Ramblings
For a quick burst of vitamin-laden refreshment without dirtying a glass, you can't beat a juice box.
Posted by: ThirteenDamnDollars, September 29, 2005 05:38 PM
The Onion A.V. Club at the TIFF
Also, Matthew's insanely long list of TIFF blogs
Overview
Posted by: Task, September 21, 2005 11:50 AM
This year: 335 films (including 109 world and 78 North American premieres), from 52 countries, screened over 10 days. The most popular film was Tsotsi, the "thugs and babies" movie. Didn't see it, can't comment. Other award winners were Look Both Ways (didn't see it) and Sa-Kwa (didn't see it). The "best Canadian feature" was a tie between Familia (didn't see it) and Guy Terrifico (totally awesome movie). C.R.A.Z.Y. and Big Girl also won awards for being Canadian, but I didn't see those either. It seems like I missed most of the popular stuff somehow.
So now that the 30th TIFF is over and done with (as a side note, I'm 30 in another month or so, the TIFF started the year I was born. How cool is that?) it's time to have a look at the festival overall...
I'm fairly sure that the general quality of movies is up a little bit. There were still the stinkers and the stunners, but the average movie was really good. The average movie also seemed to be a chick flick. Fewer "abstract" or "surreal" movies from previous years it seems, and more in the "drama" category. Of course, on the plus side, it sounds like they're all really good dramas. I wouldn't know, I don't schedule those kinds of movies.
Would you like to know more?
The changes to the whole "ticket buying process" are pretty good, it seems a lot more streamlined now. No excess waste, kind of thing. The ability to do it online is near-perfect, all it needs is the ability to trade coupons for tickets (currently you can only purchase tickets). The new seats in the Ryerson are totally awesome, that was the most needed upgrade imaginable. And the TIFF box office seems to find an even better location each year. The only surprising (and negative) change was that tickets were $20 this year. One ticket for one movie, $20. Yeah, I'm willing to pay that kind of cash for the TIFF, but Jesus. $20. Why the $5 increase, you might ask? Well, the TIFFG has $70 Million towards the $200 Million they want for their Festival Centre, a big building next to the Paramount. It's supposed to be open for use in 2008. All I can say is that for $200 Million it better have good seats.
What else... Thai cinema is definitely in high gear. I can see them cranking out several amazing movies a year for the next while, and it would be interesting to know WHY that is. I saw a shining steel box for Ong Bak recently, so it's definitely getting serious cash in the distribution area, other Thai movies need the same treatment. So listen up distributors! We love Thai cinema! Their second language is English! Work something out!
So last year I managed to see 32 movies and missed 0 planned showings. That was my best TIFF year for pure achievement.
This year I managed to see 23 movies and missed 0. Considering that I've got a kid now, I'm quite pleased with the results. Hopefully I can manage similar or even better results next year.
Definitely looking forward to it.
The Festival is either getting better...
Posted by: LyttleOne, September 13, 2005 01:38 AM
or I've really learned how to pick films that I enjoy. Every film I've seen thusfar in the festival has been exceptional. I've laughed, I've cried (not the blubbery, ugly, girl crying; the dignified, sniffling, one-tear deals), I've been moved, I've been made to look at the world a little differently and I've wanted to have everyone else I know see all the films I've seen this year. It's so hard seeing so many good films because a part of me is just waiting for the complete stinker that looked good in the program book and sucks in execution, but with so many wonderful films, I almost hope that there aren't any like that, because they'll be so much worse by comparison to everything else. I feel a little guilty, but with all the ballots I've yet been given for the People's Choice Award, I've yet to rate anything below a 3 (and that only because I can't, in good conscience, rate a splatter flick higher than that!)....to my mind any film that is better than 90% of what I see the rest of the year should get at least a 3....and if it is far and away so much better than what I'd normally spend my money on, than it deserves a 4 or a 5.....I keep thinking that this film is the last *really* fantastic film I'm going to see, and then I have a day where in 3 films and one short, I'm blown away by all of them....it almost isn't fair to be enjoying these so much....I feel like I do when I've eaten too much good food; I've indulged and been decadent and I should have to do something unpleasant to make up for it....but each one keeps getting better!
I also have to commend my linemates; I don't know about anybody else, but I tend to talk to people in line and nothing is worse than those people who have nothing good to say, or whose attitude about this festival shouldn't be allowed out to play with others. Luckily, I seem to have avoided any of them this year. Thank you on behalf of Toronto for making us look good to the tourists who come in from the States for our festival.
