And now, after some regular sleep & nourishment, Days 5 - 11.
This Is Where I Leave You - Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda
I'm always nervous when a favourite book is adapted to screen. Will they get it right? Will they get it at all? Jonathan Tropper has quickly become one of my favourite authors and it all started with This Is Where I Leave You, a story, at its core, about a large family dealing with death and life and everything in between. The tone is wry. Sarcastic. But underneath is a foundation of love and understanding - the kind you only get with your family. The film gets it all so right. "Real life" is the hardest of genres to master, but with a crisp script (penned by Tropper himself) and perfectly cast ensemble this one is pitch perfect. I laughed just as hard as I cried. That's life, right?
Cake - Jennifer Aniston
Aniston tried her hand once again (remember The Good Girl) at gritty realism. She nails it. While the film itself dragged a bit, there is no question that Jen can act and she's the best thing about this movie. She's simply amazing sand I hope she keeps it going - regardless of her impeccable comedic timing, I don't want her to star in another dumb dumb romcom with *fill in the hunk of the moment* ever EVER again.
Foxcatcher - Channing Tatum, Steve Carrell, Mark Ruffalo
This was the film coming into TIFF with the most buzz, and for good reason. Telling the peculiar real life story of John E DuPont, his relationship with US Wrestling, the Shultz brothers and, most importantly, his own mother, Foxcatcher is compelling. Tatum & Ruffalo are excellent as the Olympic medal winning Shultz brothers but the real breakout here is Carrell as DuPont. Known of course for comedic roles, Carrell shows some serious acting chops in this one and almost disappears in the role. Overall, the film was good but it needed a few tie in scenes to fill some holes in the narrative. A note also, after a week away from it, is that the direction itself felt a bit detached - like everyone knew they were making "an important movie" but forgot to put the ingredients in there to make us care.
Rosewater - Gael Garcia Bernal
Talk about ambitious. Jon Stewart, arguably America's greatest satirist, decides to direct his first movie and he chooses this?! Rosewater tells the true story of journalist Maziar Bahari who was detained in Iran for more than 100 days and brutally interrogated while in prison. Multiple locations, cast of thousands, complex story - this is no first time out cake walk. At times, we felt almost as overwhelmed as Stewart. The film could have used a sharper edit and perhaps some contrasting point of view scenes, but overall a solid first time effort for a guy not willing to rest on his laurels and phone it in.
License to Drive - Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson
Simple stories are the best stories. When they come to life by two powerhouse acting talents, they make for the best movies. This was a charmer from start to finish. Loved it.
Imitation Game - Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightly
This was the movie I was waiting for. Story here focuses on English mathematician Alan Turing as he, along with his team, try to crack the Enigma code during World War 2. The historical significance of this feat is enormous - our lives would not be the same had Turing not succeeded - and while, obviously, the filmmakers know that, they don't beat us down with it. They outlay the story in a sort of thriller - lite format, simultaneously moving from the end AND beginning until we reach the thrill point together. Turing is widely considered the father of the modern day computer, a ridiculous genius persecuted years after the war because of his homosexuality. This additional layer adds a sense of timeliness to the already grand magnitude of this story.
Mommy - Anne Dorval, Suzanne Clement, Antoine Pilon
At the ripe old age of 25 (yes, 25!), Xavier Dolan has written & directed 6 films all of which have been critically acclaimed. This, his latest, won the Jury Prize at Cannes. GUYS, HE'S 25. Regardless of whether or not you like his particular type of movie, you must applaud his confidence. Every shot of Mommy had a purpose. Every scene an emotional impact. I'm not sure where a funny and charming kid (GUYS, HE'S 25!) comes up with these dark & delicious stories (oh, did I mention he writes his own screenplays too??!), but that's no matter. I just want this boy wonder to keep making them.
A Second Chance - Nikolaj Coster - Waldeau
A tale of desperate decency which asks how far we will go to maintain the life we think we deserve. At every point in this exceptional film we are asked to question our prejudices and seek, murkily, our own moral compass. We appease our sense of 'right', but is it right? Are we right? Can doing the wrong thing for the right reasons be okay? What if those right reasons aren't what we thought they were? At the core of this moral conundrum is Nikolaj Coster - Waldeau in a most brilliant performance full of strength, desperation and, yes, decency.
Maps to the Stars - Julianne Moore, John Cusack
I don't know. I think this one was rather goofy. I loved Julianne - how can you not always love Julianne - but the intertwined storyline, and main storyline, fell off the rails for me pretty quick in this one. A supposed commentary on Hollywood, this fell flat & empty all around.
Elephant Song - Xavier Dolan, Bruce Greenwood, Catherine Keener
Oh, yeah, XAVIER CAN ACT TOO. Quiet film with a simple story that's all about the acting. Dolan is mesmerizing as a psychiatric patient with a secret, Greenwood solid as the Doc looking for answers. The game of chess between them is tense and hypnotic.
