Hope all you Toronto people get your picks, too. I think it helped that I only had a few high-profile titles: Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach), Paranoid Park (Gus van Sant), Mister Lonely (Harmony Korine), and 3 Weeks... and of those, I'm guessing only the first one is really A-list as far as drawing a crowd goes.
California Dreaming is also on d9, or it has been for a few weeks. It plays at the festival this year also. Ex Drummer isn't very good (the quality is, the movie isn't), nor was Flash Point. Then again, I thought SPL was as enjoyable as a swift kick to my balls, so what do I know.
Anyhow, the real reason I brought this thread back is because as predicted it was very easy to get tickets today. 4 months, The Man From London all still for sale at $19. I didn't buy anything yet, but I can order them still as of now.
It's not working for me at all online - I keep getting jammed up and returned to the same page. I'll have to take my chances in line. Looks like the one film I thought was quiet and sure to not sell out is the only sold out one on my list right now!
The online tickets have been working all morning for me. What do you want? Maybe I can buy it for you. I really am trying to motivate myself to buy some tickets, but I just can't seem to pull the trigger. That Chrysalis movie looks like some stupid fun, and maybe I'll hit a Canadian film or two. I've got so many DVD's to watch, and it's so easy to source indy/arthouse films these days that I think my festival going days are slowing.
Both are lengthy films but incredibly riveting, and intensely well-crafted characters. 4 Months is getting more attention due to its success at Cannes, but Secret Sunshine was a real revelation for me; the degree to which you get emotionally wrapped up in the lead character's life is intense.
I also recommend Bela Tarr's Man From London, especially to anyone who's seen and enjoyed other films by him... the glacier pace of his work definitely requires that you bring a whole other attention span; but the cinematography alone offers many rich pay-offs. http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?id=705301423521386
Long films are this year. I usually like my movies in the 80-100 min range, especially in this day and age, but the above three all more than earn their extra reels.
stay away from Olmi's "One Hundred Nails," I thought it was incredibly trite. Exactly the kind of Miramax-esque fluff I try to avoid like the plague.
The Greek hipster Lolita-esque comedy/drama "Pink" was awkward at times but worth seeing... it had a lot of great ideas, some executed better than others. I wouldn't say run and out and see this one, but I feel like the director will go on to make something very original before too long: http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?id=705301433411386
I assume you caught the same 4 months show I did at Winter Garden/Elgin. The q&a cracked me up at the end, director explicitly stated he didn't want to explain his characters or stories, yet people kept asking him to explain everything. I enjoyed it, but I must say it was also quite painful to watch at times.
I caught Heavy Metal at the ROM screening last night, the q&a w/ Suroosh Alvi was great.
yeah, I was at that screening of 4 Months... waaay up in the balcony.
I thought HE handled the Q+A well, but yeah... people are just idiots. Someone raises their hands to ask a stupid question, someone else asks a stupid question, someone more informed raises their hand to ask a pretentious question formulated to prove how informed they are, someone else asks a stupid question, and finally someone asks a question that's either trivial, off-the-wall, or way too personal. And then it's done.
Really galling to ask the guy what role he played in the real-life version of that story. He should've just said he was the fetus and left it at that.
Finally! Six days later I saw a movie and it was a great one. Ramin Bahrani's 'Chop Shop' was everything you want a festival film to be - independant, great story, beautifully shot, not your average characters and an interesting Q&A with the director with just one silly question. He researched the movie for over a year and other than one actor whose ever been in one other film, everyone was non-professional. It's supposed to open in New York early next year - look for it. _____
In the shadow of Shea Stadium in Queens, New York, lies Willets Point, or the Iron Triangle ??? seventy-five acres of ramshackle auto-repair shops and scrap-metal yards. Rather than feeling like an urban wasteland, however, the area teems with the life of the marketplace, as people from every conceivable background and circumstance hustle and grapple for enough to get them through another day.
In the midst of the commotion we meet twelve-year-old Alejandro (Alejandro Polanco), one of the most charismatic, irascible and entrepreneurial characters a cinema-goer will ever encounter. The boy is on his own ??? there is never even a mention of parents. He earns money by directing cars in need of repair to his boss???s shop and, in his spare nighttime hours, selling greeting cards and black-market DVDs on the street. Alejandro is a resourceful, positively feral survivor.
