Confessions of an Innocent Man

The FFM is always a good showcase for Canadian films. This NFB documentary just serves to prove that point. The film focuses on Canadian-British citizen William Sampson, who was incarcerated for nearly three years in a Saudi jail for suspicion of involvement in a car bombing. The film feels uneasy and gut-wrenching as Sampson tells his story of rape, torture, deprivation, and near death sentence. But the real terrifying part is the non-intervention of the Canadian and British government.



Puffball

Brace yourself; this is a bit of a strange one. Puffball tells the story of an architect who moves to a remote valley in Ireland and then discovers she’s pregnant. But that is hardly the worst of her problems as she later discovers that her neighbours may be witches planning evil deeds. Because, why not? The Canada-UK co-production stars Miranda Richardson and the great Donald Sutherland and is directed by the esteemed Nicolas Roeg (of Don’t Look Now fame).



Halloween

One of the new features of this year’s FFM is Midnight Slam, a late-night screening of thrillers, cult films, and horror. And what better movie to kick it all off than Rob Zombie’s updated reimagining of John Carpenter’s original 1978 version of Halloween? This movie represents Zombie’s third foray into the horror genre (could you see him making a movie in any other genre?), following House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects, both of which were criticized for excessive gore and violence, even for a horror film. It may seem a little strange watching a film called Halloween in August, but it should still be campy fun.



Shoot ‘Em Up

Also part of Midnight Slam, Shoot ‘Em Up is a thinkpiece about transcendentalism and how it relates to the current socio-political economic climate. Oh wait, no it’s not. It’s about people getting shot. Clive Owen stars as Mr. Smith, a mysterious loner with a heart of gold who protects a newborn baby from a deranged lunatic, Paul Giamatti. Sorry, I mean Giamatti’s character is a deranged lunatic. Easy mistake. You’ll pay for the whole seat, but you’ll only use the edge of it. (I’ve always wanted to say that).



Blowup

Alright, so it’s not a new movie, but that shouldn’t stop you from going to see it. This film will be screened as part of Cinema Under the Stars, a free outdoor viewing of a pure classic. Blowup was recently-deceased Michelangelo Antonioni’s first English language film. It practically defines the art film genre with its extremely stylized modernist account of a murder case. It’s worth seeing even if only for the cameo by The Yardbirds, including both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.