I'd heard a mix of comments after the initial film announcements, such as thoughts that TIFF was "playing it safe" with their line-up this year, and observations similar to my own that there seemed to be fewer Far East Asian films than usual. Still, in 300+ titles, it can't be hard to fill your calendar. Some folks who purchased TIFF packages this year complained about the lack of 9am Public Screenings, as these hardcore moviegoers rely on early starts in order to fit in up to 5 or 6 movies a day. Those of us who used a combo including volunteer vouchers were able to go to 9am Press & Industry shows making that was less of a problem. This was also the first year they split up the Members and Public box offices into separate locations and I personally had mixed feelings about that. I didn't really see any advantage to using the Members box office until the second half of the festival where there were no line vs. long waits at the Public box office.
Other personal observations about my festival are that I think I watched the most English-language films this year than any other year. While I was quite pleased overall with my selections, fell asleep during surprisingly few movies despite my schedule, and labeled more than the average number of films as "good", I would have to say there was no particular movie that bowled me over (ie. the year of Slumdog Millionaire). The mix of volunteering, work, vacation days, and movies every chance I had was grueling but not unheard of compared to past festivals. Next year it would be nice if I could manage an extra day or two of vacation, I only had two 5-movie days this year, that was partially of my own doing though as I felt the need to be at the 2nd screening of Much Ado About Nothing even if it meant spending time in Rush line instead of seeing an extra movie.
General Stats:
Number of movies watched: 28
Number of movies where I nodded off at some point: 6
Number of movies I want to own: 8
Number of failed rush lines: 1 (The Master, but then I rushed another film instead successfully.)
Number of successful rush lines: 8 (Strategy: Early morning P&Is and early on in the festival)
Number of walk-outs: 0 (I was a little tempted for one, just because I was tired)
Most epic meal I took into a theatre to eat: Sashimi combo with rice, soup, and salad
Celeb I got closest to: Colin Farrell (mere centimeters away, and yet...no photo or autograph to show for it)
Celeb I most wanted to get close to but missed: Bradley Cooper, Alexander Skarsgard, Ewan McGreggor
Best swag/freebie: David's Tea (all you had to do was show your ticket stub)
Films that I saw:
Dial M For Murder in 3D - the Hitchcock classic as I'd never seen it before. Prior to the screening we joked that for once we were looking forward to seeing something in 3D (my usual crew are not fans) and it just goes to prove that Hitch does everything better, even 3D! I've seen Dial M a couple times before, and also the remake, A Perfect Murder. It's not in your face and keeps your focus on the story. The 50's were a different time when it came to justice and catching murderers, and while I'll never be a Grace Kelly fan, I do like this big screen classic.
Pusher - is Luis
Prieto’s remake of Refn’s Danish original, which I have not seen, about a
week in the life of a drug dealer whose life is spiraling out of control due to a series of unfortunate events. Though not the most original tale, and visually a bit of a Guy Ritchie/Tony Scott knock-off, it's still entirely watchable and energetic as events are played out again a backdrop of an Orbital musical score. You'll either appreciate or be frustrated by the ending, but I felt it went with the characters’ ambivalent personalities,
an aspect of the writing that I really enjoyed.
Perks of Being A Wallflower - just before I saw the movie, I read a review in which it's described as a film "that will appeal to mainstream indie fans". This has since become my favourite new oxymoron, long after I watched and enjoyed the movie and the details have become a warm hazy glow. It's based on a book of the same title that I read in my early 20's (er, I mean, last year! ;)) about a young man with a history of mental illness on the social fringes at school, when he meets two offbeat seniors who take him under their wing. Together they cope with the usual coming-of-age issues, friendship, sexuality, first love, self-worth, and belonging. Emma Watson is simply delightful as the endearing, irrepressible Sam, and Logan Lerman nails the lead role of Charlie. As for "mainstream indie" appeal... if you like the Virgin Suicides, Igby Goes Down, Garden State and that sort... trust me, you'll eat up Perks.
Painless - Bit of a fail on my part, I nodded off for parts of this movie due to fatigue as opposed to disinterest. A man digging into his past learns of a Spanish hospital that once conducting bizarre rehabilitation experiments on a group of children who were incapable of feeling pain, in particular one boy who derived more fascination from the experiments that rehabilitation. This movie was as much thriller as it was horror with a psychological element as well as scenes of gore. I could blame the fact that it's a little slow moving for my nodding off, but in truth the slow reveal probably worked. My main issue was that I guessed the ending half way through, as soon as one of the characters was introduced I knew exactly how it would play out.
