TIFF 2009: The Lineup

I'm getting ready for this year's TIFF and just picked up my tickets today. I will be reviewing everything I see on the blog. Here's what I'm seeing:

• An Education

• Jennifer's Body

• The Vintner's Luck

• My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
  

and maybe a few more.

TIFF 08: Cooper's Camera

Yesterday, at the screening of Coopers Camera, the audience was told that we had managed to get tickets to one of the most popular and hard to get films at the TIFF. Let me tell you quickly..it wasn't the best. But, on the bright side, it wasn't the worst either. Cooper's Camera is a funny and quirky film that is at once quite edgy...and not edgy at all. It was laugh out loud funny and did have good performances. It didn't stand out so much from the other films at TIFF but it was very good comedy in that the film just knows the limits of what it can and can't do. Ultimately it is a fun film to view..though not a great one.

TIFF 08: NOTHING but THE TRUTH

My faith in the TIFF is restored. After the disappointment last night of Gigantic it was nice to see a five, or at least 4, star movie again. Nothing but The Truth tells the story of a case that seems alike to that of Valerie Plame Wilson but takes many deviating turns, the least of which is (spoiler) the Plame Wilson character, played beautifully and eloquently by Vera Farmiga, dies, but the main character is the newspaper columnist, played well and capably by Kate Beckinsale, who reveals the CIA agent's identity. The film after that goes on with many surpirising twists and turns beyond those I have already spoiled ("Sorry"). It is film with stunning performances and is very much worth seeing.

TIFF 08: GIGANTIC

I never expected to see a man getting savagely beaten in a romantic comedy. Last night, I saw Gigantic and was, well, surprised. Gigantic tells what appears to be a pretty normal romantic comedy story (guy meets girl, falls in love, seems like it won't work in the end, it works, the end) but adds so much extra that should have been cut from the edit that it is unbelievable. Gigantic does have some good performances though. John Goodman as Al Lolly, a very big and funny man, gives one of his best performances and Zooey Deschanel as his daughter gives a good performance. All in all though, with all the unnecessary (even according, in the post film Q&A to the director of the film) violence just falls flat but there is a good film in there with good performances, if only it could shine through and not get wrecked by a bad edit.

TIFF 08: L' Heure d'été

L' Heure d'été begins with a simple shot of a summer house that seems to drift to seem like it will fade out but it still drifts until finally we get that fadeout and see the associated presences in the house. We see Hélène (Edith Scob) the elderly owner of the house who is celebrating her seventy third birthday with her three children, Jérémie (Jérémie Renier), Frédéric (Charles Berling) and Adrienne (Juliette Binoche). Soon in the visit Hélène pulls Frédéric aside to discuss the handling of her estate of many pieces of art after she dies. Then soon after comes the next fadeout this time of Hélène. We then drift into the effects of her death and the painful selling of her estate. This is one of the most powerful and affecting films of the TIFF this year. Fadeout.

TIFF 08: Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies

The films I am seeing at this years TIFF are now on a downward spiral. As I was deciding what rating to give this film on the People's Choice Award card they handed out, I realized the first film I saw at the TIFF (Me and Orson Welles) I gave a 5; the second film (Every Little Step) a 4; and this a 3 or even 2. Now I would like to explain why.
Picasso and Braque Go To The Movies is based on an art exhibit and feels very much like the type of films you watch in an exhibit. It is a movie that tries to cram a whole exhibit worth of films and paintings into an hour's time. The film is often too much, as you would I am sorry to say probably not look at the exhibit for an hour. The other problem with the film is, apart from Martin Scorsese who is one of the most enjoyable presences in the film, no one interviewed (those interviewed include Chuck Close and Julian Schnabel) seems to care so much about the points made in the film which are that, basically, Picasso and Braque liked to go to the movies and the technology of the film projectors inspired several of their works of cubism. All in all the film just fell flat.

TIFF 08: WHERE'S FLUFFY: PART 2

wow, are those marketing folks working hard to publicize Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.

TIFF 08: Every Little Step "EAT NAILS!"

A Chorus Line is a musical about the audition process for a musical. So it is only befitting that the documentary about A Chorus Line is also about auditioning for a musical but this time that musical is A Chorus Line. In the film, instead of just Zack; the all powerful director, we have several people running the auditions including Baayork Lee who was one of the original actors of A Chorus Line and is one of the greatest characters in the film with a great catchphrase ("Eat Nails!"). In addition to the auditions, we have some flashbacks to the original production complete with the famous tapes of Michael Bennett which are sometimes striking in how close the script and songs were to these original tapes of the dancers talking. In the end this film shows that all actors, well known and unknown, still have to audition and in a way are on the line.

Monday September 08	12:30PM	SCOTIABANK THEATRE 3
Saturday September 13	09:00AM	AMC

TIFF 08: Me and Orson Welles

Me and Orson Welles tells the story of a young teenager who wants to go into the theater and finally gets his chance with Orson Welles's production of Julius Ceaser but the film is about so much more than that. It is a portrait of a man who is witty and brilliant but sometimes cruel also (he cheats on his pregnant wife). It is sometimes nostalgic (references to The New Yorker, Richard Rogers and much more) and is in many ways the best film I have ever seen about the theater. Me and Orson Welles was a movie that surpassed every expectation I had. It is a film that can be furiously funny, unbelievably acted and as unbelievable an experience as actually seeing the production of Julius Ceaser would be. The film despite being set in the 1930's feels fresh and new. The cast of the film is wonderful. Zac Efron gives the type of performance that shows that yes he can act and not have his role be all about singing (although he does sing twice in the movie). Claire Danes does a great performance that feels right out of the style of the 1930's ingenue. But the best actor in the film is the one you haven't heard of. Christian McKay gives a performance that is so great, it is on par I would guess with even Welles's best work. The direction of the film by Richard Linklator is his best work on film yet. It was simply a great film. During the Q and A, the last question asked was simply "How Will You Top That?". How indeed.

TIFF 08: Where's Fluffy

walking down the street in downtown Toronto, I saw this

As all who have read Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist know, this is the band referenced in the book and now probably the movie. It was a neat thing to see.