TIFF 2011 Wrap Up

The dust has settled and I'm looking back of the experience of this year's TIFF. I saw 15 films this year and had a really high success rate on films to enjoy, appreciate and discover. Many will stay with me forever (Snowtown and Tyrannosaur), many I look forward to seeing again and again (The Raid) and many have been added to the want-to-see-list that I'll have to keep an eye out for as the year goes by. Now let's look at of my favourite moments and films of this year's festival.

Favourite Film: The Raid

Overall Stand out Films: Snowtown, Sleepless Night / Nuit blanche and Tyrannosaur

Best Performances (ladies): Olivia Colman in Tyrannosaur, Cherry Pie Picache in Fable of the Fish / Isda and Simone Jackson in Wuthering Heights

Best Performances (gents): Peter Mullan in Tyrannosaur, Daniel Henshall & Lucas Pittaway in Snowtown, Nopachai Jayanama in Headshot / Fon Tok Kuen Fah, Nick Stahl in 388 Arletta Avenue and Jonny Powell in Wuthering Heights

Arthouse Awesome: i am a good person i am a bad person, Swirl / Girimunho and Headshot / Fon Tok Kuen Fah

Hardest Film to Watch: Snowtown

Biggest Surprize: Extraterrestrial / Extraterrestre not being a science fiction film, but a romantic comedy (and actually was really funny).

They made my cry: I think I was tearless this year.

They made me laugh: Extraterrestrial / Extraterrestre

Standing Ovations: Tyrannosaur

Best Experience: Midnight screening of Sleepless Night / Nuit blanche and daytime screening of The Raid.

Best Q&A's: Extraterrestrial (frantic), Headshot (dry & hilarious) & The Raid (enthusiastic audience)

Weirdest Q&A question: Did you know it would end that way? (Answer: Yes, it was in the script) in the Fable of the Fish Q&A.

Still has me thinking: Snowtown

Most impressive first feature: Paddy Considine's Tyrannosaur

Weirdest reoccurance in the films: Cut up animals. And not just in the Midnight Madness films, in several others as well.

Go Audience: Someone during the screening of The Incident came over to the guy texting in the second row and asked him to turn his phone off, and he did. Thank you guy! The guy who spoke up, not the texter...

Odd collective experiences: I'm surprized the anti-piracy 'Arggggggg!' still has it's hold outs. I wonder if they will always be there. And the sort of less enthusiastic clapping for the volunteer promo, because there isn't a moment where it says 'show appreciation for', which is usually does, but people still clap out of the ritual of habit.

Fullest Screenings: Most screenings were pretty packed, but 388 Arletta Avenue and Trespass were the fullest.

This looks familiar: I oddly ended up almost exclusively in the same theatres: AMC 2 & 7, Ryerson & The Elgin.

Random Learning: If I don't have a ticket, I won't go. I planned on seeing the free screenings of The Story of Film during the week, but even after hearing the screenings weren't full I didn't make it out.

New this year for me: Going to a 'Big Hollywood Movie'! at the festival with Trespass, which confirms it's not worth doing - especially if no one from the film is there. I also snuck out on the festival to see the regular releases of Warrior and Drive (which played at the festival but I saw it in the regular theatre), which felt like cheating on the festival.

Favourite Program: Midnight Madness and Vanguard, and I continue to find great Canadian films in the Contemporary World Cinema program.

Wish I hadn't missed: With only seeing 15 when I normally see 40, there are so many I wished I saw at the festival including The Hunter, Pina, First Position, The Day, You're Next, Lovely Molly, Kill List, Keyhole, Coriolanus, Juan of the Dead, Lena, Undefeated, Doppleganger Paul, UFO in Her Eyes, The Moth Diaries, Sons of Norway and the entire Canada First! program.

Unbelievable Moment: Being literally a few feet away from Indonesian martial artist Iko Uwais as he shared he's moves during the Q&A for the afternoon audience of the screening of the Midnight Madness film The Raid (see video here).

