Pics from the Premiere of DREDD 3D!

It's been about six hours since DREDDs bombastic credits were thrust into the faces of a ravenous Midnight Madness audience in glorious 3D, but I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I'm still reeling from the experience.  Copious blood, gore, and absolutely intense action were served up with a heaping side of justice - this was exactly the thing to wash the taste of that other Dredd film out of your mouth after all these years.

Official Midnight Madness photog and the hardest-working shutterbug at The Festival, Ian Goring was back this year to shoot all the action!

Justice has never been so popular. These folks stuck it out despite a delayed start time (thanks for nothing, Jack Kerouac!)

Let's just say that no shenanigans were going to happen at the Ryerson with these guys keeping watch.

This week on American Chopper - "I AM THE LAW!"

Programmer Colin Geddes with DREDD director Pete Travis.

Writer Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 Days Later, Sunshine) mean muggin'.

DREDD himself, Karl Urban, casts a formidable shadow over the red carpet
(not pictured: carpet).

"So, who's your favourite glitchy dance act, Mr Urban?"
"JUSTICE, motherfucker!"

The dashing Karl Urban and his delightful DREDD co-star Olivia Thrilby.

Olivia Thirlby signs a DREDD helmet that would make its way all over the Ryerson.

A night of firsts! Programmer Colin Geddes introduces the first film at Midnight Madness 2012,
and it's also the first 3D film in the programme!

Director Peter Travis talks about how to make an exploding face look beautiful
(spoiler: it does).

What else can we say? Karl Urban is THE MAN.

Writer Alex Garland explains an unintentional reference to Blade Runner.

Karl Urban signs one of the cooler pieces of memorabilia to grace Midnight Madness.

A Judge in Training!

Don't forget to check out more Midnight Madness action tonight with Seven Psychopaths!


DREDD 3D screening times: 
Sat., Sept. 8 12:30PM:  CINEPLEX ODEON YONGE & DUNDAS

TWEETS OF THE DAY (also NIGHT)! #MMadnessTIFF

As always, Twitter is afire with audience members chatting about the face-meltingly intense DREDD 3D and Midnight Madness in general.

We'll be collecting tweets to the official Midnight Madness hashtag #MMadnessTIFF every day, so make your voices heard and maybe your tweet will be in this space tomorrow!

Check out all the films in the Midnight Madness schedule here!

DREDD 3D: A Gallery of Dredd

Citizen, if you think there's anyway to escape to the law of Judge Dredd, you are fooling yourself.  Dredd is a one man G20 lockdown.

In a stunning  upset in the eternal battle between law and right,
Dredd gets the drop on Captain America

 

Which is more awesome, the Judge, his Lawmaster Bicycle 

or his Codpiece of Justice?

Dredd proves once again that not even illustration is a safe way of viewing him. 
He will sentence you with his 2D bullets because he is the Law.

Not even LEGOLand is immune from his Justice--in what I can only assume
 is a screen capture from the upcoming game, "LEGO: Judge Dredd."

I never thought I'd say this about Judge Dredd, but:
OMG LOOK AT HIS FEETS! LOOK AT THEM!1!!

Judge Dredd + Anthrax has been scientifically proven
by cognitive psychologists AND philosophers to be
more brutal than the human mind can comprehend.

Hey, kids, make your own!

(Just make sure to leave it at home during screenings or face the Judgment of Dredd
--or volunteers, and really do you want to hassle them?)

The World Premiere of Dredd 3D is tonight!

DREDD 3D
Thurs., Sept. 6th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 8th, 12:30 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

"Ghoulish" Gary Pullin's Top 3 Midnight Madness Picks

"Ghoulish" Gary Pullin is an award winning, freelance artist residing in Toronto and the former long time art director for Rue Morgue Magazine. He's now their resident art columnist, curating, "The Fright Gallery." 

I'm no stranger to the Midnight Madness program. I've been attending for almost a decade now and each year seems to get better and better. Thanks to Jeff Wright and Colin Geddes for having me here. Honestly, it was tough to pick only three, but here's my short list I'm most eager to see:

#1 - The ABC's of Death

Inspired by educational children's books, twenty-six up and coming film directors were assigned a letter of the alphabet to create a shocking short. This film event has genre fans salivating for bite sized bits of cinema nastiness written and directed by students of modern horror from around the globe. Ti West (House of the Devil, Innkeepers), Angela Bettis (Roman, May), Xavier Gens (Frontiers, The Divide), Ben Wheatley (Kill List), Srdjan Spasojevic (Serbian Film), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police, Machine Girl), Adam Wingard (You're Next) and many more bring the pain. Jason Eisener's "N for Nature," for instance. Sounds innocent enough, doesn't it? Far from it. Jason's contribution will test your gag reflex, ignite uncomfortable laughter and give you those icky feelings I'm still trying to shake. You may not look at high school sports the same way ever again. Perhaps the most ambitious anthology ever made, these are bedtime stories for big kids.

#2 - John Dies At The End

The Phantasm films are weird. And I mean that as a huge compliment because that's how I like 'em. They defy category and come to think of it, so does Don Coscarelli's entire filmography. John Dies At The End, based on the cult novel by David Wong, looks like no exception. Don has a knack for making absurd, mind-bending concepts work, which in the hands of many directors, may not fly so well. I'm admittedly green to the source material, so I'm just showing up to drink the Kool-Aid and wait for the inter-dimensional fun. With Don's films, you can always expect an unconventional experience, and really, you had me at Clancy Brown. That guy's face is a movie.

