Toronto International Film Festival 2010 Recap

 
The past two weeks have been a flurry of activity here in Toronto with all the press and industry people here to cover the 35th Toronto International Film Festival. Being a part of the film industry here in Toronto, I took full advantage of the festivities, putting in lots of work, but lots of play as well.

My beautiful friend C and her husband (Who have 6 kids together! Can you believe it?) invited me along to the Entertainment Tonight Canada party one night. It was a great way to enjoy all the excitement of the festival.

We got to see the delectable Canadian hottie Scott Speedman (and his mother too, haha). He is every bit as interesting and charming as he is handsome.

I also happened to run into Morgan Spurlock, the director of Super Size Me. His current film is called Freakonomics, done with five other rogue documentary filmmakers who explain the hidden size of everything. I’m looking forward to seeing that one soon.

While the days were filled with meetings and events, there were lots of great nights spent out with friends. These lovely ladies danced the night away at an event in Yorkville.

Another night we ran into Canada’s own Emmanuelle Chriqui from Entourage at the Spoke Club. Although I would have loved to meet Ryan Kwanten too! I love him on True Blood.

Another highlight of the festival is getting coveted invite to the exclusive Canadian Film Centre’s BBQ. Full of great people, good food and fun drinks, its always a blast.

This year Tokyo Police Club was the surprise band. They did an amazing set and had everyone stopping what they were doing to watch them.

There were also many of Canada’s great young actors present. Particularly some very good looking ones like Eric Johnson (Smallville, Flash Gordon, Rookie Blue).

Another blue-eyed beauty at the BBQ was Craig Olejnik (The Listener). What is it about a great event that brings out some good looking guys like this

And just so that you don’t think I spent the whole time gawking at good looking men, I also had a chat with a Canadian actress who I greatly admire: the lovely Nadia Litz.

Of course I had to take advantage of some of the great chocolates they were giving out and took one home to enjoy for a mid-office day sugar high. Yum!

I also got to see a few films during the festival:

Tamara Drewe
“A young newspaper writer returns to her hometown in the English countryside, where her childhood home is being prepped for sale.”
The trailer for this film plays it up to be a romantic comedy, but it is so much more than that! Its funny, charming and far more entertaining than I expected.

Stone
“A convicted arsonist looks to manipulate a parole officer into a plan to secure his parole by placing his beautiful wife in the lawman’s path.”
It is great to see Robert DeNiro as the morally struggling parole officer, but it is ED Norton who shines as the troubled convict. He also manages to get some good laughs out of the audience.

Everything Must Go
“When an alcoholic relapses, causing him to lose his wife and his job, he holds a yard sale on his front lawn in an attempt to start over. A new neighbor might be the key to his return to form.”
It was refreshing to see Will Ferrell in a dramatic role and he is fantastic in this film. It is fascinating to watch his character hit rock bottom and then go through every material thing that he owns to pull himself out of it. I highly recommend seeing this when it comes out.

Super
“After his wife falls under the influence of a drug dealer, an everyday guy transforms himself into Crimson Bolt, a superhero with the best intentions, though he lacks for heroic skills.”
First off, this isn’t like any other superhero film you’ve seen. I know that people said that about Watchmen and then Kick-Ass, but I really mean it here. Its violent and spiritual at the same time. It was great to see Rainn Wilson break out of from the shadow of the role of Dwight Schrute on The Office and step out into the spotlight.

Black Swan

The Trip
This film is the feature version of a British series that is airing this Fall. Steve Coogan plays a food critic for the UK’s Observer who is joined on a working roadtrip with his impersonator friend Rob Brydon. Be prepared to laugh until your stomach hurts as these two go back-and-forth over who has the best Michael Caine impression.

Peep World
Michael C. Hall, Rainn Wilson, Sarah Silverman and Ben Schwartz really know how to put the fun in dysfunctional in this quirky film. On the day of their father’s 70th birthday party, the four siblings come to terms with the release of a novel written by the youngest sibling, that exposes the family’s most intimate secrets.

I also got to see some great Canadian films:

Small Town Murder Songs
“A modern, gothic tale of crime and redemption about an aging police officer from a small Ontario Mennonite town who hides a violent past until a local murder upsets the calm of his newly reformed life.”
Set in a small town in Southern Ontario, I could relate a great deal to the characters in the town. My dear friend Amy came along for her first festival screening, so it was a real treat for her to get to see the director and actors on stage. The beautiful Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan) was fantastic in the film.

The Whistleblower
“A drama based on the experiences of Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N. for covering up a sex scandal.”
This film was extremely graphic and powerful in its representation of the horrific sex trade occurring in Eastern Europe. This Canadian German co-production was able to get a fantastic cast including Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci and Vanessa Redgrave.

On a final note, I leave you with the photobooth film strip that C and I took at the Guess booth. It is a great idea, because not only does it bring back that nostalgia from being a kid at the mall (which going to was always a big deal for a kid from a small town), but also because this particular machine prints out DOUBLES! Thats, right, no need to fight over who gest the top two or the bottom two. Great idea. I’ll have to remember this for the next event I need to do.

Well that is my condensed, sporadic account of the Toronto International Film Festival. It was also full of meetings with foreign industry delegates and happy hour at the Filmmakers Lounge, but I figured that you wouldn’t be too keen on that part. It was many glasses of white wine, passing of business cards and discussing the new shift of the festival from uptown to downtown.

Another year of TIFF as come and gone and now I’m ready for three things: