A Look at Toronto Film Fest '13

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 12 September 2013 16:36

Written by Eric Lurio

When Hollywood wants to reveal to the world the yearly Oscar contenders, it turns to The Toronto Film Festival -- the so-called “festival of festivals” -- for its showcase. Returning for its 36th edition, the sprawling festival runs from September 5th to the 15th, 2013. Imagine: nearly 400 films from 70 countries around the world, an army of volunteers, and 28 screens spread throughout the city. TIFF is, in a word, Huge.

This is the biggest thing to happen to this Canadian city all year (not counting the time when Mayor Ford allegedly smoked crystal meth), and quite a few in the metro area work a couple of weeks in the hot Northern sun so they can take their summer break in the dark on the latter side of Labor Day.

So as to what’s in the Oscar-bait category, check out the Fall Previews in the current USA Today or Entertainment Weekly. All the major films, except for a few reserved for the NY Film Festival are going to show up here.

Here’s a few examples with a short description:

Gravity. Drected by Alfonso Cuarón
From acclaimed Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Y Tu Mamá También), this film features George Clooney and Sandra Bullock getting lost in space with barely a tether to save them.

Parkland. Directed by Emilio Estevez
Charlie Sheen’s older brother made a film about RFK getting shot. This drama looks at the lives of the people who were on duty at Parkland Hospital in Dallas the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated starring Zac Efron among others.

Tracks. Directed by John Curran
Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, The Kids Are All Right) stars in the true story of Robyn Davidson, who in 1977 set out on a solo journey by foot across the entire Australian Outback accompanied only by her dog and four camels.

12 Years A Slave. Directed by Steve McQueen
This Steve (the other one) McQueen (Hunger, Shame) directs Chiwetel Ejiofor as a real-life free Black kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery in Louisiana. Benedict Cumberbatch co-stars as the plantation owner who buys him, with Michael Fassbender as the evil owner he is further sold to. Also starring Brad Pitt, Michael Kenneth Williams and Alfre Woodard.  

The Double. Directed by Richard Ayoade
Ayoade adapts Fyodor Dostoevsky's almost classic novel into a modern allegory about workplace alienation. Jesse Eisenberg stars as a schlub who starts to question his sanity when asked to work side-by-side with his doppelganger.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Directed by Justin Chadwick
Idris Elba is in top form as Nelson Mandela in this biopic of South Africa's first democratically elected president when he was young and good looking.

Sex, Murder, and Press Screenings at the Toronto International Film Fest '13

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 09 September 2013 16:40

Written by Eric Lurio

Its that time of year again in the great white north. All the stars fly up from Los Angeles and New York to that other city by the lake to see what Hollywood has to offer this fall.  I am, of course talking about the Toronto Film Festival (September 5 - 15, 2013), the preeminent cinematic event that Canada has to offer.

I haven’t been for a number of years, and I’ve discovered that the whole thing has moved south.  When I first came up there, back at the end of the '90s, the whole ting was primarily in a small area around Bloor Street, where the green line subway meets the yellow line. There were a bunch of theaters and restaurants in the area, all within easy walking distance and there was an underground area where you could walk around when it was raining. The Bes part was that I got to go to all the films and panels and stuff on a full pass. I really appreciated that.

Now things are different. The foundation that runs the fest has it’s own building, the uptown Varity multiplex has been replaced with the downtown Scotiabank Cineplex, and they let me have a measly five “rush tickets” That mean I have to wait out in the rain (okay, that only happened once) for at least 40 minutes for a P&I screening while al the  “real” critics” got to wait inside. To make matters worse, I wouldn’t be able to use any of the facilities, except maybe a toilet.

