Not lost, just undiscovered.

Via Rosemina

A long time ago, I said that I would post reviews of the movies I saw at TIFF 2010. I started that post but never finished it, and now one of the films I saw then is up for an Oscar for Best Picture tonight (Black Swan).

All six movies that I saw were great and each one was different, which made my festival experience varied and kept it interesting.  I started writing my reviews but never finished, and as this post has been collecting dust in my drafts for months now, I decided to at least post the reviews I did end up writing.

Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)

Different from your standard Bollywood fare, Dhobi Ghat offers a glimpse into the lives of four very different people living in Mumbai, India. It’s a moving film, one that kept me riveted and offered up some great Indian filmmaking.

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan stars as emotionally distant artist Arun who meets Shai, an American Indian-born photographer at one of his art showings. After spending the night together, Shai has a hard time letting go of Arun, who conversely has no problem shutting her out.

Shai, taking a sabbatical from her job in the States, is in Mumbai to document with photographs the often hidden side of the city: the work done by the city’s poor.  One of her subjects is Munna, who turns out to be the laundry boy for both Arun and Shai. Munna quickly falls for Shai while she photographs him, and becomes embarrassed and shy about the various jobs he has to take on to make ends meet.

Meanwhile, while Arun is doing his best to ignore Shai, he discovers a set of video tapes recorded by a woman who used to live in his apartment. Arun quickly becomes captivated by the mysterious woman and her story (composed of video letters she was creating for her brother).  This woman is new to the city, brought there by her new husband. We watch as she captures images of the city to share with her brother and as she becomes more isolated in the big city.

The movie revolves around these four characters and we get to see contrasting sides of the city as the movie plays out. Kiran Rao, the writer/director and Khan’s wife, did a good job of showing us the city through the lens of each character. And it just moved me. She was articulate during the Q&A session and I appreciated her thoughts on the movie and its main themes. As well, the newcomers Prateik Babbar and Monica Dogra were excellent and played their contrasting roles really well.

4/5 stars.

Bunraku

I was really excited about seeing this movie and it didn’t disappoint. Part of the Midnight Madness selection, Bunraku takes place in a world where guns are outlawed and swords have returned as the weapon of choice.

In this world, a secretive crime boss named Nicola the Woodcutter rules the city with the help of nine assassins (each with their own fighting style) and the Red Gang. The assassins move up and down in authority by fighting each other. Nicola’s right-hand man is Killer #2, a suave, cold-hearted murderer who kills without remorse.  Together, they run the city using fear and violence to enforce their rules.

We soon meet an unnamed man, a stranger to the city and our cowboy-streetwise hero, who wants to kill Nicola. At a bar, he meets another stranger and our second hero, a samurai named Yoshi. Yoshi wants to avenge the death of his father by taking back a pendant Nicola stole from his clan. Together the two wildly different men set out on a journey to find Nicola.  It’s an entertaining movie with laughs, great fight scenes (with fighting styles that vary throughout the film) and cinematography that is a treat to your eyes. It’s a mash-up of the best of old-style Westerns, futuristic sci-fi and Samurai movies  In fact, the styling seemed to me like a mash-up of Sin City and Kill Bill.

Guy Moshe did an excellent job with this movie and it’s a delight to watch. The principal cast, including Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, GACKT (a Japanese superstar apparently), Kevin McKidd, Ron Perlman and Demi Moore, all play their characters well.  I would definitely recommend watching this movie – it’s visually stunning, funny and just generally kick-ass.

4/5 stars.

The others:

The four other films I saw were all fantastic: Never Let Me Go (4/5 stars), Black Swan (5/5 stars), The Town (3.5/5 stars) and Peep World (3.5/5 stars).

Perhaps when I get a chance to watch each of these again, I’ll finally write those reviews.

Have you seen any of these movies? What did you think of them?

Speaking of dancing and how it makes me smile, this scene from (500) Days of Summer made me laugh out loud in surprise and amusement when I first saw the movie. It’s a scene that I can watch over and over again and it always makes me happy:

If you haven’t seen the movie yet, you really should. I didn’t know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised by its charm.  I definitely recommend it because it’s not your average love story and it really is worth the 87% it received on Rotten Tomatoes.

For years, I would always miss out on the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) because I was away at university during the beginning of September.

Then last year, I was finally in town and I was lucky enough to score some free passes from my employer at the time.  I managed to go to the premiere screenings of Glorious 39 and Harry Brown, both at the Elgin. Both were great movies and I had a lot of fun.

I really got swept up in the magic of watching a movie with those who worked hard to make it. Nothing made me more excited about the essence of a film festival than at the end, when we stood up to applaud their work. I knew I was lucky last year and I walked away thinking that I had to get tickets for this year’s festival.

So this year, I teamed up with a friend and we bought a ticket package and selected a few movies (which wasn’t an easy task – there are still so many others I want to see). Here are the movies we’re scheduled to see this year:

• Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)
• The Town
• Bunraku
• Never Let Me Go
• Black Swan
• Peep World

I will let you know what I think of each movie after the festival ends. Are you going to TIFF this year? If so, what are you planning to see?

I love movies, books, music and TV shows. Who doesn’t?

Here’s the thing: I have a habit of getting into shows, books and musicians late in the game.

At face value, this may seem like a bad thing – it means I rarely get to be the “one who discovered the awesomeness of…”

But the truth is that I don’t actually care.

Waiting and being late in the game has its benefits:

• My friends and the general public let me know if something is worth my time
• If the person/book/show/etc lasts over time, it’s a sure sign that there’s something there – I know I’m not wasting my time or energy
• If it’s a show, I have tons to catch up on. It means no waiting until next week or season to find out what happens next. Anticipation is great but fulfilling a desire immediately is even better! The same applies for books too
• There’s lots of fresh material for me to soak up and enjoy while everyone has ants in their pants, waiting for the next season or the next book
• There are many opportunities for me to borrow the book, DVD or CD from friends who are already fans (cost savings!)

Here are some examples of things I love now but didn’t pay attention to for a long time:

• Dexter – this is the show I’m currently exploring. I just finished season 3 and I love it.
• Harry Potter – read the books 10 years after the first one was published.
• Friends – I started watching the first season while the latter half of the 10th (and final) season was airing.
• Doctor Who (w/ the 9th & 10th Doctors) -  I started watching while season 3 was airing.
• Lost – I started watching while season 3 or 4 was airing.
• Grey’s Anatomy – I started watching while season 3 was airing
• John Mayer – I had a friend who loved his music and wanted to go see him live. We all said no. A year later, we were all big fans.
• James Morrison – I recently discovered his music, three years late

The list could go on forever.

So what does this mean? People get to be excited and watch in anticipation as I fall in love and become addicted. They participate enthusiastically as I go on and on about these shows or books that they’ve loved for years already.

This also means that people think I’m slow and really out of touch – but I don’t mind.

From this point forward, I plan to write about and share my thoughts on all of my “new discoveries” here. So please bare with me – sometimes I’ll be on the ball and other times I won’t. Either way, your feedback and comments will greatly be appreciated.

Image source: Suchitra Prints (Creative Commons License – BY)