TIFF10 RECAP: The Festival In Photos, Tweets & Reviews

Another year done at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was a pretty uneventful trip into the city—besides a rogue Customs official’s 5 minute power trip before we reached the border—that saw a smooth two hour drive both to and from, a far cry from the parking lot car jams of a few short weeks earlier to hand in film picks for the advance lottery.

2010 saw its fair share of rain, the umbrella while waiting in line for Andrew Lau‘s screening of Jing mo fung wan: Chen Zhen [Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen] a fitting representation of what we all felt. Even more fell a couple nights later as we sat in before Bunraku. It also marked my first year tweeting updates as we came and went between theatres, fitting in our 15 movies in less than 96 hours. What follows is a recap of those capsules, links to the full reviews, and a wealth of photos depicting the cast and crew of many successful works of art.

9/9/10: 11:34am
Off to Toronto for some Film Festival goodness … New Godard at 6 to open things up …

9/9/10: 8:28pm
Film Socialism: disjointed smattering of artsy visuals from static camera, sans subtitles, 100 minutes, tons of walkouts, political meaning?

9/9/10: 8:58pm
Shoveling a Chipotle burrito bowl into my mouth with tortilla chips on the side of the road … The time crunch is on …

9/10/10: 12:07am
Legend of the Fist: highly stylized kungfu/superhero romp in an Atlantic City looking post-WWI Japanese occupied Shanghai. Lots of fun.

9/10/10: 6:42am
The Hilton’s Great Northern American Grill continental breakfast with made to order omelets … A little slice of home … [Note: not until after we ate and went to leave did we realize the continental breakfast WAS NOT included with our room … $50 later; taste of home indeed]

9/10/10: 9:47am
Never Let Me Go: devastating …

9/10/10: 12:29pm
Conviction: by the numbers falsely accused insane true story made worthwhile by stellar acting from Rockwell, Swank, Leo & Lewis …

9/10/10: 12:31pm
Sit down meal for once at 3 Brewers, our local Yonge Street haunt …

9/10/10: 12:39pm
University departmental parade down Yonge (what a surprise) … Print’s Not Dead banners a highlight … [Note: I don’t think I’ve eaten lunch on Yonge Street, by a window, and haven’t seen a parade of some sort]

9/10/10: 1:51pm
On our way to see Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen introduce their new film The Way … I think they’re related …

9/10/10: 6:24pm
The Way: sweet, humorous, spiritual journey along the 800k camino trek in Spain … A journey I now need to complete before I’m 50 …

9/10/10: 9:00pm
Wasted on the Young: the Aussies strike again; powerful film of teenage ambivalence to humanity in their made up social media world …

9/10/10: 9:29pm
Girls in suits and fake beards trying to crash the I’m Still Here screening …

9/10/10: 9:40pm
Strawberry Twizzlers for dinner … And they’re peanut free! I would assume so but thanks for verification …

9/11/10: 12:13am
I’m Still Here: pretentious, overblown and boring? Maybe. Interesting concept and execution? Sure. More interesting as internet rumor? Def

9/11/10: 8:06am
Did Clive Owen, David Schwimmer, Bobby De Niro, Ed Norton, and Milla Jovovich stay in town to say hello? We will find out in a couple hrs [Note: besides Schwimmer … no]

9/11/10: 1:21pm
Trust: Director Schwimmer shaking the Ross Gellar image; dark, disturbing look into internet sex predators and rape victim psyche …

9/11/10: 1:32pm
Insane DoJ stat via Schwimmer’s intro to Trust: 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys sexually abused before age 18 …

9/11/10: 4:39pm
Stone: conventional trailer but thought provoking, unexpectedly spiritual & mysterious in its conclusion … Don’t know what to think yet

9/11/10: 7:47pm
Neds: Non-Educated Delinquents – a rough and tumble look into youth violence in Scotland that’s overlong and rough to watch with nice humor

9/11/10: 8:17pm
Readying to see Zach Gaaaaliiiifinakisss – or however you spell it … If he shows for his premiere of Its Kind of a Funny Story

9/11/10: 9:03pm
Its Kind of a Funny Story: endearing dramedy that works front to back with a great karaoke ‘Under Pressure’ …

9/12/10: 12:07am
Woody Harrelson, Kevin McKidd and GACKT in the house for Midnight Madness screening of Bunraku

9/12/10: 3:06am
Bunraku: high style, decent substance, awesome fight scenes in a world where guns are illegal and samurai rule justice …

9/12/10: 2:14pm
The Conspirator: very solid historical drama of Mary Surratt’s railroading in court in regards to Lincoln’s murder. Great aesthetic & acting

9/12/10: 4:05pm
So glad we had a break to eat lunch and watch that dismal Bills second half … Once more proving football only valid for fantasy purposes. [Note: the Bills suck …]

9/12/10: 5:44pm
David ‘Tobias Funke’ Cross checking out 127 Hours with us little people …

9/12/10: 8:40pm
127 Hours: harrowing true story of Aron Ralston’s five day arm against rock entrapment. James Franco knocks it out of the park …

9/12/10: 8:46pm
Quote of weekend from Aron Ralston about whether he prayed to survive his ordeal, equating to Leafs fans praying for cup …
9/12/10: 8:47pm
“I don’t think even God can help the Leafs win the cup” – Aron Ralston

9/13/10: 2:15am
Norwegian Wood: deliberate, odd, and very depressing with some stunning visuals …

Full list of films, ratings, and reviews:
Film Socialisme [Film Socialism] 4/10 – REVIEW
Jing mo fung wan: Chen Zhen [Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen] 6/10 – REVIEW
Never Let Me Go 10/10 – REVIEW
Conviction 7/10 – REVIEW
The Way 8/10 – REVIEW
Wasted on the Young 7/10 – REVIEW
I’m Still Here 4/10 – REVIEW
Trust 9/10 – REVIEW
Stone 7/10 – REVIEW
Neds 6/10 – REVIEW
It’s Kind of a Funny Story 9/10 – REVIEW
Bunraku 7/10 – REVIEW
The Conspirator 8/10 – REVIEW
127 Hours 9/10 – REVIEW
Noruwei No Mori [Norwegian Wood] 6/10 – REVIEW


photography:
[1] In line at the Elgin Theatre
[2] TIFF’s Cameron Bailey and director Andrew Lau
[3] TIFF’s Cameron Bailey and director Emilio Estevez
[4 & 5] Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen
[6] Director Ben C. Lucas
[7] T.J. Power and Patrick Cullen
[8] Alex Russell and Georgina Haig
[9] Adelaide Clemens, Oliver Ackland, and director Ben C. Lucas
[10] The Joaquin Phoenix bearded ladies
[11] Director David Schwimmer
[12] Director John Curran
[13] Directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden with Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, and Emma Roberts
[14] TIFF’s Colin Geddes and director Guy Moshe
[15] TIFF’s Colin Geddes, Ron Perlman, director Guy Moshe, Woody Harrelson, Josh Hartnett, and Kevin McKidd
[16] Director Guy Moshe, Gackt, and Woody Harrelson
[17 & 18] Gackt, Woody Harrelson, Josh Hartnett, and Kevin McKidd
[19] Director Danny Boyle
[20] Clémence Poésy, Amber Tamblyn, and Kate Mara
[21] Kate Mara, James Franco, and director Danny Boyle
[22] TIFF’s Piers Handling, James Franco, director Danny Boyle, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara, Aron Ralston, writer Simon Beaufoy, Christian Colson, and Clémence Poésy
[23] Kate Mara, Aron Ralston, and writer Simon Beaufoy
[24] Director Anh Hung Tran

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