Hey folks, Harry here with our saddle pal to the north and his look at the Toronto International Film Festival. He saw about 10% of the films shown this year... I'm dying to see Cronenberg's SPIDER - it didn't get great word of mouth at Cannes, but fared far far better at Toronto. It can't come soon enough...
Hey Harry, Sheriff Buck here. Just finished up the Toronto Film Fest 2002 with 31 films. A very strong year this year, in my opinion. Of particular note, the Midnight Madness line up was the best of any I can recall. Well done, Colin Geddes!
So, without further ado, let me present my wrap-up. First, the movies that provoked me the most, good or bad:
Spider
If this is the kind of film Cronenberg makes when he leaves the squishy bugs and slime at home, then perhaps he should turn those reins over to someone else permanently. This film is fucking good. It was the best film I saw at the festival this year. Perfectly realized from start to finish, no loose ends, nothing poorly handled, no false scenes.
The film is a river of continually shifting 'reality' - characters change motivations and personalities as we watch Spider struggling to recall and make sense of his life. On top of this unsteady ground we are presented with a story of Spider slowly recalling his youth, trying to come to terms with a horrible secret that happened to his family when he was a child.
It opens with Spider (Ralph Fiennes) stepping off a train, and instantly Ralph's portrayal of this character smacks you upside the head. The entire movie he basically mumbles to himself, but every single thought his character is having is perfectly conveyed through facial and body language. Its such a brilliant performance, I cant stop thinking about it.Not to take anything away from Miranda Richardson as his 'Mother' (Who does such an incredible job playing two different roles I didnt even notice they were the same actress until well past the halfway point of the film), and Gabriel Byrne as his father.
Bubba Ho-Tep
I love Bruce Campbell. I Hate Bruce Campbell. Let me explain.
I love R-rated Bruce. You know, the angry, swearing son-of-a-bitch Bruce. When he's on, no one is funnier in the biz.
I hate PG-13 Bruce. You know, Superman/Ellen/Hercules/Hollywood Movie Bruce. The smarmy, Snidely Whiplash he falls into. Sure, its not his fault, the Man's got bills to pay. But still.
I am happy to say this film is pure, vintage, R-rated Bruce. The one-liners are as good as anything out of Army of Darkness, and the facial expressions Bruce can tap into, even under Elvis makeup, are stunning.
This film is a fucking laugh riot from start to finish. Listening to Ossie Davis talk about getting your soul sucked out your Asshole is just about the funniest thing I've seen all year. If you were to nitpick, you could say the pacing of the film is quite slow. Not much you can do when your two heros are Geriatric! But, you wont even notice because you'll be too busy peeing yourself from laughter.
Lost in La Mancha
Normally these documentaries are, for me, inherenty uncompelling. Even the good ones (such as Pepe's previous Gilliam doc, "The Hamster Factor") face the same problem - the nature of the conflict is almost always Us vs. Them, Them being the suits. And basically everything works out in the end.
Lost in La Mancha is different. This is the story of the making of (or rather, the Unmaking of) Gilliam's attempt to film his Don Quixote film. Its a fascinating piece of work. Its fascinating because the story of this film is really the story of Gilliam's life. "Shit Happens" will be enscribed on Gilliam's headstone, mark my words. So this is the story of the one that finally beats him, that makes Munchausen look like a walk in the park.
The conflict here is not against the studio. Its against unbelievable bad luck. Nature, Sickness, Scheduling, Incompetence, they all play a role. Its heartbreaking because the small amount of footage that got shot (and is shown) is brilliant, visually and otherwise. I'm laughing now just thinking about Johnny Depp wrestling a fish...
Punch Drunk Love
I cant figure out why I like this film yet, or if I can call it a good movie. By all rights it should have failed, but the whole is much much greater than the sum of its parts.
The plot is paper thin - Basically the camera follows Adam Sandler's character's life for a few days while wacky things happen to him. Sandler does not stretch his acting muscles here - he plays the same character he always plays, only amplified. Perennial P.T. workhorse Luis Guzman is completely wasted, and Philip Hoffman only somewhat less so. He's great in the two whole scenes he's in. Oh, did I mention he's the main antagonist in the film?
Despite that, I liked this film. Scene after Scene just 'worked', particularly when he delves into this characters anger (beating the shit out of a restaurant bathroom was never so riveting). The Emily Watson character is interesting and fresh. The soundtrack is fantastic - it's this really percussive, marching-band soundtrack that raises and recedes in intensity and volume throughout the film, nearly overpowering the dialog at several points.
Ultimately, the film shows that PT Anderson can still come up with something compelling in a short, throwaway film rather than a 3 hour epic.
Ken Park
Blah. Larry Clark's latest film is actually his first film. Originally conceived by Clark and written (by Harmony Korine) almost 10 years ago, before 'Kids'. This film feels like a warmed-over retread of the duo's past works. That is, when it's not trying to be blatently Hard-core-porn shocking for shocking sake.