Still Alice - Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin
Telling the story of a brilliant woman's descent into early-onset Alzheimer's, this was the movie of the Festival for me. Julianne Moore's nuanced portrayal is mainly why, but the tone of this film and it's harrowing - yes, harrowing - realism make it at once difficult to watch and completely mesmerizing. This could happen to anyone. It's happening right now. Will it happen to you? After I somewhat composed myself and made my way to the washroom after the film, I found myself spontaneously bursting into tears again. I might just now.
50 Year Argument
A brilliant documentary detailing the history of the New York Review of Books. Admittedly, knowing co-director Martin Scorsese was going to be in town for the screening was the main reason this film was on the docket. A sweet love letter to discourse and a wonderful story about the sensuousness of ideas, and how they shaped our modern world. Marty, of course, doesn't like "straight up documentaries", so this one unfolded in a unique way. Also in town for the screening was founding and current editor Robert Silvers - still going strong at 84, he flew in specifically for the Q&A.
Pawn Sacrifice - Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber
American chess maestro Bobby Fischer squares off against his Russian counterpart Boris Spassky in the 1972 "Match of the Century". Really solid biopic that weaved a very complex political landscape into the life story of one of America's most enigmatic figures. Tobey's portrayal of Bobby - a complex jerk of a genius dealing with paranoid hallucinations and perhaps an undiagnosed mental illness - was excellent and while I wish Liev had more to do, this wasn't his story.
Before We Go - Chris Evans, Alice Eve
Let it be said here that no one should ever, ever, ever try to make another Before Sunrise. The film, and its two continuations, were lightening in a bottle and any attempt to recreate that time, story, chemistry, everything, will undoubtedly fail. Before We Go tries. Very hard. We replace Vienna with New York and conjure a stilted premise to get the ball rolling, but in the end we don't care enough about all too perfect Nick, who says and does ONLY the right things and thus is never real, and confused and sometimes bitchy Brooke. Before We Go is Chris Evans directorial debut and it's a solid effort. There are redeeming moments and I think Chris can put away his Captain America shield for work a bit more meaty, but maybe not with a magical premise that should never, ever, ever be tampered with. Ever.
Hill of Freedom - Ryo Kase
Do you ever have a thing, where you watch a movie and you're laughing but you're not sure if you should be? Like, is this absurd or high level cinematic achievement that I'm just too stupid to understand? I laughed SO MUCH in Hill of Freedom. How could you not with dialogue like this: "I went to your place. It is close to my place. I like my place. I waited for you. You did not come. I went back to my place." I'm not joking. At 66 minutes long, I'm not sure how this even qualified as a full length feature, but with dialogue like that, I guess I should be thankful it wasn't any longer.
Adult Beginners - Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale
Super sweet, yet not too twee, story which asks the age old question of whether we can "go home again". Great ensemble, sharp writing, and just as many laughs as tears.
Meet Me In Montenegro - Alex Holdridge, Linnea Saasen
First time director Holdridge films the story of how he and Linnea met. It's so sweet. And they are delightful and charming and oh so cute. I loved the unique cutaways to Holdridge's doodle work and voiceovers, both which helped move along the story. Ultimately, this is a really simple tale of a guy dealing with the reality of his life and principles when that fucker called love tries to get in the way.
A Little Chaos - Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenarts, Alan Rickman
I love me a period piece and A Little Chaos hits all the necessary high notes - sumptuous scenery, luscious costumes, solid acting and an interesting story. Kate's back to almost drowning in a corset, Alan's up to his misunderstood villainous self and Matthias smoulders. Not perfect by any stretch but highly enjoyable. Quite.
New Girlfriend - Romain Duris, Anais Demoustier
Remember the time when your bestie died and her husband started cross dressing to feel closer to her, and then you become attached to his cross dressing self because it reminded you of your bestie? SO preposterous. But often times preposterous premises make the most delightful movies, unfortunately, this isn't one of those times. Frustrating in its failed potential, for some reason New Girlfriend felt sort of stale. Maybe because they kept using the word 'tranny'?!
X + Y - Sally Hawkins, Asa Butterfield
I really wanted to love this, but it just fell flat. And not because it's about math, or because it was number 30 of 31. It was just hard to connect to young Nathan, diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum early in his life. He has a hard time relating to people and finds his way in the world amidst numbers & formulas and maths (for the Brits, it's mathS). All's well and good, and I get it but Nathan was written, and ultimately portrayed, with little redemption, care or feeling - he was just as detached to us as he was with the rest of the world. I wanted to care about him, but that's not enough. As they say in some think tanks - it just didn't add up. ;)
1001 Grams - Ane Dahl Torp, Laurent Stocker
A recently divorced work obsessed lab technician goes off to Paris. Hilarity ensues. Well, not quite. But, she has some fun and is shaken out of her routine obsessed life and finds she's not so bad at rolling with the punches. I liked this one - it was slowly paced but visually beautiful.
And that's what they call .... A WRAP.
