“Punk is dead” is a phrase heard several times throughout We Are the Best!, but it’s certainly not true for pre-teen girls Bobo (Mira Barkhammar) and Klara (Mira Grosin). The film takes place during 1982 in Stockholm, a time when people started moving toward bands like Joy Division or The Human League. Bobo and Klara, on the other hand, refuse to give up on punk, sporting mohawks and androgynous looks. When a hair metal band makes fun of the two girls for their looks, they get revenge by booking out the band’s practice space at a local rec centre. Bobo & Klara play around with some instruments and, despite having no musical background, decide to form a band.

There isn’t much of a narrative to Lukas Moodysson’s film, but why should there? Bobo and Klara form their band on a whim, and the film carries itself with the same kind of free-wheeling sense of spontaneity. It isn’t long before a third member, the long-haired Christian student Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne), gets recruited into the band. Hedvig is, like Bobo & Klara, an outcast at school, but her excellent guitar playing skills help the band’s only song (a track dedicated to their gym teacher called “Hate Sport”) form into something cohesive.

Moodysson, adapting his wife Coco’s graphic novel Never Goodnight, avoids falling into the usual traps plaguing childhood drama/coming of age tales through his decidedly undramatic approach. These are 12 to 13-year-old girls after all, and while they have problems nothing is given enough dramatic weight to detract from the core relationship between Bobo, Klara & Hedvig. That isn’t to say the film doesn’t touch on big topics; Bobo deals with her parents’ divorce along with her own insecurities, boys threaten to tear the band apart, and there’s even time for a religious debate when Klara teases Hedvig about her beliefs. These events are never life-changing on their own, but cumulatively end up defining these girls as they begin to grow older.

But for the brief time Moodysson looks at his trio of young punks, he keeps it light. For all of the girls’ cursing, fighting and rebellious attitudes, there’s still a sense of youthful innocence to everything they do. Their punk song is nothing more than a protest against gym class, their relationships nothing more than holding hands with a boy they like. While the girls may have political views (especially Klara), their attraction to punk is more about defiant rebellion against the status quo. By showcasing so many innocent acts of protest, Moodysson might have just made one of the best definitions of punk on film.

The childlike innocence found throughout We Are the Best! owes quite a lot to Barkhammar, Grosin and LeMoyne. Barkhammar and Grosin have a friendliness to them beneath their intimidating looks, a quality where they’re more than happy to befriend anyone on their side. LeMoyne initially joins the band out of a need for friendship, eventually developing into the glue holding their band and friendship together. All three actresses, amazingly making their debuts, are so effortless and natural in their roles it lends a documentary feel to the film. Moodysson’s film is hard to dislike, and while it puts more emphasis on the light in light-hearted, We Are The Best! is time well spent.

We Are The Best trailer

Don’t be fooled by Paranormal Activity and Insidious getting mentioned in the marketing for Oculus. While those films (or, more specifically, their franchises) are about big jolts and loud noises, Oculus surprisingly goes for a more subdued and unsettling approach. Mike Flanagan, the director of Absentia, returns with a feature-length adaptation of his short film. In both films, Flanagan separates himself from other American horror filmmakers by his focus on character and story. Absentia and Oculus start out with people confronting personal tragedies and, after fully establishing his characters, Flanagan injects a kind of demonic folklore more inspired by horror literature than films. This strategy isn’t exactly brimming with originality, but the combination of these different influences create a result that’s more refreshing and unnerving than most  horror films hitting the multiplex.

Kaylie (Karen Gillan) and Tim (Brenton Thwaites) lost both of their parents 11 years ago. Having both gone insane, their father (Rory Cochrane) shot and killed their mother (Katee Sackhoff) shortly before Tim allegedly killed their father in self-defense. At age 21, Tim is finally released from psychiatric care when his doctor declares him fit to re-enter society. Kaylie, now 23, has spent the years hunting down what she believes is the real killer of their parents: an antique mirror their father bought when they moved into their childhood home. Just as Tim is released, Kaylie finally finds the mirror and convinces him to help prove the mirror’s evil nature before they “kill it” for good.

Oculus’ first half is ambiguous around the mirror itself, which seems pointless. If the mirror wasn’t evil there would be no movie, but the point of this ambiguity isn’t to question the mirror. Flanagan and co-writer Jeff Howard are showing how the truth is relative according to each person. Tim argues Kaylie’s claims about the mirror, referred to as The Lasser Glass, by bringing up everything he learned from his years in therapy. These arguments are used to show flashbacks (the film cross-cuts between present day and 11 years earlier, where we see exactly what happened to Tim & Kaylie) where the story is shown in a different, more rational light. These scenes feel drawn out and useless at first, but Flanagan and Howard’s screenplay is much smarter than it appears.

