TIFF: Trust & Waiting for "Superman"

Saturday morning kicked off with Trust, the second film from director David Schwimmer and a sharp contrast to his previous TIFF entry 'Run Fatboy Run'.

Clive Owen and Catherine Keener star as parents of a 14 year old girl (Liana Liberato) who discovers to disasterous results that the 16 year old boy she's been talking to online and over the phone for the past several months is really a pedophile who targets young girls online. I'd give the film overall a solid B- and the performance of Liberato an A+ who just ripped my heart out at times.

Schwimmer showed up to the morning screening (always appreciated) to introduce the film and was charming and well spoken. He said his desire to make the movie came out of his involvement with a rape victims group and provided us with some very scary stats on the prevalence of sexual assault.

Next on the docket was Waiting for 'Superman', which, as part of the Mavericks series was also going to include a panel discussion on the education system with director Davis Guggenheim, producer Lesley Chilcott, educator Geoffrey Canada and Bill Gates.

The movie is well done and well paced and follows the fate of several families who have entered their children in lotteries for entrance to one of few public schools in their respective towns with reputations and programs intended to get their students into college. Interspersed with their stories are facts and information about the public school system including historical context, international education ratings and stories of teachers and administrators who are trying to change the system and improve the lives of the children in their charge. The movie wraps up with learning the fate of each of the profiled children (who's odds of getting in to their schools ranged from 1 in 5 to 1 in 35) and it was heartbreaking to understand that their futures were largely tied to such a random fate. To the further delight of the crowd, Guggenheim brought out the families and children who had been the focus of the film to a standing ovation. Nothing pulls the heartstrings more than seeing adorable precocious kids who were clearly overwhelmed to be standing on that stage .

The panel discussion was interesting and all of the members are obviously well informed. The most compelling speaker to me was Geoffrey Canada who leads the Harlem Children's Zone in Harlem, New York. I will definitely be doing some more reading about him and his program. I found myself grateful to be a Canadian (it was a bit gratifying to see where we ranked on several areas of education in the film) though the panel was quick to say that it was important to be proactive on ensuring that we didn't fall into the same declines they've seen south of the border.

My main takeaway from the movie and discussion was that it was going to be necessary to change the administration of schools, especially dealing with the powers of the teachers unions, in order for real improvement to exist. There are more and more of these public charter schools and organizations being created in neighbourhoods all over the country but they are such a small portion of the total that it seems a bit overwhelming. What do you do if your child has only a 1 in 35 chance of getting into a school that will give them a quality education? Guggenheim talked about this as his main motivation in making the film as he passed public schools on the way to dropping off his children at the private school his family was lucky enough to be able to afford. So far my documentaries have been two for two at TIFF!

TIFF: Daydream Nation and Super

Since I got home in time to get 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night I'm behind on the last couple of days of movies! Friday's double header included my first midnight madness experience and two very different films.

First up was Daydream Nation, a Canadian film and the directorial debut of Michael Goldbach which stars Kat Dennings, Josh Lucas and Reece Thompson. Dennings plays a recent small town transplant trying to reinvent herself against a backdrop of constantly stoned fellow students, a long burning industrial fire outside of town and, oh yeah, a serial killer wreaking havoc on the county. She begins an illicit affair with one of her teachers (Lucas) while also developing a relationship with a fellow student (Thompson) who has his own boatload of issues.

I really liked the movie and I'm going to give most of the credit for that to Dennings who is just gorgeous and compelling onscreen. Lucas was also great in a role that was a departure from anything I'd seen from him. The Director and cast attended and did a post film Q&A and told some entertaining stories about how they got involved with this dark little movie. I always like seeing debuts from directors at the festival because there's some vicarious excitement in being part of someone's being night and this was no exception.

After the movie we were wandering past the Ryerson exit and decided to stick around to watch the red carpet for Passion Play which was fun. Brian Austin Green has aged incredibly well. Mickey Rourke, as everyone knows, really hasn't. Megan Fox is gorgeous even though she looks a bit like her own waxed figure to me. And Bill Murray might just be the coolest man in the world.

The next movie was the midnight madness world premiere of Super from director James Gunn starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler (who all attended the screening) and featuring Kevin Bacon and Nathan Fillion (one of my TV boyfriends).

First, the midnight madness atmosphere was a lot of fun and I have to give kudos to the programmer Colin Geddes who seems to love his job and gave a fun and energetic intro to the film.

