Toronto International Film Fest Guide on nowtoronto.com | September 7 - 16, 2006
Film Festival reports
NOW doles out the daily dose.
... and now for the "official" TIFF winners...
Monday 18th, Sep. 2006
Monday 18th, Sep. 2006
People's Choice Award
Bella (Alejandro Gomez Monteverde)
Runners up: Mon Meilleur Ami (Patrice Leconte); The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up And Sing (Barbara Kopple, Cecilia Peck)
FIPRESCI Prize (International Critics)
Death Of A President (Gabriel Range)
Best Canadian Feature
Manufactured Landscapes (Jennifer Baichwal)
Honourable mention: Monkey Warfare (Reg Harkema)
Best Canadian First Feature
Sur La Trace d'Igor Rizzi (Noel Mitrani)
Discovery Award
Reprise (Joachim Trier)
Cultural Innovation Award
Takva - A Man's Fear Of...
The Best (and Worst) of TIFF ...
Saturday 16th, Sep. 2006
Saturday 16th, Sep. 2006
The "official" awards get announced later today at a fancy shmancy luncheon, but here's a list, compiled by NOW's bloodshot-eyed critics, of the highlights - and lowlights - of TIFF 2006.
BEST FILM
Pan's Labyrinth
Paris Je T'Aime
BEST CANADIAN FILM
Manufactured Landscapes
Fido
BEST DOCUMENTARY
When The Levees Broke
EMPZ 4 Life
Radiant City
S&MAN
BEST FIRST FEATURE
Away From Her
Reprise
BEST ACTOR
Charles Berling, L'Homme De Sa Vie
BEST FILM
Pan's Labyrinth
Paris Je T'Aime
BEST CANADIAN FILM
Manufactured Landscapes
Fido
BEST DOCUMENTARY
When The Levees Broke
EMPZ 4 Life
Radiant City
S&MAN
BEST FIRST FEATURE
Away From Her
Reprise
BEST ACTOR
Charles Berling, L'Homme De Sa Vie
Chicks Flick harnesses Women Power
Thursday 14th, Sep. 2006
Thursday 14th, Sep. 2006
By DEIRDRE SWAIN
I don't really like country music, and I like bluegrass even less. I have no quarrel with the acoustic guitar or the fiddle, but I avoid the pedal steel and the banjo. At the press conference for The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up And Sing, the combination of an overheated room and a banjo-laden soundtrack had me looking around for something sharp and stabby.
That said, oh my holy God was it ever nice to see five strong, intelligent, articulate women grouped together on the stage; the only presser of the festival where the only man involved was...
I don't really like country music, and I like bluegrass even less. I have no quarrel with the acoustic guitar or the fiddle, but I avoid the pedal steel and the banjo. At the press conference for The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up And Sing, the combination of an overheated room and a banjo-laden soundtrack had me looking around for something sharp and stabby.
That said, oh my holy God was it ever nice to see five strong, intelligent, articulate women grouped together on the stage; the only presser of the festival where the only man involved was...
Comedy Gets No Respect
Wednesday 13th, Sep. 2006
Wednesday 13th, Sep. 2006
By DEIRDRE SWAIN
Rodney Dangerfield is looking down (or up) at TIFF and grinning. To paraphrase the late comic, funnymen get no respect.
Take this year's line-up of films. There are definitely comedies in the group, quite a lot, actually. And certainly, Sacha Baron Cohen fans turned out in full force for the Midnight Madness screening of his mock-doc starring his alter ego Borat. But the pressers for two other well-known and highly-anticipated funny flicks were the most sparsely attended of any of the ones I've hit so far. (And hey, the projector broke down 15 minutes...
Rodney Dangerfield is looking down (or up) at TIFF and grinning. To paraphrase the late comic, funnymen get no respect.
Take this year's line-up of films. There are definitely comedies in the group, quite a lot, actually. And certainly, Sacha Baron Cohen fans turned out in full force for the Midnight Madness screening of his mock-doc starring his alter ego Borat. But the pressers for two other well-known and highly-anticipated funny flicks were the most sparsely attended of any of the ones I've hit so far. (And hey, the projector broke down 15 minutes...