These moments plant the seed of questioning what’s real, and once a certain truth is established, Flanagan finally lets things fly off the handle. Much like the titular hotel room in 1408, the mirror’s power comes from distorting what people see. As the mirror’s strength grows, all trust is lost, and the idea of losing one’s grip on reality provides the film’s biggest chills. At the same time, Flanagan and Howard find an ingenious way to merge the flashbacks into present day, creating a kind of controlled chaos anchored by Flanagan’s excellent editing.

The final act’s disorientation effect is exciting to watch unfold, even if it comes at the cost of ending things on a rather anticlimactic note. Oculus is one of the rare psychological horrors that perfectly fits the description. It’s the rare kind of modern horror film that’s more about lingering in the mind long after the lights come on than providing quick, forgettable jolts. Horror fans shouldn’t miss Oculus; films as creepy as this one don’t come along too often.

Oculus trailer

Writer/director Joe Begos has fashioned Almost Human, his debut feature, as a love letter to 80s horror/sci-fi schlock. The film opens with Seth (Graham Skipper) arriving at his friend Mark’s (Josh Ethier) house in a frenzy. Seth tells Mark and his girlfriend Jen (Vanessa Leigh) that aliens are after him, but before they can react blue lights and blaring sirens incapacitate all of them. Mark gets sucked into space, while Seth and Jen are left to figure out what happened.

Flash forward two years, and Seth is still having a hard time recovering from what happened. Jen, on the other hand, is engaged to a new man and wants to forget about what happened to Mark. Meanwhile, two hunters a hundred miles away discover Mark lying naked in a forest. It turns out Mark is actually some sort of body snatched version of him, whose express purpose seems to be murdering and reproducing. After brutally disposing of the two hunters, Mark proceeds to slaughter every single person he comes into contact with as he makes his way to see Jen.

Begos’ film is clearly a labour of love, but good intentions can only get people so far. Almost Human is supposed to be a genuine attempt at making an 80s-esque B-movie, but it’s too shoddily put together to work this way. Think Slither, but without any of the fun or craftsmanship. Running at a scant 76 minutes (technically just over 60 as the credits are about 8 minutes long), Almost Human barely leaves an impression before it’s over.

Problems lie mainly with the writing and acting. None of the characters feel distinct, and are largely forgotten once they aren’t on screen. Mark, looking like an insane lumberjack, is the only memorable character because of his Terminator-like killing spree. Begos’ visual style is bland, relying on grain filters to emulate the 80s time period the film takes place in, and the first two acts have a wash-rinse-repeat quality to them as a result (Mark kills people, Seth and Jen feel like something is wrong, repeat).

By the time Almost Human kicks into its Cronenberg-esque climax, the film has generated more yawns than thrills. There’s nothing wrong with doing a straight-up piece of genre filmmaking as long as one can pull off familiar genre elements well enough to make them exciting again (You’re Next and The Conjuring successfully did this last year). Almost Human can’t overcome its amateur qualities to become the fun genre pastiche it so desperately wants to be.

Almost Human trailer

On paper, the description of Manakamana will have most people running in the opposite direction. Directors Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez put a stationary camera inside a cable car that takes passengers up and down a mountain to the Manakamana temple in Nepal. They simply observed each passenger (or passengers) as they travelled towards or away from the temple. It’s nothing more than 11 rides in a row over 2 hours, with a seamless transition between each scene. It sounds like daunting viewing, which it certainly is at first, but viewers willing to stick around will get rewarded for their patience.

Manakamana is a product of Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab, the same place responsible for the brilliant Leviathan (the directors of that film share a producing credit here). The approach that Spray and Velez use here isn’t nearly as experimental as that film, but it’s far less accessible. The first several rides will test people’s tolerance, as they’re mostly wordless. The first audible dialogue is heard almost a half hour in, when a woman takes the trip up for the first time with her husband.

People’s eyes will naturally focus on the changing landscapes outside of the car’s windows at first. The wide-open lands and massive mountains make for a spectacular view going up and down the ride, creating a fascinating juxtaposition with the car’s riders. The intimacy of each trip is felt as we’re locked in mere feet from the travellers, while at the same time we see nothing but miles of open space surrounding them. It’s simultaneously large and small in scale, and the way Spray/Velez use this to its full effect makes Manakamana fascinating to watch.