Life gets better for Alejandro when his sister, sixteen-year-old Isamar (Isamar Gonzales), ???escapes??? from the shelter where she has been staying and joins him in the Iron Triangle. Alejandro???s love for his sister is powerful and deeply flawed, but he moves heaven and earth to provide for her. He finds a place to live, gets her a job and works his small fingers to the bone to realize a dream that he has for them both ??? one that, sadly, Isamar may not share.
During the first few moments of this riveting film, the viewer feels compelled to define its elements. Is it actually a documentary? (No, but it certainly has the feel of gritty, oily reality.) Who is this kid? (A first-time actor found in a public school in Manhattan.) Who are these people in this chaotic place? (The supporting cast was drawn from the Iron Triangle neighbourhood.)
By the final moments of the film, all our anxieties about being unable to categorize what we have seen will be allayed. We realize that Alejandro is, for the moment, in the best place he could be, for the Iron Triangle reveals itself to be a unique, highly structured society with a clear set of rules ??? and, of course, that???s what every child needs.
FYI, Herzog is in town for his new doc Encounters at the End of the World, if that influences anyone's decision to pursue tix. The film was quite good if a bit meandering, and the Q+A was excellent. I expect this means he'll be around for Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely as well (he co-stars in that one)|.
Saw this yesterday - amazing. I love this kind of raw, no-frills filmmaking. Not one wasted frame. Reminded me of Moodysson's Lilya-4-Ever, but more raw, as hard is it may be to believe.
Saw this yesterday - amazing. I love this kind of raw, no-frills filmmaking. Not one wasted frame. Reminded me of Moodysson's Lilya-4-Ever, but more raw, as hard is it may be to believe.
One of the best films I've seen.
Is it playing theatrically there, or...?
Glad you liked it. Most critics are comparing it to Death of Mr. Lazarescu (sp?), which I guess is fair -- both share not just country of origin, but bleak subject matter, slow pace, comments on failures of beaurocracy, etc.
Yes - it's on "exclusive engagement" right now at just the Varsity. Sadly, I have not seen Death of...but have to now. The one particularily graphic scene was surprising, but I am glad he did not pull any punches and held the shot for as long as he did.
The one particularily graphic scene was surprising, but I am glad he did not pull any punches and held the shot for as long as he did.
Yeah, it was a daring film and he seemed like a decent, humble, dignified guy at the TIFF screening -- allaying almost any fears I'd have about a dude choosing to make a film based on this subject matter.
I know what you mean. It's a "woman's subject", but the success of it is that he didn't treat as that. It had more to do with difficult decisions under difficult circumstances. He didn't try to get preachy or some message across (which I think even more so now that I read again about the TIFF Q&A). It is simple and superb story-telling.
I know what you mean. It's a "woman's subject", but the success of it is that he didn't treat as that. It had more to do with difficult decisions under difficult circumstances. He didn't try to get preachy or some message across (which I think even more so now that I read again about the TIFF Q&A). It is simple and superb story-telling.
I would say the same things about Lilya-4-Ever.
Yeah, I like Moodysson. Maybe we talked about this already? I think Together's his best film, but Lilya maybe a close second.
What else good has happened in Toronto programming-wise since the festival?
Cinematheque started yet another stellar programme and in the mainstreams, nothing has really caught my attention until now with 4 Months, the Coens' film and This is England.
There was a preview for a doc about a French lawyer who has defended folks like Pol Pol, Waddi Haddad and Carlos the Jackal, "Terror's Advocate" - that looks really good.
Cinematheque started yet another stellar programme and in the mainstreams, nothing has really caught my attention until now with 4 Months, the Coens' film and This is England.
There was a preview for a doc about a French lawyer who has defended folks like Pol Pol, Waddi Haddad and Carlos the Jackal, "Terror's Advocate" - that looks really good.
Yeah, I believe that last one is directed by Barbet Schroeder? I haven't checked for anything from him in a long time but this one is getting a lot of attention.
Oh snap! They're showing Syndromes and a century in December -- favorite film I saw at TIFF '06 and I've shown it twice in town since. Definitely a can't miss if you haven't seen it!