A couple of surprises, and another take on The Fountain
Wednesday 13th, Sep. 2006
Wednesday 13th, Sep. 2006
By BARRETT HOOPER
Six days in and the big buzz at this year's festival is the distinct lack of buzz.
I'm not talking about the post-screening parties attended by rubber-necking nobodies looking for free booze and a glimpse of Brad Pitt (just about the only A-lister in town, it seems) - they suck as much as they ever did.
But of the more than 250 features, there's hardly a handful to get you excited. A Good Year may have been given the gala treatment but it hasn't been a good year at TIFF. Sure, there's Volver and...
Six days in and the big buzz at this year's festival is the distinct lack of buzz.
I'm not talking about the post-screening parties attended by rubber-necking nobodies looking for free booze and a glimpse of Brad Pitt (just about the only A-lister in town, it seems) - they suck as much as they ever did.
But of the more than 250 features, there's hardly a handful to get you excited. A Good Year may have been given the gala treatment but it hasn't been a good year at TIFF. Sure, there's Volver and...
On Expecting and Expectations
Wednesday 13th, Sep. 2006
Wednesday 13th, Sep. 2006
By LORI FIREMAN
After years of taking my daily coffee drinks for granted, now that I'm pregnant I've had to cut down. My previous three years of several films on a bad day, five to six on a good one, with interviews and the odd party, are, alas, a thing of the past. There's someone else ruling my schedule, and he/she's picky, emotional, hostile, lazy and hungry every five minutes. And guess what? He/she doesn't like decaf.
Fortunately, the right movie provides just the energy I need to stay alert, enthused, and able to carry on - as does a lifetime...
After years of taking my daily coffee drinks for granted, now that I'm pregnant I've had to cut down. My previous three years of several films on a bad day, five to six on a good one, with interviews and the odd party, are, alas, a thing of the past. There's someone else ruling my schedule, and he/she's picky, emotional, hostile, lazy and hungry every five minutes. And guess what? He/she doesn't like decaf.
Fortunately, the right movie provides just the energy I need to stay alert, enthused, and able to carry on - as does a lifetime...
Well, Something's Flowing
Tuesday 12th, Sep. 2006
Tuesday 12th, Sep. 2006
By JOHN HARKNESS
It's official.
Either the Varsity Cinemas are too small to accomodate the Toronto Film Festival or the Toronto Film Festival is too big for the Varsity. Or, with high profile films that arrive with world wide distribution in place, they should eliminate the Industry from the Press And Industry screenings. (The Industry element of the screenings is essentially a courtesy to filmmakers and buyers ? it gives filmmakers who don't arrive with distribution a way to show their films to distributors without the festival actually setting up an adjoiningt market. I've so far been shut out of...
It's official.
Either the Varsity Cinemas are too small to accomodate the Toronto Film Festival or the Toronto Film Festival is too big for the Varsity. Or, with high profile films that arrive with world wide distribution in place, they should eliminate the Industry from the Press And Industry screenings. (The Industry element of the screenings is essentially a courtesy to filmmakers and buyers ? it gives filmmakers who don't arrive with distribution a way to show their films to distributors without the festival actually setting up an adjoiningt market. I've so far been shut out of...
All The King's People
Tuesday 12th, Sep. 2006
Tuesday 12th, Sep. 2006
By DEIRDRE SWAIN
Recipe for an uncomfortable afternoon:
One part James Carville, former Clinton campaign manager and fiery defender of liberalism in America.
One part Sean Penn, hugely talented but often humourless actor and outspoken critic of George W. Bush.
One part Patricia Clarkson, gorgeous, whiskey-voiced actor and New Orleans native.
One part (okay, maybe one-and-a-half parts; let's face it, dude is huge) James Gandolfini, red-blooded New Yorker, rumoured conservative and living embodiment of the word "intimidating."
One part political film (All The King's Men) filmed in the aforementioned ruined town of New Orleans and...
Recipe for an uncomfortable afternoon:
One part James Carville, former Clinton campaign manager and fiery defender of liberalism in America.
One part Sean Penn, hugely talented but often humourless actor and outspoken critic of George W. Bush.
