Roy Halladay

Reports are saying that Roy Halladay will not re-sign with the Blue Jays after his contract expires at the end of the 2010 season.

To paraphrase Hall and Oates:

He's gone
Oh I, oh I'd
Better learn how to face it
He's gone
Oh I, oh I'd
Pay the devil to replace him
He's gone
What went wrong?

Prom Night in Mississippi

Prom Night in Mississippi was one of my favorite films from the 2009 Hot Docs film festival, and I was thrilled to see it released theatrically in Toronto this weekend. I had tweeted about the film, posted about it on various Internet message boards, and also wanted plunk down my $10 at the theatre to further support the film. A fortuitous surprise was the that director and producer of the film, Paul Saltzman and Patricia Aquino, were available for a Q&A after the screening. They were in Toronto (along with actor Morgan Freeman) to promote the film.

I think I've blogged about it before, but I think the story the film tells is an important one. And it's one that's very fairly and touchingly told. For many years, the high school prom in Charleston, Mississippi had been segregated. There was the Black prom and the White prom despite the fact that the school was fully integrated (70% Black students, 30% white students).

Actor Morgan Freeman, who had lived in the town as a child, offered to pay for the prom if it would be integrated. We come to hear from the students themselves about their own feelings towards each other, and the attitudes that they were brought up with.

The Hot Docs audience loved the film, and the people in the small screening I attended also enjoyed it immensely. It's an important film for young people to see and the filmmakers are working to get the movie out to high schools and colleges. Where it has been shown, it has been wildly successful.

I'm blogging about this movie again because I really hope people will see this movie. It's heart-warming. The ingenuousness of the students is touching. And what they're doing--breaking a vicious cycle, a sad history of racism--is very powerful. So go see this movie--don't make me tell you again!

Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher is doing a one-woman show on Broadway called Wishful Drinking. It's about her life (daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, with a backstage pass to the Hollywood Life, who had battles with mental illness and addiction, and who played the iconic Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies) and is supposed to be a hoot.

I was just watching an interview with her on Broadwayworld.com and I liked this line she had while explaining how, back in the day, she was milling about in the bowels of Studio 54 with the likes of Halston, Liza, Truman Capote and Steve Rubell in the secret area for celebrity drug use. She says she was "A fly on a very ornate wall."

Here's more from Carrie Fisher (when she was doing this show in California):

Lone Scherfig

I've loved the work of Danish director Lone Scherfig since seeing Italian for Beginners several years ago. Since then I've gone to see her subsequent films when they played at the TIFF and she's always been there to introduce her films and do a Q&A. Italian for Beginners was a wonderful ensemble romantic comedy, set in Denmark, with a motley mix of characters who come together romantically at the end.

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, despite it's title, is a very pleasant film, set in Scotland, again about romantic yearning and a man who tries to kill himself and (comically) fails. Trailer.

Just Like Home was the next Scherfig film I saw. It's about the quirky inhabitants of a small Danish town. Some of the actors from Italian for Beginners appear in this cute film.

In her most recent film An Education she has harnessed her full talents in a film that will finally earn her recognition as a top-flight director. Based on Lynn Barber's autobiographical book, An Education is about Jenny, a very smart young woman who is swept off her feet by a suave older man (Peter Sarsgaard) who introduces her to a life of sophistication that she yearns to escape to. She foolishly abandons her previous plans of applying to Oxford and a life of rigorous (and dull) study with uncertain outcomes. Jazz clubs, fancy restaurants and trips to Paris seem so much more exciting to a young woman in 1960's England. But her education comes when she discovers that such a life has its price, esp. when it's built on a fraud. A wonderfully put together film, with terrific performances by the cast (led by the radiant and effervescent Carey Mulligan as Jenny), lovely period design and score (I have the soundtrack CD and am enjoying it much). The film has seen very positive reviews, and one anticipates a smattering of nominations come award season.

I'm quite happy that Lone Scherfig will finally get the recognition she deserves. Here's a video interview with her where she talks about directing An Education.

A Serious Man

A Serious Man is about Larry Gopnik, a genial man living in 1960's suburban Minnesota. Despite his well intentions and good nature, everything in his life seems to be going wrong. Larry's wife announces that she wants a divorce; she has taken up with a family friend. His children are indifferent to him and his feckless brother (and his cyst) has moved in. Larry is up for tenure at the college where he teaches physics, but the committee is receiving disturbing letters questioning his ethics and a failing student bribes him for a passing grade, then threatens to sue him for not accepting the bribe. He seeks answers to all the troubles in his life from a series of rabbis, who offer no help at all. Larry begins to have increasingly bizarre dreams (where he's either having sex with his comely female neighbor or being shot by his redneck male neighbor) as his life begins to spiral out of control.

