Movies: Toronto International Film Festival (and any other Film Fest for that matter)

[kihei]

Loveless--marital breakdown with consequences; slow for some, with rich ambiguity; a great start for the Festival. Russia/subtitles 8B
The Other Side of Hope--the plight of a Syrian refugee in Finland shown with deadpan humour and compassion. Finland/subtitles 6A
Valley of Shadows--a little boy walks into a dark, mysterious forest. Not a horror film, but a haunting mood piece of the slow burn variety. Norway/subtitles 8B
The Journey--a surprisingly entertaining movie about a suicide bomber and the con-man who tries to talk her out of it. Iraq/subtitles 7A
The Square--a modern art museum curator gets himself in several kinds of hot water in the Cannes Palme d'Or winner. Sweden/subtitles 7B
The Killing of a Sacred Deer--a surgeon befriending a young teenage boy leads to unforeseen consequences in a brilliant movie that combines some very funny moments with a real cruel streak. Ireland/US/English 8C
The Mountain Between Us--a Harlequin Romance with lots of snow. Elba is fun. US/English 4A
Dark Is the Night--very rough and disturbing look at death and drugs in the Philippines. A movie that bears witness but who will see it remains to be seen. Nonetheless, a brave work. Philippines/subtitles unrated
Happy End--a brilliant, mostly hostile look at the French upper middle-class by an artist who has built a career out of not liking them. France/subtitles 7B

 

[BonMorrison]

Currently in line for Disaster Artist. Got here 2.5 hours early and the line was already around the block within 15 min of me arriving. The hype is real for this, busiest TIFF line I've seen yet.

 

[nameless1]

By the way, how much are TIFF tickets? For VIFF, it is usually $15, $13 for seniors, and $17 for Special Presentations.

 

[BonMorrison]

^If you don't do a package and you're 25 and over, they're about 35 a ticket. Pricey.

---

The Disaster Artist - 9/10

James Franco's second tour de force acting performance (after Spring Breakers) - give him all the Oscars. Based on the book that documents the chaos of filming bad-movie-cult-classic The Room, the Franco brothers take the helm of portraying the wild Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero. This was probably the funniest movie I've seen this year - from the opening scene all the way until the credits finished rolling. James Franco engulfs himself into the role of Wiseau, brilliantly executing his voice and mannerisms to the point where during the Q&A after, it was indistinguishable. There is also a surprising amount of heart to the film, largely carried by Dave Franco's portrayal of Greg Sestero who during the filming of The Room was a struggling actor trying to make it in Hollywood. As you would expect, the film was also packed heavy on cameos - all of which were used effectively without being excessive. Paul Scheer put it best after the movie - you do not need to see The Room to thoroughly enjoy this movie. "If you've never seen The Room, this is like a prequel. If you have seen it, this is like a sequel."

TIFF 17:
The Disaster Artist - 9/10
Loveless - 9/10
Mom and Dad - 7.5/10
The Square - 7/10

 

[kihei]

Bon is going to some of the more expensive movies. I've bought single tickets that range this year from $18 to $28 dollars mostly though I know that some tickets for Galas (where big stars are usually present) go for as high as $54.

And, yeah, just because you have a ticket doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared to stand in line for at least an hour or usually more to get a good seat. That's usually part of the fun unless it rains (which for some reason it very seldom does during this Festival).

 

[BonMorrison]

How have I been doing this for a decade and not known that the prices vary depending on movie (excluding galas, I knew that obviously).

 

[kihei]

So I was standing in line for Happy End indoors at Lightbox 1 and they were letting people with disabilities in first, and this very frail old woman, must have been at least 90-years-old, walked ever so slowly by assisted by a TIFF volunteer. I thought to myself, none too kindly, "Jesus, I hope she survives the screening." At which point, she stops, having recognized some guy standing a couple of feet away from me, and she says hello to him. And he says to her, "Well, hello. Glad to see you are still with us." Is it just me, or is that not a weird thing to say?

