under the mirrored disco ball. First-time director Sean Byrne delivers a fusion of two horror classics, The Evil Dead and Carrie, with equal parts shock-laced jolts and tongue-in-cheek humour. A runaway hit on the festival circuit, The Loved Ones is destined to become a scary and deliciously deranged date movie classic.



S&MAN

dir. JT Petty

USA 2006

84 min.



When horror filmmaker JT Petty (The Burrowers), sets out to make a documentary about the world of underground extreme horror films, things don't go exactly as planned. Initially making the comparison between filmmaking and voyeurism within the horror genre, he interviews academics (Carol J. Clover, author of Men, Women and Chainsaws), psychiatrists, actors and a selection of directors who are out to meet the demand of their disturbed audiences. One interview subject has created a homemade film series called "S&MAN," and as Petty digs further into his subject, trying to get him to reveal the names of the actors who play the onscreen victims, he begins to realize that they might not be actors at all. As the mystery deepens and Petty finds himself in dangerous territory, S&MAN becomes the most unsettling documentary film experiences in years.



“S&MAN is a post-modern masterpiece … A documentary of an astounding and surprising power, this is almost required viewing…” - Mathew Kumar, Twitch Film



“It won’t help if you keep repeating, ‘It’s only a documentary…’” - Richard Corliss, Time Magazine





Saturday October 30

8:00PM - PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES / ALIEN double bill

Join us for a rare screening of Mario Bava's 1965 sci-fi/horror hybrid Planet of the Vampires, a visually arresting and creepily atmospheric account of a spaceship crash on a distant planet, the survivors of which are beset by the resurrected corpses of their crewmates. Following Bava's low-budget classic, try to spot the Italian horror maestro's influence in the mesmerizing design of Alien, Ridley Scott's stomach-churning tale of a canoe-headed extraterrestrial wreaking havoc on the crew of an industrial space freighter. 35MM prints! – Curated by Colin Geddes and Vincenzo Natali.

The Hand of God!

No it's not the Maradona goal vs England in 1986. It's worse (well not really). It's the Michael Eneramo goal against Ahly in the first minute of the second leg of the African Champions League Semi- Final. It was a blatant hand ball. The referee Mr. Lamptey had to be blind to have missed it.

Don't believe me check it out....

There is no doubt in my mind that the referee was one of the worst I have ever seen in a football game. He allowed a clear hand ball to stand, gave too few yellow cards to Esperance (Taragy) players compared to Ahly and allowed the game to be played with just 1 ball. Ahly players were scrambling for the ball all the time, but the there were no extra balls and the ball boys never tried to get the balls back onto the pitch. Taragy players continued to fall to ground in every occasion and to top it off the referee gave 3 minutes of added time in the first half and 5 in the second. The referee lost control of the game after allowing the hand ball to stand. Let's be clear though, at the end of the day we lost the game and the referee did not make us lose it....

Yes the referee had a role but lets take a look how the players applied themselves in the game. A team with Ahly's experience should not lose control like they did after conceding just one goal very early on. The players went mad with rage and frankly almost every single foul the referee called against Ahly was correct and every single yellow card was deserved and don't pretend you are blind...Barakat had to go. The red card was a must, raising your hand against your opponent and smacking him on the face (I don't care if it is a touch or a punch..this is not MMA!!!) is a sending off offense. Yes the Esperance player made a meal out of it, but a lot of players do that. The mad men of Ahly were undone by their own in ability to control themselves. Control and discipline stems from the coach first and the players second.