As we go through each successive ride, it’s easy to pick up on a few things Spray and Velez are exploring here. The sequencing of Manakamana (the riders were selected by the directors, who worked with them on other projects) highlights the existence of a vast generational gap. Older riders represent a time period that’s on the verge of disappearing completely, with most of them making comments about how people would travel to the temple before the ride’s existence. That feeling of a division between old and young is felt the most when a ride showing three older women is followed by three young, long-haired men in a rock band.

These ideas aren’t made explicit by the filmmakers either. By observing each ride, people can make their own conclusions from what they see. The amount of ideas that the film generates is surprisingly impressive. The first half, consisting of trips going up, feels slightly anxious (the sound design by Ernst Karel is especially effective here, with the periodic rattling of the cars acting like a jolt to the mostly peaceful atmosphere). It’s in the second half, where we only see people taking the trip down, that things seem to loosen up as a result of their time at the temple. One ride, with an American and Nepali woman, starts out in silence. It seems like they’re strangers at first, but it’s only until they start talking that one realizes they’re good friends.

The two rides after that, with two women trying to eat ice cream and two musicians playing together, make for some of the funniest and joyous scenes of the year. Compared to the other Sensory Ethnography Lab films, Manakamana might be their most humanist work to date, but it’s just as bold and daring as everything else they’ve made up to this point. In its observation of the cable car’s trips, it says plenty about the way spiritualism impacts people. The concept may be simple, but it delves a lot deeper than most other documentaries.

With 288 features set to play over 11 days, it was a tough process to narrow down our top picks for the Toronto International Film Festival. TIFF can function as a way to catch up on some of the hotter festival titles from earlier this year, or as a sign of what 2014’s films will look like. Our list, which you can read below, covers a wide range from genre films to Cannes winners and even some movies generating Oscar buzz. Way Too Indie will be covering the Toronto International Film Festival this year, and we hope to catch as many films on this list as we possibly can along with many other films as well. This year the Toronto International Film Festival takes place from September 5th to 15th.

Way Too Indie’s 10 Must See Films at TIFF 2013

#10 – The Sacrament

It’s safe to say that Ti West is one of the best American horror filmmakers working today. The House of the Devil is one of the best horror movies in the last ten years, a nostalgic and atmospheric throwback to the 80’s that still causes the creeps even on repeat viewings. His follow-up, The Innkeepers, was a ghost story that had the audacity to spend time (!) developing its characters before putting them in horrifying situations. Now West is back with The Sacrament, a film that takes its inspiration from Jim Jones’ cult in the 1970’s. A reporter takes a camera crew along with him to investigate a cult that his sister ran off to, where presumably things will take a turn for the worse. With Eli Roth producing, The Sacrament might finally expose mainstream audiences to something truly scary for once. [CJ Prince]

#9 – The Great Beauty

I’m quite the admirer of Paolo Sorrentino’s last film, This Must Be the Place (I believe I placed it at #2 on my top ten list of that respective year). I thought it was a very well-directed piece on the oddities that liter America, spearheaded by a delicious lead performance by Sean Penn (one of his best). Sorrentino has finally followed up that overlooked gem with The Great Beauty. The film played at Cannes earlier in the year, where it was met with a lot of acclaim. Our very own Dustin Jansick liked the film too. The Great Beauty has been described as a 2.5 hour love letter to Rome, its history and its beauty. If I were attending this year’s edition of Toronto, this film would be near the top of my must see list. [Blake Ginithan]

#8 – Devil’s Knot

“The West Memphis Three.” No, that’s not the name of the bluegrass band that plays at your local farmer’s market. It’s the handle that was given to three teenagers who were wrongfully accused of brutally murdering three children in 1993 and subsequently sentenced to life in jail, despite the lack of hard evidence. Devil’s Knot, Atom Egoyan’s (The Sweet Hereafter, Chloe) crime drama take on the murderous tale as inspired by Mara Leveritt’s book of the same name, has got an interesting assemblage of a cast gracing the screen: the criminally underrated Elias Koteas; the mysterious, moody up-and-comer Dane DeHaan (Chronicle); the always-solid-sometimes-great Reese Witherspoon; the supremely talented Colin Firth. And that’s just a handful. The reaction coming out of TIFF (where it’s making its world premiere) will likely be a good indication of how big a splash the genre thriller will make in the domestic market. [Bernard Boo]

#7 – Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey has been a popular name across the festival circuit this year. I had the chance to see his memorable performance in Mud at Sundance London in April and was extremely impressed by both actor and film. I’d love for Dallas Buyers Club to be another example of McConaughey’s diversity as the plot has a lot of potential to explore controversial topics and utilise the dramatic undertones which should ensue. [Amy Priest]

