TIFF Diary: Ten Years Gone.

Posted: September 11, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Celebrities, Film Festivals, Movies | Leave a comment

Ten years ago tonight I had dinner in Toronto with my good friend Jim Anderson (who used to come north with me for TIFF, before he fell in love and headed to the west coast, and what’s up with that, anyway?). We ate creole food on the patio of a restaurant across King Street from the Roy Thomson Theater, watching the red carpet action from a respectable distance; then we went across the street to stand in a ridiculous rush line before watching the world premiere of Fred Schepisi’s Last Orders.

You may never have heard of that film — it didn’t make much of a splash. But it starred Helen Mirren, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone and Michael Caine and concerned a group of old friends reuniting to dispose of the remains of one of their own. It’s a somber movie of death and life and reflection, which makes it oddly relevant to this particular anecdote. (It’s also a really good movie — I watched it again with my dad last year about this time, and it held up remarkably well.)

I passed that bistro tonight on my way back to my hotel, with Viggo Mortensen being interviewed across the street for A Dangerous Method. It’s not the path I have found myself taking so far on this trip, but for some reason I opted for the road less traveled tonight.

So little has changed, and so much. On my way up to TIFF this week I chatted with my 360|365 colleague about the 9/11 anniversary, and I wondered if there would be any overt remembrance of the event up here. So far nothing has popped onto my radar screen, which doesn’t mean nothing is happening — once again, I’m here watching movies, and the rest of the world is reduced to headlines on newspapers on cafe tables.

One of the first things I did after hearing about the towers on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, was try to call my friend who had been working in the financial district. I didn’t get him until the following day, but when I asked him what he thought would happen to the WTC complex, his response (and mind you, this was 30 hours after it happened) was that they should just be rebuilt, so New Yorkers could get back to work and the world could see how we couldn’t be stopped. (Rich, I’m sorry if I’m misquoting you; it’s been a while.)

TIFF, perhaps understandably, has embraced that idea more easily than New York City. The festival is bigger and better (OK, bigger) than ever, with a shiny new headquarters, a longer schedule, and more glitz than I knew existed. It will always seem weird that I’m here each year for the dark anniversary of that singularly American event. But in its own way, it helps serve as just another reminder of something we had a harder time appreciating in the immediate days following 9/11/01: that life goes on.

TIFF Diary: Technical Difficulties.

Posted: September 10, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

“Technical difficulties” kept The Killer Elite from screening on time yesterday morning at the enormous Scotibank theater; which didn’t bother me per se (The Killer Elite doesn’t belong at TIFF, and anyway, it opens wide in a few weeks), except that the film following it on the same screen — a promising family film called The Flying Machine — was subsequently delayed as well. That worked out OK for me only insofar as it gave me an excuse to fit Drive into my TIFF schedule. I was very excited to see Drive, the US debut of Danish action director Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher), but like Killer Elite, it’s going to open nationally later in September, so why waste valuable TIFF time on it?

But I watched Drive, and loved it. Then I got out and promptly went down the hall to queue up for Michael, a dark Austrian thriller … only to wait, and wait, and wait, until TD reared its ugly head again. Grr. The Sarah Palin doc I replaced it with was terrible.

This morning I had made peace with the idea that I would “cheat” on my 360|365 mission long enough to watch The Descendants, the first film in seven years from my favorite American director, Alexander Payne. But I waited, and I waited, and I waited, until the TD specter again emerged: it will start late. They’re not sure how long. So instead I gave up and am now in a comparatively intimate theatre waiting (in a seat this time) for 388 Arletta Avenue, a Canadian indie with allegedly interesting cinematography techniques.

You’ve got to be flexible here at TIFF.

Next up: a full-length review — my first in a couple of years! — of Lucky, a brilliant South African drama that is my first fave fest film. But now, the house lights are going down…

Life Goes On (Without Me).