Never have I seen an Ahly team lack that much of sportsmanship , rude, aggressive and frankly not for the first time. It happened in the league and against the Algerian team. Sadly they reminded me of Zamalek...enough said! It is not the first time we have played against a team and a referee. This is common in Africa so lets not be naive about it and pretend that we are heroes and that the referee robbed us of our dream. Have Egypt and Ahly fans lost their memories? Do none of you remember that Ahly scored a hand ball goal in Cairo? Take a look at how the Tunisian team carried themselves after the goal. They aggressively voiced their concern about the goal, however no one was red carded and they continued to play their brand of football even after conceding a second goal, until they managed a priceless away goal! This is how Ahly should have responded, sadly Badry had turned us into grunts! I recall us playing in the African Cup with Manuel Jose against Enyemba in Nigeria. The referee and linesman failed to flag the forward of the Nigerian team, although he was 5 yards offside throughout the game. My friends and I even called him " Mr. Offsido". How did we respond? we played ball and beat them 1-0. Do you remember losing the Champions league in Cairo 1-3 against Etoile de Sahel (El Negm al Sa7elly). We had 2 legitimate claims of penalties denied and Emad El Nahass was red carded. Did we turn violent? Lose our cool? Attack other players and the referee? No we took it like men and played football.....Barakat would not have dared attempt such a prank then and he should be ashamed of himself! As for Hossam Ashour it seems he has lost his mind and is lucky he was not red carded, twice or possibly arrested for assault:P

Refereeing mistakes and bad tempers aside, did we deserve to win? In my opinion we did not! We had 90minutes to score a goal that would have been enough to push us through but we failed to create anything. Yes going down to 10 men made it difficult but we were playing an average team in my opinion who did not even press on for a second goal against a broken and impotent Ahly team. We managed 2 shots for the whole of the 90minutes. 2 shots can you believe it? One of which was a free kick!!! We managed just 2 crosses from open play, yet we blame the referee for the loss. How the mighty have fallen. How do you expect the team to win with a coach that will not address his short comings? Hossam El Badry had the audacity to comment that the result of the game was predetermined. Couldn't el Taragy say the same thing regarding the Cairo game? Instead of focusing on creating chances and playing football he focused his energy on anger towards the referee. Our only game plan was long balls from the keeper towards Geddo, who is not a target man by trade (although I think he applied himself brilliantly and was our best player on the pitch) and one legged Moody Fadl who is a target man by trade but has the strength of an 80 year old grandmother. When we needed a goal we got on a defensive midfielder in Shehab, I was expecting Shawky frankly LOL! Why not an attacking player like Shoukry? I used to think Badry is useless but frankly I think he is more out of his depth than anything else. The pressure that comes with managing a club with the pedigree of Ahly is too much for him (Zamalek might suite him:P). We need someone else.

Finally were was Abou Trieka in all of this? He was no were to be seen. He was not involved in any argument or in the game itself. He looks to me like a man disheartened by how his club is applying itself! Allah yemaseek bel khier ya Manuel ya Jose (May good things come to you Jose) and R.I.P nady el 2khla2 wa 2al mabde2 (R.I.P Club of virtues of sound manners)

The most Ridiculous Dive Ever

This is insane can't believe it's been given

Thanks to my dear friend Dr. Firas for sharing this

The Price We must Pay!

Yesterday Egypt was shocked by a 1-0 defeat to Niger in Niamey and now lay bottom of Group G with 1 point from 2 games in CAN 2012 qualifiers. Myself and a few others I have talked with were not!

It is common knowledge for anyone who knows me or has ever read this blog that I am no fan of Hassan Shehata, Egypt's coach. However, his technical inadequacy aside, he has done an unbelievable job by leading Egypt to winning 3 consecutive Nations Cups. A feat unlikely to be rivaled for sometime to come. His major let down was his inability to take us to the World Cup in virtually the easiest Group around, but for some stroke of luck he was made a hero due circumstances surrounding the match with Algeria.

Love him or hate him, it's time for Shehata to go and for Egypt to move on. Not because of his inability to change games but because he has nothing to offer the team anymore. Yes I will always stick by the notion that he was never a coach or a tactician, only a motivator who happened to be lucky enough to lead the greatest ever footballing generation in Egypt. He did win stuff but what is happening now? Where did it all go wrong?

For me it seems he has become too arrogant for his own good. This was pointed out to me by a friend of my father's after the Sierra Leone game. He was spot on. In football as a coach it's OK to be arrogant. Look at Jose Mourinho, one of the most talented and successful coaches in a generation. He is so full of himself, you either love him or hate him, nothing in between. Manuel Jose arguably Ahly's greatest coach was arrogant too. Just ask any Zamalek fan or other Egyptian coaches! The difference between these men and Shehata is that for starters they had ability and more importantly never lost touch with the real reason they win....their players!

