Venus and Serena

I like learning about athletes and I like learning about celebrities, so Venus and Serena was an obvious pick for me.
I watched the final screening of this film and was quite disappointed with the turnout. The attendance was sparse at best. I wonder what the attendance was like at the previous screenings. The first screening was Premium, after all, so I think they expected a good turnout.
The film followed Venus and Serena Williams during 2011 while providing history about the childhood of the girls and their careers leading up until present day (in fact, there was mention of her recent win at the US Open, so I wonder when they actually officially finished this film).
I don't follow tennis very carefully nor do I know much about the Williams sisters, but I do know that they are successful players and entrepreneurs and come from a tight-knit family. I remember hearing something about their parents being very active members of their careers, but I didn't know much more than that.
I liked the film. After a tiring week, I needed a light movie, and this was perfect. We got to see Serena and Venus as people. We saw them in good times and in bad. And as a whole, I have very positive feelings towards the sisters and their family. I think this film would be perfect for TV and hope that it does get picked up.
Unfortunately, there was no one in attendance representing the film, so I couldn't learn more about the film, but I didn't really feel the need to. I thought this film, while not mindblowing, was a nice, neat package. And it looked well produced as well. There must have been some serious backing behind this film. I mean, obviously, they would need the support of Venus and Serena and their family, but this in itself is probably a big deal based on how strong the sisters and their team is. And in having their support, they probably were able to get others involved as well. For example, the fact that Wyclef Jean was in charge of the music probably as something. And he composed original songs for the film too.
So, good film. Nothing crazy, but worth watching if you happen to come across it. It's always interesting to find out about successful individuals and the dedication and conscious decision-making that goes into such success.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

The Thieves

After reading TIFF's description of The Theives (official website here, trailer here), I knew I wanted to see this film. I basically walked into the theatre thinking that I was going to watch an Asian version of Ocean's Eleven and that was an awesome thought to me.
And it was an awesome movie!!!
Here's part of the TIFF description:
"Although he’s still smarting from when Macao took off with almost seventy kilos of stolen gold after their last job, Popie is ready to let bygones be bygones. He assembles his gang of usual suspects: a "wire team" consisting of the sexy and hilariously self-absorbed Yenicall and her hopelessly infatuated partner Zampano; con artist Chewingum; and lock-picking expert (and Macao’s former flame) Pepsee. Macao meanwhile brings his own motley crew into the mix: the crude and volatile Andrew, seasoned pro Chen, safe-cracker Julie, and point man Jonny. The job: to steal a $20-million yellow diamond called the "Tear of the Sun" from a high-security casino. The elaborate plan requires each member of the team to play a crucial role. But as the stakes rise ever higher and everyone tries to work their own angle —everything that can go wrong will go wrong."
Though stuck to reading subtitles (my one complaint, well two, is that 1. I don't understand Korean as I KNOW that I missed out on some humour as a result and 2. there was some atrocious Chinese being spoken in the film which really made me cringe) I still laughed out loud many times, I love "mission impossible"-type films and this one had plenty of twists and turns to it. I had no idea how the film was going to end and part of the way through I started getting confused who was doing what and who was on who's side. Oh yeah, and action scenes to add to my excitement too!
This was the director, Choi Dong-hoon's, first time at TIFF and I knew even before the screening started that it would be good. There were tons of Koreans attending and they were buzzing. We were told that the film has been number one at the box office in Korean for the past little while, so that's always encouraging. I attended the first screening of the film which happened to be at the Ryerson theatre and although it's a large theatre, it was rush. Like, seriously rush. As a ticket holder, I got there with time to spare and when I joined the line it had wrapped around to bloody Gould and Victoria. That's bananas! The director seemed pretty excited to be there and had a great enthusiasm and humour as he addressed the audience.
My oh my, this film is awesome. So incredibly awesome. People, you need to watch this film.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