#3 - Dredd 3D

I think most would agree, Stallone's 1995 adaption of DC's popular comic book hero is better left in the Mega City dump. It was a huge let down for fans of the comic. It broke the rules by showing Dredd's face, a major offence and something comic creator John Wagner was adamant about keeping sacred through the span of the series. Director Peter Travis (Vantage Point, Endgame) is set to correct all the wrongs made by that film with a darker, ultra-violent version, a most welcome return to the futuristic wasteland. Travis is sticking close to the source this time and injecting noir grittiness back into the material. The film was shot using the latest 3D technology and initial online buzz is extremely positive. All rise. Your honourable Judge, Jury and Executioner is back!

Gary's artwork has infected publications and galleries across the globe. He's worked with collectible poster boutique Mondo in Austin, Texas, DC Shoes, and Death Waltz Records for a vinyl release of John Carpenter's THEY LIVE score. Look for his illustrations in Glass Eye Pix's upcoming documentary YEAR OF THE LIVING DEAD, about the making of George A. Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD during the civil unrest of the 60s.

Visit http://www.ghoulishgary.com/ to see more of his work.





Screening Times:

THE ABC'S OF DEATH
World Premiere: Fri., Sept. 14th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

JOHN DIES AT THE END
Sat., Sept. 15th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16th, 6:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

DREDD 3D
Thurs., Sept. 6th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 8th, 12:30 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

THE RAID Director Gareth Huw Evans' Top 3 Midnight Madness Picks

Gareth Huw Evans, the director of The Raid (AKA The Raid: Redemption) brings us his Top 3 anticipated Midnight Madness picks today!  Enjoy!

This line up of films has been a tough group to whittle down to just three - a sign yet again of the talent of the legend that is the Midnight Madness programmer, Mr. Colin Geddes. There's nothing I could want more than to spend 10 nights in the company of the Midnight Madness crowd, enjoying every single one of them. But it's a bit of a trek from Indonesia, so instead I will spend each night bitter and angry while you guys are treated to a pretty healthy dose of inspired, blood soaked genius.

Regardless, here are my picks...

#1 - The ABC's of Death

What's not to like, 26 short films by 26 different directors from around the world all not wanting to be outdone by the other. I'm good friends with one of the directors, Timo Tjahjanto, and having seen an early cut of his "L" if the rest are anywhere near the insanity of his entry there's very little out there that can prepare an audience for this.

#2 - Dredd 3D

 

Let's get this out of the way shall we. Both Dredd and The Raid were in production at the same time, if anything Dredd started before us. But here it is and setting aside any coincidental similarities this film looks absolutely stunning and the talent behind it I greatly respect and admire. The character was well overdue a revamp and it looks like they've done a superb job this time round.

#3 - Hellbenders

JT Petty's S&Man chilled me to my core. One of the most effective horror films in some time--it's the work of pure genius. And while I know very little about Hellbenders beyond a 2 line synopsis, the fact that Petty's name is on there makes this a must see.

Best,
Gareth

Gareth Huw Evans is the director of last year's opening Midnight Madness film, The Raid (The Raid: Redemption), as well as Merantau, and Footsteps. He is currently in pre-production on Berendal; a sequel to The Raid.












Screening Times:
The ABCs of Death
Fri., Sept. 14th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Dredd 3D
Thurs., Sept. 6th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 8th, 12:30 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

Hellbenders
Sun., Sept. 9th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Tue., Sept. 11th, 7:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Sat., Sept. 15th, 9:15 PM SCOTIABANK 2

DREDD 3D: Read Comics In Public Day!

Happy Read Comics In Public Day, a day dedicated to reading comics in places where people can see you. Why not double up and promote comics literacy while catch up on Judge Dredd's judicial activism in the dystopian Mega-City One.

(via forbiddenplanet.co.uk)

Dredd first appeared in the often edgy and satirical UK comics anthology, 2000AD in 1977 (issue #2!) and then in Judge Dredd Magazine. Colin Smith describes Dredd better than I ever could:

Dredd is merely concerned that "all are treated equally under the law", and the state which passes and administers the laws he obeys is an uncaring and nakedly fascist one. It's not right and wrong he serves at all, but rather the rules of the tyranny he serves, and he's no more than people's champion than he is the people's ballet dancer.

Dredd's no hero, though he may be regularly be shown acting in a heroic fashion. He's a Blueshirt, and in the end, that's all there is to it.

I highly recommend any of Smith's pieces on Dredd and 2000AD.

(via Fellowship of the Geeks)

Both Dredd and 2000AD have continued into the 21st Century, so pick yourself up a comic or collection, get yourself a beverage and read outside or at a cafe today. Then show up on Midnight Madness' opening night for Dredd 3D.

(via Too Busy Thinking About My Comics)

cover by Lee Garbett via 2000AD Covers Uncovered.

DREDD 3D screening times:

Thurs., Sept. 6, 11:59PM:  RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 8 12"30PM:  CINEPLES ODEON