A coach is nothing without his players and the greatest managers like Sir Alex Ferguson are the ones who can get the best out of their players and keep them motivated so they can produce what they requires from them!

Shehata lost the plot. He was arrogant enough to think that by fielding a weakened inexperienced Egypt side against Sierra Leone he would still win. He was full of himself that he did not even care to study up on the strengths of the opposition. It seemed in Cairo we were playing a team from mars that we had no idea about. He also decided to change the formation that has brought him and Egypt huge success, 3-5-2 for some sort of a 4-4-2 with two very slow central defenders and ultimately paid the price. His arrogance did not stop here. After his medical staff deemed Amr Zaki and Shikabala unfit and they were dropped form the Egypt squad for a friendly. Hassan Shehata was incensed that 2 days later they were playing for their club Zamalek in the league, so he decided to drop them for the Leone game. His staff deemed them unfit yet he was mad at them?

Against Niger he continued his new trend. He again was clueless about the opposition and again decided to go for some sort of a 4-4-2 that was unsuccessful before! Captain Hassan seems to forget that football is not chess and it is not how you place players on the field that decides if you are attacking or defending, it's what you say to the players and the roles they are given that decides that. A 4-5-1 formation on paper looks very defensive but can be enthralling if turned to a 4-3-3 going forward. A formation is nothing but a number.

His selections were a bit weird with Abdel Fadil as right back for example. Sherif is a fantastic player but he has very limited international experience. With Abdel Shafy the left back it was the same way. A great player with limited experience. He continued not to select Egypt's greatest central midfielder Hossam Ashour because I think he deems him bad luck. (The only game he played under Shehata Egypt lost 4-1 or 4-0 in friendly vs Sudan). Regardless he lost the game and failed to control or influence the match form the touch line.

People automatically blame the players and the fact we need to inject new life into the squad and so on. This may be true and I agree the players have to share a part of the blame. Shehata tried to inject younger blood into the squad but possibly too soon. I do have another theory why the old guard is not performing well enough.

I said earlier that the players mainly won games for Shehata. The players were mainly from Ahly. OK Zamalek fans will automatically start arguing about this, but come on lets be realistic. In 2006 the squad had 7 out of 11 starters from Ahly. Hadary, Gomaa, Barakat, Abdel Wahab (R.I.P) Shawky, Abu Trieka and Meteb. In 2008 and 2010 it was a similar story. The Ahly players were living a golden age under Manuel Jose. Say what you like but Jose's influence on our victory's is not to be denied! He had instilled a winning mentality in his teams that was transferred with them when they played for their country. Even Zamalek, although not winning anything had decent coaches.

Take a look at things now. Look at both Ahly and Zamalek. They are playing extremely poorly. The main reason for Egypt's drop in form...."Al Hossamayen" or the Hossam's. Hossam El Badry and Hossam Hassan more so Badry. They have turned their teams into regular Joe teams. They are no longer the giants they once were. The Ahly players seem to play without purpose and when Moudy Fadl leads the line of Ahly and Egypt you know something is wrong. Both Ahly and Zamalek players are low on confidence and form

The end result in my opinion is that it seems extremely unlikely we are to qualify for the 2012 Africa Nations Cup and due to the new qualification system for 2013 we might find it very difficult to reach it either. On the up side if Shehata doesn't know when to quit like the likes of Algeria's Sadaan did and all respectable coaches do, Franz Beckenbauer left Germany after successive World Cup finals, the second of which he won.(but then again would you quit if you were making L.E 200,000, 30,000USD per month?). The Egyptian Federation should act and let him go and start right away looking for a well known foreign coach with a free hand to lead us to Brazil 2014. Shehata has done well for Egypt but it's time to move on, after all maybe this is a blessing in disguise and we can finally see Egypt in a World Cup!

The Hardest Man in Football?

Just finished reading this article by Early Doors on Eurosport about Roberto Mancini, excellent stuff...