I knew this already, so I only went for two days instead of the usual ten.  You can’t really see or do all that much in that amount of time, but it would be better than nothing. The reason for this state of affairs was that I was asked bout last years request a couple of weeks after this year’s deadline, I wasn’t planning on going this year, and what it was all about. I told the editor in chief here what the thing was and why I didn’t go, and he said why didn’t I go? To make a long story short, we sent a request, and they sat on it for a couple of weeks and offered me my “consolation prize” less than two weeks before festival started.

This meant that the airline prices went up in less than 36 hours and I had to make up my mind ASAP. Still, all the cheap tickets were gone, so I had to do an open jawed deal going to Buffalo, crossing over Niagara Falls, and taking a bus to Toronto.

After spending the night at a youth hostel on the American side and spending a few hours on the Megabus, I got to my destination. I checked in and went to the registration office in order to pick up my tickets.  That’s when the fun started.

This sort of stuff always happens. I go, wait on line, and when I try to pick up the tickets, they aren’t there. Well, THEY were, but my name wasn’t. We had words. They got the supervisor. HE had heard of me, but my name still wasn’t on the list, so he went to his supervisor. Time passed ..And passed. . I got my tickets.  This sort of shit is supposed to happen at Sundance not here!

Next was to check out the press lounge. The two nice ladies at the front wouldn’t let me in. I asked for the list of all the publicists. They wouldn’t give it to me.

I know they wouldn’t have given me anything had I not been sending them coverage for a full ten years for now extinct publications.   But still…jeez!

Having gotten dinner at one of the many high-end restaurants across from the festival headquarters. I went to Sociabank Cineplex and saw Kick Ass 2, which was as bad as everyone said it was. But it was good practice anyway.

Next day, I got up bright and early to see my first film. The Fifth Estate was supposed to be one of he highlights of the festival. There was an eight thirty AM screening and things being the way they were, I had to get on line soon. …

But they had decided to cancel that screening at the last minute.  Oh JOY! So I had to find a schedules so I could figure out what the hell I was going to do for the rest of they day.  That was actually somewhat easy. The next film worth seeing was Don Jon, a romantic comedy for men, written, directed and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

G-L plays the title character, who’s into porn, cleaning, and religion, in that order. He meets a nice Jewish girl named Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), who proceeds to take over his life. This leads to problems, which are somehow solved by Esther (Julianne Moore), whom he meets in a class Barbara forces him to take.. its funny and incisive and will make a ton of money.

So with that over, we look at the schedule and discover….*groan*..three films all at the same damn time. Now this has been a problem with the P&I screenings since I first started going way back in the ‘90s. So we I guess it’s best to go to a Harry Potter movie. This time Daniel Radcliff plays Allen Ginsburg, who is a freshman in college and has yet to become the first hippie. Here he meets Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan), who introduces him to  Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston) and William S. Burroughs (Ben Foster) at a salon of sorts run by David Kammerer (Michael C. Hall), who has been stalking Lou and ends up dead.

This is not a murder mystery, but it is actually rather good, especially Foster. The film’s title is : Kill Your Darlings. It has to do with editing advice.

When this was all over, there was the David Cronenberg reception, which was a mile to the west of where the main action was. It was the opening of an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. Wine, cheese and lousy art, even if it was done by Cronenberg., and some of it wasn’t.          

Vietnam Launches First Film Festival

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 26 August 2013 12:11

Written by Matt Oakes

Known more as the birthplace of phở than a haven for film, artistic societies in Vietnam aim to shake things up with their first ever Family Film Festival in Ho Chi Minh City. Between December 21-23, the ever-growing artistic youth of Southeast Asia will have a chance to expose their films and projects to audience sizes the region has never seen before.

Vietnamese cinema is not necessarily a new art form, having been born in the early 1920s, but late-stage globalization has meant new opportunities for filmmakers to expose themselves to audiences and potential distributors the world over. As a chance for young artists to take a stab at a near universal art form, the Family Film Festival could signal a big chance for the ever-growing popularity of films from the region. This particualr festival will feature both live action and animated films with the only caveat being that all talent must be region-specific.