CIFF 2007: Day Five - Lars and the Real Girl

Craig Gillespie (photo by Ian Sklarsky)

Director Craig Gillespie was at AMC River East 21 for a screening of Lars and the Real Girl.

It screens again tomorrow, Oct. 11 at River East @ 9 p.m. (see you there), and Saturday, Oct. 13 at Landmark's Century Centre Cinema @ 5:45 p.m.

Screened:

A strange transmission is being emitted through electronic devices and reducing people back down to their primal instincts. No, it's not Stephen King's Cell; it's The Signal. Three writer-directors (David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry) present three interconnected sections of the chaos. The first act sets up a potentially smart horror movie, but watch it take a disappointing nosedive into forced black comedy in the second act and never recover.

The Signal screens Saturday, Oct. 13 at Landmark @ 11 p.m.

In Tehilim (Psalms), a teenage boy is on his way to school with his father and younger brother. His dad swerves off the road. The boy walks away to get help and returns to find his father missing. Co-writer director Raphaël Nadjari does a fine job revealing the dynamics of the remaining family through recognizable conflicts. There are no resolutions here, only a young man trying to cope with becoming an adult on his own.

Tehilim is not scheduled for further screenings.

--Mark Dujsik