Yep, the very same. One of the clips is the lawyer being asked if he would have defended Hitler and his response is (paraphrased) "I'd even defend Bush...if he plead guilty."
Oh snap! They're showing Syndromes and a century in December -- favorite film I saw at TIFF '06 and I've shown it twice in town since. Definitely a can't miss if you haven't seen it!
Oh snap! They're showing Syndromes and a century in December -- favorite film I saw at TIFF '06 and I've shown it twice in town since. Definitely a can't miss if you haven't seen it!
lol - yea, I noticed that - it's in the plans!
Hopefully it'll treat you better than Possession did.
Oh snap! They're showing Syndromes and a century in December -- favorite film I saw at TIFF '06 and I've shown it twice in town since. Definitely a can't miss if you haven't seen it!
Saw it on Friday and I really liked it. Beautiful film, eye-candy through and through. Everything was so bright. I loved the long-shots and the solar eclipse!!! The characters were great and the hard-on scene was hilarious - I can't believe it took this long for someone to address that situation in such a honest and funny way. The end frustrated the people sitting next to me, but it was all so good to look at, I didn't mind it. When the final park scene started, I thought to myself how great it would be to finish with that and he did!!! I don't like to do the comaprison thing too much, but I was reminded of everyone from Tarkvosky to Fellini to Kubrick to Spike Jonez while watching it.
Comments
Hope all you Toronto people get your picks, too. I think it helped that I only had a few high-profile titles: Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach), Paranoid Park (Gus van Sant), Mister Lonely (Harmony Korine), and 3 Weeks... and of those, I'm guessing only the first one is really A-list as far as drawing a crowd goes.
Flash Point w/ Donnie Yen
Ex-Drummer
Ex-drummer is on dvd-9 so it'll be really good.
I ran into your BOI dave yesterday.
Anyhow, the real reason I brought this thread back is because as predicted it was very easy to get tickets today. 4 months, The Man From London all still for sale at $19. I didn't buy anything yet, but I can order them still as of now.
That would be wicked if you could, but don't waste too much time on it. I'm going to email you right now.
Are you going to Man from London?
I highly recommend both Secret Sunshine by Lee Chang-dong:
http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?id=705301201301386
and 4 Months... by Cristian Mungiu:
http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?id=705301303461386
Both are lengthy films but incredibly riveting, and intensely well-crafted characters. 4 Months is getting more attention due to its success at Cannes, but Secret Sunshine was a real revelation for me; the degree to which you get emotionally wrapped up in the lead character's life is intense.
I also recommend Bela Tarr's Man From London, especially to anyone who's seen and enjoyed other films by him... the glacier pace of his work definitely requires that you bring a whole other attention span; but the cinematography alone offers many rich pay-offs.
http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?id=705301423521386
Long films are
stay away from Olmi's "One Hundred Nails," I thought it was incredibly trite. Exactly the kind of Miramax-esque fluff I try to avoid like the plague.
The Greek hipster Lolita-esque comedy/drama "Pink" was awkward at times but worth seeing... it had a lot of great ideas, some executed better than others. I wouldn't say run and out and see this one, but I feel like the director will go on to make something very original before too long:
http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?id=705301433411386
MON 9/10
Heavy Metal in Baghdad 2:15pm ROM
Encounters at the End of the World (new Herzog) 7pm Scotiabank
TUES 9/11
Silent Light 12:15pm Scotia
Help Me Eros 6pm Scotia
Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant) 9:15pm Scotia
WED 9/12
Une Vielle Mistresse (Breillat) 12pm Scotia
Eat, For This Is My Body 3:30pm Cumberland
La Fille Coupee en Deux (Chabrol) 6pm Elgin
THURS 9/13
Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach) 12pm Elgin
Alexandra (Sokurov) 8pm Winter Garden
FRI 9/14
Mister Lonely (Harmony Korine) 12pm Scotia
Import Export 3:30pm Scotia
The Passage 9:30pm ROM
SAT 9/15
Ploy 3pm Varsity
Edge of Heaven 5:15pm Varsity
I caught Heavy Metal at the ROM screening last night, the q&a w/ Suroosh Alvi was great.
