Here is one helluva lot of looks at what was shown up in TORONTO. For a look at independent film, you really can't do better than these film festivals. They provide us with the best and closest look at that world. Exciting little films, the ones made outside the finger of the NRG and Studio Execs and other creative leeches. I hope you've been enjoying the TORONTO Coverage. And thanks a ton to people like Il Matto here, who really do make working on this site a joy.
23 SHORT REVIEWS ABOUT THE TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL
Il Matto here. I hit la strada a week ago for my forth annual trip to the Toronto Film Festival, so here's my second annual report to AICN, a little tardy, as I caught a bug and spent my first two days back in the sick bed.
DESERT BLUE-dir.Morgan J. Freeman
A full of herself Hollywood teen star (Kate Hudson-little Goldie Hawn) and her academic dad (John Heard) end up quarantined (possibly because of a killer cola syrup) in a podunk desert town (home of the world's largest ice cream cone), where both find a little romance, and she learns to mellow a little. Both serious and absurdly comic, and very enjoyable. Christina Ricci body rating:3-she wears a loose sweater. Christina Ricci "I hate the world" rating:8-she makes sarcastic remarks and gets rid of her stress by blowing up things.
PECKER-dir. John Waters
John Waters is back big time, with a talking Virgin Mary icon ("Full of grace, full of grace"), a little sis who goes from being a sugar addict to being a ritilin addict to being a pea snorting vegetable addict, a couple of strip clubs (The Pelt Room and The Fudge Palace), a bunch of pretentious New York art snobs (including patricia Hearst, who dances semi-nude), and rats screwing. And that's just some of the peripheral stuff. Martha Plimpton fits in like she could have been in "Pink Flamingos". The soundtrack is full of great oldies, and if the credits tune, "Happy Go Lucky Guy", was written for the movie, it's gotta win the Oscar. Christina Ricci body rating:6-she wears medium fitting clothing, and partialy unzips her blouse in one scene. Christina Ricci "I hate the world" rating:6-she rails against those who don't follow the protocol she sets at her laundromat, e.g. those who would masturbate against a running dryer or add dye to a load of washing, but she does love Pecker, and does have a sweet spot.
I WOKE UP EARLY THE DAY I DIED-dir. Aris Iliopulos
Buzz about this unfilmed, dialogueless Ed Wood script was big, attracting early financial backing from Billy Zane, Christina Ricci, and Eartha Kitt (all of whom perform), and a clamor from actors to be a part of it (John Ritter, Nicolette Sheridan, a couple of sisters from the Phoenix clan, Sandra Bernhard in g-string and pasties, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Vampira, and Tippi Hedren with lots of birds, among others. Zane is no Chaplin or Keaton, but he's fine in this bit of slapstick. The soundtrack is a combination of distorto-rock and really cheesy 40's and 50's stuff, ending with a totally inappropriate use of Nat King Cole's version of Nature Boy, that somehow seems perfect. Christina Ricci body rating:8-she wears a slip or nightgown Christina Ricci "I hate the world" rating:unknown-she speaks no words, just puts the moves on Zane to pick his pocket.
LIVING OUT LOUD-dir. Richard LaGravenese
Holly Hunter's rich surgeon husband leaves her, and she has a crisis of confidence. Little by little she learns, partially by her relationship with elevator operator Danny DeVito, to live for herself. The best part of the film, for me, was the opening credits, where you see and hear Queen Latifah sing Lush Life. She ain't bad on the standards. The movie itself is sort of like a James L. Brooks movie, but the characters are less artificial. It is based on Chekov's "The Kiss".
I"M LOSING YOU-dir. Bruce Wagner
This one, adapted by Wagner (Wild Palms miniseries) from his own novel, really seems like Chekov. Frank Langella, producer of a Star Trek-like tv show, husband to an emotionally pent up psychoanalyst (Salome Jens), father of a recovering alcoholic/cocainaholic not too successful actor (Andrew McCarthy) and adopted father to a niece who has a history of madness, finds out he has terminal lung cancer. Every one relates (or doesn't) to each other in their own way. Includes lots of AIDS, a couple of murder-suicides, betrayal, and ritual Jewish washing of the dead. Heavy going and gut wrenching,and plenty good.
IN THE WINTER DARK-dir. James Bogle
Imagine Ingmar Bergman directing a movie about cattle mutilations in the Australian Outback. The cast (Brenda Blethyn, Miranda Otto, Ray Barrett, Richard Roxburgh) is dynamite, but the movie, mostly about guilt and redemption, didn't do much for me.