Give it a look here

The punch line...."And with that Mancini got up, smashed a chair over a journalist's head and stormed out of the room."

LOL

That's a Wrap!

By now we're all either over or right in to middle of the post fest blahs. To help ease you into the transition to the realization that the next TIFF is almost a year away here are some links to help you relive this year's wild nights at the Ryerson.

Ian Goring has dozens of great pictures of all the festivities here.

Check out all sorts of midnight coverage at Thesubstream.com .

Vlogger Sheleigh & Rockstar Roving Reporter Robert Mitchell have all the snazzy red carpet footage here.

Every second of every intro and Q&A can be found here. Or you can watch them below. So enjoy, and we'll see everyone again next year at 11:59 pm!

Stake Land on the Midnight Madness Red Carpet

On September 17th, 2010 Stake Land received it's world premiere at Midnight Madness. I was able to speak with the creators of the film prior to the screening. Here is that footage.







On September 19th, 2010 Stake Land was awarded the Cadillac People's Choice Midnight Madness award.

Talking with Wuershan & Daniel Yu. The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman.

Just prior to the world premiere of the Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman I had the opportunity to have a few words with the Wuershan, the director of the film and Daniel Yu the producer. Here is that footage.

@thesubstream ♥'s Midnight Madness #10 - FIRE OF CONSCIENCE

We'd like to tip our hats to everyone that makes Midnight Madness the best film festival programme ever - Colin Geddes, the volunteers, staff, filmmakers and of course - THE FANS!!!

It's been a hoot and we can't wait to do it again - thanks to all for another great year!



Full coverage and reviews at www.thesubstream.com

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness Review - STAKE LAND

People's Choice winner and tough-guy featurer.

An interesting mash-up that's half melancholic this-is-the-end-of-an-era western and half apocalyptic monster fable, director Jim Mickle's Stake Land is proof enough that genre conventions may well be endlessly remixable. Think The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford meets The Road plus a bunch of brainless starving vampires and you're close enough to Mickle's low-budget, high-concept take on the (still, somehow) hot vampire thing.

Martin (Connor Paolo) is getting ready to bug out of civilization with his parents, gassing up the car and packing food and clothes when they're attacked by one of the aforementioned beasts. These aren't sparkly romance vampires, they're deformed, starving monsters, and Martin is only saved by the intervention of Mister (Nick Damici). Mister is the strong, silent type - a vampire hunter revered by the few pockets of humanity that eke out an existence during the day and batten down at night.

Martin and Mister are on the move, heading north toward "New Eden", about which rumours abound. They pick up stragglers on the way, including a nun (Kelly McGillis) that they save from an attack by members of "the Brotherhood", a gang of religious zealots that view the vampires as God's wrath and encourage their spread by dropping starving vampires out of helicopters onto human settlements.

Damici as Mister is all lantern-jawed masculinity, an all-business dispatcher of monsters. He leads his crew through the backwoods of latter-day wooded rural America, past tattered flags and sunken churches, hiding from Vampires and lunatics. He's clever and remorselessly violent, a horror movie (budget) Clint Eastwood. Martin narrates the film in a dreamy, distracted, Levi's-jeans ad tone, which helps give the film a deeply weird, not unpleasant kind of '70s-cinema feeling. Stake Land's not exactly avant-garde, not experimental, but for a genre work-out featuring a bunch of blood and screams it's positively fascinating.

Full coverage and reviews at www.thesubstream.com

STAKE LAND dubbed Midnight Madness Cadillac People's Choice Award!

In case you missed Stake Land on Friday and Saturday, tonight's 9PM screening at the AMC 2 is your last chance to see the film which earlier today received the Cadillac People's Choice Midnight Madness Award!

And let's not forget the runner-up, Fubar II! Who would have thought Midnight Madness audiences loved road trips films so much -- one with vampires, the other with hosers.

