TIFF Picks: Friday and Saturday, September 15th and 16th

As seen in Metro, yadda yadda yadda.

"When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts"

Last year, the festival saved Martin Scorsese’s four-hour deconstruction of Bob Dylan for its final hours; this year, the epic documentary slot goes to Spike Lee’s examination of New Orleans in the eye of Katrina. This one’s just as long, but it’s utterly absorbing and entirely necessary: Lee uses the expansive canvas to include every excruciating detail of the catastrophic failure of the American government – on every level, from municipal right on up to federal – to respond to a disaster everyone knew was bound to come down the pike, sooner or later.
6 pm at the Ryerson Theatre; repeats Saturday, 11:45 am at the Varsity 8.

"Election" and "Election 2"

Like Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak’s "Infernal Affairs" trilogy, Johnnie To’s "Election" films aim to push Hong Kong crime cinema to a higher level, more concerned with compelling characters and intricate plots than they are about blazing shoot-outs. With their scenes of aging power brokers trying to negotiate a peaceful transfer of mob power in smoky dim sum restaurants, "Election" and "Election 2" really want to be the Hong Kong equivalent of Francis Ford Coppola’s seminal "Godfather" films – and, thanks to layered scripts and To’s tense direction, they mostly achieve that goal. Plus, there are machetes.
3:45 pm Saturday at the Varsity 2.

Also worthwhile:

"In Between Days"
9 am at the Royal Ontario Museum.

"Suburban Mayhem"
11:45 am at the Varsity 6.

"American Hardcore"
12:15 pm at the Paramount 3.

"Thicker Than Water"
2:30 pm at the Varsity 5.

"The Art of Crying"
4:45 pm at the Varsity 5.

"Syndromes and a Century"
6 pm at the Varsity 3; repeats Saturday, 4:45 pm at the Varsity 3.

"Death of a President"
7:45 pm at the Cumberland 3.

"Princess"
Midnight at the Ryerson Theatre; repeats Saturday, 12:15 pm at the Cumberland 2.

"The Dog Problem"
8:45 am Saturday at the Paramount 2.

"Lake of Fire"
4:30 pm Saturday at the Cumberland 3.

"Picture of Light"
5 pm Saturday at the Varsity 7.

"Family Ties"
6 pm Saturday at the Cumberland 4.

"Gambling, Gods and L.S.D."
7:15 pm Saturday at the Varsity 7.

"Bunny Chow"
8:15 pm Saturday at the Varsity 4.

And a special online-only recommendation, mainly because I saw it too late to include it in my Metro filing:

"Out of the Blue"
8 pm Saturday at the Cumberland 1.

Gripping, dread-laden drama about a 1990 shooting rampage in a tiny New Zealand town that left 13 people dead. Just plain weird that it screened Wednesday afternoon, as the Dawson shooting incident was taking place in Montreal ...

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