LFF 2010: (Self-) Love Gone Blue

David from Victim of the Time, reporting from the London Film Festival.“Why would I go to London?! No way!” A wry chuckle greeted this on-screen outburst during my first public screening of the 54th BFI London Film Festival. I may have already sat through two and a half weeks of press screenings, but in that moment I knew the energy had changed now the festival had kicked into gear. Without the

NYFF Finale: 7 Word Reviews (Meek's Cutoff, Another Year, Hereafter, More...)

Oh readers. What to do with me? I'm always falling behind. In an effort to acknowledge that NYFF ended this weekend, and fall prestige/early campaign season is already upon us (Toy Story 3 event tonight!), here's everything I saw at the NYFF. I got sick right in the middle so I missed a handful I wanted to see. The films are presented in the order I saw with a brief description and a 7 Word

NYFF: A Summary

The 48th New York Film Festival screenings begin with a promo reel in which a graphic animated map of the world is formed. Famous director names are paired with their countries of origin in rapid succession until the entire globe is lit up as if powered by the cinema itself! It’s a simple—even subtly clever—way to remind us that cinema is a global artform and that the NYFF in dependably

NYFF: "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives"

*slight spoilers ahead but this is not a "plot" film.*Uncle Boonmee can recall his past lives. My memory is hardly as uncanny. Recalling or describing Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, the Cannes Palme D'Or winner and Thailand's Oscar submission, even a few days after the screening is mysteriously challenging. Even your notes won't help you.This is not to say that the movie isn't

NYFF: "Poetry"

Nathaniel, reporting from the New York Film FestivalIn the first shots of Poetry, the latest film from gifted director Lee Chang-dong (Secret Sunshine) an idyllic moment of little kids playing by a river is interrupted by a floating object in the water. The corpse of a middle school student is floating their way. This nonsensational but horrific reveal will soon intersect with the story of Mija (

TIFF: The People Speak.

Unlike many of the A-list festivals, Toronto does not do the big celebrity jury thing to hand out their awards. So it's up to festivalgoers to vote and the Audience Awards result. This is why, roughly speaking, the TIFF winner usually goes on to Oscar success, popularity being the key to both honors. This year's winner The King's Speech can now follow the same path as famous films before it like

Nathaniel's New York Film Festival: Coming Soon

The New York Film Festival starts officially on September 24th. Critics screenings have already begun but so far I've been in absentia. I have my reasons though the selection committee and certain cinephiles would surely scoff at them so they will go unnamed. This morning I picked up my credentials but opted to skip Carlos the Olivier Assayas film about Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramirez

TIFF Capsules: Passion Play, Black Swan, 127 Hours and The Conspirator

My friend txt critic is completing his Toronto journey soon but he sent another batch of thoughts for your perusal. He starts by taking an against consensus stand. PASSION PLAYBy far the most loathed and eviscerated film of the festival, Mitch Glazer's brazenly out there, 20-years-in-the-works labor of love is extremely slow paced, unafraid to be laughed at for its sincerity and ridiculousness,

Lev @ TIFF: "What's Wrong With Virginia", "Never Let Me Go"

Lev, checking back in. Early mornings and late nights have prevented me from fulfilling my Film Experience duties, so capsule reviews will serve the purposes best. Starting with . . .The Illusionist which is an achievement in many ways. What makes it so remarkable is its focus on every day sadness. Whereas most animation relies on comedy to engage, Chomet transmits his ideas through small

TIFF: A Glimpse of Rabbit Hole Enthusiasm To Come?

Nicole Kidman and hubby hit Toronto for the film festival. I haven't seen more than one true review yet, but she wore Prada. Just Jared has pics from the premiere.As for the review(s)? Well it's mostly tweets at this point though I expect more reviews to emerge soon. Let's start negative and get positive.Negative@ioncinema "Belly flop for JCM. Wish entry point into story was at the 10month point.

Miscellania: Claude Chabrol (RIP), Venice (Post-Mortem), TIFF (First Impressions)

As you've undoubtedly heard, the French auteur Claude Chabrol passed away at 80. Both The Telegraph and Glenn Kenny have fine obits for your reading pleasure and if you can read French, Le Monde collects testimonials from many cinematic luminaries to honor him. I didn't know his career as well as I should but I quite liked both L'Enfer (1994) and the recent Ludivine Sagnier love/murder triangle A

TIFF (False) Day One and "The Trip"

Lev Lewis from the Toronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival begins anew and with it my annual and indispensable musings. Well, scratch out indispensable and change musings to ramblings and you most likely have a good approximation of the coming week. Many thanks to Nathaniel for indulging me. TIFF got off to a late start for me this year. A full two days of the

Venice Awards: Somewhere, Black Swan, Barney's Version, Miral

Festivals tend to have more than one jury so let's deal with the sidebar prizes first, before we get to the main competition jury, headed by Quentin Tarantino. But a little preview: Natalie Portman went home empty-handed for Black Swank but Mila Kunis didn't. Interesssssssting.Various SidebarsEuropa Cinema Award: This honor comes from the Venice Days sidebar and the winning film was Bertrand

Venice Red Carpet: The Town, Potiche, Meek's Cutoff

Toronto kicked off last night but before we get to our coverage there -- we'll be hearing from the same folks who covered Toronto for The Film Experience last year -- Venice is starting to wrap up. Awards will be announced before you know it.The most 'Hollywood' Venice premiere was probably The Town which brought out the happy familiar faces of Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm and last year's