 

[kihei]

How have I been doing this for a decade and not known that the prices vary depending on movie (excluding galas, I knew that obviously).

If it's any consolation, this is the first year that I figured it out, too. Maybe a new policy?

 

[nameless1]

Boy, TIFF is pricey.

How much are packages? I checked the website, but they are all sold out, and they are taken off the website.

 

[BonMorrison]

My package was 240 bucks for ten tickets (no galas).

 

[nameless1]

My package was 240 bucks for ten tickets (no galas).

That is decent. Thanks.

 

[MsMeow]

$52 for tomorrow at Roy Thomson Hall

 

[BonMorrison]

Tickets to Disaster Artist last night were being resold up to 175 bucks. Apparently someone in line got offered 150 for their ticket and they refused.

 

[kihei]

PART "A"

Loveless--marital breakdown with consequences; slow for some, with rich ambiguity; a great start for the Festival. Best movie of the year so far. Russia/subtitles 8B
The Other Side of Hope--the plight of a Syrian refugee in Finland shown with deadpan humour and compassion. Finland/subtitles 6A
Valley of Shadows--a little boy walks into a dark, mysterious forest. Not a horror film, but a haunting mood piece of the slow burn variety. Norway/subtitles 8B
The Journey--a surprisingly entertaining movie about a suicide bomber and the con-man who tries to talk her out of it. Iraq/subtitles 7A
The Square--a modern art museum curator gets himself in several kinds of hot water in the Cannes Palme d'Or winner. Sweden/subtitles 7B
The Killing of a Sacred Deer--a surgeon befriending a young teenage boy leads to unforeseen consequences in a brilliant movie that combines some very funny moments with a real cruel streak. Ireland/US/English 8C
The Mountain Between Us--a Harlequin Romance with lots of snow. Elba is fun. US/English 4A
Dark Is the Night--very rough and disturbing look at death and drugs in the Philippines. A movie that bears witness but who will see it remains to be seen. Nonetheless, a brave work. Philippines/subtitles unrated
Happy End--a brilliant, mostly hostile look at the French upper middle-class by an artist who has built a career out of not liking them. France/subtitles 7B
The Seen and the Unseen--a sister copes with the gradual loss of her dying brother by conjuring a fantasy world to stay connected to him. Haunting and beautiful. Indonesia/subtitles 8B
Thelma--coming-of-age *** horror film that is derivative of Carrie but extremely well done. Norway/subtitles 7A
If You Could See His Heart--stylish but DOA noir--a guy who is bad off gets even worse off. Spain/France/subtitles 4B

 

[kihei]

Finally ran into a character, a former New York cab driver turned successful entrepreneur. He said he loved coming to Toronto, "If I step on somebody's foot back home, the guy gets ticked off; here, they say "I'm sorry.'"

 

[BonMorrison]

A Fantastic Woman - 8/10

A harrowing film about a transgender woman who has to deal with the grief of losing her boyfriend and the aftershock and poor treatment from the people around her. This film is anchored by a deeply personal and powerful performance from Daniela Vega in one of her first on-screen roles. Beautifully written, shot, and constructed - this was well deserving of the standing ovation it received.

TIFF 17:
The Disaster Artist - 9/10
Loveless - 9/10
A Fantastic Woman - 8/10
Mom and Dad - 7.5/10
The Square - 7/10

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

Dark Is The Night drops into the front lines of the modern-day Phillipine war on drugs, set in a Manila slum, a village of the damned. Hard to find a hero in this one, not many bad guys either, except maybe the President making murder threats over the airwaves. Everybody seems to be basically good, just a question of how much good they have left. Once that's gone what's left isn't bad, just bestial. B

Set in the Domnican Republic, Cocote is about a devout Christian in the city who returns to his home village for his father's funeral and to confront the killers. Forgiveness vs. revenge. What would Jesus do? The answer's not so clear cut in the bush where Christianity is mixed with voodoo, where a rooster becomes a local sensation predicting the second coming of Christ. B+

Jane: real-life Jane lives the wild life in the jungle with the chimpanzees, doesn't find her real-life Tarzan but instead finds guy who happens to be a legendary nature cameraman. Assembled from a **** load of footage thought to be lost, some of the 16mm shots can be blurry and out of focus when blown up for the big screen, but come it some slack. She's living her dream, and dreams can be like that. A-

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

Boy, TIFF is pricey.

