Every year, for a week-and-a-half duration in September, Toronto turns into Hollywood North as hundreds of actors, filmmakers, and critics descend upon the city for the Toronto International Film Festival.
Having done increasingly large amounts of movies every year, this is my most anticipated edition as I almost double the number of films I will be seeing from the previous year.
I generally try to mix it up between a fair share of Hollywood-type films, genre fare, world cinema, and unknown gambles. Here's hoping there's another Enter the Void or Symbol in the mix.
My line-up with brief thoughts on each film:
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
09:00PM: Passion Play // Mitch Glazer
The film I want to see least on my list. Megan Fox counterbalances Mickey
Rourke and Bill Murray. Thankfully, it's also first.
11:59PM: SUPER // James Gunn
Could be silly fun but it's the talk of darker undertones and a certain degree of
realism that has me curious.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
09:00AM: Wasted on the Young // Ben C. Lucas
Gossip Girl meets Elephant? Hoping that means it has a bit of the 90s teen
thriller running through its veins. But darker.
12:30PM: Bad Faith // Kristian Petri*
You can't compare a film to Blow-Up and The Fourth Man and not deliver
something incredible. That would just be cruel.
05:45PM: Armadillo // Janus Metz
Everything I've heard about this war doc makes it sound like one of the most
visceral experiences you can have in a theatre.
11:59PM: Bunraku (dir. Guy Moshe)
It's a gamble considering Hartnett's track record has been (putting it nicely)spotty. Could be trash or mindblowingly fresh. I'm taking the plunge.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
02:15PM: The Four Times // Michelangelo Frammartino
Comparisons to Koyaaniqatsi in reviews can't hurt. Sounds and looks like
the visual stunner of the fest.
07:15PM: Black Ocean // Marion Hansel
Trailer has an idyllic mood and picaresque visuals that feel true to the
reference in the description (i.e. Terrence Malick).
09:30PM: Norwegian Wood / Tran Anh Hung
Murakami, Kikuchi, a Greenwood score, a gorgeous still in the program, and
a director I've been curious about for ages.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
04:30PM: Everything Must Go // Dan Rush
Good script buzz. Willing to give Ferrell another try in dramatic territory.
Stranger Than Fiction was a snooze but that wasn't his fault.
08:00PM: Brighton Rock // Rowan Joffe
'60s gangsters with Sam Riley (last seen in Control) and Helen Mirren can't
possibly go too wrong.
11:59PM: John Carpenter's The Ward // John Carpenter
The return of the master. Granted, his latter day work was subpar but the
man did make Halloween, The Thing and In the Mouth of Madness.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
11:00AM: Black Swan // Darren Aronofsky
Psychothriller set in the ballet world with shades of Rosemary's Baby, Suspiria,
and a general aura of mindfuck. Why wouldn't you be there?
02:30PM: Rabbit Hole // John Cameron Mitchell
I trust the unusually bold director paired with some straight-laced material
could make for something winning and not bland.
06:00PM: 13 Assassins // Takashi Miike
Does anyone know how to spill blood as well as Takashi Miike? This sounds
positively epic.
09:30PM: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale // Jalmari Helander
If you're not hooked by this still of a Santa in a cage...the review references
to The Thing and Indiana Jones will surely do it for you.
11:59PM: Insidious // James Wan
Not a fan of the Saw team but the cast is an upgrade and a haunted house
movie at Midnight Madness should provoke some fun audience reactions.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
02:15PM: Essential Killing // Jerzy Skolimowski
It's one big Gallo showcase as he plays a Taliban fighter on the run without
speaking a word. Sounds like pure kinetic filmmaking.
06:15PM: Blue Valentine // Derek Cianfrance
Coming out of Sundance, the film I wanted to see the most with two of the
best working actors playing out a destructive marriage.
10:45PM: Promises Written in Water // Vincent Gallo
Gallo is a charismatic egomaniac but despite what critics say, he has the
talent to back it up (Buffalo '66 and The Brown Bunny are both great).
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
02:30PM: What's Wrong with Virginia? // Dustin Lance Black
Jennifer Connelly with the writer of Milk is enough to get my butt in the
seat.
05:30PM: I Saw the Devil // Kim Jee-Woon
I asked earlier - who knows how to spill blood better than Miike. Kim
Jee-Woon might be the answer. A Tale of Two Sisters proved his talent.
09:00PM: Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame // Tsui Hark**
Tsui Hark had a big hand in my childhood (the best Jet Li kung-fu films)
and I'm hoping he can take me back to that time again.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
02:30PM: Casino Jack // George Hickenlooper
Spacey is overdue for a comeback. This looks like the perfect vehicle,
slotting into his filmography very nicely with a welcome Wall Street vibe.
07:45PM: Three // Tom Tykwer
Tykwer has blown me away time and again (notably with Princess & the
Warrior and Perfume). He has benefit of the doubt for life.
11:59PM: Catfish // Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman***
This is one of those trailers that immediately grabbed me...one of the most
intriguing looking documentaries in a long time...or is it a documentary?
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
12:15PM: Kaboom // Gregg Araki
Gregg Araki's return to batshit crazy storytelling revolving around horny
teenagers with an added twist of paranoid dystopia. I can't wait.
03:00PM: 22nd of May // Koen Mortier
Could be clunky. Could also be the Enter the Void/Symbol of this fest. I'm
taking the chance.
05:30PM: Confessions // Tetsuya Nakashima
Dark, fucked up films from the Japanese side tend to be more dark and
fucked up than I imagine. A definite hook of a premise.
09:00PM: Cave of Forgotten Dreams // Werner Herzog
Is anyone surprised this is a must-grab ticket? Herzog + 3D + caves. Did you
just orgasm over those three tags? I think you did.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
12:00PM: Cold Fish // Sion Sono
A killer premise. And it's all true. Sounds like a good entry point into cult
favourite Sion Sono's work.
03:30PM: Our Day Will Come // Romain Gavras
Redheaded gangs with Cassel directed by Costa-Gavras's talented progeny
and the most ominous/badass title at the fest. Sounds bold and innovative.
06:00PM: Submarine // Richard Ayoade
Wes Anderson meets Godard? My biggest gamble (it will be the last thing I
see) but then I've always been a sucker for coming-of-age stories.
*I was unable to get a ticket for this film but will be lining up in the morning of the screening to add it to my slate.
**I may attempt to switch Detective Dee & the Mystery of the Phantom Flame for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives on the day of the screening.
***Not technically part of the festival but it is opening in a midnight screening in limited release and my friend and I are going to make it part of our fest.
Other films that I was either unable to get or could not fit into my schedule that I think you should take a look at if you are doing the fest are: Julia's Eyes, Film Socialism, The Housemaid, Hereafter, Heartbeats, You Are Here, Meek's Cutoff, Womb, and The Strange Case of Angelica. Films that look promising but which I didn't do because they are coming out soon are 127 Hours, Monsters, and Never Let Me Go.
Single tickets are available starting tomorrow morning at 7am.
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