90 Minutes - if I'm to believe what director Eva Sørhaug said in her Q&A, there is a whole cultural divide between North American and Norway that I never knew about. She told us that the movie stemmed from her research on domestic violence leading to spousal killing, and that although Norway is supposed to one of the best places in the world to live, it also has the highest rate of this type of domestic abuse. Her movie is about 3 different stories all centralized around domestic abuse, and she doesn't hold back when it comes to portraying graphic acts of violence. One woman in the audience afterwards kept pushing Sørhaug to explain the motivations behind these male characters, beyond the "societal pressures and circumstances" that she'd mentioned, I'd venture to guess the audience member found these scenes so sadistic that she wanted justification for subjecting us to something so disturbing. If you choose to see this movie, you will be in for an unsettling time, whether you think the overall product is good or not.
Silver Linings Playbook - Pat (Bradley Cooper) is fresh out of an institution trying to make a comeback in life - starting by getting his wife back. He enlists the help of a troubled young widow (Jennifer Lawrence) and "an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings
appear in both of their lives.” (from the Weinstein company synopsis) Not the most original story every written, but David O. Russell makes it work. He kicks it up a
notch with superb casting. Jennifer
Lawrence and Robert DeNiro (as Pat Solatano Sr, the superstitious
Eagles-obsessed patriarch) play up their characters’ quirks and eccentricities just
right. Also look out for Chris Tucker making a
subtler-than-usual, but equally hilarious contribution. What makes the movie
for me though is the dialogue, for every conventional
aspect of the story, fresh lively banter makes up for it. The exchanges between Lawrence and Cooper are
charged, they’ll have you
hanging on for every last retort and jape.
Much Ado About Nothing - I'm a bit hesitant to write this review. I consider myself on the fringes of the Joss Whedon cult. I have an immense love for what I've seen of his work, but confess I don't own much more than a few of his TV shows. Meanwhile I'm closely acquainted to those who name their pets after him/his characters. Anyway, I'm reluctant to write the review, not because I didn't like the film, but because I'm not sure I can accurately convey just how much of personal stamp he's managed to put on a Shakespearean play. This project was a long time coming stemming from many Shakespeare readings Whedon and his wife would host in their home, which is also where Much Ado was shot, in just 12 days. It's presented in crisp black and white, retains the original language but interpreted in present day. For those familiar with Joss Whedon's television creations, think of the times they did something different, ie.the Buffy "Hush" and "Once More With Feeling" episodes, despite the absence of Whedon's acclaimed dialogue they never felt out of place. If anything, they felt even more like a Joss Whedon creation somehow. That's the same feeling I got watching Much Ado About Nothing.
Writers - Is there anything more likely to pique my interest than dysfunctional families when it comes to movies? Here we take a father of 2 who is unable to get over his ex-wife, an angsty college girl dead set against monogamous relationships, a sensitive teenage boy in love with a troubled classmate, and a mother balancing life with a new husband while suffering quietly over being ex-communicated by her daughter... then make them all self-aware, constantly soul-searching, speculative writers! There'll be no chance of normal there! Yet, in a pretty typical fashion, we see them struggle, squirm outside their comfort zone, and come together in the most improbable circumstances... will they pull through as a family? My cynicism aside, this is pretty decent work by first time director Josh Boone. I'm sure it helps to be supported by a talented cast - actually with the likes of Jennifer Connelly, Greg Kinnear, Lily Collins, and a cameo by Stephen King, Writers is kind of like an indie film that isn't indie at all! Just go with it, the movie isn't perfect but that's kind of the point, isn't it?
Byzantium - I was particularly excited to see Byzantium, Neil Jordan's first foray back into the world of Vampires since 1994's Interview with the Vampire staring Saoirse Ronan, the young actress who already has a long list of dark brooding roles in her movie repertoire. This time, the tale is about 2 mysterious women (no fangs, no supernatural powers, no sparkling, just a lust for blood) trying to outrun their past, who settle in a rundown hotel on the English seaside. Young Eleanor befriends a waiter and reveals her 200 year old story, meanwhile those who seek them are quickly catching up. No matter what century Neil Jordan places his vampires in, he can't help but make them fascinating and elegant creatures, though Byzantium's story unfolds very slowly over the first hour and lacks Interview's fervor until about the last 20 minutes.