Liverpool

I knew I had to watch Liverpool (official website here, bande-announce ici, trailer here). A French film, a TIFF description that references Amelie, a shy romance, elements of a suspense/thriller...c'mon!
The beginning was promising. Cute, quirky, and catchy. And the heroine was just as how I imagined she would be. But I think that's what led to the film's somewhat demise for me, personally. Right from the word go, I was comparing the film to my most favorite film, Amelie. And keep in mind, that I never go out on a limb to claim that something is my favorite, so if I am willing to stake claim to Amelie, it must mean that I like it a lot.
You know what? Now, a couple days after the fact and watching the trailer one more time, I have to say, it probably was a great film. I think it just moved too quickly. Reflecting on the characters, the story, the music, the mood and everything else, it can only sum up to a great film. But I think, at the time, I had such high expectations, that it just couldn't compete. At the time, I felt that things in the film happened too quickly. Basically there were too many leaps in the story and that I felt like many scenes were left out. The film was too perfect. I mean, films are supposed to be unrealistic at times, but this one made a couple too many leaps too quickly. I wanted more lead up to certain events. I wanted more tension and back story. things just unfolded too quickly and too effortlessly.
I guess this is a film that I'd like to watch again to find out if maybe it's better than I remember it being because as I watch the trailer, I feel bad that I walked out of that theatre wanting more. I mean, even if you don't understand French perfectly well (because dialogue is never the same in subtitles), you can get a sense from the trailer that there's a certain whimsy to this film.
There were so many elements to the film that make it interesting. The inclusion of social media, a moral and global message...and all those other things I said before. And some good one-liners and jokes too! Sigh, it's almost like I'm disappointed in myself for not having thoroughly enjoyed it.
Director, Manon Briand, was so enthusiastic and gave off such a joyful energy as she introduced the film and answered questions during the Q&A. It wasn't really a Q&A where I got deeper insight into the film, but I always give bonus points for Q&As.
Darn it. I want to watch it again.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

The Central Park Five

From the TIFF description:
"In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from New York City were arrested and charged for brutally attacking and raping a white female jogger in Central Park. News media swarmed the case, calling it "the crime of the century." Journalists popularized the term "wilding" to describe a gang activity of randomly assaulting victims. Politicians, pundits and the public rushed to a judgment that carried a barely veiled undertone of racial and class prejudice. Convicted of the crime, the five teenagers spent between five to thirteen years in prison until, in 2002, the shocking news broke: they were innocent. Another man confessed to the crime, with DNA evidence to support his claim."
The story of The Central Park Five (trailer here) was new to me but how can you not be intrigued? I thought this documentary did a great job of discussing an event that happened in the past using stock footage, narrative recounts of people who were part of the story and other elements to bring this story to life. Hearing The Central Park Five retell their versions of what happened that night, the events that happened immediately afterwards and of the years following was quite powerful. It's such an unfortunate thing that happened to them and not really knowing anything about police protocol and how they're been trained and the tactics they employ to try to get at the truth of the matter, I found myself wondering what I would have done if I was in their shoes? Why did some pieces of evidence seem to not weigh into the outcome of the case? What kind of pressures were the police under? What was the media's role?
The film did provide a good overview of what happened and how the five men were impacted by it. And I think that was the point of the film. But I did wonder why the rape victim wasn't involved involved in the film (because it seemed that the filmmakers attempted to include everyone else that was a stakeholder in the case), and why wasn't the role of the media examined more closely (because the description and the filmmakers seemed to elude to the fact that the media did have a big role in the outcome).
So here's why I like films that have a Q&A. Ken Burns (whom I know nothing about), Sarah Burns and David McMahon (the three directors) were in attendance and shared that indeed, this film is about the five gentlemen and really getting at their stories. Additionally, they decided not to include the voice of Trisha Meili (the victim) in this film because she, in fact, has no memory of the events that happened that night. And her understanding of the case is what she can constructed based on the information that was available to her. And keep in mind, this is information that until 2002 was quite faulty. And although, Ms. Meili has written a book about her experiences, the filmmakers still felt uncomfortable asking her to go back to those events again. So that's issue one covered. The second issue about the media wasn't answered to my satisfaction. I'm not sure that the filmmakers intentionally skirted the question about why it wasn't featured more, they just didn't seem to answer the question as it was intended. They merely emphasized that the media did have a significant role to play. Perhaps, they wanted to pick just one are of focus in this film, and that was the lives and perspectives of the five men.
One of the Central Park Five, Raymond Santana, was at the screening, and received a standing ovation from the audience. It sounds like he is doing well, but I wonder (as they do) what life would have been like had these events not happened. In the film, many of the men spoke of the transition that they faced after getting out of prison. Of course, I can't really compare it to anything in my life, but my experience of moving back to Toronto after living, working, and breathing my life in Switzerland was an adjustment of sorts. Of course, the shock and challenges that I faced were minuscule in comparison, so I just think, if something as small as what I went through made enough of an impact on me to affect some of the things that I did and felt and experienced and how I went about my life soon after returning to Toronto, it must have been quite, I don't know what, for them. Yes, I know that they are completely different situations and as I type, I'm thinking that my experience is so meaningless that I should go back and delete it, but I'm the type of person who like to connect things together and attempt to relate experiences to each other and this post really is just a free write, so that's that. But the point is, a sudden change of someone reality is something interesting to consider. And I guess it happens all the time and and people learn to adjust, but often people get support beforehand or after the change (for example, I think of folks having a baby for the first time, and everyone I know went to some sort of parenting class beforehand and even had support groups once they became parents). I just wonder how much support these gentlemen had.
Anyway, I thought the film was quite good because it gave me a lot of issues to think about. Immediately after the screening, I remember thinking that I enjoyed this film, but didn't love it. But I think it's one of those things that if you got back to it, or just think about it a little bit more, you just start thinking about a lot of different things. I know some educators in the audience were talking about including this in their teaching, and of course I can see it being done in so many ways. If you do get a chance to watch the film, I would definitely recommend it.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

