CP24 is a television channel in Toronto that is like a parody of Headline News, and you cannot escape it.

I see it in elevators, subway stations, bars, restaurants, shops…

I feel like I'm in a satirical science fiction dystopia.

Youth in Revolt
dir: Miguel Arteta (Chuck and Buck)

Now a slight romantic comedy! It's more entertaining, however, than…

The Invention of Lying
dir: Ricky Gervais (The Office)

Ricky Gervais makes a Frank Capra film. Too much Capra, not enough Gervais.

Tina Fey calls Gervais a "fat faggot."

Life During Wartime
dir: Todd Solondz (Happiness)

Life During Wartime is a sequel to Happiness with different actors.

In it, Happiness characters converge with Welcome to the Dollhouse characters, who also appear in Palindromes.

Is Solondz our Faulkner?

I hope Mark Wiener appears in every future Solondz film.

Also: Alison Janney topless.

Lebanon

Lebanon, which won the Golden Lion (best in show) at the Venice Film Festival, is Generation Kill inside a tank – an autobiographical, Israeli Generation Kill, highlighted by a ferocious denouement.

A Prophet
dir: Jacques Audiard (The Beat That My Heart Skipped)

French prisons are posh, and they let you out for unsupervised leave days!

Valhalla Rising
dir: Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson)

Vengeance
dir: Johnnie To (Election)

Winding Refn and To's films receive a lot of coverage, but I've yet to see a good one by either director.

Castaway on the Moon

I've heard a few TIFF attendees bemoan the lack of a Slumdog Millionaire this year.

Well, Castaway on the Moon is this year's Slumdog Millionaire, a quirky love story between an insecure shut-in and a despondent man who's stranded on an island in the middle of Seoul.

When it ended, I wanted to hug it.