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Films seen Saturday, September 6th …

Edison & Leo
This is my biggest disappointment so far. The film is much more lighthearted than I anticipated and the character animation was poor to the extent of distracting. I can understand that in the tedious world of stop-motion that human mouths must be a real chore; it [...]

One positive for the AMC as a venue … or rather, for Toronto Life Square in which it is located. I’m currently in the food court and there is free wi-fi; this particular network is named “Futureshop”, but there were others available. There are also power outlets to use in strategic locations.

Now, I’m [...]

Films seen Friday, September 5th …

The Sky Crawlers
Anytime the characters take to the skies, this film is just gorgeous. The aircraft look amazingly realistic, and when they engage in dogfights the action is intense and thrilling. Now, I didn’t expect the movie to be all action, but the shift in pace outside the cockpits really [...]

Films seen Thursday, September 4th …

Zift
An interesting mix of characters populate this gritty story covering all the sweet spots: crime, sex, revenge, betrayal. Key parts of the story are somewhat predictable, but the time-shifting structure and the great visual look keep things moving along nicely. I was surprised to hear this was the director’s first [...]

Some disappointment with the AMC as a venue: there is one lineup outside for all films, starting at the corner of Dundas-Victoria and then extending along Victoria. I hadn’t been here before, so I was hoping it would be like Scotiabank where you can wait indoors (particularly important on those rainy days). Once it’s time [...]

Each year, Toronto Star movie critic Pete Howell takes a poll of critics, programmers and regular film buffs to see what they’re most looking forward to at this year’s Film Festival. And for the third year, I’ve been lucky enough to participate in this! Check it out. Also on the panel is [...]

The results of the advance draw didn’t turn out too badly, after all. I received my confirmation email at about 11:30am on Sunday and got 30 of my 37 selections. As expected, some of the more recognizable titles didn’t make it (Zack and Miri, Synecdoche, Adoration, Pontypool). It seems that earlier screenings, [...]

Alright, here are the films I’ve included in my Advance Order, sorted by programme. My top picks are shown with a *. As posted below, I’m not sitting in a great spot in the draw so I fully expect there to be changes, particularly for higher profile selections.

You can see the actual schedule [...]

Unfortunately the draw resulted in Box #9 (out of 78). The person I talked to said there are also about 3-5 boxes worth of donor packages, and they get to go first. So about 55 boxes will get processed before ours.

I’ll still post my selections for the advance draw in a bit, [...]

It took a 90 mins round trip, $2.25 for 16 mins of parking, and 30 seconds in line … but selections for the advance ticket draw are now submitted! Think good thoughts about Box 58. Sven & Sandra and Mike would also appreciate it, since I dropped theirs off, too.

I’ll have a post [...]

Looks like I almost made it a full year without posting. But with the 2007 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival right around the corner, it seems appropriate to start back up about where I ended last year.

Instead of working on my own database to plan for the festival, I’ve been helping out [...]

As expected, I didn’t have much time to update on my TIFF adventures during the week. In the past I thought it was odd they didn’t have films on the Sunday to fill out the final weekend, but I can definitely appreciate the breather after a busy week before returning to the usual routine. [...]

Brand Upon the Brain!

I happened to be awake right at 7 this morning, when new batches of tickets are available. I decided to check the status of Brand, and it was available! This is probably the film that most intrigued me in this year’s lineup, so I immediately ordered a ticket even though [...]

What’s wrong boy? Is Timmy in trouble?

An excellent start to the Film Festival! Fido proved to be a hilarious satire with an enjoyable story. If there was one worry I had going in, it was that it would turn out to be a funny premise stretched too far. But that wasn’t [...]

Before each day’s showings, I’ll try and give a little background as to why I selected the films I did. I may not get around to writing up actual reviews afterwards – the sheer volume would overwhelm my output capabilities – but I’ll try and indicate whether the movies lived up to expectations or [...]