The first half of the film is decent but familar Clark&Korine territory. Suburbia plus White trash. Then the film falls off a cliff, with shocking (shocking!) character turns that are partly predictable and partly ridiculous. What more can I say? I've liked everything the both of these guys have done (including Bully, and to a lesser extent, Julian Donkey-boy), but this one was a disappointment.
Ginostra
The Worst film I saw this year. Appallingly bad. If I told you this film starred Harvey Keitel and Andie MacDowell, the last thing you would expect is performances so wooden they would make a first-year theater student cringe. And yet it is so.
Keitel plays an FBI agent who has come to the volcanic island of Ginostra to protect and learn from a young boy who's father was assasinated by the local arm of the Cosanotra. What follows is 135 minutes of pain. The kid, who is the centerpiece of the film, is also a uniquely terrible actor. The plotting is leaden. Not even Asia Argento as a Nun(!) could add any life to this film. Somehow they managed to take the backdrop of this gorgeous island and muddy it up with gharish cinematography.
Piers Handling (Film Festival director) introduced this film with the statement that it was "the one he had to fight the hardest to get in the festival". No wonder - it sucks, and everyone saw that but you.
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And now, some 30-second capsule reviews of other noteworthy films:
Alive: Solid little film from the director of Versus (which I have not seen). Two guys are kept in a prison cell, deep underground, seemingly for some kind of psychological experiment. Then the heat gets turned up (figuratively and literally) and the movie goes motherfucking crazy.
Bowling for Columbine: Warmest audience reception this year, and Moore's best work to date. He goes considerably darker in this film than any of his others. The footage from Columbine H.S. security cameras is harrowing, and the 2-minute animated history of America from Trey Parker & Matt Stone is brilliant.
Three Marias: Fun Brazilian film with a very solid 1st and 3rd act in search of a 2nd act. Three sisters head off at the behest of thier mother to find 3 killers to avenge the recent executions of thier father and brothers. Once there, the film doesnt know what to do for 45 minutes. Then the ending kicks into overdrive and becomes very satisfying. It landed distribution here, however, so I do recommend checking it out.
The Magdalene Sisters: A very solid and important film that, unfortunately, doesnt live up to 'Top prize at Venice' expectations. In my opinion, it probably won the prize sympathetically to draw attention and help get distribution. The Catholic church is already rallying against it. Peter Mullan told us there were church representitives at Venice videotaping people as they entered the theater and shouting that they were going to hell. Nice group of lads, the church are...
Punch: Horror of horrors, an entertaining Canadian film! This is not Girlfight, not by a long shot. Its a strong, funny film about an unhealthily-close relationship between a father and daughter which is slowly consuming both of them. And, oh yeah, Topless Female boxing. Don't know if it will get U.S. distribution.
L'Homme du Train: It's Patrice LeConte, its Jean Rochefort, and its engaging, heartwarming, and very funny. Nuff said.
Lilya 4-ever: This is the most depressing movie I have ever, EVER seen. And I dont use those phrases lightly. I was so ill after seeing this film I cancelled my next two movie screenings. It is a good film, however, from the director of Fucking Amal (Lucas Moodyson). It tells the story of a 16-year-old girl living in the burned-out slums of the modern-day Soviet Union. Her mother abandons her to go to America with her new boyfriend, and things go downhill from there.
Better Luck Tomorrow: Strong first feature by Justin Lin. Got bad reviews up here, although Ebert thought it was one of the best films in the festival. Most reviewers though it was post-Tarantino by way of MTV (Its MTV films distributed, admittedly). I like to think of it more as Goodfellas with a healthy dose of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and a little bit of Kids thrown in for good measure.
Cabin Fever: Cool movie, I'm sure you've got other reviews pouring in by now. The only thing I would say is that its not a particularly scary film. Its got some scares, but theres more (and better) gross-out scenes and laughs. Very entertaining. Oh yeah, squirrels are gay.
AND THE AWARDS GO TO....
Best Film: Spider
Runner-Up: Bowling for Columbine
Worst Film: Ginostra
Runner-Up: Royal Bonbon (Anton Sirius was on-the-money on this one)
Best line in any Film: "C'mon Hitler, let me buy you a glass of lemonade" - 'Max'
Best Celebrity Spotting: Parker Posey wandering up and down the aisle of the Elgin theater looking for a seat at "Bowling for Coumbine". Yes, this is kind of a sad sighting, what can I say. I must have the worst celeb-radar on the planet. I've been going to this thing for 6 years now and I still havent fucking seen Ebert!
Biggest Buzz Films I didnt see: Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes), Marion Bridge (Canadian film starring, (gasp!) Molly Parker!), Talk to Her (Almadovar), The Good Thief (Ocean's 11, but good)
Thats it! Must sleep, now...
