Festival Wrap-Up

Well, the Toronto International Film Festival is over for another year. I got to see, for me, a record number of films this year, 16 in total. I saw comedies, documentaries, and a lot of dramas. Some of my favourites this year included:

- Clean; great performances from Maggie Cheung and Nick Nolte.

- The Forest for the Trees: an excellent first feature from director Maren Ade, and a heartbreaking performance from Eva Lobau.

- La Peau Blanche: a wonderful French-Canadian movie that keeps you constantly guessing as to where it is going next.

Overall it was a pretty good festival. I didn't like everything I saw, but none of the movies were bad in terms of the acting or the filmmaking. The new online ordering system the festival had for purchasing advanced tickets worked pretty well, and was a lot more convenient than going downtown and standing in line. Note for next year: the ROM is a terrible theatre for watching subtitled movies if you've got someone with a big head in front of you. The Paramount and the Varsity are the best, mainly because of their modern stadium seating. The Uptown will be missed, but the theatre at Ryerson seemed to be an able replacement. I look forward to next year and seeing even more movies, my regular day job permitting. :-)

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