Just curios from the forum readers (and twitch writers) that caught films a this years Toronto International Film Festival, what was your favorite film (and if you want to elaborate, why)

My top flick was Lee Myung-Se’s M

runners up were No Country For Old Men, The Tracey Fragments, Madame Tutli-Putli, The Orphanage and My Winnipeg.

Favorite: Paranoid Park

Other films I enjoyed: A Gentle Breeze In The Village, It’s A Free World, Le Voyage Du Ballon Rouge, Sad Vacation, Mister Lonely, Ploy, Dainipponjin

Okay: Juno, Lars and The Real Girl, The Orphanage, Mad Detective, Sukiyaki Western Djanjo, Vexille, Smiley Face, Glory To The Filmmaker, Useless

Crap: Exodus

Yea, Exodus is a bit of a baffler.  It’s got to be one of the very few (maybe only) films that fit the description dead-pan absurdist noir.  But then the floor drops out when the director loses the deadpan aspects and tries to give the audience what it expected all wrapped in the last 8 minutes or so.  Sure there are laughs in there, but by then the film is at a half-way point with neither side satisfying.  A disappointment for sure, but hard unredeemable.  A second viewing is definitely in order to fully get the joke.

Favourites: “No Country For Old Men” and “The Edge of Heaven”
Up there: “Flash Point”, “Control”, “Time To Die”
Most hated: “M”

Great films at TIFF: Haynes’ ‘I’m Not There’, Sokurov’s ‘Alexandra’, and Reygadas’ ‘Silent Light’

Honorable Mention: Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’ and Wright’s ‘Atonement’

Horrible: Woody ‘Lazy Filmmaker’ Allen’s ‘Cassandra’s Dream’

These are my ratings for the films I saw at TIFF.

Excellent
BRICK LANE
CHOP SHOP
ISKA’S JOURNEY
LA ZONA
LE VOYAGE DU BALLON ROUGE
MY WINNIPEG

Very Good
BOY A
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ (ENDLESS)
IMPORT EXPORT
NE TOUCHEZ PAS LA HACHE
PARANOID PARK
PLOY
SECRET SUNSHINE
SHADOWS
THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
THE MOSQUITO PROBLEM AND OTHER STORIES

Good
AVANT QUE J’OUBLIE
CHAOS
CONTRE TOUTE ESPÉRANCE
DANS LA VIE
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
ERIK NIETZSCHE THE EARLY YEARS
FOREVER NEVER ANYWHERE
FOUR WOMEN
GEORGE A. ROMERO’S DIARY OF THE DEAD
HELP ME EROS
JAR CITY
M
SILENT RESIDENT
SLINGSHOT
THE BANISHMENT
THE LAST LEAR
THE MAN FROM LONDON
THE SUN ALSO RISES

Fair
ALGÉRIE, HISTOIRES À NE PAS DIRE
CHACUN SON CINÉMA
GLORY TO THE FILMMAKER!
ONE HUNDRED NAILS
SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO
USELESS

Favourite: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Least Favourite: M

Haha, fun to see how much we all differ on some of these films. I admit that in a 48 film marathon(I had to cut 2 films in favor of sleep), I might not be in the perfect state to review a film like M, so I might be being a little harsh on the slower films if they hit me on a bad day.

Favorite:
Mad Detective

Excellent:
Lust, Caution
Sukiyaki Western Django
Encounters At The End Of The World
Glory To The Filmmaker!
Juno
No Country For Old Men
Stuck
The Orphanage
Young People F*Cking

Rather Good:
À L’Intérieur
Battle In Seattle
Flash Point
Nothing Is Private
Secret Sunshine
Son Of Rambow
The Last Lear
The Mother Of Tears
Blood Brothers
George A. Romero’S Diary Of The Dead
Vexille

None too shabby:
Battle For Haditha
Chacun Son Cinéma
Chrysalis
Dainipponjin
Into The Wild
The Exodus
Captain Mike Across America
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
I’M Not There
Ploy
Terra
The Brave One
Weirdsville
Before The Devil Knows You’Re Dead
Frontière(S)
Redacted
The Devil’S Chair

Trying my Patience:
It’S A Free World
Paranoid Park
Sleuth
Smiley Face
Just Buried
Walk All Over Me

Boo, down with these!:
Le Voyage Du Ballon Rouge
M
Silent Resident

Oi!  I had forgotten about “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” - that was one of the best at the fest for me, a 9/10 flick!

