Found 119 posts tagged as "TIFF"
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.
It’s ridiculously easy for Toronto movie-goers to forget how fortunate they are, largely because of the Toronto International Film Festival. Sure, the T-dot has loads of other excellent festivals – Toronto After Dark, Hot Docs, Rendezvous with Madness, Reel Asian, etc etc – plus a healthy independent and repertory scene.
The so-called film industry professionals have descended from on high, bearing stone tablets that proclaim the best Canadian cinema of the year. And today, TIFF reveals the top 10 best features and short films of 2011.
Guy Maddin’s supernatural thriller Keyhole – which stars the Winnipeg director’s muse Isabella Rossellini and, perhaps oddly, Jason Patric in a film the Hollywood Reporter termed “as frustrating as it is beguiling,” when it screened at TIFF last fall - won the Borsos competition for best Canadian feature film at the Whistler Film Festival this weekend.
IMDb describes the luminously shot, black-and-white Keyhole thusly: “Gangster and deadbeat dad, Ulysses Pick (Patric), embarks on an unusual journey through his home.”
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.
With the 36th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival now fish-wrap, it’s time to cast one last look over the shoulder at some trends which emerged during the 11-day event. Granted, I didn’t see every film that screened (even if it felt that way) but these patterns were just too obvious to miss.
And so ends another TIFF: not with a bang, but a whimper. (The big pops were all heard last weekend—now only echoes remain).
Here’s what got me up and down this year:
Highlights:
Asking Madonna a question during the W.E. press conference. For 20 seconds, Madonna’s attention was focused on me—a monumental reversal in our usual relationship.
Interviewing Morgan Spurlock. Although seeing actors onscreen gives a sense of familiarity, you never really know who you’re going to get when you meet. But Morgan Spurlock is exactly as he appears in his documentaries: warm, affable and enthusiastic. Talking to him was a true pleasure, as you’ll see when my interview comes out next week.
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.
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