Category Archives: Loved it

Mavericks – Jon Stewart

Commentary, Loved it, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

The last of the Maverick interviews for this week for me at least. This time with Daily Show host, Jon Stewart, who is premiering his new film Rosewater. Stewart’s fans will remember he took last summer off to go to Jordon to film a feature length docudrama about the arrest and torture of Iranian/Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari. Stewart is an incredibly smart and very funny satirist who has taken a very serious look in his first feature film. He was interviewed by CBC’s Jian Ghomeshi, also an Iranian/Canadian. The interview also included Bahari who joined the stage part way through the interview. It’s just one of the special opportunities you can have at the festival. By the way this interview and all the other ones are recorded and will be posted online at TIFF.net in the coming days.

The Theory of Everything – James Marsh, Director

Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

This was so far the best film I have seen this week and it is without doubt a likely contender for best picture of the year in any awards ceremony you can think of. The star Eddie Redmayne portrays Stephen Hawking from his early days at Cambridge to his diagnosis of ALS and his subsequent life up to the publication of A Brief History of Time. He is simply brilliant and will certainly claim an Oscar nomination if not the prize and his co-star Felicity Jones also turns in a great performance. The cast, the script, the music, the acting, the cinematography and the subject (Hawking) are without many equals. I can highly recommend this film to everyone. Simply superb. We saw the full cast at a Q and A after the film and they were eloquent and interesting particularly Eddie Redmayne.

Here are a couple of pictures outside the theatre as the stars arrive and the buzz inside the Princess of Wales theatre:

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/specialpresentations/theory-of-everything

The Drop – Michael Roskam, Director

Adventure, Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

This is an excellent thriller starring Tom Hardy as a bartender working a bar used as a money drop by Chechen gangsters. The film also stars James Gandolfino in what is likely his final film release. The story and script are by Dennis Lehane. We got to see the Director and the full cast for a Q and A after the film as well. It is a dark story with a tension that builds slowly and inevitably to what should be an expected but nonetheless surprising climax. Again, like The Judge, there is strong cast all making a contribution to a tight well written script. If you are a dog lover there is a subplot in this movie that will warm your heart. The movie will come out this fall and Hardy has to be considered for award nominations and Lehane for screenplay. Highly recommended.

Go here for the film description and trailer: http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/specialpresentations/the-drop

Robert Duvall – Mavericks Program

Commentary, Loved it, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

This year I decided to try out the Mavericks Program. TIFF invites some of the stars and film makers to sit down for an hour to an hour and a half with an interviewer. This year I booked two, one with Robert Duvall and the other with Jon Stewart. So on the 5th Robert Duvall was the guest and he was great fun to listen to. The session was started with a series of short clips from his incredible career, starting with To Kill a Mockingbird to Tender Mercies to M.A.S.H. to The Judges. They really brought back memories although they did not include the napalm scene from Apocalypse Now. (so here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jts9suWIDlU ). He gave us anecdotes of the early days when he shared a Manhattan flat with Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman before they were stars. Told us about the making of the Godfather, The Apostle, and Tender Mercies. We got a really great insight into one of the great film actors of our time. Should you get a chance to do this at a future festival I highly recommend it.

The Wind Rises – Director, Hayao Miyazaki

Animation, Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized

This was my last film of the week and was one of the best. For those who may not know him, Miyazaki is the founder of Japan’s best animation studio — Ghibli Studios. He and his studio have created some of the most beautiful animated films of recent years including Ponyo, Spirited Away (Academy Award winner), From Up on Poppy Hill, and The Secret World of Arrietty (based on the Borrowers stories). Many of these films are oriented toward children but the stories are so sophisticated and the films so beautiful to look at that they attract audiences of all ages. This film is aimed an adult audience and tells the compelling story of the man who designed one of the world’s most successful planes – the Zero fighter plane used by the Japanese in World War II. The plane was revolutionary in design and changed aeronautical engineering forever. The movie however focusses on the man and his life and despite the focus of his career the film has a major pacifist message while acknowledging the brilliance of Jiro Horikoshi the engineer. It is also a charming but tragic love story and explores the tension of love and career in time of war. From what I can find out it will be given limited release in the US to allow for Academy Award recognition and full release in early 2014. I recommend it to everyone and in the meantime if you have not already become a Ghibli/Miyazaki fan be sure to look at the other films listed above.

Rock the Casbah – Director, Laila Marrakchi

Comedy, Loved it, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized

Rock the Casbah is set in Morocco and is all in French and Arabic with just a smattering of English. This was really fun to watch. Although if I tell you the whole plot you will wonder how I could have found it so. It includes a suicide resulting from a pregnancy from an incestuous relationship, a bastard son who only learns who his father is at the end of the movie, a father who has an affair with the maid/nanny who has lived with the family for 30 years, an estranged daughter who has run off to America and… well so it goes. Nonetheless the movie is charming, humane, funny, and very entertaining and it all works out in the end. The stars are the women (the mother, maid, and three daughters) and they all play an equal role in making the film come together. The members of this apparently dysfunctional family come together for a three day funeral event for their suddenly deceased patriarch who is, of course the source of all the problems, and who is played by Omar Sharif. How does Sharif play a dead person? Well he is the narrator and appears as a character watching the events of his funeral unfold and he is wonderful in the role. Over the three days of the funeral event the secrets all come out one by one creating division and distress but in the end bringing everyone closer together. There is a great scene near the end of the film with them all at a window welcoming the arrival of the American husband of the estranged daughter. His arrival of course brings the entire family together at last. At the very end with the entire family laughing and clearly reconciled, Sharif faces the audience and comments: When I was young, my mother told me: “Never cause a woman to cry my son because God will count all the tears.” He smiles and shrugs and shuffles off down the garden path. Lovely film.

