Moving on, I had time to check out the movie that dares to cast Ricky Gervais as a romantic lead, Ghost Town, which -- despite being directed by David Koepp, who helmed Stir of Echoes (1999) and Secret Window (2004) -- contains not an iota of supernatural thriller-ness. Nope, what you get is a pretty shamelessly corny tale about a dead guy (Greg Kinnear) who wants an uptight dentist who can see dead people (Gervais) to prevent his widow (Tea Leoni) from marrying a square-jawed dude (Billy Campbell) who, like, sucks because he doesn't make her laugh. Fortunately, when the love story isn't getting in the way, Gervais is hilarious. Also, great supporting turn by Saturday Night Live's Kristen Wiig as a surgeon addicted to spray tans. Otherwise, meh. It's the kind of movie where Leoni's character has a giant dog, for the sole purpose of making a joke about how giant dogs make giant poo-poo. Ha ha huh?

I loved writer-director Rian Johnson's 2005 debut, Brick -- a high-school noir with its own Heathers-like slang and a low-key, angsty performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Going into Johnson's latest, The Brothers Bloom, I'd been warned by the TIFF scuttlebutt that the film was "like bad Wes Anderson," which to me means 2007's The Darjeeling Limited (and that horrifically pretentious short film they showed with it). Glad to say, Bloom beats Darjeeling, but the films do share a leading man (Adrien Brody) and a forced sense of whimsy, not to mention the distinct sense that events in the film are taking place in a universe far better art-directed than our own. Anyway, it's about con men played by Brody and Mark Ruffalo, who dress alike in suits and bowler hats for reasons unknown. It's, like, totally clever and quirky! Rachel Weisz plays a zillionaire heiress who never leaves her mansion, instead "collecting hobbies" like playing the harp, ping pong, and constructing ships-in-a-bottle. Ugh. I did enjoy parts of Bloom, and I have a feeling it'll go over well with the Kaufman-Gondry-Anderson appreciation league. But while Brick felt like the fresh, exciting revelation of a new talent, Bloom feels like a retread of places the filmmakers listed above, among others, have already gone.

Anyway. I also went to see Viggo Mortensen ride a horse in Ed Harris' Appaloosa -- a throwback Western with a witty script and bang-up performances by Mortensen, Harris, and Jeremy Irons (and a small turn by Lance Henriksen -- yeah!) Wish Harris hadn't cast Renee Zellweger as the girl though...haven't been a fan since the Empire Records (1995) days.

Still to come: the movie everybody (well, me and at least 3 other people) is dying to see at this year's TIFF, JCVD. Four (uh, five?) words: Jean-Claude Van Damme comeback!