One part Patricia Clarkson, gorgeous, whiskey-voiced actor and New Orleans native.
One part (okay, maybe one-and-a-half parts; let's face it, dude is huge) James Gandolfini, red-blooded New Yorker, rumoured conservative and living embodiment of the word "intimidating."
One part political film (All The King's Men) filmed in the aforementioned ruined town of New Orleans and...
Shortbus-t a Move
Monday 11th, Sep. 2006
Monday 11th, Sep. 2006
By SARAH LISS
Could Parker Posey be the key to world peace? Not that I'm up to speed on the once and future indie flick queen's poli-sci pedigree, but she sure as hell seems to be the single celeb most desired by a veritable grab-bag of left-field types, regardless of age, race, class, cultural background or sexual orientation.
While the largely unrecognizable cast of Shortbus glamourously emerged one by one from a stretch limo, the alterna-throngs gathered for the film's Queer Lounge-organized launch party were collectively distracted by Ms. Posey's low-key (but typically awkward entrance). Read More...
Could Parker Posey be the key to world peace? Not that I'm up to speed on the once and future indie flick queen's poli-sci pedigree, but she sure as hell seems to be the single celeb most desired by a veritable grab-bag of left-field types, regardless of age, race, class, cultural background or sexual orientation.
While the largely unrecognizable cast of Shortbus glamourously emerged one by one from a stretch limo, the alterna-throngs gathered for the film's Queer Lounge-organized launch party were collectively distracted by Ms. Posey's low-key (but typically awkward entrance). Read More...
It's the Pitt's
Monday 11th, Sep. 2006
Monday 11th, Sep. 2006
By DEIRDRE SWAIN
Q: When is a press conference like a mosh pit?
A: When Brad Pitt is there.
Journalists are often portrayed in movies as low, grasping miscreants who'll stop at nothing to get a story. So it's a good thing a bunch of them behaved like total babies on Sunday when people who make movies were sitting right next door!
Actually, I can't blame my fellow ink-stained wretches too much for wanting to get into the Babel press conference. Brad Pitt is arguably the biggest movie star on the planet since Tom...
Q: When is a press conference like a mosh pit?
A: When Brad Pitt is there.
Journalists are often portrayed in movies as low, grasping miscreants who'll stop at nothing to get a story. So it's a good thing a bunch of them behaved like total babies on Sunday when people who make movies were sitting right next door!
Actually, I can't blame my fellow ink-stained wretches too much for wanting to get into the Babel press conference. Brad Pitt is arguably the biggest movie star on the planet since Tom...
Will Ferrell, Dustin Hoffman and my girl-crush Emma Thompson
Monday 11th, Sep. 2006
Monday 11th, Sep. 2006
By DEIRDRE SWAIN
Writers are just as narcissistic as any other artists (I know, shocker), so even hack journalists love movies about writers and enjoy imagining themselves being portrayed someday by a gorgeous star.
Likewise, screenwriters seem to love creating characters who are writers. Some might argue this is because of the "write what you know" principle; I have a theory that it's because directors get all the kudos in film and screenwriters secretly long for the power that head TV writers have and so give their alter-egos a taste of that prestige.
Whatever the reason, it's unsurprising that at the weekend...
Writers are just as narcissistic as any other artists (I know, shocker), so even hack journalists love movies about writers and enjoy imagining themselves being portrayed someday by a gorgeous star.
Likewise, screenwriters seem to love creating characters who are writers. Some might argue this is because of the "write what you know" principle; I have a theory that it's because directors get all the kudos in film and screenwriters secretly long for the power that head TV writers have and so give their alter-egos a taste of that prestige.
Whatever the reason, it's unsurprising that at the weekend...
Russell Crowe's feat
Sunday 10th, Sep. 2006
Sunday 10th, Sep. 2006
By DEIRDRE SWAIN
Celebrity photographers are a pushy bunch.
Granted, a good photo can be worth more than five times my yearly salary, but screaming "Reese, over your shoulder! Publicists, get out of the way!" to an actress who could slay you with a glance takes balls of brass.
