Films selected as TIFF Galas are becoming an increasingly puzzling phenomenon. One would think that those twenty presentations at Roy Thompson Hall would be held for the cream of the festival crop. But it just isn’t so. Here’s a detail that is supposed to be on the down low, but a detail that most festival-goers…
TIFF Reaction: ME AND ORSON WELLES
Quite honestly – I chose this film based on the previous work of director Richard Linklater. The man responsible for DAZED & CONFUSED and WAKING LIFE has been responsible for some of the most maverick movies of our time. Then again, he was also responsible for remaking BAD NEWS BEARS and THE NEWTON BOYS. Could…
TIFF Reaction – FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING
Just before the lights dimmed, I wondered why a smaller film about the IRA struggles would choose a title so similar to a famously Oscar-nominated movie? These are the things that pass through my sleep deprived brain these days. Fifteen years ago, it felt like every month there was a new IRA film hitting screens.…
TIFF Reaction – WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU
My ticket wallet feels a whole lot thinner, and the pile of ticket stubs on my desk is growing by the minute. Must mean we’re coming up on the end of this crazy ten days. It’s this stretch of the festival that things get a little unpredictable. In recent years, TIFF has become a very…
TIFF Reaction: COOPER’S CAMERA
Yesterday I wrote about not believing the hype. This afternoon, my theme could be don’t believe the trash. Of all the movies I picked to see, two of them snagged bad press before the festival started: I ended up loving them both. Then there was the flick I chose for today – COOPER’S CAMERA –…
TIFF Reaction – APRON STRINGS
After three whole days of home runs, I found myself watching what was more of a single to the opposite field. This, of course is to be expected, since nobody out there falls deeply in love with every movie they see at these film festivals. This isn’t to say that APRON STRINGS wasn’t a good…
TIFF Reaction: ONCE UPON A TIME IN RIO (ERA UMA VEZ…)
The first opportunity you get – go see ONCE UPON A TIME IN RIO (aka ERA UMA VEZ…). I’m actually going to refrain from trying to write about it, because I’m still so moved and shaken up from what I just watched. I will say this: The movie is a fable, but a fable that…