DAY 8 - /* it's been a long crazy journey */ - SMILEY FACE, Silk, Margot at the Wedding, Lars and the Real Girl, Angel

DAY 8
Thursday, September 13, 2007

Day 8!

The exhaustion factor is setting in - and 30 films down, 15 to go. Sleep is a rare commodity and even the Starbucks iced coffee can only last so long. How many times can you watch that this next script has a twist - two cowboys, one horse trailer in front of the movies - and say goodbye to the volunteer from yesteryore ads.

SILK
RYERSON
9:00 a.m.

Silk is the entrancing effort from François Girard, who gave us The Red Violin. Silk is silky but slow paced with Michael Pitt turning in his proverbial brooding performance a la Bertolucci The Dreamers and Keira Knightley as his devoted wife eager to have a child which means ... The period travelogue sequences through France to Russia on the way to the mysterious Japan are gorgeous to behold - yet Silk does not have that full bodies gloss to it - this is an economical yet compelling story of love and the clash between cultures.

MARGOT AT THE WEDDING
ELGIN
12:00 p.m.

Margot at the Wedding with Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh felt like a version of the Danish dogme Celebration with its dangerous dialogue and underplay of hidden menace. Undoubtedly, this derives from director and writer Norm Baumbach's sharp eye and ear who has been seen and felt before from indie classics Kicking and Screaming, and The Squid and the Whale. Every time we see Jennifer Jason Leigh we swear she is the best actress on this planet - and coupling her role of Pauline with Nicole Kidman as the Margot of the film is a casting coup taking both back to their indie Birthday Girl / Anniversary Party roots. With Jack Black thrown into the mix as Pauline's humourous fiance Malcolm, Margot at the Wedding is full of surprises and dark secrets that emerge into light. The children in the film are no slouches either in the acting department and how they have to cope with their emotionally challenged mothers is a lesson in life.

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
SCOTIABANK 1
2:30 p.m.

Lars and the Real Girl is all that and so worth it and called the hit of the festival by Noah Cowan, the co-director of TIFF, [ and Ellen Page in Juno is right up there too ]. [ There are two Biancas, and the director and Ryan Gosling each have one. ] An "emotionally beautiful" movie, everyone takes Ryan Gosling's character Lars and Bianca so close to heart. To spoil this movie now would be a shame.

ANGEL
ELGIN
6:00 p.m.

Angel is the first English spoken movie from French director Francois Ozon who has offered in the past Huit Femmes [ 8 Women ] amongst other delights and Angel is another delightful fantasy with a dark ending for author Romola Garai as all French fantasy movies seem wont to do.

SMILEY FACE
Scotiabank 1
10:00 p.m.

The lineup was long for this seventh presentation at TIFF from Gregg Araki who was here three years ago with the acclaimed Mysterious Skin. Smiley Face is the ultimate female stoner movie and would have been nothing without the comedic and physical talents of Anna Faris. Anna Faris is so dead on and compared as the next Lucille Ball or Carole Lombard by Araki.

/... more to come

Our Day 10 Saturday evening looks like the following now:
we have Joy Division at 8:15 to 9:48 p.m. at Cumberland 3
Glory to the Filmmaker at 9 pm to 10:44 p.m. at the Varsity 8
Vexille at 11:30 p.m. to 1:20 a.m. at Varsity 6
Lou Reed's Berlin 11:45 p.m. to 1:10 a.m. at Varsity 8

DAY 7 - /* Ain't life grand ? */ - Bill, Cassandra's Dream, Atonement, I'm Not There, /* Vous me dégueulez */ La Fille Coupee en Deux

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 12, 2007
DAY 7

The first week of the festival is already over and 30 films down - the lack of sleep is clearly setting in and the coffee is not winning - figuring on four hours most per night after shuttling off home after the gala nights before and no weekend crash in sight. After the mad rush hour dash down to the Scotiabank theatre it was an elegant afternoon at Elgin for Woody Allen and Cassandra's Dream, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy in Atonement and the nouvelle vague [French new wave]'s Claude Chabrol's La coupee en deux capped off with the innovative look at Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes's I'm Not There.

BILL
9:00 a.m.
Scotiabank 1

You don't have to pay me to be your friend

A very strong comedy with a sardonicism along the lines of Igby Goes Down, Aaron Eckhart off last year's Thank You For Smoking dons the persona of Bill, a disillusioned man at his high school for a ceremony. Bill has married into a wealthy family, and been given a high level position vice-president of Human Resources at the First Family Bank. Bill's face is on the posters for the bank alongside his father-in-law, the president to whom he reports and with whom of course he has the family dinner with his wife, Jess. Jess, the hot blond Elizabeth Banks [the face behind Betty Brant on the Spider-Man franchise] may be having an affair with the local TV anchorman Chip Johnson [Timothy Olyphant] - a suspicion Bill has cultivated that develops into a restraining order against Bill.

The frustrated Bill, demonstrated by a drawer full of Snickers bars he keeps in his desk and a stash around the house, has a plan to get out of the bank: investing in a doughnut franchise, not too unlike Krispy Kreme.

At this point in Bill's life, in comes Logan Lerman as the Kid who comes in as part of the school mentoring program. Bill has "no time" in his non-existent schedule for this Kid who is full of smarm and self-confidence not to mention a well-laden wallet which he uses to get inside the charms of Lucy [Jessica Alba] as the lingerie saleslady. Always two there are, but which one is the mentor and which one is the master?

Bill endures a series of very public humiliations [ as does Jess herself ] as a consequence of his suspicions about his wife and Chip. But in a turnabout, The Kid helps Bill not just get back, but get even with life and his wife, developing self-confidence with a snappy new wardrobe and getting back into shape in the pool, and the Kid securing Jessica Alba as Bill's "wife" who agrees to stand-in during the appointments with the doughnut franchisers [albeit for a price]. Everything blows up at the end as Bill's father-in-law decides to run for mayor and make the announcement at the party and ...

CASSANDRA'S DREAM
11:00 a.m.
Elgin


Ain't life grand?

It is only with the slightest whiff of irony that Cassandra's Dream could evoke such a statement from one of the stars, but under the helm of Woody Allen, he leads his star tandem of Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell through a tale of two woeful constantly skint brothers Terry (Colin Farrell) and Ian (Ewan McGregor) who each have a dream of life outside the restaurant kitchen and garage of south London. The brothers evidently have a clear and tight bond with each other. It all starts with a sleek sailboat they have their eye on and trying to come up with the means to get the money. The problem is solved when Terry wins a longshot bet at the dograces on one called Cassandra's Dream - and hence the name of the boat.

Ian likes to dress sharp and drive in style [ borrowing a flashy car from his brother at the garage ] - he has dreams of being a spa owner in California and he catches the eye of the lead attractive actress Angela (dark-haired Hayley Atwell) with ambitions of her own at a play he attends and who he begins to court in hopes of taking her to America with him. The brothers sail on the boat with their new girlfriends and life looks good.

Terry's streaks of luck come and go - it is clear he has a longstanding issue with drinking and gambling way beyond his means - and finally it seems the boys' luck has run out.

The brothers' Uncle Howard squeezes a grand favour from the boys in order to secure future safety and financial backing - one that puts them in a dicey dilemma. Watching the brothers react in horror to the idea - Terry crumbles and Ian tries to dodge the bullet - but once it is clear they have run out of time they have to act.

Cassandra's Dream is a worthy and quick successor to the latest line of Scoop and Match Point - each little gems of a morality play - that shows Woody Allen still has that sharp edge. Ewan McGregor still gets by on his charm while Colin Farrell as the inwardly imploding brother who draws the audience deeper into this very dark comedy.

ATONEMENT
ELGIN
2:15 p.m.




I just wanted to give them the happiness they deserve

BAFTA winning director Joe Wright was nice enough to show up for the afternoon gala but too tired to do a question and answer. However, he led off with a nice story about growing up and audience participation and how it related to the movie.

Atonement is a story of the imagination - what goes on in the mind of a little girl sets the course for this drama. It is not a new theme, along the lines of The Bad Seed, The Children's Hour where a child's imaginings take over with grave consequences to the victims.