#6 – The Double

Not to be confused with the awful film of the same name starring Richard Gere from a couple years ago, The Double is Richard Ayoade’s directorial follow-up to his fantastically whimsical and charming coming-of-age film Submarine. The Double follows a man (Jesse Eisenberg) who discovers his doppelganger (also played by Eisenberg) who is constantly one-upping him in life and at work. Billing itself as a comedy comes as no surprise given Ayoade’s comedic background in The IT Crowd, The Mighty Boosh, and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, which are all reasons even for some to get excited for the newest work baring his name. [Dustin Jansick]

#5 – Kill Your Darlings

In addition to getting some of the best buzz out of Sundance this year, Kill Your Darlings already has almost unanimous approval among critics who’ve seen it. The film dreams up the early beginnings of the Beat generation’s founding heroes, Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), William S. Burroughs (Ben Foster), Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston), and Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan). Brought together during their time at Columbia University in the 40s, their friendship was made bond by a gruesome murder, which sets the backdrop to what appears to be an edgy, sexy and intriguing film. These sexually-curious, substance-abusive, and creatively-unconventional icons provide excellent inspiration for a young cast and relatively young director. John Krokidas’s film is, as he put it in an interview, a sort of “origin” story for these influential anti-conformist heroes. Furthermore, with change happening all over the world as more accepted norms are challenged, it’s no surprise that several films have been released of late focusing on this historic cultural shift. I look forward to it’s October release to see it myself. [Ananda Dillon]

#4 – Blue is the Warmest Color

It’s a little difficult, after seeing the movie poster—the soft, pale skin; the snow-white background; the seductive, dangerous, staring eye; the shimmering splash of arctic-blue hair accompanied by color-matched brushstrokes that spell out B-L-U-E—to not be more than a little intrigued by Abdellatif Kechiche’s upcoming French drama, Blue is the Warmest Color. Then there’s the massive, snowballing hype surrounding the film that’s been steadily picking up speed ever since it came out of Cannes as the belle of the ball—critics adored it, and it won the Palme d’Or, which pretty much secures it a spot in the “must-see” column in the back of every cinephile’s mind. If that’s not enough to entice you, the film has received an NC-17 rating due to the extended, “is it porn?” lesbian sex scenes between stars Adéle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. [Bernard Boo]

#3 – Don Jon

Written, directed and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, this comedy is set to impress many at TIFF this year as many film fans are already calling it a “great directorial debut” and with recommendations across the board. Jon Martello (Levitt) is the modern day Don Juan who objectifies everything in his life, especially women. His journey is focused on learning about love and appreciating life. I’m very excited to see it succeed, but also very sad I’ll have to wait for it’s UK release on 15th November compared to my lucky U.S. friends who’ll catch it on 27th September. [Amy Priest]

#2 – Gravity

I have been waiting for Alfonso Cuaron to follow up Children of Men for 7 years. Seven. Years. Well folks, he’s finally back and boy does it seem like he’s ready to drop another masterpiece on us. Already being met with raves from the Venice Film Festival, Gravity is ready to take the fall awards circuit by storm. Certainly on its way to getting multiple technical Oscar nominations, Cuaron’s Gravity tells the story of two astronauts who, after a freak accident, are stranded in the nothingness of space. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock anchor the film’s heart and soul, but it’s the Mexican director and his cinematographer (Emmanual Lubezki) who will probably steal the show here. Word is that Cuaron still loves his long tracking shots and Gravity has one that is nearly 13 minutes in length. This isn’t just my most anticipated film of the festival, it’s my most anticipated of the year. [Blake Ginithan]

#1 – 12 Years A Slave

It is almost hard to believe that 12 Years A Slave will only be Steve McQueen’s third feature film because an amateur quality is never sensed in his work. Going by his (short) track-record of films we can expect two things from this new film; a commanding narrative with powerful cinematography and Michael Fassbender (who has appeared in every film of his to date). McQueen’s last film Shame stunned audiences all-over, including its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, but because of the explicit sexual content in the film it earned the dreaded NC-17 rating, which essentially forfeited its chances to receive any Oscar nods. However, people are already gossiping about 12 Years A Slave being an Oscar contender ahead of its premiere because the film has all the checkmarks the Academy favors: American historical drama, award winning cast, and an mid-October release date. Time will tell how much, if any, accolade 12 Years A Slave will earn, but we will count earning the top spot on our list as its first. [Dustin Jansick]