Telling the story of a brilliant woman's descent into early-onset Alzheimer's, this was the movie of the Festival for me. Julianne Moore's nuanced portrayal is mainly why, but the tone of this film and it's harrowing - yes, harrowing - realism make it at once difficult to watch and completely mesmerizing. This could happen to anyone. It's happening right now. Will it happen to you? After I somewhat composed myself and made my way to the washroom after the film, I found myself spontaneously bursting into tears again. I might just now.
50 Year Argument
A brilliant documentary detailing the history of the New York Review of Books. Admittedly, knowing co-director Martin Scorsese was going to be in town for the screening was the main reason this film was on the docket. A sweet love letter to discourse and a wonderful story about the sensuousness of ideas, and how they shaped our modern world. Marty, of course, doesn't like "straight up documentaries", so this one unfolded in a unique way. Also in town for the screening was founding and current editor Robert Silvers - still going strong at 84, he flew in specifically for the Q&A.
Pawn Sacrifice - Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber
American chess maestro Bobby Fischer squares off against his Russian counterpart Boris Spassky in the 1972 "Match of the Century". Really solid biopic that weaved a very complex political landscape into the life story of one of America's most enigmatic figures. Tobey's portrayal of Bobby - a complex jerk of a genius dealing with paranoid hallucinations and perhaps an undiagnosed mental illness - was excellent and while I wish Liev had more to do, this wasn't his story.
Before We Go - Chris Evans, Alice Eve
Let it be said here that no one should ever, ever, ever try to make another Before Sunrise. The film, and its two continuations, were lightening in a bottle and any attempt to recreate that time, story, chemistry, everything, will undoubtedly fail. Before We Go tries. Very hard. We replace Vienna with New York and conjure a stilted premise to get the ball rolling, but in the end we don't care enough about all too perfect Nick, who says and does ONLY the right things and thus is never real, and confused and sometimes bitchy Brooke. Before We Go is Chris Evans directorial debut and it's a solid effort. There are redeeming moments and I think Chris can put away his Captain America shield for work a bit more meaty, but maybe not with a magical premise that should never, ever, ever be tampered with. Ever.
Hill of Freedom - Ryo Kase
Do you ever have a thing, where you watch a movie and you're laughing but you're not sure if you should be? Like, is this absurd or high level cinematic achievement that I'm just too stupid to understand? I laughed SO MUCH in Hill of Freedom. How could you not with dialogue like this: "I went to your place. It is close to my place. I like my place. I waited for you. You did not come. I went back to my place." I'm not joking. At 66 minutes long, I'm not sure how this even qualified as a full length feature, but with dialogue like that, I guess I should be thankful it wasn't any longer.
Adult Beginners - Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale
Super sweet, yet not too twee, story which asks the age old question of whether we can "go home again". Great ensemble, sharp writing, and just as many laughs as tears.
Meet Me In Montenegro - Alex Holdridge, Linnea Saasen
First time director Holdridge films the story of how he and Linnea met. It's so sweet. And they are delightful and charming and oh so cute. I loved the unique cutaways to Holdridge's doodle work and voiceovers, both which helped move along the story. Ultimately, this is a really simple tale of a guy dealing with the reality of his life and principles when that fucker called love tries to get in the way.
A Little Chaos - Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenarts, Alan Rickman
I love me a period piece and A Little Chaos hits all the necessary high notes - sumptuous scenery, luscious costumes, solid acting and an interesting story. Kate's back to almost drowning in a corset, Alan's up to his misunderstood villainous self and Matthias smoulders. Not perfect by any stretch but highly enjoyable. Quite.
New Girlfriend - Romain Duris, Anais Demoustier
Remember the time when your bestie died and her husband started cross dressing to feel closer to her, and then you become attached to his cross dressing self because it reminded you of your bestie? SO preposterous. But often times preposterous premises make the most delightful movies, unfortunately, this isn't one of those times. Frustrating in its failed potential, for some reason New Girlfriend felt sort of stale. Maybe because they kept using the word 'tranny'?!
X + Y - Sally Hawkins, Asa Butterfield
I really wanted to love this, but it just fell flat. And not because it's about math, or because it was number 30 of 31. It was just hard to connect to young Nathan, diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum early in his life. He has a hard time relating to people and finds his way in the world amidst numbers & formulas and maths (for the Brits, it's mathS). All's well and good, and I get it but Nathan was written, and ultimately portrayed, with little redemption, care or feeling - he was just as detached to us as he was with the rest of the world. I wanted to care about him, but that's not enough. As they say in some think tanks - it just didn't add up. ;)
1001 Grams - Ane Dahl Torp, Laurent Stocker
A recently divorced work obsessed lab technician goes off to Paris. Hilarity ensues. Well, not quite. But, she has some fun and is shaken out of her routine obsessed life and finds she's not so bad at rolling with the punches. I liked this one - it was slowly paced but visually beautiful.
And that's what they call .... A WRAP.
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