Atonement brings Keira Knightley and James McAvoy full circle - Academy Award nominated Keira Knightley back in 2005 starring in Joe Wright's directed Pride and Prejudice, James McAvoy appeared in Becoming Jane, [Jane Austen, that is]. Atonement is fuelled by heightened imagination and dramatically charged with below the surface tension and yearning - and will definitely lead us to reading this well-read novel by Ian McEwan.

Set in 1935, before the war to come, Robbie [James McAvoy} is the son of one of the servants of the Tallis mansion, and a polite model of decorum and manner who has been educated at Cambridge, who hopes to catch the attention of Cecilia, the eldest daughter of the Tallis family. But an innocent incident between Cecilia and Robbie at the fountain at the mansion is seen through the eyes of the young and precocious daughter Briony in an entirely different light. Briony has her own feelings for Robbie, and one night once again what Briony's active imagination fuelled by jealousy claims to have seen one night and who she accuses as the culprit sets the future of everyone around her with dramatic consequences well into the future.

La fille coupée en deux
North America premiere
ELGIN
6:00 p.m.

After a brief introduction about nouvelle vague director Claude Chabrol by TIFF CEO Piers Handling, we were blessed by the presence of Ludivine Sagnier who walked on stage and said a few brief words to the Toronto crowd: "it's my first time in Toronto"

Vous me dégueulez

The nouvelle vague is back at TIFF this year. Claude Chabrol [L'Enfer, Betty, Ceremonie amongst 90 plus films] is back in all his fine form and fury with La Fille Coupée en deux. The film is commanded by a fierce performance from Ludivine Sagnier [notably from Swimming Pool and 8 Femmes]. Submission and hints of something sinister are a subtle subtext to this film that on surface is glossy and brimming with bright music with superb performances from François Berléand and Benoît Magimel as the men duelling for the affections of Ludivine.

Ludivine Sagnier's character is television weathergirl Gabrielle Aurore Deneige [ last name Snow in English ] but she is anything but pure as Charles Saint-Denis [ François Berléand from TIFF 2000Stardom ]is the famous writer who meets her at a booksigning at her mother's store and he as an older father figure teaches her in the ways of love while competing for her affections is a rich and young spoiled playboy Paul André Claude Gaudens [Benoît Magimel from La Haine], the heir to the Gaudens drug fortune who is smitten by her as well. On the surface Charles Saint-Denis is a kindly old gentleman who is having a florid affair with a younger woman while he will not leave his wife. But on the day of her birthday, and the aftermath there is evidence something sadistic untoward going on.

There is some dark secret between Saint-Denis and Gaudens which leads to Gaudens' bitter feelings towards Saint-Denis. Deneige allows herself to be courted by both these men, one whom by his ways and charms has her on a string, and the other because he is there with his youth and money. Will Gabrielle make the ultimate choice?

La fille coupée en deux shows the fearlessness in the roles which Ludivine Sagnier
takes to heart, and in the end of the film Gabrielle is the true hero, remaining true to her self.



I'M NOT THERE
8:30 p.m.
Ryerson



An incredible bio picture of the multi-faceted Bob Dylan brought to life. The chameleon is portrayed by a wide range of seven stars from Christian Bale to Heath Ledger to the audacious Cate Blanchett who assumes the most recognized 60s incarnaton. I'm Not There is an extremely likable film with great performances throughout. The first phase of Dylan is Woody played as an 11 year old black by Marcus Carl Franklin who has a voice that has to be heard to be believed in the duet of Tombstone Blues with Ritchie Heavens. That so many actors can emerge in the guise of one life has been seen before in movies such as Todd Solondz Palindromes or in a Luis Bunuel films. And then there is the Dylan music, the sheer breadth of the music whose familiar refrains are the brick and mortar of this film.

Todd Haynes who always come up with something interesting as evidenced by Far From Heaven, Velvet Goldmine and Safe is to be commended for the remarkable achievement that is I'm Not There

Cate Blanchett as the Jude incarnation uncannily captures all the nuances of the shaded Bob Dylan and gets the voice just about right.

/... more

DAY 6 - /* girl */ - double bill of Evan Rachel Wood Across the Universe & King of California, first love in Naissance des pieuvres & Peter Greenaway!

DAY 6
Tuesday, September 11

cue The Beatles Hold Me Tight

Score! Just landed a ticket tonight for King of California at 7 p.m. Which means we can see Lars and the Real Girl on our Thursday schedule. 21 films down, so far to go.

Tuesday is marked by double bill Evan Rachel Wood day with her starring in Across the Universe at the Elgin and King of California down at Scotiabank. Miss Wood is the busiest actress here actually appearing in four movies at TIFF07 with the addition of In Bloom [ which we had a ticket for but conflicted with Juno ] and a voice in the indie animation Terra [ again with the time conflict ]. Miss Wood is in tow and been seen partying and dining throughout the celebrity hotspots with a certain
M Manson.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
11:00 a.m.
Elgin

Across the Universe

The Elgin is the best place in the world to see Across the Universe - an exuberant and thoroughly delightful lookback at "the gory glory of the 1960s" [as director Julie Taymor in attendance for the question and answer put it]. The Beatles anthology is the stepping stone to the story between a boy Jude and a girl Lucy who live on opposite sides of the ocean : he in Liverpool, and she somewhere in America. Jude comes to America and in specific Princeton University in search of his birth father who met his mother in England during the War. He meets up with Max who he saves from being caught by the authorities after an evening's travails. Max invities Jude to his house for Thanksgiving weekend, and on that one star-crossed night Jude and Max's sister Lucy meet and connect.

Everyone in the cast can truly sing, and most of the singing is indeed "live". Across the Universe starts off with Jude's plaintive singing by the seaside of Girl then the movie really launches with a rousing rendition of Lucy [with thoughts of her boyfriend] singing Hold Me Tight complete with homage to a certain young leatherclad band at the Cavern. Taymor warned if you thought Evan Rachel Wood could act, you would be astounded to hear her singing voice as well. The songs of the Fab Four are the narrative to this story of three fateful years in America in the late 1960s marked by the dying of the young in Vietnam, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey references - and the growing of consciousness of Lucy from innocent schoolgirl who spends a summer at a New York City tenement with Jude who becomes an artist, her brother Max unsuccessfully trying to escape the draft and new friend and landlord Joplinesque / Robert Plant style singer Sadie and Hendrix-like guitarist Jojo in New York City - and alas, Lucy's boyfriend is killed in action. Lucy becomes a radicalized war protester. After many adventures including one magical mystery tour aboard the Koolaid Express bus, Jude and Lucy find themselves separated not just by politics but by immigration who after one incident during the Columbia riots Jude is arrested and deported. The choreography and presentation of the 33 songs used in Across the Universe often left the audience clapping at the end of each episode. The Beatles songs have been rescored and reinvented - certain Beatles trademarks are there but "one chromosome away" from being The Beatles itself - otherwise it might as well just be The Beatles. Jude and Lucy find themselves separated not just by politics but by immigration who after one incident at the Columbia riots Jude is arrested trying to save her and he is subsequently deported back to Liverpool. Of course by the end love triumphs because after all: all you need is love.

The question and answer session with Julie Taymor was detailed with stories of the rehearsal process, the casting search for all "her children", the emphasis on the live performance, the pre-records but always ready to do the song live.


NIGHTWATCHING
2:30 p.m.
The Elgin

I was watching the night - I was nightwatching

Back to the Elgin again - this time for Peter Greenaway's Nightwatching. Maybe the one miscalculation of the day because we could have been or should have been at Sleuth at 3:45 p.m. at Ryerson. But there is just a certain fortitude and stick-to-itness that is always necessary to endure Peter Greenaway. [ You try six hours of The Tulper Suitcases at the Varsity - we remember one morning screening of The Tulper Suitcases 1 and 2 in Varsity 8 at 9 in the morning and there were 8 people tops in the whole floor. That was the year of Intermission when Colin Farrell was at the top of his game].

The year 1642. At the behest of his wife Saskia, Rembrandt mindfully agrees to a commissioned group painting of the Amsterdam Musketeer Militia in a group portrait that would become The Nightwatch.

The story behind Rembrandt's famous painting The Nightwatcher is explored - hypothesizing a murder has been committed and amongst the characters on the canvas is the killer himself. The consequences of Rembrandt's audacity after this painting was done - on commission by the group itself! - are a detrimental blow to his life and career.

