I’m almost two-thirds of the way through my 2008 films and finally have a few hours to string together between films. Some general thoughts about the film festival so far:

• I am pretty much sick of the Ryerson. 12 of my first 13 films — including eight in a row, and even four back-to-back-to-back-to-back screenings in one day — have been there. It’s convenient, and huge, and a decent venue all around…I just want to go somewhere else for a change. I’ve been there 15 times since Thursday night and I have four more screenings before it all wraps up Saturday night. Enough already. At least I know where the secret bathroom is…
• I’m not sure I’ll ever get tired of the pirate noises. For those of you who don’t attend TIFF screenings, I’ll explain: last year, in an effort to be all tough on people filming festival films, they tell people in the introductions not to film anything and that night-vision scanning will be used. They also put a big full-screen warning up before every screening saying something about piracy being punishable by blah blah blah. Well, last year the mention of piracy prompted people — Matt Brown claims to be the first — to yell “Arrrrh!!!” at the screen. It caught on last year, and continued into this year; the first few screenings prompted lusty pirate-calls from the upper Ryerson reaches. Even in small theatres one or two people (like yours truly) while give a quiet “Yar!” before the film starts. Among the more unruly audiences it’s even begun to happen while the festival staffer is saying their bit about piracy, to the point where the more clever ones like Colin Geddes have just shortened it to “Don’t, you know, steal the movie.” rather than be shouted down. I tell you why I like this though: it’s such a classic example of a polite and clever Canadian response to annoyance at being treated like punks. Surely the smart people at TIFF know that most film leaks happens from inside the industry, and that people who shell out hundreds of dollars for film packages aren’t terribly likely to be the ones stealing films, but they persist with these heavy-handed warnings and goons bearing night vision goggles. I just like that the Toronto audiences cheerfully mock them every time, and then happily settle in for the film.
• Still with the preamble: I hate the Motorola clip, I don’t mind the Cadillac ones (only because there’re three or four and they mix it up so we don’t get too sick of them) and I like that the staff no longer stop at asking people to turn off their cell phones…they also ask them to leave them off and not text throughout the movie. This warning started a few days ago, and has earned applause ’cause that light is fucking annoying.
• The lineup situation at the Yonge & Dundas AMC theatre needs to be fixed for next year. If this theatre is the new workhorse of the festival, you can’t have chaos — and that’s what it is — every time you send people in for their screening. A single outside line for all films, no cordon to keep festival-goers and pedestrians separate, crossing a lobby perpetually bisected by a Starbucks line and three escalators to the top makes for some issues. The line is more of an unruly herd of sheep by the time they reach the summit. Get it sorted out, kids.
• While home for lunch yesterday I watched a movie (’cause, you know, I haven’t seen many lately) from the PVR: Shoot ‘Em Up. It might well have been the worst piece of shit I have ever seen. How, HOW do Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti and Monica Belucci make that cancerous turd? Ugh. Makes me appreciate the festival films even more.
• Speaking of cancerous turds, I’m glad to see the Paris Hilton documentary — and all the accompanying press manipulation — is getting trashed. Quoth the AV Club:

“I’ll admit to being intrigued by the idea of unauthorized Hilton documentary, given the wealth of dismal footage that does meet with her approval, and I had hoped that Petty would capture the raw machinations of Hilton Inc. No such luck, alas. All one could do before, after, and during the screening was just stare at Paris and contemplate the void. The one thing the documentary suggests, inadvertently I’d guess, is that Hilton seems to have no inner life whatsoever. And that’s the difference between her and Marilyn Monroe, the icon who’s fun-and-flirty image she’s trying to replicate: People gawked at Monroe because she was bubbly and sexy and flirtatious; people gawk at Hilton because her eyes reflect the blank, pitiless implacability of death.”

[tags]tiff, tiff08[/tags]

This year’s festival didn’t see the raft of Iraq war films that the previous years have. The Hurt Locker (tiff) was one of this year’s entries. There’s little about that invasion to explore, though this at least was seen from a different angle: bomb removal specialists. The screenplay came from a reporter who’d been embedded with such a unit and the first 2/3 were quite good, showing the mix of discipline and recklessness needed for that job, and the overall savagery of bomb attacks in an urban setting. However, toward the end it lapsed into some cliches (the John Wayne factor) and hurried through the psychological implications when it should have paused, and that left a sour taste in my mouth.

One slightly odd thing: Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, David Morse and Evangeline Lilly were all in this film, but barely. They were on camera for less than a minute in most cases…too long to be called a cameo (such as  the camera panning past Joseph Gordon-Levitt near the beginning of The Brothers Bloom) but too short to be called a real role. The director Kathryn Bigelow (who was there, along with the screenwriter and lead actor) explained this [mild spoiler alert] by saying it was to let us know that no one is safe in Iraq, and that anyone could die at any time, even big movie stars. [/spoilers]

Started off strong, but veered back into the predictable lane at crunch time. Too bad.

C+

[tags]tiff, tiff08, the hurt locker[/tags]

I have to admit, I was worried coming into this one. I loved Rian Johnson’s debt film Brick a lot, so I was excited about his latest release The Brothers Bloom (tiff), but the early reviews were mixed. Still, when a director like that has a cast like Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz to work with, expectations are high.