SARS, West Nile, terrorist threat and crummy weather hasn't yet stopped our festival from becoming something that the world looks at as further proof of Toronto the Good and I'm proud of those of us who get to represent Toronto to the stars and the industry people who are here for this festival. I'm having a wonderful festival and looking forward to the remainder of it!
4 Down, 25 To Go
Posted by: ThirteenDamnDollars, September 10, 2005 01:28 PM
Why We Fest
Posted by: Task, September 10, 2005 04:34 AM
So a friend who's currently in Vancouver has already asked how this years fest is. This is the first day, and it's already amazing.
Back in downtown Toronto, watching great new films with a devoted audience, chatting it up with other festivalgoers, the experience is a lot more than the sum of its parts.
On my way to my first movie, I noticed that a whole city block was gated off. Roads were closed, alleyways were blocked, cops and other guards were all over the place and some very formally dressed people were at a gate to take tickets to get into this most happening of places where it sounded like a whole lot of fun was being had. As I passed by, I had no idea why the place was blocked off and I hardly cared. The fest is on, I know where the real action is happening.
Inside the theatre (ugh, Paramount...) I saw the movie posters for the upcoming releases: Underworld 2, The DaVinci Code, Harry Potter 4, and X-Men 3. While I'm sure all those movies will be good and I'll likely see them all, I'm sure you can see a bit of a pattern in the "types" of movies advertised. That right there is a good example of why the film fest is such an important thing, there's just so more to life than sequels.
A quick note for those who wonder: Yes, I purposely titled this after one of the movies showing at this years fest.
Other Blogs
Posted by: ThirteenDamnDollars, September 9, 2005 06:30 PM
So I guess blogging the TIFF is "cool" now, eh? Where were you in 2003? When I was taking notes and some retiree would ask me if I wrote reviews and I would say "I have my own blog" and they would say "oh, you can get a cream for that from the pharmacy"? Where were you then?
Film Journey
Mathew’s film festival journal
The Rightwing Film Geek
Moviemartyr @ TIFF
Long Pauses
Sean P. Kelly On Movies
If you're looking for me...
Posted by: ThirteenDamnDollars, September 8, 2005 10:23 PM
Here's where I'll be for the next week and a bit
The ones in itialics, I'm going to try pick up same day tickets or rush
Friday September 9
9:30AM Takeshis' Ryerson Theater
12:15PM Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic Paramount 1
9:30PM The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes Paramount 3
11:59 PM Banlieue 13 Ryerson Theater
Saturday September 10
11:45AM Three Times Paramount 1
4:45PM Souvenir of Canada Isabel Bader Theater
9:30PM The French Guy Cumberland 3
11:59PM Evil Aliens Ryerson Theater
Sunday September 11
12:15PM Shark in the Head Cumberland 1
4:00PM Les Saignantes Cumberland 3
6:30PM Zizek ROM Theater
9:00PM Short Cuts Canada 5 ROM Theater
11:59PM Isolation Ryerson Theater
Monday September 12
2:00PM Brothers of the Head Paramount 2
11:59PM Bangkok Loco Ryerson Theater
Tuesday September 13
1:00PM Entre ses mains Paramount 2
6:30PM Lucid Cumberland 2
9:00PM The Duelist Paramount 2
11:59PM The District! Ryerson Theater
Wednesday September 14
11:30AM The Last Hangman Varsity 8
3:15PM Festival Paramount 1
Thursday September 15
11:30AM Romance and Cigarettes Paramount 2
3:00PM The Gronholm Method Paramount 1
9:00PM Sympathy for Lady Vengance Elgin
11:59PM The Great Yokai War Ryerson Theater
Friday September 16
2:45PM Midnight Movies Cumberland 3
8:15PM Seven Swords Isabel Bader Theater
11:59 SPL Ryerson
Saturday September 17
12:45PM Citizen Dog Paramount 4
6:30PM Mary Varsity 3
9:15PM The Porcelain Doll Cumberland 3
And another year's fun begins....
Posted by: LyttleOne, September 1, 2005 12:43 PM
This years offerings seem a widely varied lot (as usual) with a few standouts that sound like they'll be fabulous! Last year the Real to Reel section seemed to draw me like a moth to a flame (I saw 7 films in that category), but this year I'm not drawn so strongly to this genre....There are actually a few that seem visionary and diverse, or at least a new take on an old theme! I was looking forward to the Out of Africa films (loved Drum from last year's fest so much and Hotel Rwanda has reached such levels of critical acclaim) but they've eliminated that category! I think Slow Burn would have been one of the standouts of that category if it still existed this year. Special Presentations and Contemporary World cinema seem to be my major attractions this year.
