TELLURIDE and TORONTO 2015

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks, Johann. Don't you think Chaw is a maverick? I leave you and he to decide about Keaton; not my area of expertise.

People will never get tired of Steve Jobs. It's just starting. The Danny Boyle film gives Aaron Sorkin a chance to skewer egocentric computer "geniuses" again as he did in The Social Network. Should be delicious fun, and Fassbinder's performance has already been highly praised. If it doesn't interest you, you don't have to see it. Me, it interests. I am a great fan of Sorkin, starting with the film just mentioned and greatly increased by "The West Wing" and "Newsroom." You like Tarantino, right? Know what he said recently about Aaron Sorkin?

When the interviewer reminded Tarantino that The Newsroom got some unfavorable reviews, the director defended his love of Aaron Sorkin saying, “Who the fuck reads TV reviews? Jesus fucking Christ. TV critics review the pilot. Pilots of shows suck. Why would it be surprising that I like the best dialogue writer in the business?”

Mitch Banks died several years ago, but I still miss him all the time, especially when I'm watching FSLC films.

[Johann]

Tarantino has high praise for Aaron Sorkin. I've never seen The Newsroom and I think I saw 2 episodes of The West Wing.
He's right that pilots suck. The only pilot I ever liked is Starsky & Hutch- it's 90 minutes long, like a movie. It has some bad dialogue in it but I dig it. I have the first season of Starsky & Hutch on DVD. Vintage 70's TV.

Speaking of Tarantino, did you see his lists of potential actors he was thinking of casting for Pulp Fiction?
Matt Dillon was dropped- QT said about him (paraphrase): "If he can't give me a commitment after reading the script then he's out".
That's clout, when it's only your second film. I'm so grateful I got to see him in person in Toronto. The guy is a cinematic savior.

I didn't consider Walter Chaw a maverick but I suppose he is.

[Chris Knipp]

QT right about Sorkin. Watch for the Steve Jobs film == my review will come at the end of the NYFF.

[Chris Knipp]

Mike D'Angelo TIFF film ratings.

Have forgotten about Toronto because I'm attending the NYFF press screenings, and now Toronto is over. Perhaps because he has no publication to post daily reports for, or for some other reason, D'Angelo has not really posted his useful Tweet review/ratings. You have to go on Letterboxd to see his short reviews here. But he gives this on Twitter, plus Letterboxd.

SICARIO (83)
RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN (82);
THE FORBIDDEN ROOM (77).
ANOMALISA (Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman) (73)
THE MARTIAN (72)
EVOLUTION (Hadzihalilovic) (67)
REMEMBER (Atom Agoyan, w/C. Plummer) (65)
SPOTLIGHT (64)
TAXI (Panahi) (63)
OFFICE (a musical) (56)
LES COWBOYS (52)
ARABIAN NIGHTS 3 (52)
BROOKLYN (NYFF) (51)
OUR BRAND IS CRISIS (49)
CHEVALIER (Athina Rachel Tsangari)(48)
ARABIAN NIGHTS 2 (41)
ARABIAN NIGHTS 1 (33)

He tweets that he also very much liked OUR LOVED ONES (Les êtres chers, Anne Édmond, French Canadian) and JACKSON HEIGHTS (Fred Wiseman).

Other TIFF D'Angelo tweets:

TIFF film I quite liked and might love if someone can explain it to me (paging @moviemartyr): Bellocchio’s BLOOD OF MY BLOOD.

Biggest TIFF disappointment: Terence Davies’ stultifying SUNSET SONG. Magnolia just bought it, though, so you’ll be able 2 see for yourself.

Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (Shadyac): 63. Practically vaudevillian for a while, & I appreciated the showmanship. Subsequent didacticism kept mild.

Dégradé (Nasser Bros.): W/O. Bad theater. Sometimes I should just see the acclaimed Berlin film (45 YRS) rather than play Cannes completist.

[Chris Knipp]

Other TIFF reviews or ratings.

