TIFF 2012 - A much delayed final posting

Okay, so this is more than a little ridiculous but I left 4 half written entries about the rest of my TIFF movies sitting waiting to be posted and then got distracted, and busy, and lazy, and never finished writing them.  So I'm combining them all now and posting them anyway because if I can't at the very least keep this blog as my TIFF diary, then it really has no purpose :-).  

Joss Whedon and his whole company of players can really do no wrong in my book, and so I was quite predisposed to enjoy this movie, but I think I would have loved it regardless.  Much Ado About Nothing is Whedon's bonus project of 2012 (you may have heard about the other film he directed that came out earlier this year...The Avengers).

The movie is a modern set adaptation of the play, set among a group of wealthy Californians and filmed in Whedon's own home over a 12 day period.  The story of two couples, Beatrice and Benidick and Claudio and Hero, and the machinations of the people around them is funny and entertaining and seems new and fresh.  I will admit to doing a pre-movie perusal of Wikipedia to familiarize myself with the basic plot because I thought I might miss something in the Shakespearian language but I think I would have been fine without it.

Fellow Whedon fans will be happy to see many of his regulars show up in the film, including Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Fran Kranz and Sean Maher.  I was quite impressed by all of the actor's performances (performing Shakespeare always seems to be impressive), want to live in that house, and was completely entertained.  A- grade.  The movie was picked up for distribution a few days ago so you should get a chance to see it in theatres at some point.  I'd totally recommend it.

The Paperboy is the latest film from director Lee Daniels (Precious), is based on a novel by Peter Dexter and boasts a great cast including Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, Macy Gray and David Oyelowo.  The movie premiered earlier this year at the Cannes festival and had it's North American premiere here at TIFF.  The only thing I had heard about it (constantly) since Cannes is that it's the movie where Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron.  And yes, that happens, but it's not really a pivotal plot point of the movie.

I'm not really sure if the movie is good or not quite frankly.  I know I definitely don't want to see it again.  There were more than a couple instances where I had to cover or avert my eyes because what was on the screen was pretty disturbing.

Venus and Serena is a documentary about the tennis siblings that follows the two through the 2011 season, one where both sisters were battling with serious physical ailments.  It also takes a look back, through interviews and footage, at the road they travelled to get to where they are today.

I've always liked Venus and Serena as tennis players and have enjoyed watching them on the court.  It's pretty amazing to me that their lives have been so thoroughly documented for so long.  There were definitely aspects of their lives that were glossed over (extended family issues, religion, the role their father play in their lives) but I still found it an interesting depiction of the two women and came away respecting them and their achievements even more.

It has now been over three months since I sat through The Master and I'm still not completely sure how I feel about it.   I am totally sure that Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams gave wonderful performances.

Taking place post WW2, Hoffman plays Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of an organization known as 'The Cause', a quasi-religion with a group of dedicated followers who follow Dodd's every dictate, even as they become more erratic and nonsensical.  Phoenix is a navy veteran who arrives home from the war pretty screwed up and with an uncertain future who gets pulled into Dodd's orbit and becomes his most loyal follower.   It's beautifully shot, and as mentioned the actors are all fantastic, but I found it a bit disjointed and it didn't keep my attention through the whole thing.

The Final Word

I ended up seeing a total of 17 films at the festival this year (down from the 20 I had originally scheduled before I broke my ankle).  I would say that I didn't really see any total duds, though there were definitely some standouts.  The ones I'd definitely recommend seeing are Argo, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Much Ado About Nothing,  and The Sessions.  All fantastic movies.  The winner of this year's People's Choice was The Silver Linings Playbook (which I have now seen given how late I am posting this) and I would totally recommend that one too.

See you next year.