@thesubstream ♥'s Midnight Madness #9 - STAKE LAND

"Ever since I was 15, all I've ever wanted to do in life is premiere a movie at Midnight Madness." - Jim Mickle

Full coverage and reviews at thesubstream.com

Fire of Conscience Duet with Leon Lai and Richie Ren

Leon Lai and Richie Ren put aside their guns and their grudges for this duet. They are among the biggest cantopop and mandopop stars and both have starred in movies directed by MM alumnus Johnnie To (The Mission, MM 2000). Lai co-starred with Lau Ching-Wan in Hero Never Dies while Ren was the amazing smoking sniper, Sgt. Chan in Exiled.

So get out your lighters and enjoy the Fire of Conscience song action. With any luck Fire of Conscience will have the midpoint musical montage traditional to HK action movies and you'll already know all the words--or can at least hum and sway along.

Fire of Conscience screening times:
Saturday, Sept. 18. 11:59pm Ryerson
Sunday, Sept. 19. 3:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 11

Tickets can be purchased at the official TIFF site.

Stake Land Q&A

Ever since Stake Land director Jim Mickle was 15 years old he dreamt of showing a film in Midnight Madness at TIFF. Tonight he checked that off his bucket list. Stake Land gives us truly monstrous vampires that scare the living crap out of you. These aren't teenage heartthrobs pontificating about their place in society. These vampires want to suck the blood out of you as violently as (in)humanly possible! Here are some highlights from the Q&A including: how Nick Damici prepared for the role of Mister, some information about the vampire prosthetics, and Danielle Harris' pregnant prosthesis.



On a personal note, this is going to be my last post for a while because I leave the Reel world on Sunday and go back to my job as a Six Sigma Black Belt (that's really my job title folks.) I'll post some higher quality uncut intro and Q&A vids later next week then I'll see you all this time next year.

Stake Land screening times:
Saturday, Sept 18. 12:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
Sunday, Sept. 19. 9:00pm AMC 2

Tickets can be purchased at the official TIFF site.

The Ugly Truth about Vampires

Seems like lately the world has been overrun with the pretty vampires, certain spakle-pires I won't mention here. But even here at Midnight Madness we had an Ethan Hawke vampire in Daybreakers last year. It's enough to make that chewy-faced guy from Stake Land insecure. Sure Bela had it going on but there's a long history of plain, ugly, plain ugly and even fugly vampires dating way back to Dr. Polidori's The Vampyre and the later Victorian Varney the Vampire.

Whatever else Christopher Lee's Dracula had going on, it wasn't prettiness. (He was kinda the Iggy Pop or Lance Henriksen of vampires).


Oh wait, Lance Henriksen was a vampire.



Really, Iggy Pop would make a fantastic vampire. I mean, look at him.


He needs a blood transfusion, stat!

But the point here is that for most of vampire history, beauty has been in the eye of the beholder--usually a woman in hypnotic thrall.


Sure, Graf Orlac isn't pretty, but if you look at him right he is adorable in a lost kind of way.

He's got a lot to give, ladies (and Renfields).

Stake Land screening times:
Friday, Sept. 17. 11:59pm Ryerson
Saturday, Sept 18. 12:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
Sunday, Sept. 19. 9:00pm AMC 2

Tickets can be purchased at the official TIFF site.

Five (okay, four and a half) Cool Vampires Before STAKE LAND!

Tonight's Midnight Madness selection, Stake Land is sure to satiate all the real vampire lovers who stuck with True Blood through a season that contained several shark-jumping moments, and those who aren't currently trolling their favourite message boards about how TIFF 2010 selection, Let Me In is soooooooo much worse from the original (spoiler: it's nothing of the sort) while sweeping Cheetos crumbs and drool off their keyboards.

But it got me thinking - we've seen some pretty awesome bloodsuckers in our time that are nothing like the emo halfwits in Twilight. Here's a few that have captured our imaginations and reminded us that being dead just might not be so bad.