Storm Surfers 3D - A big wave documentary featuring two legends of the sport as they search for the greatest unsurfed waves in the world is exactly the type of stuff you DO want to see in 3D. I'd be impressed if they brought an iPhone with they to video the waves and have the device survive, much less whatever specialty equipment they did bring. The footage is amazing, making up for the less interesting people that the documentary centres around. It's visually spectacular, you need to go no further for a reason to see this.
Antiviral - Perhaps I can't get past the fact that he's a film school grad bankrolled by a famous daddy, but I really don't understand why Brandon Cronenberg's film has gotten so much attention at Cannes and is winning awards at TIFF. I'm not saying the movie is bad, though it's far too self-indulgent for me, but overall I feel it's a thinly story woven out of a couple basic ideas and concepts. He's clearly a great admirer of his father (and so am I...), his film is ambitious but, I feel, undeserving of the acclaim. Kudos to the production design and special fx, it can't be easy to clean up all that fake blood from the pristine and sterile sets after each take. Don't think I could've rolled my eyes any harder when the first question during the Q&A was "Do you feel a formal film education is required in order to become a successful filmmaker?" Gag.
Cloud Atlas - based on the novel of the same name that I've never read, I believe the key to enjoying this film doesn't lie in understanding the story so much as the overall idea - the idea that our lives our pre-destined, and that those whose lives are linked with ours are entwined into our past, present, and future. Everything directors Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski present to us only serves to reinforce that point. I will readily admit I walked out of that theatre after almost 3 hours not entirely sure of what had happened but completely blown away by the visuals. I only wish they could have shot this in IMAX to enhance the production design and the Wachowski’s enthralling designs of the future. And let's not forget the special fx make-up! I’m gonna be pretty annoyed if they don’t win an Oscar for it.
3 - A South American family comedy, that really isn't comical at all, about a man who insinuates himself back into the lives of his ex-wife and daughter. Two hours of watching a family meander through life is not my idea of a good time. You wait and wait for something to happen but there's really no reward for your patience. It could pass as a portrayal of a family, but I was led to believe there would be chuckles.
Here Comes the Devil - I hesitate to weigh in on this movie, aside from being certain that the story was too slow-moving for my tastes at times, I must admit to nodding right off so for all I know I missed some really good stuff. Parents Felix and Sol are very relieved when their teenage kids return safely after going missing for one night in some woods while they're vacationing, but soon realize their children have changed since the disappearance. Also notable is the sound design of this film, if the story doesn't leave you with an unsettling feeling, the sound will (and I mean this in a good way... if that makes sense).
No One Lives - I want to say this movie is so bad it's good, but it might be a case of "it's so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again" (that is a line from my favourite movie Ghost World by the way). A group of highway bandits run a couple off the road only to find a long-missing girl tied up in their trunk, too late they realize that these people are not who they seem and now there's a maniac all out to kill them... let the screams, blood, and guts fly! The story is your standard gore fest fare, which is fine except it's laden with the most atrocious dialogue imaginable. At first I thought I might have been a bit harsh, but in the climax the amount of dialogue diminished for about 10 minutes and it was amazing how much better the movie got in that time! I saw this movie with my adolescent horror-story collaborator (I kid you not, I wrote horror stories with my friends in grades 7-9) and we snickered through it recalling when we wrote similarly horrible dialogue at the age of 13. We both kept copies of our stories, think I'm going to send them to the producers of this movie.
Aftershock - From the moment director Nicholas Lopez and a member of his cast took the microphone in the intro for Aftershock, I knew it was going to be a good time. They had a plane to catch and couldn't stick around for the movie, so they decided to have a PRE-show Q&A talking about working with Eli Roth and the inspirational role that the real earthquake in Chile had on the movie. The movie focuses on a group of tourists and their local friends partying it up in Chile when there is an earthquake. Environmental horror is very real but something most of us in Canada have no experience with, but the psychological element will have you gripping your chain arm same as if the heroine was about to be hacked to pieces by an axe murder. Lopez captures the spirit of friendship and loyalty amongst his characters but also the dark side of humanity and adversity from the elements as the group fights for survival. This is how I like my life lessons served up, bloodied with an occasional severed limb!
The Thieves - reeking of Asian commercial appeal, director Dong-Hoon Choi can't even deny the influence of Ocean's 11 in this slick technologically-laden heist. It's a very international effort with 5 different language spoken in the movie by persons of varying ethnicities, though the humour is somewhat lost in the subtitle translations. Some great action sequences including a chase outside of a building involving leaps from balcony to balcony and other fly-through-the-air narrow escapes. It's a pleasant (if not super intellectual) way to pass the time, especially with all your Asian friends.
