This was a pretty fantastic year to be at TIFF. I saw many solid films, a fair number of fair-to-middling films, only one film bad enough to warrant a rare walkout, and even a few that were great.
The area around the Lightbox and Scotiabank felt like a real live festival center this year, complete with a few days of thronging crowds and celebrity gawkers blocking the sidewalk, but more importantly, on the P&I side, a real sense of a fest community, with lots of gathering at Second Cup and the Canteen by day and the bars and restaurants lining King and John streets by night. Nothing yet that quite matches the ambiance of the Petit Majestic bar in Cannes late nights for industry folks drinking and talking films and deal making, but many of the restaurant/bars with patios along John St between the Lightbox and Scotiabank especially, had a bit of that feel this year at TIFF. (more…)
And naturally that’s bound to create a few glitches. On opening day I trotted down to the Bell Lightbox to pick up my press credentials and was informed that the press office wasn’t handling that duty. I’d have to go to the Park Hyatt just a block down the street.
Of course when I got there the first person I encountered told me to go right back to the Lightbox. Fortunately someone more in the groove stopped her, said that I was in the right place and pointed me in the specific direction of the credentials desk.
In a curious sort of way the current Toronto International Film Festival runs a lot like it did in its nascent years. Back in the early day the organization was feeling its way and didn’t have the resources or manpower to solve myriad problems both minor and significant. But the staff was relentlessly polite and strove to solve whatever dilemmas cropped up.
Today, the event couldn’t possibly employee the number of volunteers and temp staff to accommodate the hordes that descend upon the Ontario metropolis for TIFF. They’re still consistently polite, perhaps even more polite, and once one finds the appropriate person (and that can be daunting) I’ve discovered that mountains are reduced to manholes.
Historically the festival has an almost unerring capacity for choosing the wrong opening night picture. This year was no exception with its selection of the U2 profile From the Sky Down. More rumination than concert film, it focuses on the group’s preparation for the 2011 Glastonbury festival, one of England’s most beloved musical events. They decide to revisit their seminal album Achtung Baby, recorded 20 years earlier in Berlin.
Frankly I’m hard pressed to explain the incomprehensibility of this film without becoming symbiotically disjointed. Suffice it to say the commentary is banal, the progression erratic and the “so what,” what the heck.
Now I do understand the p.r. value of having one of the most venerable and popular rock and roll acts as part of the opening night festivities even if TIFF patrons aren’t their core audience. But culling through the 300 plus titles on view, I have to say that other movies, particular several in the Gala section, would have provided comparable star power and are more entertaining and unquestionably better made.
It should also be pointed out that (and this isn’t particular to Toronto) there’s a literal cost for the great privilege of getting the opening night slot. Namely you get to pay for the opening night party and that ain’t hay.
Coincidently the very first film I saw this year at the fest – The Love We Make – has a lot of parallels with the curtain raiser. Both are slated for premieres on Showtime, aspire to capture the essence of a musical titan and relate to a bygone event. In the case of The Love We Make it’s (Sir) Paul McCartny and the Concert for New York that occurred about six weeks after the tragedy of 9/11. It’s surfaced as a 10th anniversary special.
Directed by documentary titan Al Maysles, IT works as both a personal and professional profile and has sufficient tension to hold one rapt. It also has some excellent concert footage with the likes of The Who, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, James Taylor and the ex-Beatle. We also get to see Mr. McCartney rehearsing and promoting the event and it all works as a piece.
Also on the plus side was the Toronto fest’s decision to cut out opening night speeches that have droned on for as much as an hour in the past. Instead it created a sponsor’s reel that to be honest wasn’t particular well done but we can hope for better next year. TIFF also runs sponsor blurbs particularly produced for the event in front of regular screenings. Last year I counted as many as seven but so far that’s easily been surpassed by 11 in the current edition that range from Dolby and Christie Projectors to Cadillac as well as two specifically for TIFF including one for an upcoming Grace Kelly exhibition and a nod to the festival’s volunteers that features Atom Egoyan in a pickle. Let me assure you that their charms – even the very best efforts – dissipate after 10 exposures.
I also have to confess that I attended my first reception. It was an accident but I’m not complaining. The event was relatively small and honored the 20th anniversary of Sony Classics chiefs Michael Barker and Tom Bernard. It was cordial and relaxed and I admit to stifling a gasp when the speeches began. Thankfully, they were brief, humorous and gracious with kudos to Sir Howard Stringer and the ever present A. Egoyan. Barker’s reply was just about note perfect.
It’s still early days at TIFF and I can’t really say that I’ve been wowed by a movie yet. There’s been very good stuff like the much ballyhooed The Artist and Drive. Both are first rate, the first a literal silent movie set in the milieu of Hollywood in the 1920s and ‘30s and the latter reminiscent of the intelligent crime thrillers of the ‘70s including The Driver and Thief. Still I found The Artist a bit thin and repetitive and Drive bothered me somewhat by its employ of excessive violence.
Just prior to the fest I did see Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia which would have been close to an unqualified rave; and I guess that counts.