Nightwatching the movie is a stagey presentation with Rembrandt and various critics breaking the fourth wall convention to directly speak out to the audience - and Greenaway gives them close-ups and latitude. Rembrandt is far from a saint but deeply in love with his wife while consorting with the help. Of course in every Greenaway movie nudity abounds. Old fat people, young maids, and Rembrandt himself [played as an arrogant, profane, yet caring - no man has just one facet after all by Martin Freeman].

Nightwatching turns out to be an audacious or pretentious but grand disappointment.

THE KING OF CALIFORNIA
7:00 p.m.
Scotiabank 1

Michael Douglas just had to show up and the theatre was packed. As narrated by the precocious Evan Rachel Wood as Miranda, the daughter of Charlie who she never calls "dad", who is forced to fend for herself at home for two years as her father has been in a mental hospital for the past two years.

After Charlies comes home, he tells Miranda about a book. From a diary Charlie read in the hospital library, he deduces that a certain Father back in ancient California left behind a treasure and all the clues are in the maps and the pages of the diary. And willingly or unwillingly, Miranda is on the ride of her life as she joins in his quest for the gold. Of course the search is the foundation for the father and daughter to search for their own meanings of their life that has encroached upon their previously isolated territory which is now dominated by the ever expanding and pervasive world of Costco and McDonald's and Chuck E Cheese. Michael Douglas's crazed personality of Charlie is convincing enough to take Miranda and the audience along for his adventurous fixation on finding the gold.

There is a high hilarity and comedy in this first time effort from Chuck Cahill and produced by the Sideways team led by Alexander Payne which will guide this movie to a enviable first step niche.

NAISSANCE DES PIEUVRES
9:45 p.m.
Scotiabank 14

A look at first love in the lives of three young French girls in the world of synchronized swimming. All being fifteen years old, Naissance des Pieuvres [ Water Lillies ] strikes a sensitive and provocative chord as the gamine and reserved Marie attends a synchro swim competition. Marie is friends with the plump Anne who is on the team, but Marie longs for first kiss and is drawn to the perfect blonde Floriane as a way of getting into the synchronized swim classes. Floriane has a reputation of being a flirt and a slag, and she is the eye of the handsome boy on the boy's swimteam.

Floriane lets Marie into her world of the pool and her relationship with her boyfriend. The overtones of F****** Amal or Show Me Love ring bells but there is the subtle wit of first time director and writer Céline Sciamma that gives this movie a real pleasing charm.

Now we have to grab one hour of sleep before the day begins. And more to come ...and just in case you were interested our initial schedule has changed several times - just keep scrolling down

EVENT	TITLE	DAY	DATE	TIME	FINISH TIME
RYERSON	THE BRAVE ONE	THU	9/6/2007	09:00pm
Scotiabank 1	Les Amours d'Astree et de Cela	FRI	9/7/2007	09:30am	11:19AM
Ryerson	The Brave One	FRI	9/7/2007	11:45am	1:44pm
Scotiabank 4	The Mourning Forest	FRI	9/7/2007	12:00pm	1:37PM
Scotiabank 3	Joy Division	FRI	9/7/2007	02:45pm	4:18pm
Scotiabank 4	THE MAN FROM LONDON	FRI	9/7/2007	06:00pm	8:15pm
Ryerson	THE VISITOR	FRI	9/7/2007	09:00pm
Scotiabank 2	Control	SAT	9/8/2007	09:00am	11:01am
Scotiabank 3	Captain Mike Across America	SAT	9/8/2007	11:45am	1:22pm
Ryerson	Battle in Seattle	SAT	9/8/2007	03:00pm	4:40pm
Ryerson	JUNO	SAT	9/8/2007	06:00pm	7:36pm
Varsity 8	IN BLOOM	SAT	9/8/2007	07:00pm	8:30pm
Scotiabank 1	Chrysalis	SAT	9/8/2007	09:45pm	11:14pm
Scotiabank 1	The Visitor	SUN	9/9/2007	09:00am	10:43am
Scotiabank 2	Starting Out in the Evening	SUN	9/9/2007	1:00pm	2:51pm
Scotiabank 1	Les Chansons d'amour	SUN	9/9/2007	03:30pm	5:05pm
Ryerson	The Girl in the Park	SUN	9/9/2007	06:00pm	7:49pm
Ryerson	Chaotic Ana	SUN	9/9/2007	09:15pm	11:15pm
Ryerson	No Country for Old Men	MON	9/10/2007	09:00am	11:02am
ELGIN	The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford	MON	9/10/2007	11:00am	1:40pm
ELGIN	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	MON	9/10/2007	03:00pm	4:55pm
Scotiabank 1	UNE VIELILE MAITRESSE	MON	9/10/2007	06:30pm	8:24pm
Scotiabank 2	NORMAL	MON	9/10/2007	09:00pm	10:44pm
ELGIN	Across The Universe	TUE	9/11/2007	11:00am	1:13pm
ELGIN	Nightwatching	TUE	9/11/2007	02:30pm	4:51pm
SCOTIABANK 1	KING OF CALIFORNIA	TUE	9/11/2007	07:00pm	8:45pm
Scotiabank 14	Naissance des pieuvres	TUE	9/11/2007	09:45pm	11:10pm
Scotiabank 3	Bill	WED	9/12/2007	09:00am	10:37am
ELGIN	Cassandra's Dream	WED	9/12/2007	11:00am	12:48pm
ELGIN	Atonement	WED	9/12/2007	02:30pm	4:33pm
ELGIN	La Fille coupee en deux	WED	9/12/2007	06:00pm	7:55pm
Ryerson	I'm Not There	WED	9/12/2007	08:30pm	10:45pm
Ryerson	Silk	THU	9/13/2007	09:00am	10:48am
ELGIN	Margot at the Wedding	THU	9/13/2007	12:00pm	1:32pm
Scotiabank 14	King of California	THU	9/13/2007	02:15pm	3:51pm
Scotiabank 1	Lars and the Real Girl	THU	9/13/2007	02:30pm	4:16pm
ELGIN	Angel	THU	9/13/2007	06:00pm	7:59pm
Scotiabank 1	Smiley Face	THU	9/13/2007	10:00pm	11:24pm
Scotiabank 2	MARRIED LIFE	FRI	9/14/2007	09:15am
Cumberland 3	The Tracey Fragments	FRI	9/14/2007	12:45pm	2:02pm
Scotiabank 1	MAD DETECTIVE	FRI	9/14/2007	03:00pm
ELGIN	Chacun son cinema	FRI	9/14/2007	06:00pm	7:59pm
Varsity 1	Les Bons Debarras	FRI	9/14/2007	09:30pm	11:24pm
Scotiabank 1	Le Voyage du ballon rouge	SAT	9/15/2007	10:00am	11:53am
ELGIN	Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who	SAT	9/15/2007	02:30pm	4:30pm
Ryerson	NOTHING IS PRIVATE	SAT	9/15/2007	06:00pm
Cumberland 3	Joy Division	SAT	9/15/2007	08:15pm	9:48pm
Cumberland	HELP ME EROS	SAT	9/15/2007	09:15pm
Varsity 8	Lou Reed's Berlin	SAT	9/15/2007	11:45pm	1:10am

DAY 5 - /* That picture is awful dusty */ - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Normal - the Canadian "Crash"

DAY 5
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2007

Day 5 already and the festival is halfway over - 21 pictures down 25 more to go ...

Monday was the day of the big movies hitting TIFF for the non-gala second screenings. The great white whale is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford with the reappearance of Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Then there is the Coen brothers.

NO COMPANY FOR OLD MEN
RYERSON
9 a.m.

How many times can you say you got to see No Company for Old Men at 9 in the morning ? And its end time ran past the start time of the movie down the street at the Elgin.

And after racing down to the Elgin only to find the door closed because The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford had already started ...

