The TIFF Hangover - 2014 Edition

2014 marked my 16th festival. My first festival was in 1999 and I saw one film that year. The most movies I've ever caught in a single festival is 30, though this year I got to see a handful of things pre-fest, which brings my grand total over 30 (though I feel like if you didn't sacrifice sleep and poison your body with Red Bull to see it, it doesn't really count).

Random:  I was browsing ye old internet for some images to include in this blog and came across this one of Jessica Chastain, back at the Elgin for TIFF 2014.  The background of this photo looks so civilized.  Take it from someone who was right by the barricades. It was not. :P

Now normally after each TIFF, I set out to write short reviews about all the films I've seen, which I always think will take a few days, but in reality becomes a prolonged task... so then I find myself on my annual fall vacation, wracking my brain, while on a plane, trying to finish up my reviews.  That being said, I'm not sure if I will be following in that model this year, during the festival (translation: it may just be a sleep-deprived crazed idea) I felt a recurring desire to focus on several films that I reacted to more strongly, rather than superficially skim over everything.

 
What this means is that in the upcoming days/weeks or maybe never (heh), I'd like to delve into the films: Mommy, Revenge of the Green Dragons, Eden, and maybe even Before We Go/Meet Me In Montenegro.

That said, I'd still like to list everything I saw at TIFF 2014:
(with my usual 5-star rating system)

Pre-Festival:

1. Pride - 4 - TFS Review
2. Guidance - 3.5 - TFS Review
3. Short Cuts Canada Programme 4 - TFS Review
4. Short Cuts Canada Programme 5 - TFS Review
5. Short Cuts Canada Programme 6 - TFS Review
6. Short Cuts International Programme 1 - TFS Review
7. Short Cuts International Programme 2 - TFS Review

During the Festival:

1. Spring - 3/5 - I feel like everyone else loved this more than me.
2. Preggoland - 3 - I don't know if I can ever look at red jello quite the same again, nevermind eat it. The film was more endearing than I expected it to be.
3. Luna - 2.5 -  For something created by one of my fav illustrators/artists, I hoped for more drawn imargery vs. live action.
4. Waste Land - 2.5 -  I didn't hate this nearly as much as everyone else did.
5. Hyena - 1.5 - This was on a trajectory to get a 2, then came the cop out ending, which is not opened ended so much as they stopped writing mid--
6. Tusk - 3 - Dammit Kevin Smith fucked up my perceptions to Tusk by Fleetwood Mac so badly.
7. Tour de Force - 2.5 - It probably deserves a higher rating, but I lack a heart sometimes.
8. 99 Homes - 4 (it will probably be 3.5 in subsequent viewings) Great performances, plus I love twisted morality.
9. Gemma Bovery - 2.5 - How you felt about Tamara Drewe, is pretty much how you will feel about Gemma Bovery - though the directing is not as strong.
10. Mommy - 4.5 (probably 4 in subsequent viewings) I was wholly unprepared for how much I would enjoy this movie.
11. My Old Lady - 3 - With Maggie Smith comes a certain amount of charm and wit, so there are certain expectations for the films she's tied to. This one met my expectations but did not exceed.
12. Dragon Inn - 3 - A 4K remastered version of the 1967 Taiwanese film, I've wanted to see this for years as the 1992 Hong Kong remake is one of my favourite films.
13. Men, Women & Children - 3.5 - I like Jason Reitman, I do not think this is his worst film at all, despite what some critics have said.
14. The Last Five Years - 2 - I should know better than to choose a musical, about a failed relationship story told in reverse. (500) Days of Summer is the only movie of this kind that I liked.
15. Revenge of the Green Dragons - 3.5 - A Chinglish 80's throwback, if I'm not the target audience for this movie, I don't know who is.
16. Kabukicho Love Hotel - 2.5 - Film itself was probably fine, but I remained disengaged from the characters.
17. The Imitation Game - 4 - I really think this is Oscar material. Brilliant performance, but Cumberbitches, you can keep Benedict, I'll take Matthew Goode any day.
18. The Wanted 18 - Exhaustion got the better of me, I was really enjoying this but nodded off all the same. Will look for it so I can watch it again.
19. Nightcrawler - 4 - Some really dark subject matter, so naturally I loved it.  This is my idea of a good Hollywood blockbuster.
20. The Connection - 3.5 (would've been a 4 if they'd shaved off 20mins) - Maybe I was very tired, but at least 3 of the main characters in The Connection looked similar to me. I could pick out Jean Dejardins but the other two, were not as easy, this surely confused the story in my head.
21. Before We Go - 3 For a movie that starts with "before", Chris Evans has nothing on Richard Linklater. I do like that it was not a conventional boy meets girl story.
22. Meet Me in Montenegro - 3 (2.5 if the directors hadn't been there) - I'm still trying to decide if I really like this film, but the fact that I'm still considering the story 3 days later says something...
23. The Editor - 3 - I'm a fan of Giallo and I'm a fan of parody, over the top parody even... but this only reached "interesting" in my movie scale, not "amazing" or anything.
24. What We Do in the Shadows - 4 - Ok, this was amazing. It was my 5th movie that day and I expected to be asleep no matter what, instead I giggled through 86 minutes
25. The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness - 3 - Studio Ghibli will likely enjoy this more, it was a dangerously relaxing film to see on day 10 of the festival.
26. The Little Death - 3.5 - Maybe I read the synopsis wrong, but it was a heck of a lot funnier than I expected and I like the intertwining storyline.
27. The Guest - 3.5 - As if I didn't love Dan Stevens enough from his portrayal of Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey, he goes and takes off his shirt in The Guest. <insert a more credible comment here> ;)
28. Eden - 3.5 - this is not a film for everyone, it may not be a film for most, hell I'm not even sure it's really that good a film, but it spoke volumes to me because I filled in the blanks with my own life and experiences.