Posted: September 8, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Film Festivals, Movies, Rochester NY | Leave a comment

Americans have no manners. Even with the biggest film festival in North America about to start only three hours away, we still can’t resist making everything about us. So rather than close down Rochester’s cultural offerings for 10 days – which would really be the decent thing to do – I’m going to miss a whole bunch of amazing Rochester stuff while in the Great White North. Here are the top seven:

  1. The Clothesline Art Festival at the Memorial Art Gallery. If you’ve never gone, check out Clothesline – you’ll be hooked. (Get it?)
  2. The opening of Contagion by Steven Soderbergh (also opening in an IMAX version, which bothers me a little bit) and Warrior, with gonna-be-a-big-star-any-minute-now Tom Hardy. (You’d be surprised how invisible new releases become during TIFF.)
  3. The Image/OUT Festival Fair, an event at the Planetarium that presages Rochester’s upcoming gay & lesbian film festival.
  4. The brilliant zombie satire Shaun of the Dead and Tex Avery shorts at the Dryden Theatre this weekend.
  5. The RIT Big Shot: Painting with Light, an original documentary about an amazing photo project, premiering at 8pm Thursday on WXXI. Yeah, it’ll be on again. But still.
  6. The intriguing doc Gasland over at the Little Theatre for one night only on Thursday, Sept. 8; and Miranda July’s The Future, opening for a regular run the following day.
  7. Terry and Jones. (What? It’s my blog, and I’ll miss them. What of it?)

Forget The Host. Worry About The Parasite.

Posted: September 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Celebrities, Movies | Leave a comment

I’m not sure why Eddie Murphy is seen as such a controversial pick to host the 2012 Academy Awards. In many ways he fits the mold perfectly — established comic actor, gone slightly to seed, proven stand-up skills: check, check, and check. Granted, his stand-up resume is rooted in the 1980s, but are people afraid he’s going to make AIDS jokes or something?

To me, the news is less disturbing for Murphy than for the guy who got him the job: Who decided it was a good idea to let Brett Ratner produce the Oscar telecast? (If his awful resume doesn’t explain what I mean, read that interview. He’s not — what’s the word? Oh yes — smart.) I know the ratings for the show have waned, but if all they’re looking for is viewers at any expense, why not just hire Michael Bay and be done with it?

I’m going to be sorry I wrote that some day.

Things Are Looking Up.

Posted: September 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Movies | Leave a comment

It was a crap summer at the movies. Oh sure, Friends With Benefits and Crazy Stupid Love offered a surprising zing of romcom polish, and The Help got folks worked up, and … you know, I can’t remember any other movies from the last three months off the top of my head? Either Summer 2011 tanked, or I’m getting old. (Let’s not rule out either of those.)

Anyway, autumn rocks. Check out New York Magazine’s breakdown of 50 fall releases worth getting excited about. I wouldn’t say I’m equally pumped about all of them, but come on: Ryan Gosling at the wheel for Nicolas Winding Refn in Drive? Cronenberg and Mortenson reunited for A Dangerous Method? Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin?

Eat your heart out, Summer. See you at the movies.

Run For The Border.

Posted: September 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Film Festivals, Movies | Leave a comment

September, I’m told, kicks off the unofficial scouting season for new and compelling entries in the annual 360|365 Film Festival, held each May (as if you didn’t know). And so tomorrow my esteemed 360|365 colleague Linda Moroney and I will brave the QEW and head to Toronto for a week at the Toronto International Film Festival — my 14th TIFF (and the 20th anniversary of my first time), but my first without a press pass and without my traditional seat-of-the-pants approach to seeing whatever I want.

A programmer’s agenda is different at one of these things than a critic’s. As a reviewer, it was my job (or so I saw it) to find the movies that people were going to be excited about, watch them, and be ready with a critical take when those films made their way to Rochester. That usually meant fighting crowds of press for good seats at the biggest screening rooms to watch films jockeying for position on the Best Picture Oscar ballot. (Each year, Toronto is widely considered the starting gun for Oscar season.)

As a programmer, though, it’s my job to find movies that people aren’t necessarily expecting — the offbeat, the underappreciated, the little guys — and help put a spotlight on them. I’ll be seeing more foreign films, more docs, and more true independent and experimental movies that haven’t necessarily found their way yet. And while film festivals should arguably have something for everyone, I have to say I’m more than a little excited at the prospect of going to TIFF for the first time with a mission of true discovery.

Oh, and The Descendants. I’m going to have to find a way to see that. It opens wide in December, so it won’t be at 360|365, but what can I do? I love Alexander Payne.