Overall it was quite a different year for me but still got to see a lot of amazing films. The first film I saw was The Raid and from my Day 3 Vlog I thought it would be my favourite and that held true after seeing an additional 14 films. I had lots of learning this year from not sitting super close at Scotia 2 if I want a good view for the Q&A to knowing I won't go to a screening without a hard ticket in hand. I did have a great time, especially watching the Midnight Madness films which most of which I went to daytime screenings of and it might be fun to try and see them all during the day to see what that is like as an experience. Ah, the dust has barely settled and I'm already planning next year's experience....

The Toronto International Film Festival 2011 ran from September 8 - 18, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Poll Results: Are You Going to TIFF 2011?

Results are in and the festival definitely is on most peoples schedule and radar with a whopping 55% answering Yes, It's a Yearly Tradition with most closely followed by 22% saying No, But I Wish I Was. It also sounds like it's either part of your plans for the year are not, with no occasional festivallers by the show of 0% of answers for Yes, I go occasionally.

Here are the results:

55% - Yes, It's a Yearly Tradition
22% - No, But I Wish I Was
14% - Yes, for the first time
7% - No
0% - Yes, I go occasionally

Thanks for voting!

The Toronto International Film Festival 2011 ran from September 8 - 18, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

TIFF 2011: Award Winners

The ballots are tallied and the juries have spoken now the 2011 TIFF Award Winners including People's Choice and Fipresci Prizes have been announced:

The People's Choice Award went to Nadine Labaki’s Where Do We Go Now?
First runner up is Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation and Ken Scott’s Starbuck

The People's Choice for Midnight Madness went to Gareth Evans for The Raid
1st Runner Up: You’re Next
2nd Runner Up: God Bless America

The People's Choice Award for Documentary went to Jon Shenk for The Island President
1st Runner Up: First Position
2nd Runner Up: Pearl Jam Twenty

The Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Discovery went to Axel Petersén for Avalon

The Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Special Presentation to Gianni Amelio for The First Man /Le Premier Homme

The Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film went to Nathan Morlando for Edwin Boyd
Special citation to Anne Émond’s Nuit #1

The Award for Best Canadian Feature Film went to Philippe Falardeau for Monsieur Lazhar

The Award for Best Canadian Short Film went to Ian Harnarine for Doubles With Slight Pepper
Honourable mentions: Mathieu Tremblay’s Of events (D'aléas), Ryan Flowers & Lisa Pham’s No Words Came Down.

In a bizarre yearly tradition, I've seen almost none of the award winners, but I'm thrilled to see The Raid win for The People's Choice for Midnight Madness as it was easily my favourite film of the festival.

The Toronto International Film Festival 2011 ran from September 8 - 18, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

TIFF Day 9 - Friday September 16, 2011

As the festival nears the end the schedule gets fuller and fuller of RUSH stickers.

Day 9 at the festival was my last day of seeing films, even though the screenings keep going strong for 11 Days the final weekend can be a bit of a madhouse and the last Sunday still feels too new to me, (I wonder how many years it will take until that wears off), and it doesn't really feel like it can be a day at the festival without a Midnight Madness screening. I actually started the day off a sneaking a non-festival screening of the festival film Drive which just opened and then stayed at Scotiabank to catch the afternoon screening of nail biting thriller The Incident which garnered the infamous honour of having not 1 but 2 fainters during it's midnight screening earlier in the week. Then it was off to meet my sister Jamie who joined me for an evening at The Elgin for a double bill of UK goodness with the formidable Tyrannosaur & then moody Wuthering Heights which may have been the most obvious date-night pick of the evening, and the festival.

Rather watch than read? Check out my Day 9 Vlog.



