I went to see this film with trepidation. Two hours of silence watching a screen- not so sure. In fact, it did take me a few minutes at the start to get in the groove but once I did I was completely mesmerized. This film is syrely a labour of love about the silent screen era. It explains the fascination people had with those early films. The acting and casting are amazing; the attention to detail , stunning. A must see. Perfect for the Holiday blues.

Yours in great cinema,

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

This traditional spy story was brilliantly directed and cast. Gary Oldham was perfect as Smiley and John Hird great as Control. All of the cast was the perfect shade of English spy grey. The beginning of the film was a bit hard to follow so watch carefully. It unravels nicely.Definitely worth a look.

Yours in Holiday Ignorance and Bliss,

Shame- A tedious day in the life of a sex addict

I saw this film several days ago but have held off a review because I was so conflicted about my opinion of its merit. In discussing it with a friend today, I was able to come to a conclusion.

This is the story of a week in the life of a sex addict. Addiction isn't generally very pretty and sex addiction is apparently no different.than the more commonly known food, drug and alcohol addictions. Sex, it turns out, is a lot of work and not much fun. This is not actually news to some of us but just in case you didn't get the memo..

The acting in this film is excellent. Michael Fassbender as our anti-hero and Carey Mulligan as his hapless sister are both believable as very damaged siblings, who play out their dysfunction in different, equally self destructive, ways.The story unfolds slowly, not quite real time but close.One does not envy, or even like, anyone in this story.

This is what bothered me at the time I saw it. I wanted to know the genesis of the main characters' dysfunctions so I could sympathize with them. I never found out. Now I realize that was a very courageous move by the director. He strictly relies on the acting and the moment to keep our attention. He did hold mine, in the way watching a train wreck take place mesmerizes me. You want to turn away but you can't.

Am I recommending this film ? Yes, if you want to watch the excellent dramatization of a difficult subject. No, if you need to understand the characters or care about them on some level. I leave that to you.

Yours in ambivalence,

When my girlfriend chose this event as our Holiday outing I thought, Oy veh bah humbug ( We half and halfers get to talk that way.) On further reflection I thought it would be a good anthropological exercise, if nothing else.

In fact it was a lovely evening in many ways. I did enjoy the music although I was disappointed in the Hallelujah Chorus which I had remembered as more rousing and inspirational.

Maybe I was just a bit tired. It didn't help that the young woman beside me had taken off her shoes and had the worst foot odour I have experienced in a long time. She was in her teens and obviously on a date so I didn't have the heart to complain and potentially change the entire history of her life going forward, but I definitely wanted to.

Overall, the voices were good and thank goodness the soprano and mezzo- soprano didn't look like they should be playing Brunhilde in a Wagnerian opera and were nicely dressed. Wish I could have seen the shoes- but I digress. In fact I digressed quite often during the programme but did not fall asleep at least.

Everyone else seemed to be in rapt enjoyment so as an anthropological study I would say the evening was success.

Yours in oy veh bah humbug,

Tomboy- Sensitive, Hopeful Film about Gender Identity and Coming of Age

I am still thinking about this beautifully directed, superbly acted coming of age film about a ten year old girl who looks and acts like a boy. The film is understated and never manipulative.

The girl who plays the ten year old is remarkable in her role and the other children in it are equally fine. The six year old sister is irresisitible. She loves her older sister, realizing that she is not like the other older sisters and proud of it. The dialogue is realistic. Many scenes are memorable as vignettes all on their own.I miss the children in it and wish I knew them.

This is a must-see little known French Holiday treasurer.

Yours for realistic stories about gender identity

This year I saw nineteen films at TIFF and generally had a good experience .

Documentaries

My favourite documentary was The Last Dogs of Winter, the story of a man named Ladoon who is running a programme to save the last 400 wild Husky dogs in Churchill, Manitoba. In 1995, there were 2500 Huskies but the government killed most of them in order to stop Innu people from being nomadic in nature. It was “successful”, destroying further the traditional lifestyle of these people.

This courageous man has only two people helping him to feed these animals, to provide them medical care, and to use them to breed further such animals around the world. He has very little funding and little support from the townspeople for his work, out of fear of these dogs and the polar bears they attract. He is also helping to save the polar bears by keeping them away from the town and the possibility o being shot by townspeople. The story is compelling, heart warming and uplifting.

Pearl Jam Twenty and From the Sky Down about the histories of Pearl Jam and U2 were fine, somehow to me like being invited to watch the visual equivalent of an inside joke. This is for musicians and diehard fans . I like U2 especially but didn’t really feel engaged by the film. Pearl Jam was at least more “out there” and fun to watch with all of their antics.

The last documentary was The Fatherland, an Argentine film shot in the Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires , where Evita is buried. The director has different unknown and unnamed people reading at the gravesides of different also unknown( to me at least) historical figures from letters or poetry they wrote. I was asleep in no time. Sound concept but poor execution( so to speak).