I thought HE handled the Q+A well, but yeah... people are just idiots. Someone raises their hands to ask a stupid question, someone else asks a stupid question, someone more informed raises their hand to ask a pretentious question formulated to prove how informed they are, someone else asks a stupid question, and finally someone asks a question that's either trivial, off-the-wall, or way too personal. And then it's done.
Really galling to ask the guy what role he played in the real-life version of that story. He should've just said he was the fetus and left it at that.
Here are some better subs (I hope).
http://rapidshare.com/files/54558370/Secret.Sunshine.DVDRip.XviD-PosTX.rar.html
peace
h
_____
In the shadow of Shea Stadium in Queens, New York, lies Willets Point, or the Iron Triangle ??? seventy-five acres of ramshackle auto-repair shops and scrap-metal yards. Rather than feeling like an urban wasteland, however, the area teems with the life of the marketplace, as people from every conceivable background and circumstance hustle and grapple for enough to get them through another day.
In the midst of the commotion we meet twelve-year-old Alejandro (Alejandro Polanco), one of the most charismatic, irascible and entrepreneurial characters a cinema-goer will ever encounter. The boy is on his own ??? there is never even a mention of parents. He earns money by directing cars in need of repair to his boss???s shop and, in his spare nighttime hours, selling greeting cards and black-market DVDs on the street. Alejandro is a resourceful, positively feral survivor.
Life gets better for Alejandro when his sister, sixteen-year-old Isamar (Isamar Gonzales), ???escapes??? from the shelter where she has been staying and joins him in the Iron Triangle. Alejandro???s love for his sister is powerful and deeply flawed, but he moves heaven and earth to provide for her. He finds a place to live, gets her a job and works his small fingers to the bone to realize a dream that he has for them both ??? one that, sadly, Isamar may not share.
During the first few moments of this riveting film, the viewer feels compelled to define its elements. Is it actually a documentary? (No, but it certainly has the feel of gritty, oily reality.) Who is this kid? (A first-time actor found in a public school in Manhattan.) Who are these people in this chaotic place? (The supporting cast was drawn from the Iron Triangle neighbourhood.)
By the final moments of the film, all our anxieties about being unable to categorize what we have seen will be allayed. We realize that Alejandro is, for the moment, in the best place he could be, for the Iron Triangle reveals itself to be a unique, highly structured society with a clear set of rules ??? and, of course, that???s what every child needs.
Saw this yesterday - amazing. I love this kind of raw, no-frills filmmaking. Not one wasted frame. Reminded me of Moodysson's Lilya-4-Ever, but more raw, as hard is it may be to believe.
One of the best films I've seen.
Is it playing theatrically there, or...?
Glad you liked it. Most critics are comparing it to Death of Mr. Lazarescu (sp?), which I guess is fair -- both share not just country of origin, but bleak subject matter, slow pace, comments on failures of beaurocracy, etc.
Yeah, it was a daring film and he seemed like a decent, humble, dignified guy at the TIFF screening -- allaying almost any fears I'd have about a dude choosing to make a film based on this subject matter.
I would say the same things about Lilya-4-Ever.
Yeah, I like Moodysson. Maybe we talked about this already? I think Together's his best film, but Lilya maybe a close second.
What else good has happened in Toronto programming-wise since the festival?
There was a preview for a doc about a French lawyer who has defended folks like Pol Pol, Waddi Haddad and Carlos the Jackal, "Terror's Advocate" - that looks really good.
Yeah, I believe that last one is directed by Barbet Schroeder? I haven't checked for anything from him in a long time but this one is getting a lot of attention.
lol - yea, I noticed that - it's in the plans!
Hopefully it'll treat you better than Possession did.
Saw it on Friday and I really liked it. Beautiful film, eye-candy through and through. Everything was so bright. I loved the long-shots and the solar eclipse!!!
The characters were great and the hard-on scene was hilarious - I can't believe it took this long for someone to address that situation in such a honest and funny way.
The end frustrated the people sitting next to me, but it was all so good to look at, I didn't mind it. When the final park scene started, I thought to myself how great it would be to finish with that and he did!!!
I don't like to do the comaprison thing too much, but I was reminded of everyone from Tarkvosky to Fellini to Kubrick to Spike Jonez while watching it.
Thank You for recommending it!