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

[Ralph Spoilsport]

Sew The Winter To My Skin, the true story of a Zulu Robin Hood, takes us back into the era of apartheid before the rest of the world began talking about it. Nobody in this movie talks about it much either, in fact there's hardly any dialogue at all. Several supporting characters recur throughout with no lines at all. The children's crying says enough. Great period and location atmosphere but too many mundane chase scenes really drag this down. [B ]

The Third Wife: art-house erotica, the story of a 14-year old child bride's sexual awakening, set in 19th century Vietnam where these things were acceptable, pitched to entertain a modern audience because it no longer is. Elegant filth, fights sexism while being sexist at the same time. [C+]

Reason: more good news, the world's largest democracy is turning fascist. India is a complicated place, expect the unexpected. Nothing surprises me. So the leader who orchestrated Gandhi's assassination is now considered a national hero…there's a flag. But hey, fascism just means "brotherhood", so what's the problem? [B+]

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

@kihei..have you seen Wavelengths 1 yet? Looking forward to your review of Polly 1!

 

[kihei]

@kihei..have you seen Wavelengths 1 yet? Looking forward to your review of Polly 1!

Yes, I have seen both the Wavelength collections that I got tickets for. Wavelength 1 was by far the more interesting package. That being said, I don't have much to say about the different short films. The screening started with Polly 1, which in a way was unfortunate because by the time I adjust to this kind of movie experience I'm at least a ways into the first film. I thought it was, to use a great all purpose word that is the queen bee of noncommittal, interesting. I enjoyed it; I enjoyed letting it wash over me. I thought it was visually pleasing. And not for the first time this TIFF, I marveled at the gorgeous images people could get with these new cheap cameras that nonetheless turn everyone into Vittorio Storaro. And then the next short film came up. My primary interest was with the final film in the series, Apitchatpong Weerasethakul's Blue which was lovely and vaguely haunting. It consisted of a series of beautiful silk screen drawings that moved up and down like a shade, a sleeping woman and fire, a totally abstract association but very appealing visually and somehow very satisfying emotionally.

 

[kihei]

Picked up my phone this morning, called the box office and got a ticket to Shoplifters. That's it, my dance card is complete.

Box office opens at 8:00 AM, so calling to find out if anything has been returned over night is a good strategy. For the first year, I won't be doing a rush line which is a little unfortunate because the experience is an important part of TIFF, but I am not seriously complaining.

 

[Arizonan God]

I’m showing up ridiculously early to the rush line for Roma on Saturday. Absolutely need to catch that one

 

[BonMorrison]

My week so far: Concert, TIFF, Concert, TIFF x2, Concert

Living in TO is pretty rad.

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

Yes, I have seen both the Wavelength collections that I got tickets for. Wavelength 1 was by far the more interesting package. That being said, I don't have much to say about the different short films. The screening started with Polly 1, which in a way was unfortunate because by the time I adjust to this kind of movie experience I'm at least a ways into the first film. I thought it was, to use a great all purpose word that is the queen bee of noncommittal, interesting. I enjoyed it; I enjoyed letting it wash over me. I thought it was visually pleasing. And not for the first time this TIFF, I marveled at the gorgeous images people could get with these new cheap cameras that nonetheless turn everyone into Vittorio Storaro. And then the next short film came up. My primary interest was with the final film in the series, Apitchatpong Weerasethakul's Blue which was lovely and vaguely haunting. It consisted of a series of beautiful silk screen drawings that moved up and down like a shade, a sleeping woman and fire, a totally abstract association but very appealing visually and somehow very satisfying emotionally.

Thanks Kihei, I think I liked your review better than the movie, which seemed like a pointless experiment to me. No doubt there was more to it than meets the eye (mine, anyways), but letting it wash over is the best bet. Maybe Polly 2 will be more open to analysis.

I liked Feinting Spells and Altiplano though, and if you're a fan of Apitchatpong you might be interested in Manta Ray which is a Thai film that bears a lot of similarities in style.

EDIT: Scratch that last part, I see you've been there, done that...

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

I keep saying I'm going to go one year and I never do.
Next year should be the year.