How much are packages? I checked the website, but they are all sold out, and they are taken off the website.

$180 for ten weekday shows 5pm or earlier. (also no galas).

They're only on sale until early August some time.

 

[Thucydides]

Anyone see or plan on seeing Black cop? Corey from trailer park boys is the director and I heard it was getting good reviews so far.

Can't wait to see Loveless.

 

[vdB]

Tickets to Disaster Artist last night were being resold up to 175 bucks. Apparently someone in line got offered 150 for their ticket and they refused.

Sad, sad stuff.

 

[BonMorrison]

Mudbound - 8/10

Set in 1940s Mississippi, this film examines the racial divide between two families - one black and one white - during the Second World War. This was really good though I did have some issues that tend to pop up in films that tackle this subject matter. Mainly there were definitely some white saviour moments that rubbed me the wrong way especially considering up to that point most of the characters had managed to avoid being caricatures and were nicely layered and nuanced and didn't need this complex to occur. Aside from that though, this film from top to bottom was very well constructed - paced extremely effectively, shot beautifully, a great script, and as just stated - interesting characters. Some extremely powerful moments sprinkled throughout the film really hammer home how much work the world still needs to do in regards to racism and how at this point being "shocked" and "surprised" isn't enough. Throw this immediately on your Netflix cue when it comes out in November.

TIFF 17:
The Disaster Artist - 9/10
Loveless - 9/10
Mudbound - 8/10
A Fantastic Woman - 8/10
Mom and Dad - 7.5/10
The Square - 7/10

 

[kihei]

Part "B"

In the Fade--a woman's husband and son are killed by neo-Nazis; competent but too slick and generic for its own good. Germany/subtitles 4A
A Fantastic Woman--a transgender woman copes with loss and humiliation after the sudden death of her lover; never heavy handed and always entertaining thanks largely to a great performance by Danila Vega. Chile/subtitles 7A

 

[kihei]

A new touch this year. Each film is introduced by a speaker. Nothing new there. But this year the first thing the speaker does is to thank the First Nations tribes individually upon whose land Toronto stands. Invariably this gesture gets an ovation, sometimes an enthusiastic one. The whole move is sooooo Toronto. I love it.

 

[BonMorrison]

^I absolutely love that they've been doing this. It's about time they do this type of acknowledgement.

---

mother! - NA/10

I am not sure if I am ever going to see anything like that again. It's beyond giving a proper review. It's absolute cinematic ****ing insanity. It's Aronofsky jacking off on every negative review he's ever gotten. It's simultaneously masterclass filmmaking and overly pretentious trash. I ****ing can't even deal with what I just witnessed. One of the most bold and ambitious films I've seen in a long while and I'm not sure if that's good or bad yet. This is beyond rating.

TIFF 17:
The Disaster Artist - 9/10
Loveless - 9/10
Mudbound - 8/10
A Fantastic Woman - 8/10
Mom and Dad - 7.5/10
The Square - 7/10
mother! - ?/10

 

[Savi]

My package was 240 bucks for ten tickets (no galas).

That's crazy.

I'm at a festival in Belgium this week (Oostende), and another next month (Gent). This week you can buy a 30 euros pass and you can watch EVERY movie they screen Next month in Gent it's usually around 70 euros for a 10 ticket package.

I'm seeing Loveless on Friday. You guy's ratings made me even more excited than I already was.