#1 Russell Edgington - A new entry on anyone's vampire top five, Russell Edgington was sadly one of the only bright spots of this last season of True Blood. The scene depicted above features the 'Vampire King of Mississippi' despining a news anchor, before declaring war on humanity and trumpeting vampire superiority. It was one of the most riveting TV moments from this year, and hopefully True Blood will turn a corner and provide a few more next season. Basically I just want to see more spine-ripping in general because there's so little of it on The Good Wife.
#2 Charles Bromley - The badass vampire CEO from last year's Midnight Madness selection Daybreakers shocked audiences with a class and sophistication you just don't find in most vampire flicks these days. He wasn't even just evil on an animalistic, blood-sucky level either - this dude sold out his own daughter and tried to harvest the entire human population for food. I think that qualifies him for Bond villain territory.



#34 Abby/Eli - Let Me In's Abby is burdened with the weight of having to live up to another awesome vamp, Let The Right One In's Eli. They are, after all, the same character. But they have their distinctions so I'm being lazy and counting them as two. Abby/Eli is a very, very old vampire in a tiny body, who enlists old men to do her bidding and the very dirty work of getting blood from an unsuspecting gaggle of victims. She doesn't say much, has a disturbing habit of hanging out under bridges, and can definitely come off as cold, but we can't help but love her when all is said and done.
#5 The Count - Not scary? Think again! The Count is one of the scariest dudes on this list for one single reason - he preys almost EXCLUSIVELY on children. Sure, he lures you in with his promise to reveal what comes after the number eight (nobody knows) but once that castle door closes and the Sesame Street cameras stop rolling, The Count is just as viscious and bloodthirsty as the rest. I mean, what do you think happened to Mr Hooper?

Stake Land screening times:
Friday, Sept. 17. 11:59pm Ryerson (tonight!)
Saturday, Sept 18. 12:15pm Scotiabank Theatre 4
Sunday, Sept. 19. 9:00pm AMC 2

Tickets can be purchased at the official TIFF site.

Raising the Stakes

The creative team behind Stake Land talk about heroes with the Midnight Madness Blog...

Since the eighties, there has been a decline of the male action hero in horror films. Back then we had Bruce Campbell taunting demons, Kurt Russell fighting Things, and Rowdy Roddy Piper chewing bubble gum and kicking ass.

After that, we saw more and more females, soon to be defined as "final girls" taking on hero roles. The Final Girl hit its mainstream apex with Neve Campbell's portrayal of Sidney in the Scream films. Not only that, but in the nineties, we also saw the rise of empathetic villains stealing the hero spotlight all together with Jason Vorhees, and Freddy Krueger getting more screen time, and in Freddy's case, dialogue than the actual protagonists of the film. This trend continued to the point of Child Play's murderous doll Chucky becoming a full on protagonist in his more recent outings.

However, all through this, the males heroes have been having a tough time. While I intend to take nothing away from George Clooney's awesome performance in Dusk Till Dawn, or Vin Diesel's Riddick-- the male heroes of genre movies had become increasingly sinister. After the dust settled, these were not savory characters who you would invite to your home. More and more it seemed that these were bad people doing good deeds; but in no way did they intend to be redeemed. One could easily assume they went back to being their bad selves after the credits rolled.

When you look to TV's currently most successful hero, it's Michael C. Hall's Dexter - a serial killer who hunts other killers. Is it even possible to have cool male heroes in a horror movie who can realistically fight the evil forces convincingly... while also being a good human being?

With Mulberry Street, we saw a new force buck against this trend, where Nick Damici's character Clutch does everything in his power to save the tenants of his mutant rat infested building. The striking thing about that film, was that while Clutch was so tough, he was also incredibly human and believable. Here was a tough guy who genuinely cared about people- and not fleetingly or selectively. And he kicked ass. And I don't mean kicking ass by suing the villains or calling the police. This was a nice guy who could convincingly overcome his foes, without super powers, psychotic rage, or criminal talents. Just a good guy trying to do the right thing.

Now Mulberry Street's creative duo return with a new tale of apocalyptic terror. Nick Damici stars as a grizzled warrior teaching and protecting a young man in a doomed age of vampires in this year's midnight madness selection Stake Land.

And for my money, this further cements Nick's triumphant rise as a new kind of horror hero; one that cares about you!

I recently caught up with the director Jim Mickle, and writer/actor Nick Damici, and asked them some questions to test my theory.