Be prepared to have "We Are The Champions" stuck in your head for a week.

(It's used in a promo they show before every screening.)

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

In My Room: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl. Boy meets another girl, this time he's the last boy on earth and she's the last girl. Let's hope he doesn't f*** this one up. [B+]

Fausto: calling this independent is generous, amateur is more like it, but that's not meant at all as a put down. Inspiring what one person with an imagination and a good grasp of folkore can do with a camera. [B ]

The Elephant Queen: a super-sized episode of BBC's Planet Earth, awesome wildlife photography. And the more we learn about the elephants' social and emotional lives the less the overlaid narrative seems like a fairy tale. Delighted. It was made for kids, and who doesn't want to be a kid again? [A-]

Manta Ray brings the Rohingya refugee crisis, and the choices and challenges Thailand has in responding to it, to the big screen, but it doesn't really bring it home, despite its domestic setting. Good reaching out, but distracts with too many unnecessarily artsy elements, too many brightly coloured lights. A little less ambiguity, a little more sincerity please. [C+]

The River: set on the Kazakh plains, the frontier of the modern world, is this story of five brothers on a farm and their encounter with a shared sin. Has a Biblical, Old Testament feel to it: "And yea, the days passed until lo one day their cousin did arrive from the city. And he arrived on a hoverboard. And he had a tablet with GPS. And their cousin said unto them "dost thou have TV?" This has the weight and feeling of real truth in it. [A]

 

[BonMorrison]

Mid90s was an absolute treat. Loved it to death,

Was disappointed with Shadow. Stylistically beautiful but hollow characters, bizarre script, and sloooooooow pace hurt it for me.

 

[Arizonan God]

Anyone else here catch Non-Fiction? Got a kick out of that one.

Enjoyed Mid90s overall (was likely in the same screening as you, BonMorisson), but had a few issues with it. Mainly Lucas Hedges' character. I'm starting to think I just don't like Lucas Hedges.

 

[BonMorrison]

Agreed about Hedges character. Really wanted them to flesh it out more.

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

Jirga: well-meaning Aussie lad, ex-soldier, smuggles wads of cash into Afghanistan to compensate the family of a civilian he killed while on duty there. Ventures deep into the territory of the Taliban, who take him as hostage and give him good financial advice. A study of moral courage that is boldly simple and all the more potent for it. [A]

Edge Of The Knife: I admit, I was hoping for another Atanarjuat, and those are pretty high expectations. This folk legend of the Haida had all the makings of a good movie, and that's all it is. [B-]

The Wind: murder and madness on the range. As if the prairie settlers didn't have enough hardship to contend with. Their land, Godforsaken as it is, would of course be teeming with demons. A horror movie that makes good use of the isolation of its environment. [B+]

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

The Wild Pear Tree: a beautiful film about a pretentious twerp who wisens ups, eventually. Takes three hours to get there though, and although it never drags be forewarned that the highlights are all in the first half when the movie seems more like a comedy...our hero has a way of unintentionally offending everyone he reaches out to. Gradually it becomes less funny and more real. Worth it for the love scene under the pear tree. [A]

Jinpa: On the Tibetan plateau a truck driver named Jinpa (played by an actor named Jinpa) picks up a hitchiker with the same name who claims to be an assassin. After dropping him off he decides to return to the town to warn of the killer's presence. A quirky, modern-day western. [B+]

The Passion of Joan of Arc: God damn... [A+]

The Image Book: a collage of film clips and sound bites with the director providing voice-over philosophising. Damned if I know if Godard makes this stuff up as he goes along or if he sweats out every detail, placing them in his cerebral mosaic with painstaking precision. Either way, scholars will be mining its wisdom for years to come. An awe-inspiring work. [A]

Akasha: An honest comedy from a war zone. Every year the rainy season interrupts Sudan's civil war because the heavy vehicles on both sides are unable to move through the mud. This gives soldiers and rebels a chance to return to their home villages, giving love, laughter and other signs of humanity a chance to bloom. [A-]

 

[kihei]

Messed up an elbow, so can only type with one hand. So not doing much writing. One day to go and Roma is stiil cream of the crop, though I also loved Ash Is the Purest White. Missed Shoplifters because of aforementioned elbow, but will close the festival with Burning later today,

 

[BonMorrison]

Ended with Wildlife yesterday. Really enjoyed it. Wish I did more films this year, oh well.