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
9:00 a.m.
Ryerson
It's a mess

No Country for Old Men [from the Cormac McCarthy story of the same title] is simply not just another slow-moving Fargo set in the Texas desert. This story is a case of being the wrong man at the wrong time - rancher Llewelyn Moss [Josh Brolin [ who also appears in the Coen's contribution to Chacun Son Cinema in an amusing piece called World Cinema ] comes upon the bloody aftermath of a drug deal gone bad. The stash of heroin is left behind in the truck which does not interest him but through his excellent tracking skills he finds a survivor under a tree and a suitcase of money, two million dollars worth of it, and he does not resist. Because of the money, Moss becomes a man on the run. Evading his pursuers, those behind the drug deal in the first place, and a crazy serial killer named Anton [Javier Bardem] on his tails who has an unconventional collection of guns and a deadly arsenal ...

Tommy Lee Jones is the laconic sheriff who with his assistant is a step behind, trying to make sense of all the clues, deciphering the trail of dead bodies, blood and all the interested parties who want the money back. He is trying to get to Anton by going through Moss, who is also being tracked by the financiers who provided the money in the first place for the deal and hire bountyhunter Carson Wells [Woody Harrelson] to get the suitcase back. No Country for Old Men becomes more absorbing more by the moment hoping the ever-clever Moss makes his getaway while trying to elude the killer Anton and his deadly arsenal of very large calibre weapons [including an airtank used to kill cattle] - bloody, high tension duels in hotel rooms, alleyways and in the streets, and Harrelson is already caught up to Moss. The whole movie becomes a battle of wits and survival insticts ... By the end of the whole mess, a retired Bell is left lamenting for a time gone by.


THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
Elgin
11:00 a.m.



Coward!

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a far from glamorous, naturalistically told tale set in 1881 of the retirement years of the James gang which is simply too long, and even though it has drama it is not dramatic. The narrative has a similar style to Dogville and Manderlay with the players seemingly just playing out their parts until the end of the movie - if you felt that Kevin Costner movies felt long then The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford feels like 2 hours and 40 minutes.

That picture is awful dusty

But slowly, ever so slowly the characters of the last collection of the James gang and start to breathe life, and Casey Affleck as the nineteen-year-old Bob Ford not yet a member, begins to draw the attention towards the climactic moment of the film when Jesse James climbs on the chair to dust off the picture. His dream of becoming a member of the James gang and his eternal fascination of the Jesse James myth and legend [ marked by a shoebox collection full of articles and stories on James and the way he eyes a naked Brad Pitt with his back to the door in the bathtub ] turns to a dark jealousy and doubts for his safety. Jesse James constantly belittles the young Ford and begins to suspect the true loyalties of those around him. Then there is the bounty on Jesse James's head which becomes irresistible to the Fords.

The movie is one of character development set against the elements of nature - the downhill slide of the 34-year-old Jesse James gunslinger in retirement, pictured an ever brooding [played by the sad blue-eyed Brad Pitt] beset by insomnia, old wounds and violent mood swings, mirrored in the bitter winter shots [set in Alberta].

The stoic sufferers in the film are the women who have to endure hardship and loneliness.

The ending is not spoiled by the nature of the title - but the character assassination of Bob Ford from hero to coward by the end is unexpected by Ford ...

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an artistic triumph with its patina of authenticity and cinematography, but it is a long long story of long riders in a West that had long gone by. The last photographs of Jesse James endure to this day but there were no celebrations for Bob Ford.




ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
Elgin
3 p.m.

I am Elizabeth!

Elizabeth : the Golden Age will probably be the movie of the year at Oscar time - it is really that majestic and good - and deals with the time of Philip and the Spanish Holy War conquest of the world with its eyes set on Protestant England - the bit of history that is the Spanish Armada attacking England was well covered in that British series about battles in history - Elizabeth the Golden Age was shot in 70 days so there wasn't enough budget and time to do the entire three week battle - but the bit about breaking the formation and the rocks is accurate enough - and the question and answer session was illuminating.

UNE VIELLE MAITRESSE
North American premiere
6:30 p.m.
Scotiabank 1


Catherine Breillat made it to Toronto again - despite her stroke she introduced her film : the costume drama Une vielle Maitresse. She did the question and answer - and there is a lot of Asia Argento on display in the costume drama Une Vielle Maitresse [ and some male bums and other females ]

NORMAL
world premiere
9:00 p.m.
Scotiabank 2

The evening was capped off with a Canadian film NORMAL from our fave Vancouver director Carl Bessai who made his fifth appearance at the festival [ and Normal is the fourth Bessai film we have seen including Lola and Emile ]. Carl Bessai brought most of his leading cast with him onstage including Carrie Anne Moss as the grief stricken mother unable to come to terms with the loss of her son in a tragic accident [ cue Sigourney Weaver and Girl in the Park ] and Callum Keith Rennie as the catalyst in the events and lives of the character of Normal. Normal is not an exploration of the ongoings of American Beauty type suburbia, although Victoria, BC is very posh from the air. While this movie will probably only hit festivals and a limited Canadian run - because in its present form with the stepson accidentally seeing his stepmom naked and then there is a love scene between the two followed by the father coming home early so the son has to go into the bathroom to hide and the stepmother has to engage the father to prevent dad from going into the bathroom where the son has to hide but unfortunately have to see his dad's bum before making his escape - of course - this movie is Crash-like but more realistic and it is cool to see Canadian movies because Canadian movies are cool and show things that just aren't done in America.

DAY 4 - /* C'est dégueulasse */ - Chansons d'amour & /* Movies are for people with time to kill */ - Lust, Caution

Just some quick notes for now until the rewrite

LUST, CAUTION
9:15 A.M.
SCOTIABANK 1

Lust, Caution which started off at 9:15 on a Sunday morning ! a beautiful drawn-out Ang Lee drama spoken in the Mandarin dialect set in Japanese occupied Shanghai in 1942 and going back in time to the student days before the Chinese war with the Japanese and the resistance movement that arose and how a group of idealistic university students plot to assassinate a Chinese turncoat who now works for the Japanese government. One of the ladies makes the supreme sacrifice of her self in order to help the cause. The love scenes are long and intense and necessary to the dramatic confrontation between the leader of their resistance group and the girl.

STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING
1:00 P.M.
SCOTIABANK 2

Starting Out in the Evening is a real revelation with Frank Langella as a distinguished well-mannered author of the 1960s on the verge of career rediscovery due to the adulation of a Master's English student Lauren Ambrose hoping to write her thesis on his work - and Lili Taylor as Langella's daughter who on the verge of turning 40 desperately wants to have a child. The director who was introducing the movie to the afternoon audience broke down as he tried to give his thanks to Frank Langella who actually showed up for the question and answer following.

CHANSONS D'AMOUR
3:00 P.M.
SCOTIABANK 1

C'est dégueulasse

I hate going to movies alone
- Ludivine Sagnier


Chansons d'amour a musical tribute with clear allusions to Jean-Luc Godard's A Bout de Souffle [Breathless] and Francois Truffaut - not quite as nice as Huit Femmes par Ozon, and marred by clumsy translations of the lyrics.

GIRL IN THE PARK
world premiere
6:00 P.M.
RYERSON

The disappearance of a child is a mother's worst nightmare - and the after effects of this tragedy in a family's life is the foundation for Sigourney Weaver's eclectic performance in Girl in the Park which is further reinforced by the even more bizarre presence of street kid survivor Kate Bosworth who Sigourney takes under her wing as hints are dropped that this may be the long lost daughter.


CHAOTIC ANA
9:15 P.M.
RYERSON

The Spanish movie Chaotica Ana is an over the top but well thought-out visual work of art from Julio Medem [ from Sexo y Lucia ] that will just leave you shocked and wondering what is going on - however the young Spanish actress Manuela Velles who was present for the screening is gorgeous and naked enough on screen.

Day 5 brings out the big guns in the schedule with
No Country for Old Men at 9 at Ryerson or
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford at 11 at the Elgin
[ or skip the last fifteen minutes or so of No Country to run down the block to the Elgin ]

Elizabeth : the Golden Age at the Elgin or Juno at the Paramount at 3 [ tickets for both ]
followed by the ultimate experience - TIFF with Catherine Breillat's La Vielle Maitresse at 6 p.m.
[ unless we can score a ticket for The Savages at 7 ]
then Carl Bessai's Normal at 9

DAY 3 - /* Have you written your second Oscar speech yet? */ - /* Thundercats are go */ world premiere of Juno, The Battle of Seattle, out of Control

DAY 3
Saturday September 8, 2007

Just a brief runthrough for now of what happened on Day 3 because we have to wake up in four hours to get ready for the TTC Yonge bus downtown [ everyone can say ewww! now ]

Today was nigh the best day we have ever spent at TIFF - rivalling the day we got to rivalling the day we saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for the first time at TIFF with director Ang Lee in attendance at the Uptown theatre one - it heralded an age of martial art movies that had never been seen before by the mass Toronto audience - the crowd was dazzled by the fight sequences set to the tempo of the incessant drumbeat and flying through the forest treetops or over the rooftops - after one fighting sequence the crowd gave a loud applause.