The Brass Teapot - Juno Temple and Michael Angarano are a young couple trying to make ends meet when chance presents them with a teapot that dispenses money every time one of them feels pain. This is the comic macabre premise that takes us through better and worse in their attempt to get out of debt and climb up in society. As the teapot payouts dwindle and it begins to demand more sacrifice from them, the couple must think of other (hilarious) ways to keep the money coming in. This is my idea of a good, light comedy to take the whole family to (yeah, this is why I can't have kids). As much as I have a soft spot for Juno Temple, this is not a particularly outstanding performance for her, but I don't think the script calls for outstanding as the story takes care of everything itself. In our after movie discussion, we decided one of the best things about the story is that there isn't much speculation about the history of the teapot and why it came to be. It's there, deal with it. Now stub your toe and so we can go buy dinner.
Spring Breakers - I'm only familiar with Harmony Korine through his writing for Larry Clark, though I did walk into the theatre expecting "High School Musical Girls Gone Wild" and he totally delivered. These girls aren't exactly having a car wash to earn money to go away for Spring Break, the plot (er, if you can call it that) thickens when a drug and arms dealer they've befriended bails them out after their earlier (tamer) exploits land them in jail. From there it's a quasi-hallucinogenic ride through drug-addled monologues (by the very convincing James Franco), bikinis, machine guns, and Britney Spears songs. Britney aside (though I am now a fan of "Everytime" and will forever think of James Franco's "sensitive side" when I hear it), the rest of the soundtrack is great. Go in with expectations, or not, either way you'll walk out thinking "WTF???"
What Richard Did - Chronicling the leisurely summer Richard and his friends are enjoying, a moment of jealousy and one violent reckless action changes everything. This is an example of how a slower-moving, smaller budget film can be good. Though I saw it at 9am on Day 10 of the festival, I never once thought I should "rest my eyes" for a second. Don't get me wrong, I clutched my coffee tight, but I didn't want to miss a minute of what was happening. There's lots of character development and intricate portrayal, we get to know all sides of Richard from his time spent with friends to his solitary days in the countryside. It's in the details and exchanges that we are shown, and not told, about Richard's world. I will admit the details are becoming fuzzy now, but my good impression of the movie remains. I would love to watch it again.
Jayne Mansfield's Car - again this movie had me so captivated I fell asleep for a good half hour. Admittedly I regretted it as I do have an appreciation for ensemble casts in family dramas, and this one included powerhouse talent such as Billy Bob Thornton, Kevin Bacon, and the incomparable Robert Duvall. I came to see Billy Bob (who also directed), but it was Robert Duvall that bowled me over with his performance. Life within a wealthy southern family, already swirling with turmoil, is turned upside down with the death of the patriarch's ex-wife (who left him for an Englishman), bringing the British half-family over for a visit. I watched the remainder 3/4 of the film intently after I awoke from my nap, and while the performances were great and the story engaging enough, overall I wasn't particularly taken by it. Leaving the theatre and lining up in the washroom, I heard many rave about the film, but then noticed they were all fair-skinned, brown or ash blond hair, and about my parents' age... I guess the term I'm looking for is "North American Boomers"? Anyway, this clearly leads me to believe that I was not the target audience for this film, and therefore should not feel bad that I didn't fully enjoy it.
The We and the I - for days leading up to my screening of The We and the I, there were many negative rumblings about this movie. So I was delightfully surprised (and rather perplexed) to find that it was one of my top films of the festival. Centered around a group of Bronx teenagers on the last day of school, their lives are revealed to us over the course of their bus ride home. Gondry recruited a group of non-professionals from an after school program to star, so there's no point in expecting excellence from the acting. Look past it and you'll see some superbly woven stories about socializing between cliques, teenage pressures, sexuality, bonds of family, and much more. It's actually a lot more like high school as regular folk live it, rather than the glossed over tales of John Hughes (not that I'm docking Hughes, I love him, but he was my escape rather than my reality growing up). This is not your typical movie-watching experience, it's a lotta bratty kids shouting at each other on a bus, probably targeted at a 40 and under audience, and fully of endless dialogue instead of action sequences. But if you're like me, you'll find it's intimate, provoking, and insightful. Oh, and let's not forget the awesome soundtrack! Made me almost want to climb on the bus with those hellions!