The Lady

The Lady is the personal side of the story of Sang Sui Khi who is being kept as a political prisoner in Burma and was under house arrest for many years. She was also the winner of the Nobel prize but was not able to collect it because she would not have been permitted to return to Burma if she left. Michelle Yoen does a creditable job in the title role and Tom Wilkinson puts in a good performance as her long suffering and supportive English professor husband. While I enjoyed the film as I was watching, I realized after I left that it left me quickly and didn’t satisfy my desire to admire and be inspired by this living legend. Her struggle should have touched me more but it didn’t. Perhaps it lacked enough feeling in the character to feel her suffering- she was a bit too stoic for me to connect with her. See for yourself. There is no question that she is an important political figure of our time.

HUGELY DISAPPOINTING , YOU HAD NO REASON TO BE –FILMS

Peace, Love and Misunderstanding- What is there to misunderstand in this stinker?

What was Jane Fonda thinking ? She surely cannot want to be remembered for this retro stinker. Hippy grandmother living in Woodstock, N.Y. has visit from uptight, judgmental lawyer doctor from NYC and her two pubescent teenage children. How many times do we need to see this theme of learning to accept our dysfunctional little family as it is? Not this time, that’s for certain. Just awful, predictable, boring and embarrassing for Jane Fonda and her fans. Jane,tip from a fan : please remake Klute if you must act and can’t think of anything original to say.

The Woman on the Fifth- Fifth What ?

What were Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas thinking ? Are they that hard up for money ? If you have insomnia . see this one. You’ll be cured.

Dark Horse- Biggest disappointment of the Festival

What was Todd Solondz thinking? He has been my hero- maker of edgy, dark, difficult and interesting films including Happiness and Life During Wartime. Suddenly he wimps out and makes this half-baked piece about an obese, nerdy boy-man looking for love in all the wrong places , actually anywhere at all. Such a waste of Mia Farrow and Christopher Walken’s considerable talents. Even they cannot save this boring middle of the road unfunny comedy. Another good insomnia medication.

Americano- Snore

Another dog that had no reason to be made. Sorry, another “chien” since it’s a French dog. A garbled meandering tale of love gone wrong. Or something, I regretted the waste of Selma Hayek and Geraldine Chaplin. Boring, pointless, lengthy. Avoid at all costs.

Heleno- Who cares ?

Another waste of time and cute boys, Heleno tells the tale of the rise and fall of famed Brazilian football player ( soccer to me) Heleno de Freitas. I’m sure his life was more interesting than it appears in this film. Even the eye candy provided by Rodrigo Santoro in the title role is not enough to redeem this boring film- 116 minutes of my life I will never get back. Don’t let this happen to you and those you love or at least lust after.

Restless- I got that way after 15 minutes of this film

I adore Gus Van Sant- Elephant was brilliant, MILK wonderful. So what happened here ? Another snore fest . Why, Gus, why ? This film had no reason to be. And I had no reason to have to be subjected to it. Warning to all who enter here : this way boredom lies , 95 long minutes of it.

I am stunned that we still preach on film that the ultimate goal for all women is to be married/have a live-in relationship with some guy - apparently any guy. Doesn't anyone read the divorce statistics ? Doesn't anyone go to therapy?

And why is it still funny to see two women jealous of each other ? Why is it still funny to make fun of women because they have eating disorders? Women have complex and interesting relationships of all kinds. Couldn't we show them?

Is it really still funny to watch people barfing and crapping in sinks because of food poisoning? Didn't that go out with Porkies and frat house toga parties?

So sad, because this movie asks a lot of the right questions but comes up with all the (same old) wrong answers. Husband boring in bed ? Suck it up (so to speak) and go to Vegas for a weekend. Husband too tired for sex? Have a lesbian lover. Girlfriend getting married and you're not ? Don't worry, she's paving the way so you will have great advice when you meet Mr. Right. Got business and depression problems? Don't worry, Mr. Right will fix them - along with the plumbing I'm sure.

This film is so deeply shallow, I warn you not to jump in.

Tata,

 Dame Velveeta Peron

 Scream 4 - An excellent addition to the brand

I liked this movie much more than I expected to like it. If you like this genre and this brand, you'll have fun. Enjoy.

African Cats - Purrfect

True confessions: I love cats more than most people. If you want to see incredible photography of Masai Mara in Kenya and the most beautiful creatures in the world, this is the film for you. Warning: Animals were killed during the making of this movie.

Born to be Wild - A Love story

Unless you are a sociopath, and I know a few, you cannot help but be moved by this film. A documentary about two women who save orphaned elephants in Kenya and orangutans in Borneo, it is heartrending, beautiful and inspiring. On another level, it is a story of human cruelty and greed. Poachers killed the parents of these animals for sale.I don't blame the poor poachers who are hired by the rich for their pleasures. When will governments learn to pay the poachers more than their clients do and save the animals ? When will we learn that there is more pleasure in going to watch these amazing creatures than in killing them for passing pleasures ? They aren't the wild ones, we are.

Yours in improving human behaviour,

 Dame Velveeta Peron