Argo

There are some folks who try to attend big blockbuster films at TIFF so that they might be able to see celebrities. There are others who stay far away because they know that they will be able to see them in theatres soon thereafter. I just pick films that sound good. If I can't narrow down my picks to the top 10 or whatever magic number of films that I end up seeing that year, I might get rid of the ones that will get wide-release, but it's worked out that I haven't had to in the past couple of years.
I really don't stay up to date on films getting wide release. I might watch ~10 movies within the span of 10 days, twice a year (TIFF and Hot Docs), but I probably average 1 or 2 a year otherwise. I did see a movie in the theatres this summer and saw the trailer for Argo (official website here, trailer here) at that time. I thought it looked intriguing, and obviously one of the most intriguing to me in this year's festival.
Based on a true story, here is part of the description from the TIFF website:
"On November 4, 1979, a group of Islamist militants took control of the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held fifty-two embassy personnel hostage. Six members of the embassy staff managed to escape and secretly took refuge in the Canadian embassy, where they remain in constant danger from the militants’ door-to-door searches. Enter CIA "exfiltration" specialist Tony Mendez, who cooks up a scheme to get the imperilled Americans out of the country. Mendez proposes to enter Iran posing as the producer of a fake Canadian science-fiction film entitled Argo, on the pretense that Iran’s arid rural landscape would make convincing (and cut-rate) extraterrestrial terrain; following the "location scouting," the six Americans will accompany him out of Iran posing as members of the film crew. To put his plan into action, Mendez will need expert advice, which leads him to befriend and recruit veteran Hollywood producer Lester Siegel to the cause. A script is cranked out and the plan is put into action — and once he lands in Iran, Mendez is going to have to play the role of a lifetime."
I thought the film was great. I don't know how true to the real story it was, but that wasn't a priority for me. This could have been a completely fictional story, and I would have been fine with it. I just through the idea of it was really cool and anything to do with hostages or spies is neat-o for me. I liked the characters in the film, I like the action, and I liked the suspense. In fact, I was on the edge of my seat at the climax of the film even though I knew the overall outcome of this story (I'd actually never knew about this incident before seeing the trailer, but thanks to media sources, darn it, I found out more about it.) There were some fantastic one-liners in the film that provided some good comedy relief. As I said the characters were great, and John Goodman and Alan Arkin's characters were especially entertaining.
Ben Affleck, who was the director and played Mendez, was on hand to introduce the film. Shame he didn't stay to do a Q&A. There was another celebrity at the screening. Dustin Hoffman snuck in as Affleck was making his introductions and sat just in front of me. For the first little while, I was a little distracted by this as I was interested in watching Mr. Hoffman's reactions to the film and wondering if he laughed at the same one-liners that I did. I had to control my urge to people-watch because I started missing what was actually happening on the big screen.
Anyway, I thought it was a great film. Very Hollywood, and entertaining. You should watch it. I also thought that it was sweet that in the closing credits, Affleck dedicated the film to his wife and kids.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

How to Make Money Selling Drugs

Half of my picks for the festival this year were feature films and the other have were documentaries. How to Make Money Selling Drugs (official website here, trailer here) was one of those documentaries.
My memory of the write-up about the film by the team at TIFF is pretty much that the film will reflect its name. I thought I would learn about drug dealing and there would be some cameos by some Hollywood celebrities. And who doesn't love celebrities in a film?
So the beginning of the film was exactly what I expected. It was slick and very entertaining. And I really did learn about drug dealing. In fact, it was so convincing, that for a brief moment, as I was watching the film, I considered the feasibility of getting into the game myself. I thought about the people that I knew who are/were involved with drugs, and I thought about my networks and how suitable they are to this 'industry'. And then I forced myself to remember that all of these thoughts were ridiculous. That I should just keep going on the path that I'm currently on. But it does show that the film was compelling.
And then, the film took an unexpected turn. Suddenly, I was learning about the drug wars in the US and how the government is a puppet master of sorts. Full disclosure: I saw this film at the end of a long day and immediately after seeing another film, so I was pretty tired during the screening. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I dozed off for a brief moment, and as a result, I'm not entirely confident about how the transition between themes happened. I think it had to do with the fact that although there's a financial/power ladder in the drug dealing game, there's a secret additional rung to that ladder and that's where the politicians come in. But again, I don't know for sure...errr, I was kinda tired.
The production team (Matthew Cooke, Bert Marcus and Adrian Grenier) and a couple key people in the film were in attendance and participated in a Q&A. During the Q&A, I realized that this film was really more about educating the viewer and encouraging them to take action and be activists for rethinking current drug policies. I also wondered what's going on with this issue here in Canada. This film was very much American but maybe some of the message is applicable to Canada as well. I'm just not educated enough to know for sure.
I enjoyed this film and would recommend it to others, but it wasn't the best film that I've ever seen. It definitely was entertaining and made you think about interesting issues, but I admit I'm not blown away. So, I'd say it's a great film, but not awesome.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

