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TIFF Interview: Midnight Madness Programmer Peter Kuplowsky Shares His Top Picks

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Midnight Madness Peter Kuplowsky

The Toronto International Film Festival is a haven for film lovers. Directors, actors, and fans alike flock to the 10 day festival (running Sept 5-15) for some of the newest and most exciting films the industry has to offer. The Midnight Madness program is a genre fan’s dream, serving innovative and transgressive cinematic experiences with something to delight every interest.

The section’s programmer, Peter Kuplowsky — who has been at the helm since 2017 — has established a career championing genre cinema and outsider art at various international film festivals, including Toronto After Dark and Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

Kuplowsky has also worked as a producer on a number of short and feature films, including Manborg, The Interior, The Void, the Z is for Zygote segment in The ABCs of Death: Part 2, and the short film adaptation of Dave Eggers short story Your Mother and I.

I had the chance to speak with Peter about this year’s Midnight Madness lineup, the community of genre cinema, and his top recommendations for TIFF 2019.


Kelly McNeely: I’m excited for this year’s Midnight Madness, you’ve got a great lineup!

Peter Kuplowsky: Thank you so much, I’m excited too! I was a little self-conscious before the announcement just because of how many unknown entities there are in this lineup. But I’ve been really appreciative of the feedback so far; people seem really excited to discover some new voices. 

KM: I was really excited and surprised to see Crazy World on there, because I know Who Killed Captain Alex is one of those films that not everyone knows about, but it’s such a phenomenal contribution. 

PK: Yeah! I mean it’s one of the themes that kind of emerged by accident, but then when I saw the content was there I wanted to really try and do something with this idea of community directors that made themselves on screen — as you can see in Blood Quantum, The Vigil, and Crazy World.

With Who Killed Captain Alex, a big part of why I wanted to include one of their films in the lineup is I’m so interested in the idea of original filmmaking, filmmakers, and film systems that exist outside of mainstream infrastructures and institutions. And the idea that this is a community of filmmakers and an audience that are constantly making content for each other and entertaining each other. Recently, that content has now been contextualized for the western world and it’s developing an audience.

I find that so remarkable, and I think it’s a testament to the openness of genre audiences and the flexibility of imagination. The idea that you need all these resources to make a movie is a bit of a fallacy. Really you need enthusiasm, creativity, and personality. And that’s what these films have in spades. 

The big hope – I can’t confirm it yet – but we’re in the process of ensuring that the filmmakers themselves are able to attend TIFF and that we actually have live narration for the world premiere of this international version of Crazy World, which would be so exciting.

I have never actually experienced a live narrated Ugandan action film, and I think that idea is really interesting. The tradition came from how their audience was watching American films, because they weren’t subtitled or dubbed, so they needed someone in the room to contextualize it. So the idea that now that their films are going out into the world, they decided to package them with a Ugandan interpreter to sort of contextualize its world too. I’m really looking forward to closing out the lineup with this kind of celebration of a cinema that doesn’t necessarily get as much attention as other quadrants. 

Crazy World via TIFF

KM: I didn’t know you were planning on doing the live narration, that’s so cool!

PK: And that’s something that I hope we can deliver on. The issue has really come down to getting the Visas approved, but we’re in that conversation process and, you know, every part of my body is crossed in hopes that that happens.

KM: On that note, what gets you really excited about a film?

PK: Genre film doesn’t have to be generic, and usually the best genre cinema are the ones that take the familiar formula but are injecting new variables into it. So for me, I’m always interested in seeing something new that I haven’t quite seen before, because the variables are so distinct. But even more simply — and this doesn’t even necessarily apply to movies for the Midnight Madness section — I always just wanna see decisions, and that sounds glib, but I find that sometimes there’s an arbitrariness to the pieces that go together in movies sometimes.

I wanna see a film where I really feel like I’m being guided — I don’t mean this like a single director, even, I mean that the alchemy of all the elements of the movie really feels like there’s not a piece out of place. Everything feels like it’s part of an aesthetic project. That’s something that personally always excites me.

In the Midnight Madness context, the things I look for are momentum and attitude, and something that I feel like is transgressive. It’s breaking a convention or a parameter that is expected. Because that, to me, is what constitutes the difference between a Midnight film and a regular genre film. That there’s this element to it that’s doing something new.

KM: Is there a film you wish you could have had for the lineup that you couldn’t get your hands on?

PK: I track so many films, sometimes years out from them ever being made, so there’s always stuff that it simply isn’t ready. A recent example is a movie that I’m now glad that I didn’t see and subsequently invite, because no one can see it. I was tracking The Hunt, but they were telling me that it wasn’t going to be ready because they were doing a lot of last-minute reshoots on the film, and now no one can see it.

Continue to page 2 for Peter’s TIFF recommendations!

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New Poster Reveal For Nicolas Cage’s Survival Creature Feature ‘Arcadian’ [Trailer]

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Nicolas Cage Arcadian

In the latest cinematic venture featuring Nicolas Cage, Arcadian emerges as a compelling creature feature, teeming with suspense, horror, and emotional depth. RLJE Films has recently released a series of new images and a captivating poster, offering audiences a glimpse into the eerie and thrilling world of “Arcadian”. Scheduled to hit theaters on April 12, 2024, the film will later be available on Shudder and AMC+, ensuring a wide audience can experience its gripping narrative.

