tiff 2006

last year i posted all of our film choices plus decriptions for anyone who was interested in buying tickets....this year all our tickets were spoken for before i could even think about a post! we decided to see fewer films and get more tickets to each - so instead of seeing 15 or 16 films each and selling 40 or 45 tickets, we're seeing 8 or 9 each and sold about 65 tickets. i think the film choices we made this year are more mainstream and at better times (9:00pm weekday showings instead of 6:00pm).

our line-up this year....

fri sept 8:
an evening with michael moore - interesting, some technical difficulties prevented us from seeing clips from one of his upcoming films but we saw a few scenes from 'sicko' and it looks good! he's an amusing fellow.

sat setp 9:
borat: cultural learnings of america for make benefit glorious nation of kazakhstan
stranger than fiction
(neither robin nor i were able to see either of these films, they were very popular though)

sun sept 10:
a good year - great film set on a vineyard in france - beautiful cinamatography. rich, workaholic (russell crowe) receives news that his favourite childhood uncle, who he hasn't spoken to in 10 years, has passed, leaving him his french chateau. the film unfolds with a series of events meant to alter his intentions to sell the place and inspire him to abandon his hectic, wall street lifestyle for something a little more...je ne sais quoi. who doesn't love a movie about wine?

pan's labyrinth - so far the film that has most exceeded my expectations. i really liked it even though the description makes it sound creepy. i really liked that the story was told through the eyes of a young child, shifting between reality and fantasy without leaving me feeling confused as to which was supposed to be which. for someone who doesn't always love sci-fi or fantasy, this was a rare opportunity to enjoy the genre.

mon sept 11:
little children - i enjoyed this film even though the tone and story are made to make the viewer feel quite unsettled. a pedophile living in a community full of young children creates an ominous atmosphere that becomes entangled in a love affair between the two main characters, both parents of young children in the neighbourhood. i liked that the ending didn't fit neatly into a little box.

tues sept 12:
the fountain - i also liked this film a lot more than i expected to. definitely one of our less mainstream choices by the director of pi and requim for a dream. he introduced the film by saying that it was a lot different from his previous movies because then he was a punk kid and now he's a father. i'm not sure i thought it was all that different - similar style and flow, less drugs and a slightly more comprehensible story.

wed sept 13:
seraphim falls - andre's pick of the festival...hope the film lives up to this claim.

thurs sept 14:
the pleasure of your company - looking forward to this one, will probably end up being less impressed by it than some of the other films because of my high expectations.

fri sept 15:
penelope - also looking forward to this one. i think it will be different. if nothing else maybe i'll think the pig nose girl is funny.

sat setp 16:
the banquet - i'm not actually going to this one. not being so much into the martial arts style dramas i've sold my ticket to a friend that really wanted to see it. sorry robin.