And thus, the list of likely candidates for my films this year:
L"Enfer
Where the Truth Lies
Tideland
The Quiet
Winter Passing
The Mistress of Spices
Slow Burn
Imagine Me and You
A Simple Curve
These Girls
One Last Thing
The Gronholm Method
Whole New Thing
Transamerica
Evil Aliens
Here's hoping this year is as great as those of the past!
Suicide Bombers Abound!
Posted by: Task, August 31, 2005 02:53 PM
Looking at this years program book, several things I have noticed.
For one, there are fewer movies this year, but they're being screened much more frequently: Many movies have as many as three showings (a 150% increase from previous years!). I can only applaud this move and hope the trend continues.
As to content, while there appears to be less porn than usual, the incidence of tits is slightly up. Good things all 'round, quite likely. The apartheid section is down to a mere 1 movie, a situation I find quite acceptable. Having a whole section for it was definite overkill, so it's good that that's gone.
The overall theme I get for this festival is "suicide bombers". Apparently it's a hot topic for filmmakers to create a movie around, because so many of them have done so. I can't say I much care for the theme, but I can't say that it's a bad move (like the previous Dogme theme) either. So I find myself waiting for the year where Giant Robots is the theme. Knowing my luck, that was 2 years before I first attended. 8 P
In related news, I've scheduled all my must-sees!
The Must-See Schedule:
(MM) Banlieue 13 (13th District) - Fri. 9th, Midnight, Ryerson.
(MM) Evil Aliens - Sat. 10th, Midnight, Ryerson.
(MM) Isolation - Sun. 11th, Midnight, Ryerson.
(MM) Bangkok Loco - Mon. 12th, Midnight, Ryerson.
(M) Duelist - Tues. 13th, 9 PM, Paramount 2.
(MM) The District! - Thurs. 13th, Midnight, Ryerson.
(SP) Beowulf & Grendel - Wed. 14th, 9 PM, Elgin.
(MM) The Great Yokai War - Thrs. 15th, Midnight, Ryerson.
(SP) Seven Swords - Fri. 16th, 8 PM, IBT.
(MM) SPL - Fri. 16th, Midnight, Ryerson.
M = Masters, SP = Special Presentation, MM = Midnight Madness
Scheduling the MM movies is so easy, they never conflict with anything and you always know when and where they're playing. It's difficult to not just go see them all. It's good to sleep some nights though.
Thumbing through the list...
Posted by: Gaunt, August 23, 2005 07:03 PM
Well, first off, I jump to the Madness listings. It's what I do when I get the programme book, so why not now?
Miike's offering this year is (according to the IMDB) a Family/Horror movie. This premise alone amuses me, but it's Miike, so I'd watch it even if the premise was repellant, since he's an insane genius.
The Silverman picture 13damn mentioned is subtitled "Jesus is Magic", and is described as "Narrative digressions on Sex, Race, Politics and more." I'm always interested in seeing what highly intelligent crazy people think about Sex and Politics.
"Super-multi-reference alien horror spectacular", is it? Well crap. I'm not a horror fan really, but with a tag like that, it'll be hard to stay away from "Evil Aliens"
I don't know anything much about "Bangkok Loco" other than there's a man named Kiradej Ketakinta playing Ringo Starr. That's worth points right there.
As for the Masters, Takeshi doing a movie about... himself. And a look alike. Who get their lives mixed up. Sounds like genius to me.
Also: "As foster kid Patrick "Kitten" Brady (Murphy) grows up, he leaves behind his small-town life in Ireland for London, where he's reborn as a transvestite cabaret singer in the 1960s and 70s."? That... should be something to see.
An adaptation of the Beowulf story in the Special Presentations, I see. Also worth a look. At least to contrast with the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster version of the story.
Romance and Cigarettes is not associated with Coffee and Cigarettes, sadly. But it IS a muscial, and I'm sort of obliged to see at least one of those each 'fest.
My goodness, a biography of Bettie Page. Scandalous! (writes down theatre times)
And finally - The summary of Wassup Rockers makes me wonder why it got into this list. I may have to see it to find out.
The film list is out.
Posted by: ThirteenDamnDollars, August 23, 2005 12:57 PM
Holy Poop, there's:
* A Talking With Pictures with Guy Maddin.
* Ang Lee, Lars von Trier, Martin Scorsese, Takeshi Kitano AND Terry Gilliam films in the Masters program.
* The now almost annual Takashi Miike movie in the Midnight Maddness, as well as a doc on Sarah Silverman, whom, if you watch The Aristocrats, and are me, you will fall in love with.
* A doc on Leonard Cohen
* The Michel Gondry film of this thing and how could that be bad?
* Something from Ann Marie Fleming (of last year's great The Magical Life Of Long-Tack-Sam)
EXCITING!