Found 69 posts tagged as "TIFF Review"
Tyrannosaur opens with Joseph (Peter Mullan) beating his dog to death, setting the tone for a bleak and fascinating look into the lives of two very different, very lost souls. Joseph’s hateful outbursts are almost always followed by a remorse that makes him quite pitiful to behold. But Hannah (Olivia Colman), a Christian charity shop worker, seems poised to help Joseph find—if not the light—some light in his life...until her studied air of bourgeois repression begins to crack, revealing secrets as dark and brutal as Joseph’s.
I caught up with actor-turned-director Paddy Considine when he was in Toronto for TIFF. We met at the Intercontinental Hotel—a world away from the stark council houses in Leeds, where most of his debut film takes place.
Here’s what he had to say….
On killing the dog:
In actual fact, [Joseph’s] violence has led him to kill his last companion. And the reason a dog is because, you know, dogs are just so loyal…And it’s a very brutal act and I know it’s very shocking, but I think it has to be, because it’s the moment that he realizes that he can’t go on the way he is.
While I wait for a call-back from my astrologer, I will go ahead and posit the question: is it coincidence or is there something in the celestial ether that makes those born on December 1 predisposed to comedy?
Consider the evidence: born on this day are master writer/director Woody Allen (turning a spry 76), singer/actress/comedian Bette Midler (66), comedian/actress Sarah Silverman (41), Seinfeld writer/producer Larry Charles (55) and the late, great comic genius Richard Pryor, who would have turned 71.
I have heard it said that everyone loves a Sagittarius (yeah, until you date one maybe) but that does seem like an inordinate amount of comedic talent to fete in a single day.
Music-related documentaries have been a recurring theme at TIFF this year with titles spotlighting U2, Pearl Jam, Neil Young and Paul McCartney all correctly receiving high praise. Still, none of those films can touch Vegas Vacation director Stephen Kessler’s brilliant, tragic, hilarious, offbeat, unexpected, heartbreaking, inspirational film, Paul Williams Still Alive.
Both a documentary and a fictional narrative story rolled up into one fascinating film, Always Brando is a beautiful and unpredictable piece of cinema that is certain to captivate its viewership - both casual Brando fans and aficionados alike. This wonderful Tunisian film, written and directed by Ridha Behi, recently had its world premiere screening at the 36th Annual Toronto International Film Festival.
The most impressive aspect of Always Brando is the way in which its backstory serves as not only intriguing source material of the movie at large, but is, in itself, a direct player in the movie at large! Here's the gist: years ago, Behi came across an extraordinary discovery of a Tunisian actor who bore an uncanny resemblance to the young Marlon Brando; from that point onwards, Behi began working on a script for a film that would star “both Brandos". Much to Behi's own amazement, the idea caught the attention of the actual Marlon Brando, and a work-in-progress collaboration between the two men developed soon after.
Mathieu Demy's directorial debut feature, Americano, is a meticulously structured yet free-flowing coming-of-age-story that, despite momentary flashes of ingenuity, doesn't quite work. Starring Demy himself in the lead role, as well as Salma Hayek, Geraldine Chaplin, Chiara Mastroianni, and Carlos Bardem, the movie acts not only as a story in its own right, but as a partial autobiographical homage to Demy's filmmaker parents Agnès Varda and Jacques Demy (the film incorporates homemade videos shot by Varda in 1981 when the family was living in Los Angeles).
Shot over the course of four years in more than 20 countries, Samsara is the kind of movie that makes you glad to have eyes. From the opening shots of temples at dawn to the sweeping aerial footage of L.A. freeways at night to the spectacular time-lapse images of stars arcing past the pyramids of Egypt, Samsara contains one "Woah, look at that" moment after the next. It's possible that director Ron Fricke has made a film even more visually spectacular than Baraka — previously a strong candidate for the most visually spectacular movie of all time.
Few films are as charming – or have as much heart – as Norwegian director Jens Lien’s masterful, hilarious, heartbreaking coming-of-age period piece, Sons of Norway.
And if “charming” and “heart” don’t sound like compelling reasons to investigate a film, consider this small but delightful bit of irony: it was exec-produced by cantankerous loudmouth John Lydon, a.k.a. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, who also appears in a cameo.
You just know anything involving Lydon tilts decidedly sideways. Check out the trailer below.
Dr. Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy) wants to relieve his patients’ suffering, but more importantly he wants to avoid killing them, an upward battle in Victorian England’s “positively lethal” medical system. Despite being well-versed on the latest scientific theories, Dr. Granville can’t keep a job, and is sacked from hospital after hospital for espousing “propaganda” and “poppycock” like germ theory. “A studied air of calm reassurance and regular bleeding,” says one disapproving supervisor, “are the hallmarks of modern medicine.”
When it opens on Sept. 23, Machine Gun Preacher will almost certainly become an instant box-office sensation, effortlessly outgrossing all of the other fall releases combined. I base this prediction entirely on the fact that The Blind Side and The Help — two other inspirational message movies about strong, independent white characters who help out poor black people — were also massively popular, each achieving the same sort of box-office intake that you usually only expect of movies with the words "Pirates of the Caribbean" in the title. With only four days left in the festival, Machine Gun Preacher seems like the clear front-runner for People's Choice Award — although its constant pandering toward southern Evangelical Christians could alienate hip Toronto audiences and tip the scales in favour of Moneyball.
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