Biggest Fiascos were:  Nothing is Private, Terra, The Devil’s Chair, Elizabeth 2 (Inquisition Boogaloo) and Silent Resident

Mostly Harmless - The Passage, They Wait, Lust-Caution, Crysalis, Weirdsville, Walk All Over Me

I walked out of Help Me Eros - Lee Kang-Sheng ain’t no Tsai Ming-Liang...all the right notes, no elegance in the playing (good looking women in there though)

Here is another way of looking at things.  The films I’d really like to see a second time are because they are so rich or cannot be fully absorbed in a single viewing…

M
No Country For Old Men
The Exodus
My Winnipeg
The Banishment
À L’Intérieur
Dianipponjin
Madame Tutli-Putli

and

Sad I missed:

King of the Hill
Chaotic Ana
Silent Light
Brick Lane
La Zona
The last third of Ex Drummer (had to get to another screening)

As for The Assassinatino of Jesse James, Eastern Promises and The Brave One - well they are all coming out of the next couple weeks, so I gave them a pass during the festival.  The first two of those I’m really salivating for though!

Only saw three so here they are in order.

Stuck: Fucking fantastic.
Sukiyaki Western Django: Fun but too long.
Vexille: Beautiful but weak story.

Kurt Halfyard - September 16, 2007, 5:47pm

Yea, Exodus is a bit of a baffler.  It’s got to be one of the very few (maybe only) films that fit the description dead-pan absurdist noir.  But then the floor drops out when the director loses the deadpan aspects and tries to give the audience what it expected all wrapped in the last 8 minutes or so.  Sure there are laughs in there, but by then the film is at a half-way point with neither side satisfying.  A disappointment for sure, but hard unredeemable.  A second viewing is definitely in order to fully get the joke.

I just had problems with the film’s execution.  I breezed through Todd’s review of the film and it seems like he had similar criticisms.  For me though, I didn’t like the film’s serious tone; with exception to the last few minutes, there is not an inkling of humour found in the dialogue or acting.  The story’s premise is humorous because of its absurdity, but rather than play upon the absurdity, the plot focuses on Simon Yam’s serious and dramatic character; his poor relationships with his wife and mother-in-law, his opposition and isolation to the world as result of his moral integrity, and his incessant quest to prove to himself that his view of the world is worth having.  The film focused heavily on these subjects, which would be alright if the film’s central storyline wasn’t so silly.  The serious themes in the film come off as pretension to me, not deadpan comedy.  And I just couldn’t shake that feeling off until the very end.  By the way, I have to disagree with your assessment, I think the final 8 minutes or so is precisely when he started to add deadpan elements to the film.  - or i should say, it’s the only time the audience has a joke to laugh to while the characters are being serious.  The rest of the film just feels plain serious, unfunny, and pretentious.

Having said all that, I quite like Edmond Pang and enjoyed his previous five films quite a bit.  This one just didn’t do it for me.

All good points.  But it is tough to reckon with that austere opening shot - from Queen Elizabeth II to the endless beating of that man by the divers is operatic in its absurdity!  There in lies the key to the whole film.  Simon Lam’s character believing pretty much that anything is possible after witnessing that beating.  And in a nice bit of existentialism, actually brings his whole fate down on himself by dallying with another woman...(His wife was out of the game until then, but you know what they say about a woman scorned!)

Yes, I sincerely believe that THE EXODUS is worth a second look!

Hey guys,

My site, TIFFReviews.com, is conducting a poll for the best film, actor, actress, director and screenplay at the Fest.  You can vote here.  Results will be posted Sep 23.  Thanks!

Oh and my fave film at TIFF is a tie between “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” and “The Edge of Heaven”.

Reading these lists is delicious. I was exited to see “M” got such a great review: I love love love “The Duelist”, so hearing about a new movie from this amazing director delighted me.

But now I see people all over the place slamming it as well! What to make of that?
Ah well, the same thing happened with “The Duelist” so I’ll just have to see it for myself.

(Note: I do NOT expect anything similar to “The Duelist”, but just hope to spot the same extreme capability and use of cinema I currently associate with the name Lee Myung-Se)

Ardvark - September 19, 2007, 2:51am

Reading these lists is delicious. I was exited to see “M” got such a great review: I love love love “The Duelist”, so hearing about a new movie from this amazing director delighted me.

But now I see people all over the place slamming it as well! What to make of that?
Ah well, the same thing happened with “The Duelist” so I’ll just have to see it for myself.

(Note: I do NOT expect anything similar to “The Duelist”, but just hope to spot the same extreme capability and use of cinema I currently associate with the name Lee Myung-Se)

For what it’s worth, I totally hated the Duelist too so based on that you might totally dig “M”. I’ll stick with Lang’s “M”.