Woke up got out of bed dragged a comb across my head

CONTROL
SCOTIABANK 1
9:00 a.m.

Early morning Saturdays starting off at 9 in the morning with Control - the biography of Ian Curtis and Joy Division directed by their photographer Anton Corbijn [ who happens to shoot all the good U2 stuff amongst other things ]. As soon as Sam Riley had Ian Curtis's signature stage moves locked in we were hooked. It is rather odd that Corbijn does not reference his own photos of Joy Division but his eye and treatment of black and white is everywhere in how the movie is lensed.

CAPTAIN MIKE ACROSS AMERICA
SCOTIABANK 3
11:45 a.m.

At 11:45 we had the second to next world premiere of Captain Mike Across America - with Michael Moore there - it's a great great Michael Moore concert film documenting his 2004 Slacker tour to rally the student vote - so he gets a standing ovation at the end - then Q&A


BATTLE OF SEATTLE
RYERSON
world premiere
3:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m. brought Stuart Townsend's project Battle in Seattle to TIFF at Ryerson theatre for its world premiere - and many of the lead cast were there : Andre Benjamin Michelle Rodriguez Martin Henderson Woody Harrelson and someone sleeping with the director by the name of Charlize Theron who claims "I only wanted to sleep with the director" - then the Q&A followed

The cast and executives all sat in their own row in the theatre amongst the audience and were watching it - The Battle of Seattle is a project of passion like Bobby was last year for Emilio Estevez, and it succeeds on every level - bringing back to life the battle in Seattle which turned into a war during the WTO talks in 1999 - very moving, and action packed police brutality abounding - the compassion and the spirit - with the ending of the movie everyone cheered and gave the cast a standing ovation - haven't seen that quite before at TIFF

Thanks WTO - it's been a riot.

JUNO
RYERSON
world premiere
6:00 p.m.

Two years to the day of Thank You For Smoking and at the same 6 p.m. timeslot director Jason Reitman comes back with the world premiere of Juno - even more brighter and funnier and virtually the whole leading cast was there in support - J.K. Simmons aka Jonah Jameson, Alison Janney, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Michael Cera and *Ellen Page* as Juno / "Junebug" to her dad - and they were all sitting in their reserved row - the movie couldn't be heard half the time for all the laughter coming from the audience due to the smart and very arrested devlopment script - and once again by the end everyone around them was giving the cast a standing ovation. The whole cast was introduced back one by one stage and another standing ovation for Ellen Page - and another Q&A

and it all ended off at 9:45pm back to Scotiabank 1 came Chrysallis - a smart French science fiction movie with martial arts and guns, lots of guns

as we said - it was like one of the best days ever at TIFF and this was only Day 3

now we have to get up by 6 a.m. to catch Lust, Caution because the TTC subway does not run until 9 a.m.

... Rule #15 : Sleep, the final frontier - you can only dream about it

We have to ask ourself do we want to see Juno yet again or Elizabeth in the same timeslot - can we recapture the Juno magic ? [ obviously seeing Juno at 6 today meant we had to eat our ticket for In Bloom at 7 with Evan Rachel Wood ]

Does TIFF get any better than this?

DAY 2 - /* Who are you taking to the Oscars ? */ The Visitor provokes and Joy Division is revisited

DAY TWO
FRIDAY SEPT 7, 2007


cue Joy Division These Days

These are rather quick yet thought out comments at the moment [ more rewrite later ] - just came back from The Visitor and it is after midnight now. Every festival, one always looks for the next Amelie or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - and once in a while you find the next Crash. The Visitor is in that territory.


Les Amours d'Astree et de Celadon
9:00 A.M.
Scotiabank 1

Love and other disasters in fifth century Gaul - the Romans have left the scene leaving behind a host of Gods to be worshipped along the lines of Jupiter, Mars - but
in place of the Romans are the Druids and Nymphs who lord over the commoners and shepherds and shepherdesses. Two in particular are the shepherd Celadon whose father was a mighty soldier who fought the Visigoths and could live on the name and standing of his father but chooses to earn his own living as a shepherd - and the shepherdess Astree deeply in love with Astree but feels betrayed when she sees her beau at the feast with another woman [ a contrivance meant to satisfy Celadon's parents that the two are not actually seeing each other - but the other woman goes too far in her unfeigned affections ] and so Astree spurns Celadon and Celadon unable to woo her back and obeying her command to never see each other again jumps into the river.
This story of the two star-crossed lovers abounds in nymphlike ladies adorned in gauzy togas and tops whose lovely legs are seen in the afternoon sun. It is a simple story wrapped up in a deeply yet silly religious story and paean to love that harkens the early days of Rohmer and David Hamilton.

Live! Live! are her final commands.


THE MOURNING FOREST
12:00 P.M.
Scotiabank 1

The type of story the Japanese seem to do best - a traditional yet modern take on the older generation questioning "Am I alive?"

Young ladies who seem barely out of high school take care of a generation of old folks at a retirement house. Two of the opposite generations manage to connect, connected by a similary of name; she is Mi-chi-ko, his wife was Mi-ko. Michiko is a young woman who has apparently just lost a son, and the elderly gentleman, seemingly simple and catatonic at times in deep mourning for his wife over the course of 33 years, a number of years of mourning religious significance in the Buddhist when the spirit of his wife can cross over to the next world.

The Mourning Forest is brimming with lush verdant garden and forest and during a day out the two go through a profound experience that shows his true strengths and devotion after their car runs off the road and answer the question "Am I alive?"

JOY DIVISION
World Premiere
2:45 P.M.
Scotiabank 3 [ detecting a pattern here? ]

Years at at the Rivoli a representative from Factory Records in Manchester U.K. brought over footage - tv and raw live footage - that showed Joy Division in performance as well as New Order and the other Factory labelmates. 24 Hour Party People brought the Manchester scene
that started foremost with the advent of the Sex Pistols and that memorable performance in Manchester in 1976 - and Warsaw was born out of the belief that if the Sex Pistols could do it, so could anybody else. Of course 24 Hour Party People was more the story of television personality Tony Wilson and the rise and fall of the Factory scene and the rebirth of Manchester from industrial to modern to the the rave scene cut by the Happy Mondays.

On the other hand, this world premiere documentary is about Manchester and Joy Division itself - which is a good thing and of course we are watching this with the eye of Joy Division being our favourite band of all time. The author of the movie set out to achieve that for at least 50 minutes that suicide of Ian Curtis would not be mentioned. And once again the footage is revived, the stark 8 mm concert footage, the Granada tv performances, the two videos,
and the music never sounded better over the speakers. All the right names connected with Joy Division look back at Joy Division and Ian Curtis, the three members of New Order, Paul Morley the Melody Maker journalist and fan; Peter Saville, the influential designer of their record covers Unknown Pleasures and Closer, Ian Curtis's Belgian girlfriend Annik Honore, photographer Anton Corbijn, P.Orridge from Throbbing Gristle, and others including their early managers, and Tony Wilson who came into the lives of Joy Division.

Shown singly on screen, the Joy Division mates recount the early stories, where the name came from, the various concert venues and shows, and you cannot talk about Joy Division without the producer Martin Hannett, the smash effect of Unknown Pleasures, the literary influences upon Closer including JG Ballard's Atrocity Exhibition, what sweet Ian was like in the beginning, the epileptic fits that later came on, and those days in May 16th through 18th, just on the eve of the tour of America in 1980 that would have brought Joy Division to The Edge in Toronto on the 25th of May ... and the influence of Joy Division lives on.

Debbie Curtis, Ian's wife is only quoted during the movie because her movie is Closer based upon her book Touching From A Distance, and Joy Division's documenter feels that Debbie did not know Joy Division at all.


