TIFF Journal: ‘What We Do in the Shadows’
‘Flight of the Conchords’ member Jemaine Clement (a.k.a. not the ‘Muppets’ one) reteams with his other partner, co-writer/director Taika Waititi (‘Eagle vs. Shark’), for a hysterical vampire com...
Tag Archives: TIFF
TIFF Journal: ‘Mr. Turner’
Though writer/director Mike Leigh tends to favor small human comedies and tragedies based on people so distinctly average that they likely wouldn’t even see his movies, he occasionally steps out of his comfort zone to dabble...
TIFF Journal: ‘Foxcatcher’
Proving once and for all that wrestling is the creepiest of all sports, ‘Foxcatcher’ offers a darkly twisted take on the awards bait picture. It’s a handsomely mounted production filled with movie stars acting ha...
TIFF Journal: ‘Maps to the Stars’
David Cronenberg is a filmmaker with predictably singular cinematic fetishes and obsessions. Yet beyond those ticks that mark his unique directing style, his interests have been hard to pin down over his last few movies. Seemingly...
TIFF Journal: ‘Whiplash’
[Editor’s Note: New theatrical releases for the next couple of weeks look like pretty slim pickings. Fortunately, Phil is currently attending the Toronto International Film Festival to scope out some potentially interesting ...
Mid-Week Poll: Do You Attend Film Festivals?
To casual moviegoers, film festivals may not even come as a second thought. For film enthusiasts, however, festivals are the place to be if you want to see some interesting movies that may not be widely released for months, if eve...
TIFF Journal: ‘Jeff, Who Lives at Home’
This year’s Toronto International Film Festival closed shop on Sunday, and it’s about time for me to wrap up my coverage of it as well. Let’s end things with a comedy. For my final review, we’ll take a look...
TIFF Journal: ‘I Am a Good Person / I Am a Bad Person’
Over the course of their careers, most major directors will at some point complain that they wish to leave the Hollywood studio system behind to concentrate on “small, personal films,” but then don’t bother to fo...
TIFF Journal: ‘The Kid with a Bike’
Belgian filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are frequent favorites at the Cannes Film Festival. They’ve been nominated for the coveted Palme d’Or prize five times so far, and have won twice (for ‘Rosetta̵...
TIFF Journal: ‘Rebellion’
French actor Mathieu Kassovitz (‘Amélie‘, ‘Munich’) has had an erratic career as an occasional director. Generally, his work in France (such as his debut ‘La Haine’ or the thriller ‘The Cr...
TIFF Journal: ‘The Lady’
French action maestro Luc Besson teams up with Asian action superstar Michelle Yeoh for a new movie? That sounds like an inspired pairing. Wait, the movie is a formulaic historical bio-pic without any action at all? Well, thatR...
TIFF 2011 Winners Announced, Confound
The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival wrapped up with a final day of screenings on Sunday. I still have some reviews to publish, so I’ll roll those out over the next few days. The festival also announced its winners y...