The Toronto International Film Festival, for years had been the launching pad festival for the Oscars. Something happened along the way, and the Telluride Film Festival took over that badge. To my surprise, Telluride has been around for a very long time - since 1974. "Mullholand Drive,' "Blue Velvet," "The Crying Game," all had their American premieres there.
This year, Toronto seems to have made more of an impact--from my computer screen in Mississippi at least. Film after film, buzz after buzz, tweet after tweet. It has been nonstop, relentless and exhausting. A few days ago, I pretty much stopped paying attention, but the festival isn't even over until Sunday!
Are there really that many good movies being released this year, or has the level of criticism we apply to a film diminished? For years I have said that I am not a critic, but as time goes by and more people join the ranks of Oscarwatching, I think I might be one of the most discerning.
It seems that everyone I follow (and that list has been greatly decreased over the past few weeks) has something positive to say about everything. If you look closer, you will notice that many of these people haven't even seen the films.
Do they have a right to an opinion? Sure...but they are diluting what it means to watch the Oscar race. I'm glad many of them are around because many of the newer folks are the ones who actually engage with me on Twitter. I've never been invited to be on Gold Derby...which is fine...and a couple of my idols in this thing don't even follow me on Twitter. So, who am I doing this for?
Well, if you are reading this, it's for you.
The next few weeks will be quiet-ish. Opening weekend of "A Star is Born" will be the real beginning for people like us. The ones who didn't make it to Toronto and are waiting to have an informed opinion. Watch out for the Oscar vultures. There will probably be some negative high profile reviews of the film...or not, but you will see a "The King's Speech," "Lady Bird" style take down. And if the film isn't gangbusters at the box office...all bets are off. It will be hunting season for Bradley Cooper...one of the nicest, most talented guys around who people really, really, really seem to hate.
I plan to see "The Wife" this weekend because by some miracle it is playing here in Oxford, MS, but other than that I hope to be on Oscars pause. Well...until Toronto announces their Audience Award.
Let's talk about the two films I watched for the Best Films Rewatch. David Fincher's "Zodiac" and "Moonstruck."
This go around my initial thoughts on "Zodiac" were that it was much colder than I remembered. It took a very long time for me to become emotionally invested in the story. Almost an hour and a half, actually. I remembered the murder scenes for being realistic and brutal...which they are. That murder scene in the park is especially terrifying.
But for some reason this beautiful, perfectly shot film felt clinical. That is until Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) truly takes over the narrative. The film really picks up in intensity and energy as Gyllenhaal's life takes an obsessive turn for the worst as he hunts the Zodiac, leading up to the reveal of who Graysmith considers (or at least considered at the time) the killer by means of the one victim who got a really good look at the guy.
Maybe I will feel differently about "Zodiac" on another viewing, but for now, it doesn't make the cut.
Before moving on to "Where the Wild Things Are," I decided to watch "Moonstruck," directed by Norman Jewison, written by John Patrick Shanley and starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis and more. I wonder if this film would get the wonderful reviews it got back in 1987 if it was released today. I feel that it has been often replicated with films such as "While You Were Sleeping," "Sleepless in Seattle," lesser films that tug at the same emotional strings that "Moonstruck" elicits naturally.
If you are a dedicated follower of this site, you know about the fateful evening when I tried to go in to see "Police Academy 4" but accidentally went into the wrong side of our Twin Cinema where "Moonstruck" was playing. The ticket taker wouldn't let me switch sides since I had already entered. (You would have to be familiar with the way the theater was set up to really understand.) For years I thought I was too young to see the film, but it is rated PG.
I left the theater, 11 years old, in love with film and Cher. I was so happy when she won Best Actress--it is an incredible performance. There are moments I still remember to this day having not seen the film in decades. The liquor store scene near the beginning when we first hear about men as wolves, when Loretta and Ronny drink whiskey and he takes her to bed! "It's Cosmo's moon," "Snap out of it!" (obviously), "I lost my hand! I lost my bride!" The list goes on.
Watching that last breakfast scene as it unfolds in a natural, real time...if it was made today (don't be surprised when it gets remade!) it would be played at slapstick speed for laughs. As much as I loved "Crazy Rich Asians" I am ready for a romantic film to really rise to the level of art once again.
In the next 3 weeks I will finish up my Best Films Rewatch and compose My Top 10 Films of all Time. And then we will dig in to this year's Oscar race. The first thing I want to do is look at the last 3 years and where I went wrong with Best Picture.
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