Yesterday, the TIFF roll-out started with titles that will be high-profile at TIFF ’11, but are not potential Oscar-race late entries. Today, 10 titles that are currently without US distribution partners, but could end up not only getting released in 2011, but could be players in the race, either in Best Picture (less likely) or any of the acting or writing categories (much more likely).
Of course, all or any of them could end up stinking. And such is the fun of the TIFF shake-out.
(in alphabetical order)
360, director Fernando Meirelles
Meirelles remains on of the most interesting directors working. This film seems to be a drama with strong sexual themes. Written by Peter Morgan and starring Rachel Weisz and Jude Law – famously paired in Enemy At The Gates – as well as Anthony Hopkins and Ben Foster… all Oscar bait talent. (Forster is the only one never nominated… but has been buzzed repeatedly in recent years.) The script is based on an Arthur Schnitzler’s classic play, La Ronde, which pairs up couples then follows one member of each pairing to the next pairing. (Anything Schnitzler may scare some after Eyes Wide Shut.) Meirelles and Morgan’s version follows lovers through Paris, London, Bratislava, Rio, Denver and Phoenix.
The Deep Blue Sea, director Terence Davies
Another Rachel Weisz performance, more sexual intrigue, and another classic play as the basis, this time Terrence Rattigan’s 1952 play of the same title, which premiered with no less than Dame Peggy Ashcroft in the role Weisz plays in the film. Here, the lead character is paired with Tom Hiddleston (also in two Oscar bait film: Midnight In Paris & War Horse… as well as Thor) as the lover and Simon Russell Beale (one of England’s most acclaimed stage actors) as the spurned husband.
It’s been 11 years since Davies made a feature and this film marks the 100th birthday of the deceased playwright. Will it be this year’s End of The Affair or Far From Heaven? We’ll soon see.
Eye of the Storm, director Fred Schepisi
Schepisi, whose work ranges from The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith to Roxanne to the dingo what ate Meryl’s baby, brought Last Orders to TIFF in 2000 and drew a lot of attention with an all-star cast of great character actors (including pre-Queen Mirren, Caine, Hoskins, Winstone, Courtenay, and a lovely return and farewell (he passed a couple years later, adding another dozen performances, but none of this level) by David Hemmings. But Sony Classics just couldn’t find an audience for the film.
His return to TIFF, 10 years later, shows a lot of promise. Charlotte Rampling is The Matriarch who has decided it’s time to die and Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis are her “kids,” who want their piece of the family fortune. It’s based on a novel by Patrick White, the only Aussie who ever won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Here is the trailer and a chat from the film’s premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Killer Joe, director William Friedkin
This is Friedkin’s second film of a Tracy Letts play. Since Bug, which got a bit lost because of its hard-to-market tone, Letts picked up a Pulitzer for the play, August: Osage, County. This time, things should be clearer for the marketing team, whoever it ends up being. Adapted by Letts from his first play, Matthew McConaughey is right in his sweet spot as a southern, smooth tough guy… the title character. Emile Hirsch is parented by Thomas Haden Church and Gina Gershon, who all plan a murder for which they want to hire Killer Joe. One of Sundance 2010’s IT girls, Juno Temple, plays the sister/daughter/bait.
Could Matthew McConaughey follow his pal Sandra Bullock to an unexpected Oscar slot?
The big problem here could be the level of sex and violence, which could turn on audiences and turn off Academy voters. But well only really know once we’ve seen the film.
The Lady , director Luc Besson
In the last dozen years, Luc Besson has become one of the most successful movie producers in the world… and a bit of an afterthought as a director. Since The Messenger in 1999, he’s only really directed one movie for adults, Angel-A, which barely got released in 2005. Since then, he’s built his empire, and focused his directing time on three Arthur & The Invisibles films and just last year, another comic book film, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec .
The Lady looks like a real movie. The true life story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who led her political party to victory in 1990 while under house arrest… a house arrest that went on for almost 15 years. Michelle Yeoh, almost unrecognizable, takes on the dramatic role.
Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding, director Bruce Beresford
This one smells of an Oscar role for Jane Fonda, who plays a hippie grandmother to Sundance co-IT girl Lizzie OIsen and Chace Crawford, and mom to a conservative Catherine Keener (who has to melt, right… but who wouldn’t want to watch her do it?).
It’s one of those movies that seems so obvious an opportunity for quality fun that will do excellent indie business that it’s a little scary that its heading to TIFF without distribution.
Rampart, director Oren Moverman
Just two years ago, after a lot of fighting to get the film out there by Oscilloscope Laboratories, Moverman’s film The Messenger (no relation to Besson’s) picked up two Oscar nominations, for screenplay and for Woody Harrelson. The duo returns with this story set in the real life tale of the corrupt Rampart police division in Los Angeles.
The cast is a killer, including Ben Foster, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Buscemi, and Robin Wright. The screenwriter is no one less than James Ellroy.