So when photographers at a press conference are addressing you with "Mr. Crowe, could you look up here please?" instead of "Russell! Russell! Left! YOUR OTHER LEFT!" you may suspect you've got a bit of a fearsome reputation. When the moderator of said press conference introduces you as "Dr. Russell and Mr....
Celebrity photographers are a pushy bunch.
Granted, a good photo can be worth more than five times my yearly salary, but screaming "Reese, over your shoulder! Publicists, get out of the way!" to an actress who could slay you with a glance takes balls of brass.
So when photographers at a press conference are addressing you with "Mr. Crowe, could you look up here please?" instead of "Russell! Russell! Left! YOUR OTHER LEFT!" you may suspect you've got a bit of a fearsome reputation. When the moderator of said press conference introduces you as "Dr. Russell and Mr....
A little bitch fest and Branagh clears the house
Sunday 10th, Sep. 2006
Sunday 10th, Sep. 2006
By GLENN SUMI
Am I the only one who...
... finds this year's TIFF poster image creepy? Maybe it's because that blue head with its enormous set of red eyebrows reminds me of long time conservative politico Hal Jackman.
... is annoyed at the sign displayed outside the Indigo below the Varsity cinemas? Their huge poster celebrating TIFF reads: "Filmakers & Movie Lovers We Salute You." Hilarious, especially considering Indigo's "Books for Schools" movie commercials. Maybe "Heather's Pick" next month should be the Oxford Dictionary.
... thought the religious parade that shut down traffic...
Am I the only one who...
... finds this year's TIFF poster image creepy? Maybe it's because that blue head with its enormous set of red eyebrows reminds me of long time conservative politico Hal Jackman.
... is annoyed at the sign displayed outside the Indigo below the Varsity cinemas? Their huge poster celebrating TIFF reads: "Filmakers & Movie Lovers We Salute You." Hilarious, especially considering Indigo's "Books for Schools" movie commercials. Maybe "Heather's Pick" next month should be the Oxford Dictionary.
... thought the religious parade that shut down traffic...
Resnais, Ridley and Tony Blair
Saturday 9th, Sep. 2006
Saturday 9th, Sep. 2006
By JOHN HARKNESS
I'd love to tell you all about the movie stars I've seen and the parties I've been going to, but I haven't seen any and the one I went to was kind of dull. Sorry. Just going to the movies.
Here are three more reviews.
COEURS, D: Alain Resnais, w/ Sabine Azema, Andre Dussolier, Lambert Wilson. MASTERS. Tuesday, September 12, 3 pm, Visa Screening Room. Thursday, September 14, 8:45 pm. Varsity 1 & 6. Rating: NNNN
Kazakhstan movies, is many problems!
Friday 8th, Sep. 2006
Friday 8th, Sep. 2006
By DEIRDRE SWAIN
The Scene: The first Midnight Madness screening of TIFF 2006.
The Site: The Ryerson Theatre
The Screening: Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
The Rating: I, er, couldn't say, because the film never actually finished. The first 15 minutes were definitely funny, though.
Midnight Madness audiences are a breed apart at TIFF. Raucous cheers greet the programmer onstage. Audience members entertain the crowd during a lull. Borat Sagdiyev, Sacha Baron Cohen's slightly-less-famous-than-Ali-G alter ego, drew a crowd last night that wasn't much older...
It all begins
Thursday 7th, Sep. 2006
Thursday 7th, Sep. 2006
By JOHN HARKNESS
HOW THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IS LIKE BEING ON LOST
And so it begins...
a) Everyone is operating on incomplete information. And whenever you think you've met someone who has complete information, you're wrong. The other person simply has a different set of information. By the way, if and when you meet reviewers, don't ask them if they've seen anything good. If we have, we wrote about it. It's what we do. We don't see movies and then NOT write about them to keep the good ones for ourselves. (I was once asked...
HOW THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IS LIKE BEING ON LOST
And so it begins...
a) Everyone is operating on incomplete information. And whenever you think you've met someone who has complete information, you're wrong. The other person simply has a different set of information. By the way, if and when you meet reviewers, don't ask them if they've seen anything good. If we have, we wrote about it. It's what we do. We don't see movies and then NOT write about them to keep the good ones for ourselves. (I was once asked...
