Hello Dayton937 & NEON Fans,
Today was a full day! In addition to the movies and a nice star appearance surprise, my boyfriend flew into town to join me for my last few days here. He and I will see del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN together on Friday (as well as Lady Gaga in concert on Thursday night)…but otherwise, he’s here to enjoy the city while I’m screening films.
It’s my rule that if I don’t watch a movie from beginning to end, I can’t include it here in my TIFF blog. But I’m going to make a bit of an exception. For my first movie today, there were only 2 people in line when I arrived – so I knew it wasn’t going to be hard to get a spot…so I popped into POETIC LICENSE for about 20 minutes. This is the directorial debut from Maude Apatow, and from what I saw, it was pretty charming.
My first film of the day was a touching lesbian drama based on a true story – JULIAN (dir: Cato Kusters – Belgium, Netherlands) “Two women’s unique campaign for marriage equality inspires a poignant screen love story by director Cato Kusters.” Fleur & Julian decide to get married…and in an effort to bring more awareness to same-sex marriage, they decide to get married in all 22 countries that allow it. Unfortunately, Julian it’s revealed that Julian isn’t well…and this story hops back and forth in time to tell their story. It’s beautifully made and certainly unique. I think it will find a lot of success on the festival circuit.
Next up was a film with Jodie Foster in the lead – Speaking French! – A PRIVATE LIFE (dir: Rebecca Zlotowski – France) “Oscar winner Jodie Foster stars in this slyly comic psychological thriller from director Rebecca Zlotowski (TIFF ’22’s Other People’s Children), in which a suspicious death yields a series of twists that lead back to old grievances — and maybe even to past lives.” (TIFF Catalog) This film is fun, twisty, and full of surprises…until it loses a bit of steam. Jodie is really wonderful, but the last 15 minutes were like someone snuffed the candle. With Sony Classics pushing this title into 2026, I suspect they’ve lost hope of much award-season play/recognition.
There’s no trailer for this film yet, but here’s a clip:
I quickly made it to my next screening (which was largely on my list because of Tilda Swinton) – BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER (dir: Edward Berger – United Kingdom) “This seductive character study from Oscar-winning director Edward Berger (TIFF ’24’s Conclave), stars Oscar nominee Colin Farrell as an obsessive travelling gambler and Oscar winner Tilda Swinton as the dogged detective determined to track him down.” (TIFF catalog) At first glance, this blaring and colorful film that’s full of excess seems nearly impossible to have come from the same director who brought us CONCLAVE – but interestingly, there are some similarities. The score (also by Volker Bertelmann) hits some similar notes….and there’s an embrace of ritual (despite the chaos) at its core. Set mostly in Macau (of which the producer said, “puts Vegas to shame”), this film is visually stunning. And of course Swinton brings a fresh energy to the film. Overall, I liked it…but that was partially heightened due to the Q&A. This film merits the big screen…but I don’t think Netflix will push to really get it out.
My next film was a real treat – CALLE MÁLAGA (dir: Maryam Touzani – Morocco, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium) “Senior Maria (Carmen Maura) finds herself at odds with her adult daughter who has begun, without first consulting her mother, the process of selling the family home in Tangier where Maria still lives.” (TIFF catalog) Since the late 80’s, when I first saw WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (on VHS), I’ve been in love with Carmen Maura. Since this wasn’t the first screening of this film, and because it was at Scotiabank (a multiplex), I didn’t think Maura would attend…but she did, and it was a treat. This film is one of my favorites of the fest. It’s very fresh, and it comes with equal parts comedy and heartbreak. Maura, who will soon be 80, announced that she’ll soon likely retire. This film is special, and seeing her in person was incredible.
There’s no trailer yet for this film…but here’s a still photo from the film and a photo I snapped (lighting was not good – so it’s pretty grainy).
My next movie was another from the “Midnight Madness” section…and it was more than I bargained for – F*!K MY SON! (dir: Todd Rohal – USA) “Todd Rohal (The Catechism Cataclysm, Uncle Kent 2) violates all boundaries of good taste in this gleefully profane adaptation of Johnny Ryan’s underground comic about a decrepit mother (Robert Longstreet) who will stop at nothing to get her mutant son (Steve Little) laid.” (TIFF catalog) This movie started out with so much promise. The “pre-show” was hysterical, the introduction of characters had a certain John Waters-vibe…it was irreverent, campy and in terrible taste. There were certainly some big laughs (and the audience was all in), but then it became revolting and offensive. Sure – that’s exactly what it wanted to be – but it wasn’t for me.
There’s no trailer yet for this one, but here’s a still photo:
Only 2 more days of TIFF left for me.
Thanks for reading,
Jonathan