So why isn’t there a distributor? Maybe Harsh Times, the terrific little film with Christian Bale that went no where in a hurry a half-dozen years ago. But that film was tied up in a messy marriage of a new producer, a flailing distributor, etc.
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, director Lasse Haalstrom
This one feels a bit like we have seen it before. Chocolat meets The Cider House Rules? Ewan McGregor is the scientist who is tasked with bringing salmon fishing to Yemen. Emily Blunt & Kristin Scott Thomas ensue.
Like any cliche, there is a reason why certain ideas become cliche. When they click, we LOVE them. (Well, audiences love them.) So what will this one be? Will is be sparkling or flat? Unlike an LA lunch, one option is definitively better than the other.
Shame, director Steve McQueen
McQueen’s first film was a masterpiece. Painful to experience, but really, masterpiece.
Who knows whether his second time out will be as difficult, but we do know that there is a theme of incest in the mix. Two of the world’s hottest young actors, Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan star.
I expect it to be tough. But Fassbender has been a superstar in wait, in terms of the US, and he gets to roll out the charismatic and the dramatic in this role. Mulligan is a consummate actress who got love for her sweet side and is apparently ready to take audiences somewhere darker. Audiences ran away from that in Never Let Me Go, which for me is easily her film best work to date… it just wasn’t charming.
I am not so surprised that distributors are scared to death of this film. But I am expecting greatness. I hope I’m not hoping for too much.
Take This Waltz – director Sarah Polley
It’s been 5 years between Sarah Polley movies. A lot of people have been waiting.
This time, her players are closer to her own age. Michelle Williams is the married woman who finds herself falling in love with another man. Seth Rogan and Sarah Silverman, seem (having not seen the film) to be stretching past their normally broad comic roles.
It will be nice to see Michelle Williams without the entire weight of the world on her shoulders… not that there won’t be drama.
The film seems to take its title from the Leonard Cohen song of the same name.
Of course, Moviefone went right for what they consider the most important story… Sarah Silverman telling them she’d be nude in the film. They quote her saying the same thing TWICE in this story. Apparently editors don’t work well with one hand on the keyboard. They’ll fit in well with HuffPo.
The film has, it seems, been offered around. Does that mean it’s not good, that taste levels are low, or that pricing for indie films is so rough these days that the best hope is to get some heat from Polley’s home country uberfest?
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I’ve been keeping my head in the sand. But August is here and I can feel the hot breath of Telluride & Toronto on my neck.
So before diving into a full Oscar column and 1st set of charts, a quick look at 15 titles that will be coming to TIFF without US distribution, but will be getting a LOT of attention nonetheless. About 2/3 of them arrive with a good amount of Oscar pedigree, if an American distributor is willing to take the leap. The fact that they have not already been snapped up suggests that there may not be a Best Picture candidate in the group, but you never know. And there are potential acting nominations all over these things.
Of course, the issue of quality is always floating out there. In the weeks to come, I will get a better sense of which films have been seen and passed on by which US distributors. But all it really takes to get a movie rolling forward these days is one big wave of media love.
First, the HIGH profile titles that are not likely to be on Oscar charts this year… but which will draw a lot of buzz and could find buyers. (alphabetical order)
Chicken With Plums – The next film from Persepolis co-/directors Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. It’s another adaptation of another of Satrai’s graphic novels, though this time, it’s a stylized live-action film, starring the great Matthieu Amalric and Isabella Rossellini.
Dark Horse – After not making a movie for 5 years, Todd Solondz now is putting out his second film in 2 years. (He was already shooting this one when Life During Wartime came out.) Selma Blair is back working with Solondz and he promises an odd romance. This filmmaker has lovers and haters… and both will be anxious to check out what he’s come up with this time.
Friends With Kids – Jennifer Westfeldt is famously the writer and star of a hot indie film, Kissing Jessica Stein. She also became Jon Hamm’s significant other. She brings her years of experience, her husband, and a lot of friends to her first directorial effort. She also benefits from having The Next Kristen Wiig Film. Shot on a shoestring, Westfeldt wrapped the movie in February and has pushed to get it ready for Toronto. (EDITED, 5:18p for marital status.)
The Oranges – Dark-tinged unsold sex comedies with celebrities are always something to fear at a film festival. Last year, it was The Joneses. This year, it’s Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, Alison Janney, Oliver Platt, and Catherine Keener coming to town with The Oranges. The director is a TV guy. The writers are newbies. The story? Neighbor dad gets it on with Next Door Neighbor Daughter… hilarity ensues. Smells like a phenom or phenomenally bad.
Trishna – Michael Winterbottom does a modern take on Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, which you may remember, was the Polanski film (Tess) that launched his then-girlfriend, teenager Natassia Kinski. Gemma Arterton also got the Tess treatment in a UK mini-series. And now, Frieda Pinto, directed by the man who made 9 Songs. Men in raincoats will be lining up to check it out. Who knows whether Winterbottom will go the full Pinto, but the film will also draw a lot of attention from the romance-loving ladies of Toronto. Everyone will be hoping for a happier turn for Ms Pinto in this year’s film with her character’s first name as the title.
It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