Arcadian Movie Trailer

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has given this film an “R” rating for its “bloody images,” hinting at the visceral and intense experience awaiting viewers. The film draws inspiration from acclaimed horror benchmarks like “A Quiet Place,” weaving a post-apocalyptic tale of a father and his two sons navigating a desolate world. Following a catastrophic event that depopulates the planet, the family faces the dual challenge of surviving their dystopian environment and eluding mysterious nocturnal creatures.

Joining Nicolas Cage in this harrowing journey are Jaeden Martell, known for his role in “IT” (2017), Maxwell Jenkins from “Lost in Space,” and Sadie Soverall, featured in “Fate: The Winx Saga.” Directed by Ben Brewer (“The Trust”) and penned by Mike Nilon (“Braven”), “Arcadian” promises a unique blend of poignant storytelling and electrifying survival horror.

Maxwell Jenkins, Nicolas Cage, and Jaeden Martell 

Critics have already begun to praise “Arcadian” for its imaginative monster designs and exhilarating action sequences, with one review from Bloody Disgusting highlighting the film’s balance between emotional coming-of-age elements and heart-pounding horror. Despite sharing thematic elements with similar genre films, “Arcadian” sets itself apart through its creative approach and action-driven plot, promising a cinematic experience filled with mystery, suspense, and relentless thrills.

Arcadian Official Movie Poster

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‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3’ Is a Go with Enhanced Budget and New Characters

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Winnie the Pooh 3

Wow, they’re churning things out fast! The upcoming sequel “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3” is officially moving forward, promising an expanded narrative with a larger budget and the introduction of beloved characters from A.A. Milne’s original tales. As confirmed by Variety, the third installment in the horror franchise will welcome Rabbit, the heffalumps, and the woozles into its dark and twisted narrative.

This sequel is a part of an ambitious cinematic universe that reimagines children’s stories as horror tales. Alongside “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” and its first sequel, the universe includes films such as “Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare”, “Bambi: The Reckoning,” and “Pinocchio Unstrung”. These movies are set to converge in the crossover event “Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble,” slated for a 2025 release.

Winnie the Pooh Poohniverse

The creation of these films was made possible when A.A. Milne’s 1926 children’s book “Winnie-the-Pooh” entered the public domain last year, allowing filmmakers to explore these cherished characters in unprecedented ways. Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Jeffrey Chambers, of Jagged Edge Productions, have led the charge in this innovative endeavor.

The inclusion of Rabbit, heffalumps, and woozles in the upcoming sequel introduces a new layer to the franchise. In Milne’s original stories, heffalumps are imagined creatures resembling elephants, while woozles are known for their weasel-like characteristics and a penchant for stealing honey. Their roles in the narrative remain to be seen, but their addition promises to enrich the horror universe with deeper connections to the source material.

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How to Watch ‘Late Night with the Devil’ from Home: Dates and Platforms

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Late Night With The Devil

For fans eager to dive into one of this year’s most talked-about horror films from the comfort of their own home, “Late Night with the Devil” will be available for streaming exclusively on Shudder starting April 19, 2024. This announcement has been highly anticipated following the film’s successful theatrical release by IFC Films, which saw it earning rave reviews and a record-breaking opening weekend for the distributor.

“Late Night with the Devil” emerges as a standout horror film, captivating audiences and critics alike, with Stephen King himself offering high praise for the 1977-set film. Starring David Dastmalchian, the movie unfolds on Halloween night during a live late-night talk show broadcast that disastrously unleashes evil across the nation. This found footage-style film not only delivers scares but also authentically captures the aesthetic of the 1970s, drawing viewers into its nightmarish scenario.

David Dastmalchian in Late Night with the Devil

The film’s initial box office success, opening to $2.8 million in 1,034 theaters, underscores its wide appeal and marks the highest opening weekend for an IFC Films release. Critically acclaimed, “Late Night with the Devil” boasts a 96% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 135 reviews, with the consensus praising it for rejuvenating the possession horror genre and showcasing David Dastmalchian’s exceptional performance.

Rotten Tomatoes score as of 3/28/2024

Simon Rother of iHorror.com encapsulates the film’s allure, emphasizing its immersive quality that transports viewers back to the 1970s, making them feel as if they are part of the eerie “Night Owls” Halloween broadcast. Rother lauds the film for its meticulously crafted script and the emotional and shocking journey it takes viewers on, stating, “This whole experience will have viewers of the Cairnes brothers’ film glued to their screen… The script, from beginning to end, is neatly sewn together with an ending that’ll have jaws on the floor.” You can read the full review here.

Rother further encourages audiences to watch the film, highlighting its multifaceted appeal: “Whenever it is made available to you, you must attempt to view the Cairnes Brothers’ latest project as it will make you laugh, it will creep you out, it will amaze you, and it might even strike an emotional cord.”

Set to stream on Shudder on April 19, 2024, “Late Night with the Devil” offers a compelling blend of horror, history, and heart. This film is not just a must-watch for horror aficionados but for anyone looking to be thoroughly entertained and moved by a cinematic experience that redefines the boundaries of its genre.

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