Now that the stars have touched down in our fair city, the annual celeb stalking season can begin in earnest. But it’s not all glitz and glamour—there are some genuinely surprising films making waves, from faded action star documentaries to Bollywood musicals. There’s only a week left until the action dies down, so check out The Varsity’s second installment of TIFF reviews and get your tickets while you can!

ASHES OF TIME REDUX – (Wong Kar Wai)

Available for years only as a blurry bootleg, Wong Kar Wai has retooled his 1994 martial arts saga Ashes of Time for its premiere North American theatrical release. Yet “martial arts saga” is a misleading description of the film, whose Sammo Hung-choreographed battles are choppy and impressionistic. Ashes of Time is a meditation on loss, loneliness, and memory more in line with the dreamy sensibility of Wong’s other films than with the Crouching Tiger and Hero comparisons its marketing campaign would like to make. Structurally challenging and narratively dense, even by Wong’s standards, the film reveals many layers on repeat viewings. Wong’s extraordinary visual sense and his evocative creation of mood should win over first-timers as well. The redux version is seven minutes shorter than the original, featuring enhanced sound and a spiffy opening credits sequence. These changes are hardly essential, but it sure is nice to see Christopher Doyle’s sumptuous cinematography on the big screen in full, restored splendor.

Rating: VVVVV

THE BROTHERS BLOOM – (Rian Johnson)

Rian Johnson, writer-director of Brick, goes in a completely different direction for his anticipated sophomore follow-up: a breezy and colourful comedy that’s one of the most crowd-pleasing of this year’s hot-tickets. Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody are orphaned brothers who become the best con men in the business, but when a reluctant Brody is convinced to take on one last job, he falls in love with their target, an heiress shut-in played with warmth by Rachel Weisz. The first half of The Brothers Bloom is quirky, deadpan comedy in the vein of Wes Anderson, while the second grows increasingly emotional. Despite this serious turn, The Brothers Bloom is a lot of fun thanks to Johnson’s bright visual style and the likeability of the cast (which also includes Rinko Kikuchi, Robbie Coltrane, and Maximilian Schell).

Rating: VVVv

JCVD – (Mabrouk El Mechri)

With every film festival comes a few curveballs, and here’s a sentence I never thought I’d write: Jean-Claude Van Damme gives a great performance. In JCVD, the most buzzed-about entry in Colin Geddes’ Midnight Madness line-up, he plays himself, a washed-up action star that unwittingly stumbles into a post office robbery. While JCVD holds big laughs, it transcends its ironic premise by becoming a comedy that actually works as drama. Director El Mechri doesn’t look down on Van Damme; instead, he creates a film that is sympathetic to “the Muscles from Brussels” through his personal and professional ups-and-downs. In one extraordinary scene, Van Damme delivers an improvised monologue straight into the camera about the pitfalls of fame. Who knew that the guy from Bloodsport could be so nakedly self-confessional?

Rating: VVVVv

SINGH IS KINNG – (Anees Bazmee)

Whenever I admit that I indulge in Bollywood cinema, I’m usually met with strange looks and questioning of my filmic credentials. So from now on, I’m going to direct all uninitiated cinephiles to Singh is Kinng, an utterly insane piece of Indian populist filmmaking that crams oodles of senseless fun into its twoa-and-a-half-hour running time. Singh is Kinng (arguably the best title of all time—I rate it ahead of Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla) follows the adventures of Happy Singh (Akshay Kumar), a goofy hick who implausibly becomes the king of an Australian gang. Hard-boiled action, unspeakably broad comedy, sloppy sentimentality, and lavish musical numbers co-exist in a distinctly Bollywood fashion. Singh is Kinng is both ridiculous and utterly irresistible.

Rating: VVV