THE MAN FROM LONDON
6:00 P.M.
Cannes selection
Scotiabank 4

Bela Tarr. Master director. The Man From London based on George Simenon's story is a black and white masterpiece of the one-take long shot, and we are talking about mesmerizing static and panned long shots that leave Brian De Palma in the dust; cinematography with astounding depth of field and focus and awe-inspiring light and lensing from shadow to brilliant light and lit scenes in the darkness that begins with a simple light bulb as the sole source, closeups of hands, the back of heads, eating soup, no dissolves, just very long cuts, and a disturbing music score that shakes the soul.

9:15 P.M.
THE VISITOR
World Premiere
Ryerson

Sometimes fate conspires with you. All efforts to see Closer at 9:45 p.m. or The Orphanage at 10 p.m. at Scotiabank were rebuffed.

Which led to slotting in The Visitor into the schedule, and what a fortuitous decision it was. [ But first we had to defeat the crowds down there at Queen St West and John Street - the corner of the MuchMusic building which was hosting the E! Canada Schmoozefest which used to be CITY-TV's domain until they sold out to CTV - and this is the best party in Toronto because the stars in full glitter and movie types in suits come down in limos to eat some of the best food, drink the free drink and be seen on camera on the red camera or inside a special land behind the fences where they celebrate and dress nicely. And all the fans outside - many ladies dressed in skimpy stuff in the sweltering Toronto heat - line against the railings on the other side of the street waiting to get a glimpse of the arriving movie stars. ]

Thomas McCarthy first made his mark upon TIFF with The Station Agent at the lamented Uptown, theatre 2 with actors Patricia Clarkson, Peter Dinklage, and Bobby Carnavale in attendance along with the director. The standing ovation afterwards cemented our impression of him as a masterful storyteller with a deft ear and eye for comedy that draws us into the heart of the characters.

McCarthy has done it again with The Visitor and it is not too early to see Oscar worthy considerations going to members of the cast - and we will not draw too much out of the story in deference to those who still are going to see The Visitor at TIFF.

Yet The Visitor reminds us again why we keep going back to the Toronto International Film Festival - the magic.

And we have to wake up in 4 hours for Day Three. Hopefully.

Up first:
Control 9 a.m. Scotiabank

DAY ONE - /* I want my dog back */ - The Brave One is a bravura Jodie Foster performance

DAY ONE
THURSDAY, SEPT 6

THE BRAVE ONE
[ WORLD PREMIERE ]
Ryerson [ capacity 1200 with balcony ]
9 p.m.

Welcome to opening night! And so pronounced Mr Cowan - and without further ado save thanks to the sponsors and a melodramatic description of The Brave One he introduced Joel Silver - one year to the day last year when the mighty one introduced his cast of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the film noir/pink comedy highlight of last year's TIFF : Kevin Bacon, and Val Kilmer.

Out on the red carpet the camera lights were at full blast as Jodie Foster in shimmy black was holding court with the press while the humongous line filed past into Ryerson theatre


The world premiere of The Brave One was no less auspicious with Neil Jordan himself back at TIFF again and one person who launched his career at TIFF with Crash - Terence Howard - and actor and director from 1991's TFF with Little Man Tate [ before it was TIFF ] Jodie Foster!

She pronounced Toronto the Toronto lovefest and the evening was on.

The Brave One is a stylishly lush yet gritty character piece about vigilante justice and its attendant questions - and moreover the persona Jodie Foster becomes - someone outside herself as she seeks retribution for the death of her husband to be. Neil Jordan develops characters against a brutal background - New York City which changes before her eyes after her savage beating at the hands of hoodlums. New York is a character with its own musical background - in the beginning it is Sarah McLachlan setting the tone - but the world changes before her eyes - she never recovers who she was and she can only return to the character she has become. The proof is in a couple of black hoodlums on the train she is riding hassling a white stoner dude out of his iPod. They think they see an easy mark. Wrong. Dead wrong. As the detectives come upon the crime scene and check out the iPod on the bodies of the dead - Radiohead, U2, Dixie Chicks - I don't think this was his. Terence Howard is a obsessed cop who has been unable to bring a particularly nasty criminal mind to justice - the difference between Terence and Jodie - one stays within the law, the other does his job for him. The Brave One is very taut and strangely enough the audience was laughing at key moments - perhaps in the disbelief of some of the scenes, and mostly out of comedic relief and one-liners provided by Nicky Katt, Terence Howard's partner. The Brave One builds to a classic Neil Jordan climax. And Sarah McLachlan music leads out.

The Toronto International Film Festival is truly underway.

1 film down - 45 to go, and somewhere in Toronto Paris Hilton is partying away at Ultra [ and shooting a movie - who let her across the border ? ]

Weather at the moment: really muggy 30 Canadian degrees - it's not all snowshoes and igloos yet

All night parties indubitably - and Matt's black and white charity fund raising party here and George and Brad somewhere in town too

Next on Day Two:
Eric Rohmer's Les Amours d'Astree et de Cela
The Mourning Forest
Joy Division [ o joy ! our favest band ]
The Man From London
September or Thomas McCarthy's The Visitor

/* They're here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! */ - TIFF07 starts now

cue music Stars - The Night Starts Here

Update !

We are going to see The Brave One tonight - finally ! It took some perseverance and some nice people

and a couple more switches have elicited LUST, CAUTION !!! on Sept 9 at 9:15 a.m.

Due to the fact we just don't think we can make it from Scotiabank to Cumberland in half an hour or less after The Man From London, we are opting for a later film Help Me Eros instead of September- and switching The Visitor to 9:15 p.m. on Friday Sept 7, and throwing in a backup Married Life at 9:15 a.m. on Friday Sept 14.


But if you think getting to Cumberland from Scotiabank in 15 minutes is realistic by TTC [ i.e. running to the Osgoode subway presuming you don't get a streetcar, going up north from Osgoode to St George - making the switch and heading east to Bay - then running to the Cumberland just in time for the lineup in ] ...
----


And we're back !

So this is the moment we all live for and the anticipation is already generating pitterpats without even having seen a star or a movie yet - just lineups and more lineups [ we do not talk about rule 12 ].

Today : still trying to get a ticket for tonight - it's not been fun so far. Four visits to the TIFF ticket lines have garnered almost nothing that has approached a solution to our resolution of the various scheduling conflicts.

So this is what we would like and what we have to offer in trade:

Looking for:

• King of California - looking for King of California Tuesday Sept 11 @ 7 p.m.
  [ will offer King of California Thursday Sept 13 @ 2:15 p.m. and All Hat Tues Sept 11 @ 6 p.m. ]
  
  
• Lars and the Real Girl - looking for Lars and the Real Girl Monday Sept 10 @ 9:15 p.m.
  [ will offer Lars and the Real Girl Thursday Sept 13 @ 2:30 p.m. and Normal on Monday Sept 10 @ 9 p.m. ]
  
  
• Control - looking for Control Friday Sept 7 @ 9:45 p.m.
  [ will offer Control on Saturday Sept 8 @ 9:00 a.m. ]
  
  
• The Orphanage - looking for Friday Sept 7 @ 9:45 p.m.
  [ will offer September on Friday Sept 7 @ 8:45 p.m. ]
  
  
• The Assassination of Jesse James ... - looking for Saturday Sept 8 at 9:15 p.m.
  [ will offer The Assassination of Jesse James - Monday Sept 10 @11:15 a.m.
  

Will also throw in The Passage @ 11 p.m. on Sunday Sept 9 for any of the above. [ Throw ins dependent upon availability and any subsequent trades].



/... more to come of course

P.S. Have fun!

Love and Other Disasters at the box office - TIFF minus 1 day

cue music from Joy Division Love Will Tear Us Apart

If at first you don't succeed try try again - - and did we ever try

Love and Other Disasters was a wonderful Brittany Murphy movie seen at TIFF - was it last year already ? - but totally appropriate to the scheduling disaster now left here.

The day of the ticket pickup the first exchange and additions were made - with some success and some disappointment. And it all started off with a disastrous trade the day after [ now that is a disaster movie ]. Trying to get rid of scheduling conflicts necessitated second choice backups and more backups as the projected first wave of changes did not materialize. Entering the lineup twice afterwards - then after a final consultation with the book and the schedule and a plan of attack on paper worthy of Patton, we hit the lineup for the third time at 4:00 pm [ 16h00 ].

