Day eight - and now the end is near..and so I face the final curtain..(Or at least I think that's what the lyrics are.

It's been a fast and furious year this year at TIFF. The days and nights have blurred into a psychedelic haze of biblical proportions. Along the way and over the past couple of days I have had the pleasure of watching the ridiculously good WHITE STRIPES documentary of their Canadian tour entitled UNDER GREAT WHITE NORTHERN LIGHTS. Amazing performances and a uniquely moving piece of work.

REC 2 proved to be an audience pleaser of epic proportions think REC = ALIEN. REC 2 = ALIENS and you have the formula for the sequel. Good fun, jump out of your seat stuff from Messrs Plaza and Balaguero.

VALHALLA RISING the latest from Nicolas Winding Refn (PUSHER trilogy, BRONSON) proved to be a strange, hypnotic, crowd perplexer. God knows how this will fare at the box office as it is decidedly off beat and unashamedly un-commercial. This trip does not really work but it does feature some amazing sequences and startling imagery.

Wow... what the funk is Werner Herzog on? BAD LIEUTENANT : PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS is a truly jaw dropping piece of work. Apparently as revealed in his Q and A he has never seen the original BLT – let alone any film by Abel Ferrara! This is truly unhinged, uncompromising and quite extraordinary cinema. Nicolas Cage – this time sporting what looks suspiciously like his own hair, gives a – some would say brave – performance as the titular LT. Taking pretty much every drug that he can and staying awake for days on end. Then you have the tripped out iguana sequences and that's just for starters. Overlong but a case of must be seen to be believed film making. Apparently this could be the start of a new film franchise.. the mind literally boggles at the thought!

Also caught SOLOMON KANE ..I won't say too much but this seemed to play well enough, but I just wasn't in the mood for the deliberate pacing and repetitious camera work in the early hours. So I skipped the CGI beast end and will catch it when I am slightly more on this planet.

Still a couple of days to go.. Ian is off for his American train trip tomorrow- I'm staying until the bitter Saturday night end before hitting LA and Austin's Fantastic Fest.

Until the next time…..

Paul.

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