DEFENDING THE INDEFENSIBLE at the Toronto Underground Cinema (186 Spadina), Friday (March 4). See listings.
Every movie ever made is someone’s favourite. Somewhere out there is a guy waging an internet campaign demanding a 3-D Blu-ray release for Metalstorm: The Destruction Of Jared-Syn, in which there is no storm of metal and Jared-Syn is not destroyed.
People love what they love, and champion it proudly. So do critics, which is why we hate to see a picture resoundingly rejected by the public despite our praise. (Not that I could find any strong notices for Metalstorm, mind you.)
Defending The Indefensible, a new series launching Friday at the Toronto Underground Cinema, aims to change things up. Once a month, local critics will be offered the chance to redeem their favourite bombs before a presumably skeptical public.
It’s my honour to kick off the series with Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s misunderstood psychological drama Alien Resurrection, introducing it at 7 pm and then defending its honour in a Q&A after the screening against Torontoist’s John Semley. At 9:30 pm we switch roles, as Semley presents Tom Green’s Dadaist dud Freddy Got Fingered and I do my best to explain why they should chase Green down with torches and pitchforks for his crimes against celluloid.
The series continues with a special April Fool’s Day presentation of MacGruber and Observe And Report (May 20), The Butterfly Effect (June 24) and Jennifer’s Body (July 29), among others.
Don’t you want to see how this plays out?
