Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2008 Day 5 - Tuesday October 21, 2008

Day 6 at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival was a giggle fest! Comedies invade the festival with the vampires in Netherbeast Incorporated and hipsters in Who Is KK Downey?.

To hear and see about Day 5 check out my TADFF'08 Vlog for Day 5.


Festival Director & Founder Adam Lopez with Ending the Eternal director Justin McConnell and actor Adam Wilson

Ending the Eternal
Dir: Justin McConnell
Canada, 2008
14 min

Starting the vampire double bill was the short Ending the Eternal which has a cool premise to add to vampire lore. The sound was great, effects gory and snappy dialogue to boot. The one thing that got me was the setting - I swear, I have lived in an apartment just like the one in the film, just not with vampires - as far as I know.

Ending the Eternal is a prequel to the upcoming film The Eternal. The short can be seen online at The Eternal website (select "About", then "Ending the Eternal")

Netherbeast Incorporated
Dir: Dean Matthew Ronalds
Cast: Darrell Hammond, Dave Foley, Judd Nelson, Jason Mewes, Robert Wagner, Amy Davidson, Steve Burns
USA

Wow, what a freaking hilarious film Netherbeast Incorporated was. I thought it would be a fun twist of the vampire genre but this really blew it out of the park. I knew that it was a vampire office comedy, which the idea itself it hilarious. The film is deadpan humour pulled off by stellar performance from the fantastic cast. I was laughing my guts out at the beautiful blend of vampire lore with office politics, a bizarre pairing made in the best kind of hell. Freaking awesome.


Peter Kuplowsky, Programming Manager with The Bumblebee Man co-director Ryan Cavan

The Bumblebee Man
Dir: Ryan Cavan and Alex Heaslip
Canada, 2007
15 min

This short totally has the student vibe going, which completely works as with the wacky concept of Bubblebee royalty, drugs of honey played out in Shakepearian fashion. Add some random ballet performances and a rundown urban setting as the castle gives you only a drop of what is involved in this highly artistic short.


Peter Kuplowsky, Programming Manager with Pat Kiely (director/producer/actor) and Matt Silver (writer/actor) of Who is KK Downey?

Who is KK Downey?
Dir: Darren Curtis and Pat Kiely
Cast: Darren Curtis, Matt Silver, Kristin Adams, Pat Kiely, Dan Haber
Canada

Welcome to the land of hipster subculture. Well, no, if you are Terrance (Darren Curtis) and Theo (Matt Silver) you certainly aren't welcome to the world of quick witted urbanites with crazy hair and people hanging on your every word. But how to break into this world when you are only on the fringe? That is the question that Terrance and Theo face, however the fact remains to be careful what you wish for. The film definitely has great dialogue and precious moments in true comedic fashion. I especially thought the performance from Pat Kiely who plays Connor, the original pompous hipster you love to hate, is pitch perfect. The film is over the top, spiralling into chaos but the characters always remain beleivable even in their craziness, which is quite a feat.

Side note: I'll never think of Voltaire the same way again

Who is KK Downey? opens in Toronto on Friday October 24, 2008 at The Royal.

The Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2008 runs from October 17-24/08 at the Bloor Cinema, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.