NICK DAMICI - writer, actor

Do you write parts for yourself, or do you write the character as someone different in your mind and then you become that person -- as a writer how do you separate yourself from the story to become the actor, or what’s your method?

I write the characters generally with someone in mind including myself. As far as separating myself from the writing and moving into the acting, they are different processes taking place at different times so it's pretty easy. I'm not precious about what I write and often end up letting the actor in me edit the writer. When I not sure of something or it doesn't seem clear to me, I talk to Jim...

Have you ever had a “hero moment” in real life?

I've had a few scary moments, and you just react or you don't. I've been lucking in that I generally react. It's a reflex decision so I don't think heroism really comes into it.

How do you view your roles as a writer, and how do you approach them from an actor's standpoint?

I try to keep my characters as close to me as I can generally and then just try to be as honest as I can in my portrayal.

Who are your heroes in film, life, etc?

My film heroes range from King Kong to Bogart in films. In life I see heroes in anyone who faces the world honestly and with humility. People who have the courage to embrace the gift of our lives in the face such a shitty world.

What other kinds of characters are you interested in exploring?

I'd love to do a real period peace and stretch a bit. I played Sherlock Holmes in a play two summers ago and had a ball. I'd love to re-visit Mister some time in the future and maybe see how Martin turns out as a man.

JIM MICKLE - director

How did you two first meet?

I met Nick on a student film almost 10 years ago. I was doing lighting for a friend and Nick was playing an ex-con school bus driver. We hung out after the shoot and realized we had the same crazy tastes for movies and filmmakers and over the next few years we pipe dreamed about doing a movie together and working with guys like Tim House (from Mulberry Street) and other friends. Mulberry Street came about out of a mutual desperation to work on our own projects. And now that friendship has led to a pretty potent creative juice and we wind up making these hard to define, hybrid genre movies.

What was your first impression of Nick as an actor?

The first time I saw Nick he was acting in a scene and I was probably stacking sandbags on the side, but I remember thinking "Holy Shit! This guy's the real deal." So many times in the independent film world you see a guy who looks tough or sounds tough but you can tell it's an act, and they're trying really hard to fill a type. With Nick he just is. He's confident as a person and as an actor and he never has to push. Some people do that, but they're bland and no one wants to see them in movies. Nick can be himself, but he's got that great cinematic quality that pulls you in and keeps you watching more.

How did he convince you to play the lead?

He never had to. He wrote it for himself to play, and the cool thing was, it was the least doubtful decision of the whole film for everybody. I remembered being concerned at first that someone would want to put a huge name in that role but once people liked the script and met him for two seconds, the case was closed. He IS Mister.

As Nick wrote the script, did he need to audition; and if not, what was the major selling point for you in using him?

Nick wrote the script, and no he never had to audition. Because it was all born from his mind, I actually had to catch up with him on the character and the world. He was so engulfed in the joy of creating a character, that it was a pleasure to sit back and be a part of the ride. He slept in a tent during the shoot, camped out, carved his own weapons, sewed his own clothes. He made his own leather pants. He spent a few rainy nights sleeping in the car. By the time we started shooting, he was just doing his thing, and we grabbed the camera and just hoped to make it translate to the screen..

Has your collaboration gotten more in tune with a second feature film together?

Absolutely. We also did a short film and teaser trailer for another feature. I remember working with him on set before Mulberry Street and being amazed that someone was as enthusiastic and excited to be creating something as I was. It was like running around in the backyard making films as a kid and forgetting that the rest of the world exists outside of your little movie. By Stake Land, we know what the other guy is looking for, so the only time we need to speak up is if we're violating something in the story, or if we're screwing up a good idea by trying to pull off too many ideas. It's fun to hit that groove with someone.

What would YOU do in a vampire apocalypse?

I'd go to Nick's apartment and watch him go to work.

Check out the team at work in Stake Land, mere hours from now as it premieres at Midnight Madness!

Stake Land Screening times:

Friday September 17 11:59:00 PM RYERSON

Saturday September 18 12:15:00 PM SCOTIABANK THEATRE 4

Sunday September 19 9:00:00 PM AMC 2