Frances Ha - Ok, if I had to be friends with Frances in real life, I would have to kill her. As the subject of a black and white indie set in New York, it harkens associations to Woody Allen's Manhattan, and somehow makes her a most delightful train wreck. The TIFF synopsis by Cameron Bailey describes that Frances Ha "captures the rhythms of an over-educated, underemployed generation more intimate with their friends than their lovers" and I couldn't put it any better. There is a certain sadness in my heart for how I can relate to the story and maybe something rooted in there is the reason we cheer for Frances, for being true and oblivious and blundering but endearing.
Bad 25 - Spike Lee makes a documentary about Michael Jackson with his beloved Album serving as a vehicle for a loving trip down memory lane. There was no way this could go wrong (with Spike at the helm). Featuring interviews with people involved in the making of the album and those inspired by Michael, we are privy to recording studio stories, details of Michael Jackson incredible work ethic, and learn about a certain "voodoo box" that rival Prince once brought to a meeting with Michael. Spike progresses through the album track by track, splicing extended cuts of the "short films" (aka music videos) between interviews. The running time is over 2 hours but you don't really notice. Also Bad 25 will air on ABC in November. Bonus: I was able to get about 95% of the Bad 25 Q&A with Spike Lee at TIFF... here is my video:
Disconnect - Having overlooked the fact that this is from Henry Alex Rubin, the Oscar-winning director of Murderball, this was a surprisingly intense movie for me. In a multiple story line, we get a close up look at terrifying consequences of online identity fraud. From a family who faces financial ruin simply for being careless about websites they visit and who they chat with online, to teenagers playing a prank that gets completely out of control, to a reporter trying to get an expose story and not fully realizing the impact the media attention could have on her subject. It starts off a little slow, but Rubin really builds in a crescendo to shocking events, all the while never diminishing attention on the delicate relationships between family, friends and strange bonds that can form during extenuating circumstances.
The Suicide Shop - Sorry to say this one didn't do much for me, maybe because it was sandwiched in the middle of a 5 film day, but the songs and humour were very so-so. Something of an animated take on the Adams Family, The Suicide Shop seems so promising... it is about the morbid Tuvache family who runs Le Magasin des suicide. To their dismay, their youngest child is growing up to be happy and cheerful, much to the family's disgrace. What will they ever do? Though the ending is decidedly predictable even before you enter the theatre, the cinematic journey that gets us there is kind of blase. I wouldn't say it's bad, and perhaps more appealing to those who speak French. My comprehension isn't good enough to understand the original lyrics but I'm picking up enough to know some of it is getting lost in translation.
What Maisie Knew - Onata Aprile is darling in the title role of this movie, she plays a 7 year girls caught in the midst of her parents bitter divorse battle. Mom, an aging rock star played by Julianne Moore, and constantly traveling father Steve Coogan battle for custody of Maisie, though they are more interested in triumphing as the "better parent" than truly putting their lives on hold to care for their child. Increasingly Maisie finds herself shuffled between step-dad Alexander Skarsgard and step-mom Emma Holzer instead. The handling of the adaptation to screen here is terrific, the audience is not told the story so much as we observe with Maisie in her innocence and precociousness. It was an absolutely delightful cinematic experience for me.
Sightseers - one of my movie-fanatic friends, whose opinion I can usually rely on, described this as a "sweet love story" to me after seeing it. Well, Sightseers is described as a low-rent, modern-day British Bonnie & Clyde, so I bought his description and got myself a ticket to the 2nd screening. To me it was more the tale of a socially awkward couple who unleash the dark side in each other, leaving a trail of corpses behind them. In other words, it was good fun!
Fin (The End) - I have a soft spot for post-apocalyptic survival stories, as well as tales of friendship/reunions. A group of friends reunite at a cabin in the mountains, many of whom haven’t seen each other in 20 years. Things are going ok until an eerie flash in the sky leaves them without power, including their cell phones and cars. They set out to search for help and find that they seem to be the only people left in the world, things get even worse as they start disappearing one by one. The set-up, circumstances, and intermittent ‘reveals’ are well-executed. Once in a while they border on overly-obvious but overall the story is well-paced. Sadly the finale of Fin did not pack the punch I was hoping for, rather it meandered like a “Peter Jackson ending” (ie. multiple scenes that could all serve as endings, but then there’s just one more scene, and then one more… and then one more.) Those hoping for scares aren’t going to get as many as you’d like, but as an ensemble friendship flick, it has all the elements I’m looking for.
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