It seems the TIFF gods looked down from above and laughed as once again we tried for Lust, Caution and Eastern Promises, and tried to reschedule No Country for Old Men and The Assassination of ... The Argentos were still no go but Catherine Breillat emerged from the dungeon with Une Vieille Maitresse [ this should be fun - who has not seen Fat Girl or Sex is Comedy or L'anatomie de l'enfer at TIFF? ]. The Australian film September became available and so did the evening slot for Juno which means Elizabeth: The Golden Age can stay but In Bloom is now in conflict as are yet Lars and the Real Girl and King of California. It will definitely be nice to see Les Bons Debarras again - one of the very first quebecois movies we ever saw.

But clerical error has left us appalled and without any tickets for either Persepolis or The Brave One on Day One opening night Thursday and Jodie Foster The Brave One showing up on Friday Day Two.

In any case, the disaster is below down there below all that white space - we do not know why it exists so keep on scrolling.

EVENT	TITLE	DAY	DATE	TIME	FINISH TIME
		THU	9/6/2007
Scotiabank 1	Les Amours d'Astree et de Cela	FRI	9/7/2007	09:30am	11:19AM
Ryerson	The Brave One	FRI	9/7/2007	11:45am	1:44pm
Scotiabank 4	The Mourning Forest	FRI	9/7/2007	12:00pm	1:37PM
Scotiabank 3	Joy Division	FRI	9/7/2007	02:45pm	4:18pm
Scotiabank 4	THE MAN FROM LONDON	FRI	9/7/2007	06:00pm	8:15pm
Cumberland 2	SEPTEMBER	FRI	9/7/2007	08:45pm	10:10pm
Scotiabank 2	Control	SAT	9/8/2007	09:00am	11:01am
Scotiabank 3	Captain Mike Across America	SAT	9/8/2007	11:45am	1:22pm
Ryerson	Battle in Seattle	SAT	9/8/2007	03:00pm	4:40pm
Ryerson	JUNO	SAT	9/8/2007	06:00pm	7:36pm
Varsity 8	IN BLOOM	SAT	9/8/2007	07:00pm	8:30pm
Scotiabank 1	Chrysalis	SAT	9/8/2007	09:45pm	11:14pm
Scotiabank 1	The Visitor	SUN	9/9/2007	09:00am	10:43am
Scotiabank 2	Starting Out in the Evening	SUN	9/9/2007	1:00pm	2:51pm
Scotiabank 1	Les Chansons d'amour	SUN	9/9/2007	03:30pm	5:05pm
Ryerson	The Girl in the Park	SUN	9/9/2007	06:00pm	7:49pm
Ryerson	Chaotic Ana	SUN	9/9/2007	09:15pm	11:15pm
Ryerson	No Country for Old Men	MON	9/10/2007	09:00am	11:02am
ELGIN	The Assassination of Jesse...	MON	9/10/2007	11:00am	1:40pm
ELGIN	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	MON	9/10/2007	03:00pm	4:55pm
Scotiabank 2	Just Like Home	MON	9/10/2007	06:00pm	7:37pm
Scotiabank 1	UNE VIELILE MAITRESSE	MON	9/10/2007	06:30pm	8:24pm
Scotiabank 2	NORMAL	MON	9/10/2007	09:00pm	10:44pm
ELGIN	Across The Universe	TUE	9/11/2007	11:00am	1:13pm
ELGIN	Nightwatching	TUE	9/11/2007	02:30pm	4:51pm
Ryerson	Sleuth	TUE	9/11/2007	03:45pm	5:01pm
ISABEL BADER	All Hat	TUE	9/11/2007	06:00pm	7:29pm
Scotiabank 14	Naissance des pieuvres	TUE	9/11/2007	09:45pm	11:10pm
Scotiabank 3	Bill	WED	9/12/2007	09:00am	10:37am
ELGIN	Cassandra's Dream	WED	9/12/2007	11:00am	12:48pm
ELGIN	Atonement	WED	9/12/2007	02:30pm	4:33pm
ELGIN	La Fille coupee en deux	WED	9/12/2007	06:00pm	7:55pm
Ryerson	I'm Not There	WED	9/12/2007	08:30pm	10:45pm
Ryerson	Silk	THU	9/13/2007	09:00am	10:48am
ELGIN	Margot at the Wedding	THU	9/13/2007	12:00pm	1:32pm
Scotiabank 14	King of California	THU	9/13/2007	02:15pm	3:51pm
Scotiabank 1	Lars and the Real Girl	THU	9/13/2007	02:30pm	4:16pm
ELGIN	Angel	THU	9/13/2007	06:00pm	7:59pm
Scotiabank 1	Smiley Face	THU	9/13/2007	10:00pm	11:24pm
Scotiabank 1	Les Amours d'Astree et de Cela	FRI	9/14/2007	09:00am	10:49am
Cumberland 3	The Tracey Fragments	FRI	9/14/2007	12:45pm	2:02pm
Scotiabank 1	MAD DETECTIVE	FRI	9/14/2007	03:00pm
ELGIN	Chacun son cinema	FRI	9/14/2007	06:00pm	7:59pm
Varsity 1	Les Bons Debarras	FRI	9/14/2007	09:30pm	11:24pm
Varsity 8	Callas Assoluta	FRI	9/14/2007	11:00pm
Varsity 5	George A Romero's Diary of the Dead	FRI	9/14/2007	11:00pm	12:35am
Scotiabank 1	Le Voyage du ballon rouge	SAT	9/15/2007	10:00am	11:53am
ELGIN	Amazing Journey: The Story...	SAT	9/15/2007	02:30pm	4:30pm
Ryerson	NOTHING IS PRIVATE	SAT	9/15/2007	06:00pm
Cumberland 3	Joy Division	SAT	9/15/2007	08:15pm	9:48pm
Varsity 8	Lou Reed's Berlin	SAT	9/15/2007	11:45pm	1:10am

and love
love will tear us apart
again
Since writing this particular passage we hit the lineup one more time at College Park and came up with Juno, Deficit, Max von Sydow presents The Virgin Spring and Sukiyaki Western Django - resolution of time conflicts to follow

Labour Day down at College Park - TIFF minus 3 days

The people down at the TIFF07 boxoffice this year are very patient and very nice and they put up with an incredible lot of people and paper shuffling and questions and more paper shuffling.

We thought that Labour Day was going to be very peaceful down there at College Park - an empty food court, footsteps echoing in the halls, just pick up your tickets and make the additions and changes with no line-ups [ that's almost rule #14 ] - almost.

Picking up the tickets at 16h00 [ 4:00 pm EDT ] was no problem - however, we had to boost our allotment up to the 50 on our Festival Pass so it would just be a simple saunter over to the box office - then reality hit. In a 30 C sun the lineup snaked out of the doorway from College Park and back onto the sidewalk of Yonge Street and a few minor thoughts of the lineup not being served by the 6:00 pm closing time entered a few minds as people were making phone calls on their cells and rescheduling appointments or rendezvous for dinner. Belle and Sebastina live in Amsterdam kept the lineup tolerable and asking a few people if they had tickets to exchange but with no luck. By 5:30 pm the front door loomed and the hallway was cool respite. We had already spent the evening before trying to figure out which 8 tickets more to get and after the very nice lady put up with us for about half an hour we had 10 new tickets and two fell by the wayside [ including They Wait and Flash Point but the biggest score was Lars and the Real Girl, The Tracey Fragments and I'm Not There. Of course now we have a definite conflict between Lars and the Real Girl and The King of California. So if anyone wants to trade their 7 pm screening of The King of California for a 2:30 pm let us know. We will throw in Elizabeth: The Golden Age or Sleuth.

We still have to make a couple more switches in there. And there is still the Saturday the 15th morning schedule that you can laugh at.
The new schedule is down there at the bottom of all this white space we cannot get rid of. Keep scrolling down.