The movie itself seems like the latest in the 'superhero spoof' genre (see: Kickass) and stars Wilson as a bit of a sad sack who's wife leaves him for a drug dealer (Bacon) and drives him to create a real life superhero 'Crimson Bolt' with the encouragement of a local comic store clerk (Page) who pesters him to become his sidekick. Too be honest, it had a little too much blood and gore for my liking but fans of Gunn's 'Slither' will undoubtedly expect nothing less. But other than having to avert my eyes on a few occasions I enjoyed the movie, and the Holy Avenger tangents were particularly entertaining.

The post film Q&A was a lot of fun and totally entertaining. Gunn gave much of the credit to getting the film kick started to his ex-wife Jenna Fischer (of the Office) who apparently suggested Wilson for the role. Ellen Page seemed to enjoy playing this crazy character and Liv Tyler was stunning. Gunn also talked a lot about how he likes to make movies with his friends who've shown up in pretty much everthing he's done which also added to the party atmosphere on the stage. Which could have also been helped by the fact that it was almost 2 o'clock in the morning.

On that note, I need to get some sleep before the three movies on the schedule for tomorrow. I'll have to get to Saturday's movies next time.

TIFF: Inside Job

My TIFF slate kicked off last night with one of only 6 screenings available on the opening day of the festival. Inside Job is a documentary from Charles Ferguson (of the Oscar nominated No End in Sight) which takes on the financial crisis of 2008, basically asking the question "How the hell did this happen??".

And now I'm depressed about the state of the world financial markets.

And I think I'm supposed to be.

My main takeaway from the film is that deregulation and lack of oversight were the main culprits of the meltdown. Not to take away from the greed and corruption of the financial industry at all because let's face it, if everyone played nice we wouldn't need rules in the first place. Or, as my friend Georgia put it, there are basically about 15-20 old white men who are running the banks, governments and the world.

While I don't want to try and rehash the points of the film itself I want to mention that Ferguson does a few things really well. He manages to cut throught the bullshit of the "it's all so complex you wouldn't understand" and pretty simply and straighforwardly explain the basics of some of the market instruments that were being used. He makes a very interesting connection between academic economists and how they aren't being incented to be impartial but rather have some extreme conflicts of interest in terms of what they are studying, publishing and teaching. And they managed to get some very powerful and influential people on the record (though far more declined to participate for fairly obvious reasons).

Ferguson and his producer Audrey Marrs presented the film and participated in a Q&A after the screening. While thanking the many people involved in the making of the film he gave a special thanks to his lawyers who I'd imagine were and will be quite busy dealing with some powerful men who really don't come off well in their interviews. He also discussed some of his motivations for making the film and said he really hopes the American public takes action and forces changes to the regulations.

All in all a good kickoff to TIFF. It's definitely a movie worth seeing, and I felt a little more educated coming out of it. There are worse ways to spend a couple of hours than listening to Matt Damon tell you things.

TIFF: What's on Deck

TIFF officially kicks off on Thursday amid the craziness of the new premium screenings, box office location (again!), bed bug scares and the usual second guessing of film choices. I had a wonderful, no line, no hassle experience picking up my tickets yesterday and here's what made the final list:

• Inside Job
• Daydream Nation
• Super
• Trust
• Waiting for Superman
• Made in Dagenham
• Jack Goes Boating
• Hereafter
• Never let me Go
• The Sound of Mumbai
• Rabbit Hole
• Buried
• Beautiful Boy
• Easy A
• Conviction
• Stone

See you in line!!

(See? I knew I'd get over it.)

TIFF 2010: Not so much "The People's Festival"

First of all, hello. I'm still alive. Apparently this blog has primarily become a place where I can keep an annual TIFF diary and then sporadically write some stuff between festivals. Thanks to those who've told me to get off my ass and write more...maybe I'll give that a shot this year.

In the meantime I need to get a bit of a rant off my chest.

Tuesday was the official schedule release for TIFF this year and I showed up bright and early to grab my envelope and programme book, eager to get to my desk and start flipping through the pages and marking off potential movies.

And then I came across the PREMIUM SCREENING STARS.

See those little black bars with the 4 stars on the right hand side of the boxes? Those indicate that the showing has been classified a "Premium Screening" and not a regular public screening and thus are ineligible for the advance order process and packages.

Now, trust me, I know that I'm not the first person to complain about TIFF getting more expensive and "elite" every year. See here, here, and here for some examples. But dammit, I'm getting sick of the 'not for profit' group trying to get as much money out of me as they can. Apparently here's one of the things that's "New in 2010"...

"We have redefined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These screenings are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event"

Which basically means...

