Machotaildrop
From the TIFF website:
Meet teenaged layabout Walter Rhum, who wants nothing more than to become a skateboarding star like his idol, Blair Stanley. His plan? Submit a video of his bag of tricks to legendary conglomerate Machotaildrop, then kick back and coast. When his presence is requested at the company’s remote, mysterious fortress, he thinks he’s got it made, but Walter is about to find out that fame, fortune and even skateboarding can be way totally fraught with complications.

Equal parts surreal comedy, fable and indictment of our co-opting, logo-glutted culture – and 110 per cent just plain weird

This is a social commentary of sorts. But mostly its just gloriously weird, and slightly surreal. Take Willy Wonka, add skateboards, the circus, and lots of hallucinogens, and that might come close to describing this movie.

During the Q&A, the writer / directors admitted doing a lot of LSD in their youth. It really shows in this movie.

It’s sort of a commentary on rampant consumerism and manufactured celebrity. And how nonchalantly we discard our celebrities once they don’t ’sell’.

This movie isn’t for everyone. It proceeds at too sedate a pace for most people. Though if you’ve gotten this far in these reviews, its likely your attention span can handle this movie.

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A Hindu’s Indictment of Heaven
This was a short film, about eleven minutes long, shown before Machotaildrop

Ever wondered what the afterlife is like? Dev Khanna provides us with a cynical take on romanticized visions of eternal happiness in this charming tongue-in-cheek drama about a woman who waits at the gates of heaven for her soulmate to arrive. When things don’t work out quite as planned, Saint Peter offers an unexpected alternative.

Watch the trailer here.

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George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead
In a world where the dead rise to menace the living, rogue soldier Crocket leads a band of military dropouts to refuge from the endless chaos. As they search for a place “where the shit won’t get you,” they meet banished patriarch Patrick O’Flynn , who promises a new Eden on the fishing and ranching outpost Plum Island.

This was a celebratory moment. Watching zombie movies, especially new Romero films at the film festival is a treat. This was special though. In the evening, before the movie, there was a zombie walk. Fans dressed as zombies, were roaming the streets of Toronto, seeking brain. Then they converged on Dundas Square, where they were greeted by Romero himself. Romero recently became a Canadian citizen, and now lives in his new hometown of Toronto. So the film festival welcomed him with a special gift, a model CN Tower with a severed hand impaled on it. Great Start.

This was a good Romero film. Usual social commentary applies. The zombies in this movie weren’t very scary, they’re ridiculously easy to kill. Not a very scary movie, but still very watchable.