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]

There are a few films I picked out of this year’s festival guide without even reading past who the director was. Slumdog Millionaire (tiff), directed by Danny Boyle, was one of them.

My faith wasn’t misplaced either. I thought Boyle masterfully melded humour, violence, near-obsessive love, and an affection for Mumbai strong enough to show it as it really is: enormous, dirty, loving and in a period of real transition. The child actors (some of whom were, like the titular character, slum kids) were amazing, as were the actors from the others stages of the kids’ lives. The spectacularly beautiful Freida Pinto (the fuzzy faraway picture above just does not do her justice) who played the female lead was a first-time film actress. There was real edge to the film, but humanity too, and a sense that we should view this journey through and out of slum life through a joyous, triumphant lens instead of a tragic one.

Shit, I didn’t even mind the big Bollywood dance number at the end. I gave it a standing ovation like everyone else. Favourite film of the festival so far.

A

[tags]tiff, tiff08, slumdog millionaire[/tags]

Rain must change the lineup rules at the Ryerson, ’cause 35 minutes before my screening of Is There Anybody There? (tiff) the line had already disappeared into the theatre. I wandered in, grabbed a good seat and knocked off several more pages of Generation Kill.

I really had low expectations for this film since it wasn’t one of my top picks, but it fit the schedule. And hey, it had Michael Caine and the director of Boy A. Both were in attendance for the screening, which was a nice treat. Caine really is one of the legends of acting today, and the audience showed their appreciation for his career with a standing ovation upon entering.

The film was a pleasant surprise. Caine and Bill Millner (from Son of Rambow) carried a strong story about a buy surrounded by — and fascinated with — death and aging and his run-in with old grump Caine. Good work from the supporting cast as well, from his parents to the residents of the old age home. A gentle, funny, touching film, if not exactly in my wheelhouse.

Somewhere between C+ and B-

[tags]tiff, tiff08, is there anybody there[/tags]

Warning: spoilers ahead.

Well, you can’t win ’em all. Deadgirl (tiff), our first foray into the 2008 Midnight Madness programme, wasn’t very good. The plot: two teenagers find a dead girl in an abandoned mental hospital. Well, almost dead. More of a zombie. They then proceed to…abuse her. A lot. Over many days. What sounded in the synopsis like a tense struggle between urges to do the right and wrong things quickly turned into gang rape with some cheap (but effective) scares thrown in. Nellie almost left. We both just kept throwing each other incredulous looks.

True, these films are meant to be shocking and violent and scary and, in my cases, awful. The film wasn’t badly executed…it just wasn’t a good film. I know it’s hard to compare MM films to the mainstream ones we see, and it has to be evaluated in part on how well it keeps the tension built and the adrenaline up, but that was all it did. I could never recommend this film to anyone…even if they were horror genre fans, I don’t think it was a great example of how to do it.

Q&As weren’t terribly insightful either.

C-

[tags]tiff, tiff08, deadgirl[/tags]

Ah, Bill Maher: caustic, hilarious and blunt. That’s why I love him. Last night there were protesters (though Nellie thinks they may have been a sideshow arranged for the movie) outside the screening of the new Larry Charles documentary Religulous (tiff), in which he starred. Here’s the premise: travel around America and the world challenging people to produce a logical argument for their religion. Hilarity ensues. The end.

High art this was not. To be fair, it was a smart man picking on people who might not have finished at the head of their respective classes, but to Maher’s point, non-believers are too quiet and passive by nature, so he was trying to stir things up a bit. Would almost certainly infuriate religious viewers, but that’s not his target market. He said clearly in the film he wanted to provoke the 16% of American voters who are non-believers that they should have a louder voice.

The introductions and Q&As were very funny. Maher’s best line of the night was when he started vamping on Palin: “5 kids…Jesus, don’t Republicans know how to pull out of anything?”

B-

[tags]tiff, tiff08, religulous, bill maher, larry charles[/tags]

After a brief respite it was back to the Ryerson for three films in a row. We got there plenty early for the first one, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (tiff), knowing it would be popular. And it was, with the director and pretty much the entire cast (including Michael Cera and my girlfriend du jour Kat Dennings).

I thought going into it this one would be funny and cute and entertaining, and it was all of those things. Funnier than I expected, smarter dialogue than you’d expect in a teen-targeted movie (but not without some very funny toilet humour), charming leads and entertaining side stories. Completely enjoyable, highly recommended.

Q&As were a little light, but that was to be expected with that kind of film. I can pretty much guarantee that nobody went away hating it, and many of us walked away humming songs from the (asskicking) soundtrack. To quote Bishop Allen: “alright.”

B+

[tags]tiff, tiff08, nick and norah’s infinite playlist, michael cera, kat dennings[/tags]

Ever wonder what would happen if you put a talky, introspective story about guilt and redemption in a burlap sack with a horror movie and threw it in a river? You’d get Sauna (tiff), which we saw this afternoon. I wouldn’t say it was bad, but I can’t say I loved it either. Bonus points for smashing together two genres, and doing it without seeming ridiculous, but I’m not sure the end result was particularly enlightening, scary or even entertaining.

C+

[tags]tiff, tiff08, sauna[/tags]

Walking out of the Ryerson, I got right back into the line for the next screening: It Might Get Loud (tiff). I went from a crowd of teenage girls shrieking over Zac Efron to a crowd of middle-aged men bowing and scraping to Jimmy Page. Actually, that’s not fair. There were people of all age excited to see Jimmy Page, not to mention The Edge and Jack White.

The documentary was made by Davis Guggenheim, the same man who made An Inconvenient Truth and who, we found out last night, is married to Elisabeth Shue. Anyway, when the three guitarists entered the theatre there was a long standing ovation (the first of three on the night) with the exultations mainly centered on Jimmy, or Led Zeppelin in general*. It was a documentary about the electric guitar, and a very well-made one at that, centered around the three of them gathering on a sound stage to jam, but if you weren’t a rock and roll fan, there probably wasn’t much there for you. If you care about the history of these men and their careers it was very interesting, and if you like rock music it was an asskicking moment to see the three of them play nearly all of Zeppelin’s “In My Time Of Dying”, or to see Jack White make a guitar out of wood scraps and baling wire, or to see White and The Edge look on like little kids as Page played the intro to “Whole Lotta Love”, but make no mistake it was 97 minutes of hero-worship. If you like these guys and their music, and especially the guitar, you’ll like this documentary. If you don’t then you’ll likely find it, as Now Magazine put it, “just three guys sitting around stroking their precious phallic objects.”

B, but I’m a big Zeppelin and White Stripes fan

* Actually, I think that the first mention of John Bonham got a bigger cheer than The Edge did.

[tags]tiff, tiff08, it might get loud, jimmy page, jack white, the edge[/tags]