Hope your elbows doing okay @kihei !

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

let me guess...tennis elbow?

wrapping up another year here...

Donbass: no storyline, no stars, just a series of episodes of people struggling to carry on with their lives in the Donbass, a region of eastern Ukraine which is the prize in an ongoing tug of war between Ukraine and Russia. The leading "character" is often a crowd--a drunken wedding, an angry mob, a city council meeting degenerating into a chaotic shouting match--where everybody in the scene is an active participant, no bystanders among the extras. Sometimes the crowd just has to be still and keep their mouths shut--their faces tell the story instead. Hope for change? Sure...most episodes take some unexpected turn. "Bad to worse" is a type of change. [A]

Diamantino: More silly than surreal, this is like a feature length Mad-TV sketch, lampooning some pop culture topics--refugee adoptions, celebrity lifestyles, Brexit (the Portuguese kind--not sure if there's a word for it)--for no reason other than to manufacture a few laughs, which it does. [C+]

 

[Savi]

Went to IFFR 2019 in Rotterdam this week, I stayed there for two days and saw 6 movies with 4 of them being really enjoyable. Scheduling's always a gamble but this time it worked out quiet well.

Donbass has been talked about a lot in this thread and I mostly agree with what's been said. Pet Names was a nice little slice-of-life movie about two exes going on a camping trip and falling back into old patterns. A Land Imagined from Singapore won Best Movie at the Locarno Film Festival back in August, and even though the plot was kinda messy, it had a really nice, mysterious vibe and some lovely settings. Finally, Chinese drama A Long Day's Journey Into Night could be one of my very early picks for best movie of the year. Actually the first half of it wasn't even that great but it ended with a 59 minute 3D long take which was just stunningly good.

 

[kihei]

Here's the first round of TIFF movies announced:

TIFF 2019: Full Lineup Revealed! << Rotten Tomatoes – Movie and TV News

Another hundred or so movies are still to be announced, but this is a great start. TIFF will be screening the two movies I most want to see: Parasite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire and there is a host of other interesting titles.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

One of these years ...

 

[kihei]

So starting to figure out my dance card of 20 films, and I must say this is one of the weaker lineups of the past several years. There are three movies I really want to see and then it's basically a crapshoot the rest of the way. Anyone else think the TIFF line up is underwhelming this year?

 

[Puck]

So starting to figure out my dance card of 20 films, and I must say this is one of the weaker lineups of the past several years. There are three movies I really want to see and then it's basically a crapshoot the rest of the way. Anyone else think the TIFF line up is underwhelming this year?

Yes I find the movie lists underwhelming too and it started last year. I really think we are beginning to see the effects of internet/streaming disruptions in the movie industry. Unfortunately. I was keeping my fingers crossed that the 'international scene' might make up the difference, but... maybe not. Really looking forward to all your reviews. I don't get to see the TIFF showings until later but I keep all the reviews on record (bookmark the thread) as a guide (from everyone posting). The quantity of quality pics might be lower, but I'll appreciate whatever comes along.

 

[Puck]

Is there enough room here after 20 pages to handle 2019? Should we start a new thread for the year? Really hate it when/if the thread gets broken up in two after 40 pages, harder to search/find records of reviews that way, when they are not in one spot.

 

[Trap Jesus]

The ones that stand out to me are:

The Lighthouse
Parasite
Uncut Gems
The Goldfinch

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

I haven't really checked out the program yet and I better get on that this weekend...gotta be ready once that ticket redemption window opens!

But, just at a glance, it does look like they've scaled things back. The Cinematheque choices don't look too exciting. There's no kids' program?! Could be a year for a deep dive into the Wavelength, Short Cuts and Doc programs.

I see Terrence Malick has something coming out. He makes a great film once every 20 years, and he's due.