Category: TIFF

Requiem (7.5/10)

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Every review or synopsis of Requiem (tiff | imdb) that I’ve read has compared it to last year’s The Exorcism Of Emily Rose. This one will be no different. To put it simply, this is what Emily Rose could have been if it wasn’t stock Hollywood fare.

Because we’re preconditioned to expect the same schlocky tactics in every horror film, I spent the first half hour completely tense, waiting for a demonic face to appear in a closing bathroom mirror or a hand to grab an ankle from under a bed. After a while I realized it just wasn’t going to happen. Instead, director Hans-Christian Schmid built this creeping, lurking fear that this poor girl, who we got to know and wished the best for, was going to be ripped from the burgeoning life she’d only just begun to reclaim from her parents. The afflictions that eventually catch up with her manifest in (again) un-Hollywood ways, such that we’re never sure what’s wreaking havoc on her. No melting faces or speaking in tongues here, only behaviour that could be explained by possession, psychosis or stress, depending on what you want to believe.

[tags]tiff, toronto international film festival, requiem[/tags]

Festival eve

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Tomorrow night we start. Our first film is the fifth screening of the festival: Requiem. We ease into it slowly: one movie tomorrow, one Friday, two on Saturday, two more on Sunday and then three on Monday (we’re taking the day off work). Tuesday we only have one, though we’re taking that day off work as well; we’ll need the break. After that we do one film each night for the next three, then a night off on Friday before returning for one last screening — Outsourced — before I leave on course for a week (which reminds me…must pack!). I’ll try to find time in there to blog, whether from my computer or my blackberry.

Here’s our final lineup:

  1. Requiem
  2. Citizen Duane
  3. The Wind That Shakes the Barley
  4. Rescue Dawn
  5. Candy
  6. Kurt Cobain About A Son
  7. Diggers
  8. Blindsight
  9. Fay Grim
  10. The Half Life of Timofey Berezin
  11. Day Night Day Night
  12. The Pleasure of Your Company
  13. Outsourced

[tags]tiff, toronto international film festival[/tags]

50% & 13

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I am now more than 50% done my MBA. Huzzah.

.:.

We just got back from the great TIFF lineup of ought-six; we couldn’t get D.O.A.P. or Little Children, obviously, but we got tickets for Blindsight, which was one of our second picks all along. T-Bone did okay too; she only got half her choices in her email, but she managed to get good picks with her vouchers (including The Last King Of Scotland).

[tags]tiff, toronto international film festival, mba[/tags]

La la dee la la la

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We’re sitting in the lineup at College Park, waiting to pick up our tickets and exchange our voucher for (hopefully) a good film. We got here around 8:00, and in about 5 minutes they’ll open up. Just in time too; I fear we’re looking at piles if we stay here much longer.

[tags]tiff, toronto international film festival[/tags]

duvel troll dunkel bush

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We just got our email from the film festival. We fared better than I expected, though I still suffered two major disappointments.

  1. Thu Sep 7: Requiem (2nd pick; we miss The Bothersome Man)
  2. Fri Sep 8: Citizen Duane (1st pick; we miss Chronicle of an Escape)
  3. Sat Sep 9: The Wind That Shakes the Barley (1st pick; we miss EMPz 4 Life)
  4. Sat Sep 9: Rescue Dawn (1st pick; we miss All the Boys Love Mandy Lane)
  5. Sun Sep 10: Candy (1st pick; we miss Retrieval)
  6. Sun Sep 10: Kurt Cobain About A Son (1st pick; we miss 2:37)
  7. Mon Sep 11: Diggers (1st pick; we miss Blindsight)
  8. Mon Sep 11: Fay Grim (2nd pick; we miss Little Children)
  9. Tue Sep 12: The Half Life of Timofey Berezin (1st pick; we miss 10 Items or Less)
  10. Wed Sep 13: Day Night Day Night (2nd pick; we miss The Hottest State)
  11. Thu Sep 14: The Pleasure of Your Company (1st pick; we miss Snow Cake)
  12. Fri Sep 15: we got neither D.O.A.P. nor Penelope.
  13. Sat Sep 16: Outsourced (1st pick; we miss Macbeth)

My two biggest disappointments there are obviously D.O.A.P, which has garnered massive amounts of attention since we filled out our form, and Little Children, which has been getting good reviews. We’re going to try for alternate screenings of these two, as well as The Bothersome Man and Blindsight. If those attempts fail, we’ll just be looking for anything we can get.