The Incident / 2011 Incident at Sans Asylum
Dir: Alexandre Courtes
Cast: Rupert Evans, Kenny Doughty, Joseph Kennedy, Dave Legeno, Marcus Garvey, Richard Brake
France

I went to The Incident knowing 2 things: premise of inmates taking over an asylum & the fact that people fainted at the midnight screening. I thought that would have me prepared for the film itself, but I didn't. It was pretty freaking brutal from a violence & gore perspective and I'm curious as to when the fainters fainted as there are lots of over-the-edge moments. The story actually centres itself around the kitchen staff who work together and play together, in a rock band which puts it lovingly set in the late 80's full on with long hair and handlebar moustaches. The shocks and gore weren't the only surprizes, because I was also taken aback that it's a French film but in English and I also felt the characters overly clearly depicted, they felt quite telecasted as to who was which 'type' in general even though there were rumblings below the surfaces. I loved that the name of the asylum was Sans Asylum, and how it's a play on words with 'sans' meaning 'without' in French. It's clever moments and choices like that that made me feel like I must be missing something during moments of confusion of the film. Overall it was pretty freaking brutal on the violence, gore and mayhem which is tied back to the inmates being crazy for reasoning, but it felt like a pretty light tie in unless I missed something. As it was a screening near the end of the festival I was sad to see that there was no Q&A, I would have loved to hear more about the film and some of the choices that might clear up a few confusions I have over the story and characters. If you are into cinema of the extreme, The Incident is definitely one to see as it's disturbingly bone chilling and crunching.




Tyrannosaur
Writer/Dir: Paddy Considine - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan, Paul Popplewell, Ned Dennehy
UK

I knew I wanted to see Tyrannosaur from the sheer fact that Peter Mullan was in it, I've loved seeing him in film since True North from TIFF a few years back and always try to see everything he is in from Boy A to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and he delivers time and time again. Add that Eddie Marsan is in this film and it's Paddy Considine's feature film directorial debut and I couldn't get tickets fast enough. I didn't know much about the film going in other than the ominous title and drowning the sorrows image above, and the introduction by Cameron Bailey and writer/director Paddy Considine forewarned a hard ride ahead but I'm actually glad I didn't look too hard at the description and subject matters as I might have given a film this harsh a miss, but it ended up being hands-down one of the best films I saw at the festival this year. The film has lots of harshness in it, from violence to abuse which are subjects that are rather low on my consideration scale when selecting films, but in Tyrannosaur we see them through very human eyes and from an often empathetic perspective which makes it complicated and hard to watch but somehow the harshness is balanced by the films earnest portray and humble characters. There is also a strong sense of disempowerment through the use of violence, which I've rarely seen and was a perspective I strongly appreciated. The performance really drive home the emotional chords at the heart of the film and I was impressed by everyone involved here including both Peter Mullan and Eddie Marsan. I was also impressed by Olivia Colman, who I didn't realized I had even seen before (she plays the female cop in Hot Fuzz) and she is extraordinary here as a religious shopkeeper who reaches out to volatile local (Peter Mullan). Extraordinary. I'd highly recommend Tyrannosaur, it's not always easy to watch but it is worth every minute of the journey. And I'm not the only one that thought so, it was the only film I saw this year at the festival that garnered a well-deserved standing ovation for writer/director Paddy Considine - an amazing feat for his feature film directorial debut. Truly brilliant.


Tyrannosaur writer/director Paddy Considine at the Elgin



Wuthering Heights
Dir: Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Fish Tank)
Cast: Jonny Powell, Simone Jackson, James Howson, Kaya Scodelario, Steve Evets, James Northcote
UK

