The 2008 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival begins today, and Kevin Kelly and I will be there for the next ten days reporting back. What follows is not exactly an iron-clad preview of our Toronto coverage––in addition to some of the films below, I’m definitely planning to see new works by Claire Denis, Agnes Varda, Jonathan Demme and Richard Linklater, and would of course recommend that anyone on the ground see some of my favorites from past festivals, including Medicine for Melancholy and A Christmas Tale. This is more of a list of predictions of what everyone else is going to be talking about, while I’m pushing my glasses up my nose and rushing to to the next screening of the a South Korean movie about drunken lonliness. Enjoy! If you have your own predictions for what will catch fire in Ontario, let us know in the comments.
1. Zach and Miri Make a Porno (TIFF screening info)
Obviously, anything with “porno” in the title has a certain automatic contingent (hello, Google searchers! Sorry to disappoint!) But then, so does anything with the credit “written and directed by Kevin Smith.” And then there’s the leading man. Some perspective: Smith’s last three films have grossed an average of $26 million each; the last three films starring Seth Rogen have grossed an average of $117 million each. With Jay and Silent Bob finally retired (we think/hope), and Rogen in tow for the usual, MPAA-baiting Smithism, Porno could––however ironically––become what Jersey Girl was supposed to be: the tipping point that expands the Smith fan base beyond the longtime Clerks faithful.
2. Slumdog Millionaire (TIFF screening info)
Crowdpleasers make me itch. But then, to borrow a line from David Fincher, I’m an asshole. Assuming you are not, you might be interested to know that Slumdog Millionaire shows all the symptoms of becoming The Next Juno. Like Juno, Slumdog premiered in a TBA slot at Telluride, where reaction from all but our own Kevin Buist was enthusiastic, even hyperbolically so. Also ike Juno, it’s a music-fueled piece of pop art in which young love results from unlikely circumstances. And, thanks to Warner Brothers’ loss of faith in this tier of the distribution market, it’s now being distributed by Fox Searchlight––just like Juno. If looking for The Next Juno is now part of our jobs, at least Searchlight is taking all the arduous work out of it.
3. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (TIFF screening info)
Speaking of two devils…Michael Cera, of course, had a pretty great 2007 as an associate of both Judd Apatow and Diablo Cody, and I think at this point, he’s star enough to guarantee some festival buzz on his own. But even more interesting is his paring in Nick and Norah with Kat Dennings, the actress who played Catherine Keener’s daughter in the 40 Year-Old Virgin, who is quickly becoming a target of fan worship on YouTube. In a video called Kat Dennings sexiest woman alive, YouTube user concedes that inkamagonkhpjacki Dennings might actually be second to Angelina Jolie, which is fitting; like the young Jolie, Dennings is a little busty, a little reckless-looking, maybe even a little goth, but––and this is *not* like the sometime Gia impersonator––at the same time kind of goofy and totally unintimidating. In the most recent video on her own YouTube channel, she puts a blanket on her head, wraps stuffed animals around her shoulders like a fur stole, then grabs a guitar and shrugs: “I don’t know, I like reading.” More, please. Also: I’m pretending like the character names (based on a book of the same name) are a Thin Man reference.
4. The Dungeon Masters (TIFF screening info)
The pedigree: Director Keven McAlester, whose last film was the festival hit Roky Erickson doc, You’re Gonna Miss Me; and Lee Daniel, the cinematographer of Miss Me as well as much of Richard Linklater’s filmography. The hook: a year-long glimpse into the lives of three adults who are really into Dungeons and Dragons. The verdict: irresistible bait for both indie film nerds and nerd nerds, and, if McAlester’s previous work is any indication, likely more probing and sensitive a portrait than the logline might at first glance indicate.
5. Pedro (TIFF screening info)
Produced by Wash Westmoreland (whose Quincinera won the grand prize at Sundance in 2006), Nick Oceano’s first feature is an examination of the birth of reality TV as factory for both new celebrities and cultural attitudes, via the life and early death of Pedro Zamora, AIDS activist and cast member of the Real World San Francisco, The Movie. Which sounds very important, as does the fact that this is (I believe) the first fictional film that will ostensibly reenact moments from reality TV. But we’ll excuse you if you read the above and thought only, “OMG, Puck! OMG, the peanut butter fight!!!”
6. Religulous (TIFF screening info)
Why anyone takes Bill Maher’s Borscht Belt-to-Venice Beach schtick seriously I don’t know (I suspect that if he didn’t have a Bush Jr to play off, his primary cause would be Legalizing It), but Religulous hardly needs to convert me, or anyone else. In a year in which Ben Stein’s Expelled has become the top grossing non-fiction film––beating Martin Scorsese and the Stones––by playing in non-traditional venues and appealing strictly to an audience already in its “give intelligent design a chance” wheelhouse, and in which a Republican presidential candidate picks a running mate whose conservative social politics seem like bait for the neo-conservative party wing said presidential candidate used to claim he wasn’t beholden to, it seems clear that faith is the sleeper issue of the day. I may take issue with his cringey jokes, but I still see no reason to underestimate the impact Maher and his Religulous director/savvier comic provacateur Larry Charles will have on the large portion of the typical film festival audience with which their choir overlaps.
7. Valentino: The Last Emperor (TIFF screening info)
Reviews out of Venice grumbled about a lack of depth in Valentino’s setting but offered praise for the poignancy of the characters. For those of us who have been longing for a fully-realized epic fashion doc since Unzipped––or, a semi-serious, semi-guilty pleasure celebrity doc full of cheap but completely satisfying La Dolce Vita references since Truth or Dare––Valentino, directed by Vanity Fair reporter Matt Tyrnauer, shouldn’t disappoint.
8. Che (TIFF screening info)
Steven Soderbergh’s troubled epic might have placed higher on the list had its once-dire distribution situation not recently began to look up, but it’s still by all means impossible to argue against its status as a must-see. Che will have one screening in Toronto in its 262 minute incarnation; Parts 1 and 2 will then screen twice on their own. Just having the ability to Choose Your Che should cause a certain amount of chatter. I’m imagining (and sort of fearing) the arguments from Che completists over The Right Way To See It as we speak.
9. The Hurt Locker (TIFF screening info)
One of a number of films at TIFF dealing with soldiers either in, just returned from, or on their way to Iraq (see also 3 Blind Mice, Lucky Ones). The Hurt Locker has an obvious advantage within a micro-genre of films that have tended to fall pretty flat with both audiences and critics: it’s essentially a big-budget action thriller. And it’s directed by Kathryn Bigelow of Strange Days and Point Break fame, so it’s got a good chance of putting action above ideology without being totally brainless.
10. Paris, Not France (TIFF Screening info)
As Charles Aaron used to say, I give.
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