All in all, we did pretty well. We got 9 first picks, 3 second picks and a total miss (both of which were very popular films). We have some schedule flexibility, so I think we’ll do ok.

I’m also kind of glad that we didn’t get Macbeth; it’s getting shite reviews.

.:.

Our last two meals have been with CBGB, and they’ve both been very tasty (the meals, not our friends). Last night we went back to Volo, with them in tow, and sampled many kinds of beer. I had a Duvel (’cause they were out of the Delirium Tremens), a Cuvee Troll, a Dennison’s Dunkel and a large bottle of Maple Bush, shared with CB.This morning, after a good sleep, we met up at the Old Nick for some organic brunch. It was as good as our first visit back in May; I once again ordered the “well hung” — giant chicken sausage with scrambled eggs, home fries, onion/dill toast and salad — and was just the right amount of full when we left.

[tags]tiff, toronto international film festival, d.o.a.p., little children, bar volo, old nick, brunch[/tags]

The lower 56

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Of the 82 movies on my “short” list, we could only pick the 26 listed below. Here’s why we didn’t choose the other 56:

My wife didn’t want to see them:

  • A Stone’s Throw
  • Deliver Us From Evil
  • Four Minutes
  • The Island
  • The Wake

They’re coming to theatres in the next couple of months:

  • A Good Year
  • All The King’s Men
  • Babel
  • Bobby
  • Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
  • Catch a Fire
  • Cheech
  • For Your Consideration
  • Shortbus
  • Stranger than Fiction
  • The Fountain
  • The Journals of Knud Rasmussen
  • The Last Kiss
  • The U.S. vs. John Lennon

Schedule conflicts:

  • Amazing Grace
  • After the Wedding

We just didn’t end up choosing them:

  • 7 Ans
  • A Few Days Later…
  • Abeni
  • As the Shadow
  • Away From Her
  • Bamako
  • Black Book
  • Breaking and Entering
  • Cages
  • Cashback
  • Chacun sa nuit
  • Copying Beethoven
  • Dixie Chicks – Shut Up and Sing
  • Fido
  • Griffin & Phoenix
  • Jindabyne
  • Lake of Fire
  • London to Brighton
  • Love and Other Disasters
  • Out Of The Blue
  • Quelques jours en Septembre
  • Seraphim Falls
  • Severance
  • Shame
  • The Book of Revelation
  • The Dog Problem
  • The Last King of Scotland
  • The Last Winter
  • The Namesake
  • Thicker than Water
  • This is England
  • Un Crime
  • Un Dimanche à Kigali
  • When The Levees Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts
  • Zidane: Un Portrait du XXIe Siècle

There were various reasons why we didn’t choose these. Some just lost out to our 26, some — like Away From Her and the Dixie Chicks documentary — were galas that we figured wouldn’t attract the director or any of the cast (which, knowing they’ll be in theatres soon, removes a lot of the attraction). Some — like When The Levees Broke — were just too long.

There were some very tough choices in there, like Cashback, Fido, Lake Of Fire, Out Of The Blue, and especially The Last King Of Scotland. Given all the buzz around that last one I’m afraid it’ll be the hit of the festival and I’ll have passed it up. But, that’s how it goes. Nothing to do now but enjoy the 13 we get and wait for the rest to be released.

[tags]tiff, toronto international film festival[/tags]

The round mound of expound

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I really, really, really hope we get to see this one. It’s premiering at the film festival.

.:.

I liked Charles Barkley as a player, but I don’t like him all that much as an analyst. I do, however, like him as a political commentator.

Charles Barkley was his usual outspoken self during a recent television interview in which he said, among other things, that he advocates gay marriage, believes Republicans have screwed up the country and is “struggling with my idea of what religion is.”

[tags]death of a president, d.o.a.p., charles barkley, tiff, toronto international film festival[/tags]

12

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

After an aborted attempt to drop off earlier this afternoon (we missed a single yellow highlight), I took the envelope back down to College Park. We’re in box #12.

Crossing fingers………………………………………………………now.

[tags]tiff, toronto international film festival[/tags]