VENUE	FILM	DAY	DATE	TIME	FINISH TIME
ELGIN	Persepolis	THU	9/6/2007	09:00pm	10:35pm
Scotiabank 1	Les Amours d'Astree et de Cela	FRI	9/7/2007	09:30am	11:19AM
Scotiabank 4	The Mourning Forest	FRI	9/7/2007	12:00pm	1:37PM
Scotiabank 3	Joy Division	FRI	9/7/2007	02:45pm	4:18pm
Scotiabank 2	Les Chansons d'amour	FRI	9/7/2007	07:15pm	8:50pm
Scotiabank 2	Control	SAT	9/8/2007	09:00am	11:01am
Scotiabank 3	Captain Mike Across America	SAT	9/8/2007	11:45am	1:22pm
Ryerson	Battle in Seattle	SAT	9/8/2007	03:00pm	4:40pm
Scotiabank 2	Erik Nietzsche The Early Years	SAT	9/8/2007	06:30pm	8:05pm
Scotiabank 1	Chrysalis	SAT	9/8/2007	09:45pm	11:14pm
Scotiabank 1	The Visitor	SUN	9/9/2007	09:00am	10:43am
Scotiabank 2	Starting Out in the Evening	SUN	9/9/2007	1:00pm	2:51pm
Scotiabank 1	Les Chansons d'amour	SUN	9/9/2007	03:30pm	5:05pm
Ryerson	The Girl in the Park	SUN	9/9/2007	06:00pm	7:49pm
Ryerson	Chaotic Ana	SUN	9/9/2007	09:15pm	11:15pm
Ryerson	No Country for Old Men	MON	9/10/2007	09:00am	11:02am
ELGIN	The Assassination of Jesse...	MON	9/10/2007	11:00am	1:40pm
ELGIN	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	MON	9/10/2007	03:00pm	4:55pm
Ryerson	Juno	MON	9/10/2007	03:00pm	4:36pm
Scotiabank 2	Just Like Home	MON	9/10/2007	06:00pm	7:37pm
Scotiabank 4	M	MON	9/10/2007	09:15pm	11:05pm
ELGIN	Across The Universe	TUE	9/11/2007	11:00am	1:13pm
ELGIN	Nightwatching	TUE	9/11/2007	02:30pm	4:51pm
Ryerson	Sleuth	TUE	9/11/2007	03:45pm	5:01pm
ISABEL BADER	All Hat	TUE	9/11/2007	06:00pm	7:29pm
Scotiabank 14	Naissance des pieuvres	TUE	9/11/2007	09:45pm	11:10pm
Scotiabank 3	Bill	WED	9/12/2007	09:00am	10:37am
ELGIN	Cassandra's Dream	WED	9/12/2007	11:00am	12:48pm
ELGIN	Atonement	WED	9/12/2007	02:30pm	4:33pm
ELGIN	La Fille coupee en deux	WED	9/12/2007	06:00pm	7:55pm
Ryerson	I'm Not There	WED	9/12/2007	08:30pm	10:45pm
Ryerson	Silk	THU	9/13/2007	09:00am	10:48am
ELGIN	Margot at the Wedding	THU	9/13/2007	12:00pm	1:32pm
Scotiabank 14	King of California	THU	9/13/2007	02:15pm	3:51pm
Scotiabank 1	Lars and the Real Girl	THU	9/13/2007	02:30pm	4:16pm
ELGIN	Angel	THU	9/13/2007	06:00pm	7:59pm
Scotiabank 1	Smiley Face	THU	9/13/2007	10:00pm	11:24pm
Scotiabank 1	Les Amours d'Astree et de Cela	FRI	9/14/2007	09:00am	10:49am
Cumberland 3	The Tracey Fragments	FRI	9/14/2007	12:45pm	2:02pm
ELGIN	The Walker	FRI	9/14/2007	03:00pm	4:47pm
ELGIN	Chacun son cinema	FRI	9/14/2007	06:00pm	7:59pm
Varsity 1	Les Bons Debarras	FRI	9/14/2007	09:30pm	11:24pm
Varsity 5	George A Romero's Diary of the Dead	FRI	9/14/2007	11:00pm	12:35am
Ryerson	Death Defying Acts	SAT	9/15/2007	09:00am	10:37am
Scotiabank 1	Le Voyage du ballon rouge	SAT	9/15/2007	10:00am	11:53am
ELGIN	Closing the Ring	SAT	9/15/2007	11:00am	12:50pm
ELGIN	Amazing Journey: The Story...	SAT	9/15/2007	02:30pm	4:30pm
Varsity 3	The Edge of Heaven	SAT	9/15/2007	05:15pm	7:17pm
Cumberland 3	Joy Division	SAT	9/15/2007	08:15pm	9:48pm
Varsity 8	Lou Reed's Berlin	SAT	9/15/2007	11:45pm	1:10am

That's it !

TIFF minus 3 days !!!

On with the show this is it ...

We have some grumblings with TIFF07 this year so we have to do something drastic here. There is a big white space that we cannot seem to get rid of so keep scrolling down until you see the schedule down below ...

EVENT	TITLE	DAY	DATE	TIME
ELGIN	Persepolis	THU	9/6/2007	09:00pm
Scotiabank 1	Les Amours d'Astree et de Cela	FRI	9/7/2007	09:30am
Scotiabank 4	The Mourning Forest	FRI	9/7/2007	12:00pm
Scotiabank 3	Joy Division	FRI	9/7/2007	02:45pm
Scotiabank 2	Les Chansons d'amour	FRI	9/7/2007	07:15pm
Scotiabank 2	Control	SAT	9/8/2007	09:00am
Ryerson	Battle in Seattle	SAT	9/8/2007	03:00pm
Scotiabank 1	Chrysalis	SAT	9/8/2007	09:45pm
Scotiabank 3	They Wait	SUN	9/9/2007	12:15pm
Scotiabank 1	Les Chansons d'amour	SUN	9/9/2007	03:30pm
Ryerson	Chaotic Ana	SUN	9/9/2007	09:15pm
Ryerson	No Country for Old Men	MON	9/10/2007	09:00am
ELGIN	The Assassination of Jesse...	MON	9/10/2007	11:00am
ELGIN	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	MON	9/10/2007	03:00pm
Ryerson	Juno	MON	9/10/2007	03:00pm
Scotiabank 4	M	MON	9/10/2007	09:15pm
ELGIN	Across The Universe	TUE	9/11/2007	11:00am
ELGIN	Nightwatching	TUE	9/11/2007	02:30pm
Ryerson	Sleuth	TUE	9/11/2007	03:45pm
ISABEL BADER	All Hat	TUE	9/11/2007	06:00pm
Scotiabank 14	Naissance des pieuvres	TUE	9/11/2007	09:45pm
Scotiabank 3	Bill	WED	9/12/2007	09:00am
ELGIN	Cassandra's Dream	WED	9/12/2007	11:00am
ELGIN	Atonement	WED	9/12/2007	02:30pm
ELGIN	La Fille coupee en deux	WED	9/12/2007	06:00pm
Ryerson	Silk	THU	9/13/2007	09:00am
ELGIN	Margot at the Wedding	THU	9/13/2007	12:00pm
Scotiabank 14	King of California	THU	9/13/2007	02:15pm
ELGIN	Angel	THU	9/13/2007	06:00pm
Scotiabank 1	Smiley Face	THU	9/13/2007	10:00pm
Scotiabank 1	Les Amours d'Astree et de Cela	FRI	9/14/2007	09:00am
Scotiabank 14	Flash Point	FRI	9/14/2007	12:30pm
ELGIN	The Walker	FRI	9/14/2007	03:00pm
ELGIN	Chacun son cinema	FRI	9/14/2007	06:00pm
Varsity 1	Les Bons Debarras	FRI	9/14/2007	09:30pm
Ryerson	Death Defying Acts	SAT	9/15/2007	09:00am
Scotiabank 1	Le Voyage du ballon rouge	SAT	9/15/2007	10:00am
ELGIN	Closing the Ring	SAT	9/15/2007	11:00am
ELGIN	Amazing Journey: The Story...	SAT	9/15/2007	02:30pm
Varsity 3	The Edge of Heaven	SAT	9/15/2007	05:15pm
Cumberland 3	Joy Division	SAT	9/15/2007	08:15pm
Varsity 8	Lou Reed's Berlin	SAT	9/15/2007	11:45pm