Keep these reports coming, though try to be more complete than this one, which is a bit brief for me. But heck, it gives us a little guideline for what may be good and not. So here we go...
Harry, "Kilgore Trout" here to give you the quickest of scoops on some of the movies I've caught at the 23rd annual Toronto International Film Festival.
First off, I have to say that "A Simple Plan" might be a masterpiece. Billy Bob Thornton's performance is at once comic and pathetic; he has a scene at the end of the picture that really smacked me in the face, made me realize how much I cared about Jacob--he was the smarter of the brothers, which is quite a departure from the book.
In fact, if Thornton doesn't get an Oscar nomination for his portrayal, the soul of "A Simple Plan" and the first great performance of the year, then Academy be damned. Raimi will have to sick the evil dead on their collective ass.
I also highly recommend "The Red Violin" and "Without Limits"--Billy Crudup wasn't playing Ron Kovic, was he?--two very different movies that will surely be getting a lot of attention over the coming months.
Finally, "Pecker" and "Life Is Beautiful" are also good--"Life"... is great, actually. "Pecker" had a fairly uninteresting main character at its core, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, particularly "Chrissy", Pecker's addictive little sister. I loved the scene when she snorts peas using a rolled-up dollar bill.
Later, creator.
Kilgore Trout
