TIFF time of year

I'm trying to pick my movies. All I get, really, are descriptions and whatever I know about the directors.

A vibrant musical might not be what you'd expect from contemporary Russian cinema, but Valery Todorovsky's Hipsters is an Iron Curtain version of Swing Kids meets Hairspray, bursting with razzle, dazzle and, of course, rhythm.

I think I'm a bit afraid of a Russian Hairspray.

[Good Hair:] Acting as African America's Michael Moore, [Chris] Rock goes front and centre in this investigative documentary that is both hilarious and surprisingly informative. It began with an innocent question from his young daughter: “Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?” In black families “good” hair means straight hair, and it's been the source of pain and envy ever since African slaves first digested European beauty standards. Today, women on limited incomes pay thousands of dollars a year to maintain a straight-hair weave – or expect their men to pay for them. To assist in the exploration of this trend, the Reverend Al Sharpton, interviewed by Rock in a light mood, sermonizes on the historical significance of his processed ‘do.

Can I really afford to pass up a Rev. Sharpton sermon on hair?

Fearlessly wading into a world of extremes, The Last Days of Emma Blank works precisely because everything seems so normal. Casting the Dutch dunes in a prominent role, van Warmerdam has the remaining characters communicate in a void of logic, yet their outrageous exchanges sound perfectly ordinary. Isolated, yet strangely universal, this film is a mystery as much as an open-and-shut case of immaculate comic timing.

I don't think I know what that even means.