Wuthering Heights was another film that I knew I wanted to see at the festival, in part because I didn't know if it would get picked up (it has) and also because I actually really didn't enjoy reading the book last year and was looking forward to seeing Andrea Arnold's perspective on the story. The film is beautiful, vast and sparse. The huge landscapes and numerous nature shots give a strong survivalist and cycle of life feel to the film, often pairing images with themes in the story. I enjoyed that take on it and how it used those images often to convey the feelings, emotions and conflicts taking place under the surface. I also was very impressed by the performances of Jonny Powell & Simone Jackson who play the young Heathcliff & Catherine in the film. But, I do feel pretty conflicted on the film so several reason. First off, this really is the story of Heathcliff and not the story of Catherine & Heathcliff, and that choice suprized me especially coming from such a femme-centric director. I can see the allure of his character and wanting to be with him for so long but the odd thing this does is makes the character of Catherine less prominent. I'm still sitting with that one and still putting it to an interesting choice, but an unexpected one. But one choice I can't quite get behind is the choice to have Heathcliff & Catherine played by 2 sets of actors, a younger set for the majority of the film and then an older set as well. I really didn't understand this especially as the younger set do a great job in all aspects (including having great chemistry), and many of the other characters that would age are played by the same actors regardless of the time. I did find I understood that character of Heathcliff a lot better from watching the film, but I didn't always feel like I could follow Catherine's journey - perhaps that's intentional and perhaps we are suppose to feel confusion from the perspective of Heathcliff, and if so I certainly did. Overall, I loved the languid visuals and the chemistry between the young paid and I certainly feel like I understand the story better after seeing this version, but I'm still mystified at some of the choices and the general love for the heart wrenching, difficult love story.


The outside & in of the The Elgin.

The Toronto International Film Festival 2011 runs from September 8 - 18, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

TIFF 2011: Day 9 Vlog

Chatting up all about Day 9 at TIFF which will be my last day at this years festival, and on it I saw The Incident, Tyrannosaur and Wuthering Heights plus a bit of a cheat sneaking out to Nicholas Winding Refn's Drive at it's theatrical release.

The Toronto International Film Festival 2011 runs from September 8 - 18, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

TIFF Day 8 - Thursday September 15, 2011

Day 8 was a bit of an odd day, and my first jaunt this year to both The Elgin & Jackman Hall and it reminds me that although I love the ease of doing a day at AMC or Scotiabank, there is something special about both of those spaces. The Elgin is so beautiful and huge and it's wonderful to be in such a big space and I love the calm that eases over the space of Jackman Hall. In terms of films I couldn't have picked 2 more polar opposite selections of the Big Hollywood Movie choice of Joel Schumacher's Trespass starring Nicolas Cage & Nicole Kidman and the Brazilian film Swirl / Girimunho which was beautifully paced narrative based on the stories and lives of the people who portrayed them in the film. The home invasion thriller and life embracing meditations literally couldn't be more different.

Rather watch than read? Check out my Day 8 Vlog!


Post-Trespass at the beautiful Eglin Theatre, with no Q&A few stayed until the end of the credits

Trespass
Dir: Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys, Flatliners, Tigerland, Number 23)
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Cam Gigandet, Nicole Kidman, Liana Liberato, Ben Mendelsohn, Dash Mihok, Jordana Spiro
USA

Trespass was one of my experiments in the experiential aspect of the festival. I've never seen a Big Hollywood Movie at the festival before, as they inevitable will be released here in Toronto anyway, but I thought I would give it a shot so I can talk and walk the walk of the talk. The film is a home invasion thriller following a family including diamond-seller Dad (Nicolas Cage), designer/stay at home (wasn't quite sure on that...) Mom (Nicole Kidman) and lightly rebellious daughter (Liana Liberato) and of course some thugs who are in it for the money. It actually ended up being a little better than I expected with some interesting takes on the genre, some great lines and a gorgeous house that it's set in but given the calibre of the actors I would have loved to see more. Much more. Not just Nicolas Cage & Nicole Kidman but also Ben Mendelsohn and Cam Gigandet - I think they are all great actors and wish they had a little more to work with. Sadly my experiment rang true that I didn't need to see it at the festival, it's a glossy home invasion thriller with a good story, good moments, some great lines and it kept my attention. I don't normally like to play the game of 'it was good but, this was better', but there are some films of this ilk that have really stuck with me, in particular The Disappearance of Alice Creed which set the bar extremely high and not much will ever come close to it. I did enjoy seeing Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom), but it took me a while to place him given the American accent and I'm still trying to figure out where I know Dash Mihok from. In terms of being a thriller and regular film, it's one that I'd likely see eventually but it didn't feel like a festival film. If anyone from the film actually came to the screening, it might have made a different impression on me but it was just the audience who seem to enjoy it well enough but no uproarious moments that I've felt with other films this year.