The We and the I

And TIFF'12 is well underway!
The first film that I saw this year was The We and the I (trailer here). The synopsis of the movie seemed to be interesting because of the subject matter, but the actual description of way the movie would be presented wasn't that compelling to me. From the synopsis, I wasn't completely sure if it would be a documentary or feature film. Nonetheless, I decided to give the movie a chance. The fact that Michael Gondry was the big name associated to the film didn't really make a difference to me. I didn't see any of his previous films.
The movie basically takes place on a public transit bus departing from a high school on the last day of school before the summer holiday and ends as the last couple of students get off and start their break. During the bus ride, we meet different students who all attend the same school and have been on the same bus line for the entire year. We see their interactions and their stories that seem very much 'high school'.
My review of the film...well, I found it okay, but nothing too special. It seemed like I was just watching real life unfold, but since I can witness real life on a daily basis and have lived through adolescence and see adolescence often in my life, the film didn't seem to enrich anything for me. The 'actors' did seem sort of amateur at times and that didn't help matters. I don't usually notice inconsistencies in films, but the fact that I noticed that the time of day and weather around the bus changed randomly from scene to scene might be an indication that I wasn't completely invested in the story. And although each of the storylines were independently interesting, at times I felt it a little jarring how the filmmaker(s) transitioned between them.
Now here's the thing that wants me give the film the benefit of the doubt. This film spawned from a project between Gondry and the 'actors' as an afterschool program. In fact, the 'actors' are students, and from a final piece in the closing credits, we get a sense that the film is inspired by the students and that Gondry was really invested in these students and made a big impact on their lives. I imagine that the students were asked to share topics that were important to them and they helped developed the screenplay. However, I did notice that in the opening and closing credits, Gondry was credited a lot and the students just (?) seemed to be listed as the actors and there was just (?) a small mention of the project.
I was very disappointed that no one from the film attended the screening. I would have been interested to learn a little bit more about the project and what the main message of the film was. I really left this screening wanting to know a little bit more. It was the first screening of the film at the festival, so I had thought there would be folks from the film in attendance, but it didn't work out that way. There wasn't even a message passed along to the programmers to pass along to us. What a disappointment.
So, not quite a rave review, but I like the idea that this film started from a project with students. I just wish the film could have been a wee bit more, I don't know. Something.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

TIFF is coming!

I was thinking about TIFF today. And thinking about what to include in my survival kit. You know, the basic necessities to keep you going when you've been busy with non-TIFF things all day and then you have to go to two screenings at night and then after a short night's sleep you have to go to more screenings without having a chance to cook and you don't really want to eat cinema food but need to wait in hour-long lines to get a rush ticket or a good seat (as a ticket holder) only to need something to do while sitting in the theatre for 30 minutes waiting for the big show to start and then freezing your bum off because they've cranked the AC? You know, all that kind of good stuff.
Oh man, TIFF is awesome. I can't wait for it to start!

Whoosh!!!

Here. We. Go!
This is going to be a big year. I've felt like I've been on a roller coaster for the past couple of years and this year will be no different.
In student-land, this is THE year.
In teacher-land, although I don't start teaching my classes until next week, this week is jam packed with leading workshops for folks teaching for the first time so the race has started.
Seeing the froshies running around reinforces the fact that it's go-time.
I'm nervous and amped about this year all at the same time.

Empire State of Pen

Empire State of Pen from BigAnimal on Vimeo.

Planning ahead

Next year, if I'm in the city, I'll try to be better prepared for the start of the year so that I can head west on the waterfront and watch the Canadian International Air Show front and center instead of watching it from my balcony.
I watched part of it yesterday as I was going back and forth between my computer and the balcony and the Snowbirds looked like they were having a grand 'ole time out there. It really does look like birds playing in the sky. I'm sure the pilots are very conscientious as they work, but I wonder if they're whooping and hollering just like the spectators are.
Anyway, back to work: it's back-to-school crunch time!