tiff2016 - it's what we do

Blind Sun

Directed by : Joyce Nashawati
Starring : Ziad Bakri

One word drew me to this one:  Greece.  Adding a premise which has a man dealing with the bureaucratic nightmares of waiting for his residency permit while suffering through oppressive heat, I thought how can it miss?  Sounds like a perfect set up for a screwball comedy!  Well, obviously it wasn't.  And, wow, did it miss.  Sure, Greece is hot.  And the bureaucracy is next level crazy (at the moment, the Consulate is refusing to grant me dual citizenship because as per their records my parents never married.  !!!).  But not every Greek is a swarthy imbecile.  Heat may drive us nuts, but we need a reason why it's driving this poor dude this completely nuts.  I totally got the feeling of hot here.  I also got the feeling of a complete hot mess.


The Secret Scripture

Directed by : Jim Sheridan
Starring: Vanessa Redgrave, Rooney Mara, Eric Bana

Set in a tumultuous time in Irish history, The Secret Scripture tells the story of the passionate and tortuous life a young woman (Rooney) confined to a mental institution for most of her adult life.  The whys of how she got there are laid out very well in this adaption of Sebastian Barry's award winning novel, but soon I was thinking to much about the hows and it took me too far out of this film.  We know that adaptions are tricky and you sometimes lose a context of richness that could make a film fuller, here however, I felt we lost vital plot points which left me asking too many questions.  That said, this was a great, often painful, story and it was extremely well acted by Rooney, Vanessa (playing the aged Rooney) and Eric (I miss this guy).   Wish I had read the book.


And with that, TIFF2016 is done!  It was quite the Festival - 23 films over 9 days, a truncated time frame this year and slightly fewer films in total but I'm largely overwhelmed by the terrific movies I saw.

Top picks:  Nocturnal Animals, Arrival, Manchester by the Sea, Free Fire, It's Only the End of the World, Moonlight. 
Honourable Mentions: Christine, Bleed for This, Their Finest, Trespass Against Us.
Biggest Disappointment:  Loving.

Random observations after spending 9 days in the craziness that is TIFF: 

Lazy Sponsors:  I've been TIFFing for years now.  When you watch 23-42 movies over the course of 10 days, you're watching sponsor ads 23-42 times over the course of 10 days.  I completely appreciate this will get repetitive and that's MY problem.  But try this over years.  I'm talking 5 years.  The same commercials from lead sponsors for 5 years!  I've had enough with the once clever Grolsch People's Choice advert.   I'm here to tell you that regardless of of what RBC wants us to believe, LIZ AND AMY WILL NEVER MAKE IT.  Come on, guys, you're top tier sponsors at a world class festival get it together.  It's not that hard to make a commercial these days - you've got the money, use it.

Oblivious Moviegoers:  This is nothing new, but the guy sitting beside me who decided to take his shoes off during my Midnight Madness screening of Free Fire was next level on all the wrong levels.  Pungent is too tame a word.  It was Midnight.  It was a hot & sweaty day.  There were no socks.  It was beyond any semblance of normalcy.  HOW COULD HE NOT KNOW?!

Obnoxious Moviegoers:  If I hear one more person in a TIFF line announce to no one that they are members of TIFF and receive special privileges I may punch them in the face.  I'M A MEMBER TOO.  NO ONE GIVES A SHIT.  SHUT UP.

Bad Snacks:  The Princess of Wales theatre is a rather majestic place to watch a film.  It's grand and adds an element of elegance to a screening - so much love.  The love stops at the concession stand though - when did scotch mints become movie snacks?  Where's the chocolate?  I can deal with stale popcorn when desperate, but throw me some liquorice guys.

Of course I have more positive memories and stories - the fantastic conversations I had with strangers while waiting in line;  sitting beside the editor of Moonlight and sob crying my thanks to him for being part of such an incredible film ; witnessing Tom Ford ask someone to tell the trucks on Victoria Street to stop beeping so he could concentrate during the Q&A ; breathing the same air as my Oscar date Aaron Eckhart ... the list goes on.  

As always, I have more films on my list from TIFF buzz:  LaLa Land, Burn Your Maps, Brain on Fire, Lion to name a few ... but for now, I sleep, re-introduce vegetables into my diet and re-engage in normal life, or at least my version of a normal life.  I promised I was back ... so stay tuned for more of this.  More of me.  :)