Swirl / Girimunho
Dir: Helvecio Marins Jr. and Clarissa Campolina
Cast: Maria Sebastiana Martins Álvaro, Maria da Conceição Gomes de Moura, Luciene Soares da Silva, Wanderson Soares da Silva
Brazil

Swirl is a beautiful, meditative Brazilian film that follows the lives of few women in their daily life with it's ups and downs and reflective on not only their lives but their philosophies on life as well. It's a very interesting and unique depiction considering it's a narrative based on the actual lives of the people in it, but then re-created and acted by the people it's about. I loved that extra level of authenticity and it really brings true a sense of welcome and home life of the women who have an interesting take on life and in particular the lead who has a beautiful joie de vivre spirit on all things. It was really lovely to sit down and enjoy this quiet & calm contemplative piece in the middle of the festival frenzy, it was welcome change of pace and beautiful reflective and inspiring vision of life and living.


TIFF Programmer Diana Sanchez with Swirl directors Helvecio Marins Jr. and Clarissa Campolina



The Toronto International Film Festival 2011 runs from September 8 - 18, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Film Fan Fridays for Friday September 16, 2011

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday September 16, 2011! I'm still in the throws of TIFF but we do have regular releases to enjoy as well. Let's see what's hitting the theatres this weekend.

In limited release this week we have the sole release of Gainsbourg, a biopic on French singer Serge Gainsbourg, starting from the 1940s in Nazi-occupied Paris through success in the 1960s and beyond. Quite week for limited releases but there is also a special screening of the music documetnary Pearl Jam Twenty on Tuesday September 20, 2011 for a one-night one-showing experience (see showtimes here).

In wide release this week we have just a handful of releases and I'm easily most looking forward to Drive from director Nicolas Winding Refn (The Pusher Trilogy, Valhalla Rising, Bronson) and it follows a stunt man (Ryan Gosling) who becomes involve in heists and it's been getting great buzz. We also have I Don't Know How She Does It based on the novel by Allison Pearson and the film version stars Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City 2) as a woman who can do it all, family, job, kids and breadwinner to boot. One I'm not likely to see is the thriller Straw Dogs (2011), a remake of the 1971 film of the same name and is set in deep south where a couple (played by James Marsden & Kate Bosworth) return to one of their hometown and tension mount with menacing locals including Alexander Skarsgård ("True Blood"). Last up for wide releases is actually a re-release of the 1994 Disney film The Lion King returns to theatres with a 3D treatment for 2 weeks before it's Diamond Edition BluRay and DVD release on October 4, 2011.

I'm still festivalling this week so be sure to check out my daily coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival here at Movie Moxie from September 8-18, 2011. You can also follow me on Twitter & Facebook for insights, reactions & ramblings throughout the festival.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Caribbean Tales Toronto Film Showcase
Continues until September 17, 2011 at Harbourfront Centre

Toronto Independent Film Festival
Festival of Independent Filmmaking
Continues until September 18, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto International Film Festival
Continues until September 18, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto Urban Film Festival
Collection of 1 minute silent films shown on the TTC
Continues until September 18, 2011 on TTC subway platforms in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Friday September 16, 2011 Releases

Drive
Dir: Nicolas Winding Refn (The Pusher Trilogy, Valhalla Rising, Bronson)
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaacs, Bryan Cranston
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Gainsbourg / Vie héroïque
Dir: Joann Sfar - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Eric Elmosnino, Lucy Gordon, Laetitia Casta, Laetitia Casta
France
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

I Don't Know How She Does It
Dir: Douglas McGrath (Nicholas Nickleby, Emma)
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Munn, Seth Meyers, Kelsey Grammer
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Lion King 3D
Dir: Roger Allers (Open Season) & Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little)
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Jim Cummings, Moira Kelly, Niketa Calame, Whoopi Goldberg
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Straw Dogs
Dir: Rod Lurie (Nothing But the Truth, Resurrecting the Champ)
Cast: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgård, Dominic Purcell, Laz Alonso, Willa Holland, James Woods
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of September 16, 2011**