PERMANENT MIDNIGHT-dir. David Veloz
Ben Stiller plays real life Hollywood tv writer/junkie Jerry Stahl, as the movie follows him through his travails, set as flashbacks from a very lame framing story featuring Maria Bello. The story may be true, but the movie is false. Janeane Garofalo "I hate the world" rating:2-she may play an agent, but she's a nice person.
BROKEN VESSELS-dir. Scott Ziehl
Here's a better film about drug addiction, in which a slightly naive LA ambulance driver (Jason London) gets partnered with a really scuzzy reprobate (Todd Field). They use their positions to get smack and women, always living on the edge of doom. Patrick Crenshaw plays Fields Junkie grandpa very well. I could have sworn that three separate parts were played by SNL's Molly Shannon, but none of them were her.
FIONA-dir. Amos Kollek
Another good movie about heavy drug users, this time New York crack whores, featuring a remarkable performance by Anna (Levene) Thomson as a woman who was abandoned by her mother at six-months. There are a few other professional actors, but most of the parts are played real prostitutes. The crack smoking and junk shooting aren't just portrayed, they're authentic, as is the oral sex. Ain't nothing glamorous here.
PRAISE-dir. John S. Curran
More unglamorous sex and drug use in a movie about two unhappy, unemployed, Brisbane residents, who have their own ways of getting through life, she through lots of sex, he by continuously lowering expectations. Just how low can his expectations go? Since this film takes place in Australia, everybody drinks beer all day. I find if I notice the performances in a movie, it usually means the film wasn't any good, but not in this case. Sacha Horler, in her first screen performance, though she is a trained actress, gives a such a great performance that I couldn't help but notice it. She and the movie are both wonderful. Her character has extreme eczema, so it is a little hard to watch. Catch this one.
THE ROSE SELLER-dir. Victor Girovia
MO Another unhappy teen, this one a Belgian girl whose mother was so young when
she had her, she makes her tell everyone thay are sisters, so as to avoid
embarrasment. Add to this a nasty uncleand an interloping suitor for her
mom, and she really needs to get her emotional needs filled outside the
home. The perfect boy shows up, but is he what he seems? Thumbs up from me.
HAIRSHIRT-dir. Dean Paras
Cast:
Plot:
Jerry likes a girl, but Kramer liked her first, except she thinks Kramer is
gay. George eggs Jerry on to follow his basist instincts, while Elaine plots
to ruin everything just for spite.
Despite the Seinfeld similarities, this movie, about twenty somethings
trying to make it in Hollywood, is inventive as well as funny. You might
remember Brogan as Snake in DeGrassi Junior Hgh. He is hilarious.
FINDING GRACELAND-dir. David Winkler
This movie plays like it's a tv pilot for "Touched By An Elvis", in which
every week The King (Harvey Keitel) helps a soul in emotional distress. This
week he comes to the aid of a medical school dropout (Johnathon Schaech)
who blames himself for the death of of his wife in an auto accident. Elvis
gets help from Marilyn Monroe (actually a Marilyn impersonator played by
Bridget Fonda). Two friends and a few other people I talked to like this a
lot. I did not.
SIX-STRING SAMURAI-dir. Lance Mungia
This time Elvis, who had been crowned the real king of the free state of Las
Vegas after the Soviets dropped the bomb in 1957, really is dead, and every
guitar-slinger wants the crown. After hearing so much good stuff about this
one, I was totally disappointed. . There were moments that got big audience
reaction that I didn't get at all. I guess I'm not familiar enough with the
Mad Max movies and Hong Kong action flicks that are spoofed here, and maybe
I'm too old. The movie seemed all surface, so if you're in on the joke, you
dig it, and if your not, you don't. I did love the soundtrack, by the Red
Elvises, who also appear.
HILARY AND JACKIE-dir. Anand Tucker
Moving from Elvis to classical, here's biographical film about the
relationship between famous cellist Jacqueline du Pré and her sister. I was
drawn to it by the leads (Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths), and they are
terrific, but it's a weepie chick flick (think Beaches), not usually my
style.
GOD SAID "HA!"-dir. Julia Sweeney
This one is very autobiograpical, the filming of Sweeney's one woman
Broadway show about both her brother's and her bouts with cancer, and how
the family reacted. I'm not a gigantic fan of hers, and this didn't make me
one. If you like her a lot, you'll probably like the movie a lot.