Well, chalk another one up for Johnson: I really liked this film. He once again managed to blend styles and eras — the brothers looked as if they’d walked out of the 1930s and into an era of Lamborghinis and cell phones — and traded noir for quirk. The first half of the film was extremely funny and charming. The second half less so, but he was busy moving the plot forward. I think it lost much of its early energy, but still finished reasonably strong. All three lead actors were great in their parts, and Rinko Kikuchi was hilarious as the silent sidekick.

Part of the reason I (and everyone else) loved Brick was because it took us all by surprise. This time Johnson had all eyes on him and he delivered anyway. Maybe I missed something technical about the film that critics didn’t like, or maybe they all just wanted Brick II. All I know is, it was one of my favourites so far in this festival.

B+

[tags]tiff, tiff08, the brothers bloom, rian johnson[/tags]

Halfway between documentary and feature film, 24 City (tiff) was a microcosmic look at China itself: former workers lamenting the demise of the communist-era factory in favor of new condominiums, children who’ve spent their entire lives in the factory complex, security guards reminiscing about the opening of the plant, all melded with scripted parts by actresses. The documentary device was hard to stay with when an actress as recognizable as Joan Chen was on the screen, but they even made a sly little joke to explain that away and keep you in the moment.

I liked the film a lot, but I found I had to work at it a bit, and it took some time to get into it. Some (including Blue Rodeo‘s Jim Cuddy) never seemed to, and left early. The director (who wasn’t present; this was the third screening) did well to show Chengdu, and China in general, in the middle of a growth spurt, growing pains and all.

B

[tags]tiff, tiff08, 24 city, jim cuddy[/tags]

According to the producer (who introduced this morning’s screening) if Frank Capra were still alive he might have made a film like Flash of Genius (tiff). I suppose that might be true. It was the kind of standard “man stands up for what’s right” film that I associate with Capra, and not something I’d ever see in a theatre in standard release, but for 9AM on day six, it wasn’t a bad little break. Greg Kinnear and a based-on-reality script managed to keep it north of formulaic, but just barely.

C

[tags]tiff, tiff08, flash of genius[/tags]

While signing up for a 2.5 hour talky French family tale can sometimes be fraught with peril, the early reviews of Un Conte de Noël (tiff) gave me hope. It turns out the hope was well justified. I really liked this film, though I’m not sure I could put my finger on exactly why I liked it. It was, as I said, a very talky family drama, but the characters were entertaining while remaining real, and that was enough to make me care about what happened. It never felt quite as long as the running time, but I think they could cut a sideline love triangle story from the film to make it a little tighter. I didn’t feel like that storyline added anything to the film, and it could probably benefit from a bit of chopping. Still, a quintessentially festival film.

B

[tags]tiff, tiff08, un conte de noel[/tags]

Hoo boy. If you’re sleep deprived and just had a big, carb-ridden lunch, watching a slow, bleak Dutch film in a theatre with reclining chairs is not, I repeat not, a good idea. And I wasn’t kidding when I said that Katia’s Sister (tiff08) was slow and bleak. Very Dogme 95: no music, no effects, and, one could argue, no plot. Very little in the way of interesting dialogue too. Katia’s sister was a 13 year old struggling to keep a semblance of order and calm in her life despite the chaos around her, but I found that I didn’t care enough about any of these characters to worry or wonder. I wasn’t into it at all. Nellie fell asleep. It wasn’t bad, but goddamn you’d better be in the mood for a dreary, slow-paced foreign film if you sit down to this one.

C-

[tags]tiff, tiff08, katia’s sister[/tags]

The second in a series that started with Paris, Je T’Aime (and which will soon extend to Shanghai and Jerusalem, we were told) New York, I Love You (tiff) was a nice way to start day five. If you saw Paris, Je T’Aime you’ll know the format: multiple vignettes in which people discover and discuss love in one particular city. This one was different than Paris though, in that the stories interlaced occasionally. I also felt (as did Nellie) that New York was stronger then Paris, and it wasn’t even the final cut.

Because it was a preview screening the producers asked us all not to write too much about it or review it, but what I saw was very strong.

B

[tags]tiff, tiff08, new york i love you[/tags]

Well, I guess I eventually had to hit a stinker. This one bored me to the point that I feel asleep a few times. I wasn’t the only one; some dude in the balcony fell asleep and started powersnoring during the Q&As (which were even more boring).

I was hoping Not Quite Hollywood (tiff) would fill me in on the history of “Ozploitation” films, and why I should/could like them, but it was really just a long insider party for the people who already love them. Good for them, I guess, but I guess I really misread the synposis and intention of the film.

D

[tags]tiff, tiff08, not quite hollywood[/tags]

If you like Kevin Smith movies like I do, you’ll like Zack And Miri Make A Porno (tiff) like I did. Funny, sweet sometimes, and incredibly raunchy…all the classic ingredients of a Kevin Smith film. I think we actually missed half the laughs because the previous laugh drowned out the dialogue. There was one truly disgusting scene (I’ve had a few so far…Nick & Norah, Slumdog Millionaire and Zack & Miri have each featured a shit-related gross-out) but the audience loved it.

Seth Rogen wasn’t there last night, but as long as Elizabeth Banks (my girlfriend du jour) showed up, I didn’t care who else came. Also: Jason Mewes looks normal now.

Like I said, recommended if you’re a Kevin Smith fan. Avoid it if you’re not (read: you’re uptight).

B-

[tags]tiff, tiff08, zack and miri make a porno, elizabeth banks[/tags]