AV Club has a 7 short pieces. I'll get to those later if I have time.

The GUARDIAN reviews.
Unfortunately compared to D'Anbelo's these ratings are too vague to be of much use except for the top and bottom ones. But Guardian writers' summaries say that this is simply a very mediocre year. They (or somebody on the staff) liked THE MARTIAN, ROOM, OUR BRAND IS CRISIS, and SPOTLIGHT. Also mentioned ANOMALISA (Charlie Kaufman Kickstarter movie) and 45 YEARS (Tom Courtenay, Charlotte Rampling acting fest directed by Andrew Haigh of the intense gay debut WEEKEND).

COUPLE IN A HOLE (Tom Geemns) summary is "A British couple ends up living like savages in a hole in the middle of a vast forest somewhere in Eastern Europe."

COUPLE IN A HOLE 4/5
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING (Naomi Klein) 3/5
FORSAKEN (Western w/D.&K Sutherland dir. Jon Cassar) 3/5
RABIN, THE LAST DAY (Israeli film) 3/5
BORN TO BE BLUE (Ethan Hawke Chet Baker biopic) 3/5
A MONTH OF SUNDAYS 2/5
THE GIRL IN THE PHOTOGRAPHS 1/5
REMEMBER 1/5

[Chris Knipp]

New titles from Toronto.

BORN TO BE BLUE (Robert Budreau). A fanciful Chet Baker biopic starring Ethan Hawke as Chet. Guardian gave it 3/5 stars. (Their review.) The reviewer Benjamin Lee suggest Hawke makes a convincing and engaging lead.

AV Club has a day-by-day journal of the festival. Here are some titles that come up:

THE MARTIAN (Ridley Scott) (debuted at Toronto, now in US theaters. got good reports (now Metacritic 82%).

TAXI (Jaafer Panahi). True, even his making a movie in Iran when he's banned from making one is an accomplishment, as Dowd says, but I'd pay more attention to D'Angelo's 63 than Dowd's B+.

45 YEARS (Andrew Haigh). This by the maker of the intense gay film WEEKEND - Mark Kermode of GUARDIAN He gave it 4/5 stars and the subtitle is "Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling are at the top of their game in this compelling drama of lost love and missed opportunity." Dowd gave it an A- so there's agreement there.

GREEN ROOM (Jeremy Saulner of Blur Ruin). Already mentioned by D'Angelo at Cannes. Well reviewed by Dowd (A-) and D'Angelo, and one I'm sorry not to have gotten to a screening of. It could have replaced one of the NYFF's more lackluster Main Slate titles. (Considering that Gomes' ARABIAN NIGHTS took up three slots. . . .)

THE DANISH GIRL (Tom Hooper). This is at least notable as another proof that Eddie Redmayne is on the prowl for challenging or stunt roles, coming after his impressive impersonation of Stephen Hawking and his disease last year, because this time he's a transsexual. It actually debuted at Venice. But Jonathan Romney of Guardian gives calls it "pain free" and gives it only a 2/5 stars and Dowd gives it a C+ and bewails it's lack of sex. I guess we can say it is bold only to be timid.

THE APOSTATE (Federico Veiroj) Dowd describes as "undershelming" but gives a B+ to. It concerns a Spanish agnostic on a quixotic effort to take his name off baptismal records, that fades into "Nanni Moretti-esque detours" that re "scrambled and sputtering" but "gracefully directed."

OFFICE (Johnnie To) A Chinese musical Dowd calls "inspired." Set in a Hong Kong investment firm during the 2008 financial crisis. Two years ago I reviewed his more typical DRUG WAR.

[Chris Knipp]

TIFF 2015 awards.

Room - People's Choice Award.
Runner ups: Angry Indian Godesses, Spotlight
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom - People's Choice documentary.
FIPRESCI Discovery Prize Eva Nová Marko Skop
FIPRESCI Special Presentations Desierto

And a lot of other mentions; but I guess at Toronto awards don't mean much, unlike Cannes?