HOME FRIES-dir. Dean Parisot
Very pregnant Drew Barrymore's middle-aged lover dies from a heart attack
brought on a plot hatched by his nasty wife (Catherine O'Hara) and her two
evil psychotic henchmen sons (Jake Bussey and Luke Wilson). Drew and the
less evil, less psychotic brother fall in love. Hilarity is supposed to
ensue. It doesn't. My pick for worst of festival.
Festival showings always start on time unless there are technical problems.
About fifteen minutes after the scheduled time for this one, one of the
programmers announced there be a bit more delay because of the gridlock
ouside. I didn't know what she meant by that. Another ten minutes later, I
went into the lobby and looked down the stairs to see the the area in front
of the theater entirely, and I mean entirely, filled with people, nobody
moving, probably hardly able to breath. A few minutes later, there was a
small opening that moved from the sidewalk into the theater. This oasis was
Drew surrounded by four or five bodyguards. As she and they made their way
up the stairs, so did the crowd of ticket holders who had been waiting just
inside the theater. As she passed by me, she smiled and said hi to the
person in front of me, who was a girl, about eighteen. The girl was floored
by contact, and when she asked for and got an autograph, she almost fainted.
Once inside the theater, the calls of "I love you Drew" from other teenage
girls went on for a while. I've never seen anything like it.
THE IMPOSTORS-dir. Stanley Tucci
It's been said that farce is the toughest kind of comedy to pull off, and
when it doesn't work, it really doesn't work (see Home Fries). This 30's
style farce is totally flat for the first half, but picks up as it goes
along, and by the end is laugh out loud funny. The plot concerns two doofus
erstwhile actors (Tucci and Oliver Platt) on the run from a megalomaniacal
Shakespearean actor(Alfred Molina),who end up as stowaways on a cruise
ship.Particularly good members of this large ensemble cast are Campbell
Scott as the Teutonic officer, Allison Janney and Richard Jenkins as two
murderous con artists, and Billy Connolly as a wrestler interested in Greek
culture. Not so good are Lily Taylor and Steve Buscemi. Woody Allen is
pretty funny in a unbilled cameo as a playwrite who has the boys audition
for him.
BESIEGED-dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
This started out as an hour tv show and grew to 90 minutes. Thandi Newton is
an a refugee from an unnamed African country attending medical school in
Rome and working as a house keeper for an oddly shy Englishman, who spends
much of his time playing his Steinway. When he professes his love for her,
she is taken aback, and explains to him that she is married to a political
prisoner back home. They subsequently both go about their business. As they
do, the film subtlely reveals much about their personalities. If anything is
harder than farce, it's probably getting to the soul of character without a
lot of talking. This one does it for two characters. And on top of that, the
look of the film is gorgeous.
LONG TIME SINCE-dir. Jay Anania
There are some similarities to Besieged here. This movie digs into a
character's personality and is visually impressive. Paulina Porizkova hits
someone on a country route in 1972, runs off the road, and passes out. When
she awakes there is no evidence, so she goes on. Twenty four years later she
starts to remember the details. Are these details real or her imagination?
She endeavors to find out. Anania says this movie is his take on Appollo and
Diana. Julian Sands is eerily creepy.
CONTE D'AUTOMNE-dir. Eric Rohmer
This is the film I was most eager to see, and I wasn't disappointed. Like
the others in Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons series, this movie is about
a person invoved in multiple not-quite relationships, but unlike most of all
of his films, this one doesn't beg the audience to laugh at the main
character's inaccurate self image. Two Rohmer, veterans, the now middle
aged, but still lovely Marie Riviére and Béatrice Romand, star along with
the young and unbelievably beautiful Alexia Portal.
JUDAS KISS-dir. Sebastian Gutierrez
A couple of natural born criminal lovers get together with a geeky but
dangerous communications expert and a slightly out of his mind gunman to
kidnap a studlier Bill Gates type. Because things don't go perfectly (how
could they?), an innocent bystander is murdered, and since she is a
senator's wife, the FBI (Emma Thompson), the police (Alan Rickman), and
seemingly the whole world are after these guys.Did I mention it all takes
place in New Orleans? The banter between Thompson and Rickman is furiously
fast and loads of fun , the senator (Hal Holbrook) may be more than he
seems, and the bad guy couple are hot hot hot. In fact Carla Gugino is
hotter than hot. The pace is extremely fast, the action is non-stop, and the
cinematographic tricks abound.As of the festival, it had no distributor, but
I can't believe this won't be a big hit.
Jerry-Dean Paras
George-David DeLuise
Kramer-Stefan Brogan
Elaine-Neve Campbell
Girl 1-Katie Wright
Girl 2-Rebecca Gayheart
