Hello NEON Community!
Today didn’t go entirely as planned…I didn’t get some of the tickets I had hoped to get for this evening (like the new Walter Salles film – I’M STILL HERE). (I’m sure Sony Classics will let me take a look at it somewhere else…but I really love seeing how crowds respond to films before we book them. Watching them by myself is OK – but watching films with film lovers is a different experience.)
My first movie of the day was THE DEB, dir Rebel Wilson (Australia) “Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut is a bold, outrageous, and funny Australian musical about two very different teenage cousins who initially clash but eventually join forces to make their mark on their town’s annual debutante ball.” (taken from TIFF catalog). Unfortunately, I’m not permitted to write anything about this film right now. This film has not premiered anywhere yet – and all critiques are “embargoed” until after this upcoming weekend. (You’ll have to come back on this page next week if you want to know what I thought of this new musical.)
If you’ve been reading my blog on a daily basis, you know that I wrote how I couldn’t wait to see THE ROOM NEXT DOOR again. So I didn’t. I saw Almodovar’s brilliant, vital new film from a much better seat today. It truly is so special. I love when characters reference literature & works of art and they’re familiar to me…it feels like an even stronger connection to the characters and the director. From Dora Carrington’s relationship to Lytton Strachey to James Joyce’s THE DEAD to Buster Keaton and so many more. The production design, the costumes, the score. Everything is so intentional…even the spines of books as the two leads walk through a bookstore. Brilliance.
Next up was one that will be talked about a lot this Oscar season – CONCLAVE, Edward Berger (USA, UK) “Oscar nominees Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci lead a brilliant ensemble cast in All Quiet on the Western Front director Edward Berger’s stunning adaption of Robert Harris’ high-stakes drama, in which Cardinals gather at the Vatican to elect a new Pope.” (taken from TIFF catalog) Vatican City at the time of a Conclave is the perfect setting for a high stakes thriller because the Catholic Church works so much like other board rooms or election cycles…with conflicting ideas and attempts to make change or step back from change. It’s fascinating! Ralph Fiennes gives a homily to all the gathered Cardinals in the first 30 minutes of the film – and it is the best I’ve ever heard. It rattled many and was embraced by others. The performances here – particularly from Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini and newcomer Carlos Diehz, are exceptional…as is the score.
My last film of the day was 100% unplanned. After I went back to my apartment and worked on NEON-related details (show schedules, website updates, etc.), I decided to try my luck of getting in a “rush” line for a film called HERETIC. I waited about 85 minutes, and several people got in…but I was not so lucky. When that didn’t work out, I hopped in the next available film – 100% a surprise – CROCODILE TEARS, dir Tumpal Tampubolon (Indonesia, France, Singapore, Germany) “In this slow-burning suspense thriller from debut filmmaker Tumpal Tampubolon, a young man and his overbearing mother’s lives on their isolated crocodile farm are turned upside down with the appearance of a young woman.” (taken from TIFF catalog) This little film is terribly unsettling. With crocodiles writhing around waiting to be fed, with mom suggesting that the one giant white crocodile is “papa,” and the announcement that Arumi (Johan’s new girlfriend) is pregnant – it seems like terrible occurrences are just around the corner. It’s a solid film, but I don’t think it would do well as a theatrical engagement for us.
Tomorrow, my boyfriend Jake is joining me in Toronto. Though he and I will only see a couple movies together, it will be nice to have him here for my last few days. If flights are on time and all goes as planned, his first film (tomorrow night) will be BABYGIRL – starring Nicole Kidman.
Thanks for reading!
Jonathan
