Strange bedfellows

>> Fantasia and Just For Laughs snuggle up for Comedia

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Question: say you've got a comedy film that's too weird to screen at August's World Film Fest. Do you run it past Just For Laughs and hope it's funny enough, or pitch it to Fantasia and hope it's weird enough? Answer: Yes.

This makes perfect sense once you consider Comedia, the fest-within-two-fests that overlaps JFL and Fantasia. Made up of nine features and three short film collections (the Eat My Shorts material), Comedia finds the common ground between the two. Making its debut this year, Comedia has an auspicious lineup of edgy comedies from around the world, all at six bones a pop. Here's a few on the "be there or be square" tip.

Attack the Gas Station: This excellent Korean film, for which director Kim Sang-Jin will be on hand, is not to be missed. Four disenfranchised young thugs do as the title suggests, holding the staff hostage and stirring up grief with local gangsters. Similar in tone to many of the new school Triad flicks outta Hong Kong, the film balances gritty tension, harsh black humour and a genuine sympathy for the characters involved. Once again--not to be missed. Sunday, July 16, 7:15 p.m.

Dying of Laughter: Directed by Alex de la Iglesia, who brought us the brilliant Day of the Beast a few years back, and starring Santiago Segura, remembered for helming Torrente: Dumb Arm of the Law, you know this number from Spain guarantees no-holds-barred laffs. Following the love/hate relationship of a comedic duo (accent on hate, eh) through several decades, the film uses the sociopolitical realities of Spain as a backdrop for for the pair's increasingly horrifying behaviour. Tuesday, July 18, 7:30 p.m.

In China They Eat Dogs: Unless your sense of humour is blacker than Marilyn Manson's lipstick, you might have a hard time finding the yuks in this clever but brutal Danish production. You can see the Capra-esque punchline coming from the outset, but there's plenty of bloody twists and surprises that you won't. A case study of cause-and-effect, it's also a yarn of dangerously defective brotherly love. Friday, July 14, 7:15 p.m.

The Independent: Fans of Corman, Castle and their B-movie brothers will love this puppy. It stars beloved TV funnyman Jerry Stiller (who'll be dropping in for the screening) as a shlockmeister with decades of dreck to his name, as well as Janeane Garofalo, Johnny Rotten, Fred Willamson and more. The best part is the lovingly assembled imitations of drive-in grind of yore. Oh, and the master himself, Roger Corman, pops up too. Saturday, July 15, 7 p.m. :

More Fantasia