"We're taking a bunch of the screenings that aren't Galas and turning them into them so that we can charge $40 a ticket"

Here's the thing. I've never had an issue with the fact that all the Gala screenings at Roy Thompson and the Elgin in the evenings were twice the price and couldn't be ordered in the 10 ticket package. They're the big flashy venues with all the press and red carpet space. But they've now taken my two favourite festival venues (Ryerson and Bader) and basically told me I can't see any of the first showings of movies there, which frankly are always the ones I pick because that's one of the main reasons I see movies at the festival...for the Q&A's and excitement of seeing movies before the rest of the world. And I'm sorry, but there is no 'red carpet experience' if you're actually attending one of these screenings. You're in line waiting for entrance and you get a 10 second glimpse as you walk by into the theatre.

Jason Reitman has mentioned in a few interviews that he always wants to premiere his movies at TIFF at the Ryerson because that's how he got his start and that he actually thinks about that audience when he's writing. Someone needs to tell him that his audience is going to be different next time around.

Don't worry about me...I'll get over it. I'm sure I'll come up with my list of 15 movies and end up excited for them by the time the tickets are in hand. It's just going to take me a little longer this time.

My Olympic bedtime prayer tonight

Our Father whom art in Vancouver, hockey be thy name.

Thy will be done, the gold will be won, on ice as well as in the stands.

Give us this day, our hockey sticks, and forgive us our penalties as we forgive those who cross check against us.

Lead us not into elimination but deliver us to victory.

In the name of the Canadian hockey team, AMEN!

GO CANADA GO!!!

New Moon thoughts

Thanks to my lovely friend Lara I got to go to an advance screening of New Moon last night and now you get to hear about it.

Let me say this up front. I am not a Twi-hard. Honestly. I don't believe in the magical love between Edward and Bella and find most of the overwrought obstacles put in their path more amusing than anything. BUT, I have read all the books, almost compulsively, because as silly as they are...once you start reading you must finish them, even if you find yourself screaming at the story (I mean, Renesmee...really?!?). It's been interesting to watch the Twilight phenomena from relatively early in the process to see what a rabid following has developed. I remember reading a bit about the casting and filming the first film and I honestly think Summit was unaware of what they had on their hands when they started on this whole journey. They are certainly reaping the rewards now.


A few things about the movie:

- It's deliciously cheesy. And really, if you were going to this movie expecting anything else you are going to be very disappointed and have been living under a rock for the past couple of years.
- I inadvertently giggled at several inappropriate points of the movie, including but not limited to the moment when Edward does his first slow-mo entrance, Jacob having to rip off his shirt in order to pat at the blood on Bella's forehead and pretty much any moment when Edward looked 'pained'
- There are a lot of actors in this franchise who really don't get much to do. Poor Jackson Rathbone seemed to have only 4 lines in the whole film and a really bad hair style on top of that. Nikki Reed and Rachelle Lefevre fared even worse with basically one scene apiece. Same goes for the crew of Volturri, Bella's school friends and pretty much anyone who isn't part of the lead trio
- The Bella/Charlie father daughter relationship has come a long way and provided some genuinely charming moments
- The effects were better than the first film and they did a pretty good job with the wolves in general
- There are several truly cute and or funny moments on the screen. Anna Kendrick's post movie monologue rocked. Bella's 'double-date' at the movies was cringingly funny.
- Rob Pattinson is pretty, no question. And he seems pretty self-deprecatingly charming in interviews. But his Edward is a bit....annoying. The pained expression, inexplicable departure, melancholy suicide mission and painted on abs, were not attractive on screen. Now some of this is absolutely the source material and not Pattinson's fault. But the trailer for his next film "Remember Me" aired before the movie and didn't shine a glowing light on his acting ability either (Oh, but I'll totally end up seeing it). He may have it in him to be a good actor one day but it isn't today.

Which leads me to...

A few things about why I'm solidly on Team Jacob (and also a dirty old lady):

- Taylor Lautner's abs. Look I resisted. Honestly. Popwatch has had an abwatch category for months. I told myself I wasn't that superficial. I am. He's really, really pretty.
- The fact that Taylor worked his ass off to keep the role after the first movie blew up and they thought he couldn't play it as the series went forward. The poor kid must be so sick of talking about how much time he spent at the gym and how much weight he put on but seriously, that shows dedication.
- Jacob's the warm body for Bella to curl up to. (Lautner's delivery of "108 degrees over here" was one of my fav lines of the movie)
- Lautner's protrayal of Jacob just seems so much more natural than Edward (which again, is likely 50% due to the source material)
- Jacob didn't take off on Bella and leave her to mope for months
- Did I mention how good he looks running around without a shirt?!?

So yeah, go see New Moon if you've read the book and want to see it come to life on the screen. Go see it if you're looking for some prolonged teen angst in your day. Go see it for the objectification of some pretty boys. Go see it for the cheese. But if you're looking for a quality film this weekend, you might want to avoid the line full of teenagers.