Rush – Director, Ron Howard – A guest blog post from Cal Gutkin

Great Trash, Loved it, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized

Ron Howard’s new film” Rush” is about the infamous personal and professional rivalry between the two best Formula 1 race car drivers of the 1970’s – James Hunt of England and Niki Lauda of Austria. The performances by  Chris Hemsworth as Hunt and Daniel Bruhl as Lauda were great …and looking at Olivia Wilde is never hard to do. The people around me said she was sitting 2 rows in front of us and when that person left, it certainly did look like her. The movie was exceptionally good. Don’t miss it, unless racing car scenes that are probably unlike any ever seen before are not your thing. The true story is very well told and the F-1 race scenes are breathtaking. The movie keeps your emotions on a tightly drawn string pulling you from moments that have you laughing aloud to others that will find you with a huge lump in your throat or crying seconds after you were white knuckled from gripping your armrest as though you were the one in the driver’s seat of the Ferrari going 170 mph in a driving rainstorm. The packed house audience (at noon on a Monday I thought only old retired people would be found at the movies) (Hey Cal, this is TIFF!! – comment from P.R.) was made up of what looked like equal numbers of men and women of all age groups. The film received a thunderous and prolonged ovation at the end and everyone leaving seemed to agree they had been thoroughly entertained and would recommend this one as a “can’t and don’t miss experience”

12, 12, 12 – Director, Harvey Weinstein Guest blog post by Cal Gutkin

Documentary, Loved it, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized


“12,12,12” – the documentary of the Concert to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Sandy  was great. It was the World Premiere of the film and was attended by Harvey Weinstein,the noted Hollywood producer who produced the concert and the movie. George Stroumboulopoulos led a very entertaining and insightful post film Q and A with Weinstein and 4 of the 5 other main producer/ directors(the only one missing was Paul McCartney who sent regrets at the last minute. The big screen and Dolby surround sound made both the scenes of the devastation of Hurricane Sandy and the on stage performances during the concert something special.It was a real treat to see and hear some very memorable musical moments offered by many including Bruce Springsteen, McCartney,( backed up by Dave Grohl( Nirvana )and the Foo Fighters, Pete Townsend and The Who, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Coldplay, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, The Rolling Stones (although Keith Richards and Ron Wood look like death warmed over, they can still play and rock hard – and it’s incredible to watch Jagger perform and  move on the stage like someone 50 years younger – yes 50! What a role model he is for some of us 😉
There is also a hilarious rendition if Leonard Cohen’s classic” Hallelujah! – performed by Adam Sandler (a performance which, IMHO, exceeds anything he has ever done in the movies)
If you get a chance be sure to see this movie – it’s worth it.

The Love Punch – Director, Joel Hopkins

Comedy, Loved it, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized

So Friday started out with another light heist/romantic comedy story starring Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson. Unlike The Art of the Steal, this film is “sophisticated” and not just because everyone in it has an English or a French accent. It is a light hearted romp as four amateur thieves plot to steal an enormous diamond from one of the world’s richest and nastiest men. What makes this movie a treat is not so much the absurd plot but rather the acting chemistry between Brosnan and Thompson who sparkle on the screen together. I also have to give great credit to Timothy Spall, far right in the picture, who brings some great comic relief (if that is possible in a comedy) to the film. The dialogue in this one is witty and bright rather than fast paced and sharp like the Art of the Steal. Also the director could not resist poking fun at Brosnan’s run as James Bond. There are not a few scenes where he mocks that period in Brosnan’s career including a great car chase scene in which Emma Thompson makes a total fool of the former Bond. Oh right – the romantic comedy part. Brosnan and Thompson play a long divorced couple forced to come together to steal the diamond. I won’t spoil the movie by explaining why they are pushed together but only that of course the old flames are re-ignited. A wonderful and relaxing movie with two old pros having fun.

Bethlehem – Director, Yuval Adler Omar – Director, Hany Abu-Assad

Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized

Sometimes when you go to TIFF in a serious way you encounter unique experiences. That happened on Wednesday for me when I attended the last two Middle Eastern films of my week’s schedule. Both films deal with Palestinian collaborators and their Israeli contacts. One, Omar, is directed by a Palestinian and the other, Bethlehem, is directed by an Israeli. Despite being filmed completely separately from one another and by different sides of the West Bank occupation, the stories are stunningly similar. Neither film tries to paint one side or the other as either good nor evil. Omar portrays the Israeli’s as more ruthless to some extent but what one sees in both films is both sides caught in a situation in which they are trapped with no way out. Both sides are depicted with the understanding that comes from living the reality of the struggle over Palestine. The acting in both films is superb often with amateur actors and both draw in your sympathy for all the characters on both sides. The action and tension keep you on the edge of your seat until the final predictable but brutal endings. I do not want to spoil the films for you so I will not tell you how they end except at the climactic moment (the same in both films) they both go to black and run the credits leaving you gasping. Needless to say these are not “fun” movies but very very good and I will be disappointed not to see them nominated for awards and winners of many. I think to understand what you read every day about the Middle East it is very important to see these movies along with Palestine Stereo (previously reviewed). Also needless to say – Night Moves which was described as an excellent thriller is really more a FWP (first world problem) kind of movie (Hollywood sometimes just doesn’t get it) and is boring and irrelevant in the face of these two films. (well to be honest it was boring all on its own) What a great day at the movies I had.