Michael Stuhlbarg is amazing as Larry. "Likeable loser" isn't the right term for Larry, as, despite his constant petty and funny misfortunes, he's not a loser. Stuhlbarg plays him as a good, earnest, decent man. And you can't help but feel for this guy. He's faithful, loyal, honest, decent and really tries to be the best husband, father, neighbor, teacher, despite the lack of reciprocation from others. Absurd and yet rational, A Serious Man is a film I've come to like more after I've seen it than when I was actually watching it. I don't entirely understand it, but it's making me think a whole lot. (8/10)

Interested parties should read Jim Emerson's excellent analysis of the film, A Serious Man: Kafka in Minneapolis.

2009 TIFF Awards

TIFF has long since ended, but I’ve only now just finished posting short reviews of the films I saw. Because I only see a small number of the 300+ films shown at the festival I've not usually created my own list of award winners. However, I thought I would do so this year. So, based on the limited sample of films I saw (27), here are my award winners:

Film – Up in the Air (directed by Jason Reitman; starring George Clooney)

Director – TIE - Lee Daniels (Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire); Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)

Actress – Du-na Bae (Air Doll); special mention: Gabourey Sidibe (Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Penelope Cruz (Broken Embraces)

Actor – Colin Firth (A Single Man) special mention: George Clooney (Up in the Air), Zohar Shtrauss (Eyes Wide Open)

Supporting Actor - Hideo Nakaizumi (City of Life and Death) special mention: Alfred Molina (An Education)

Supporting Actress – Mo'Nique (Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire) special mention: Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)

Screenplay – Up in the Air (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner)

Cinematography – Yu Cao (City of Life and Death) special mention: Broken Embraces (Rodrigo Prieto), Micmacs à tire-larigot (Tetsuo Nagata)

Art Direction/Production Design – A Single Man (Ian Phillips, art direction; Dan Bishop, production design)

Costumes – A Single Man (Arianne Phillips w/Tom Ford)

Score – Broken Embraces (Alberto Iglesias)

Documentary – The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls

Copyright Criminals

Copyright Criminals is a documentary that examines the practice of music sampling, a relatively recent practice (starting in the 1980's, perhaps?) in music that is now commonplace--particularly in hip hop and rap. Through interviews with musical artists, DJs, producers and industry people, we learn that sampling started by people just mixing different sounds to create a new sound. Eventually, the original artists, producers and record companies started saying, "Hey, you're stealing my music." Lawsuits were launched, and new practices had to be put into place whereby artists must now negotiate rights (ie. $$) in order to use sampled beats, sounds or snatches of music in their own composition. A very interesting film that was screened free at Yonge-Dundas Square on the closing night of the Toronto International Film Festival. (Interesting, too, that the movie was shown for free at an outdoor venue and was followed by an audio/visual mashup created by Eclectic Method, whose performance demonstrates sampling of audio and video as well as anything.) I believe Copyright Criminals will be shown on PBS in early 2010.

Good Hair

Good Hair is good fun. Chris Rock takes a comic (and sometimes serious) look at the lengths African-American women will go to for their hair. From chemical relaxers (that can burn through a pop can in a few hours) to expensive extensions and weaves ($1000+) made from Indian hair, we learn that while African-Americans make up 12% of the population, they represent 80% of the multi-billion dollar hair care market. Rock takes us to the Bronner Brothers hair show in Atlanta, the biggest exhibition of hair care products for the African-American market. Part of the event is the Hair Battle Royale, a hair stylist competition that includes music, dance and a whole lotta diva attitude (a hoot!). While the film raises many issues (Why do black women feel the need to change their natural hair texture to something resembling European or Asian hair? Despite the chemical burning of relaxers, why are parents having their young children's hair straightened? And does this affect their perception of beauty and self worth? And how can average working women afford weaves that cost upwards of $1000?), it does so in a light-hearted way and is totally fun.
(7/10)

London River

We have seen many films the deal, directly or indirectly, with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But now we’re starting to see films that address the 2005 terrorist attacks in London, including Jean Charles and London River, both of which I saw at this year’s TIFF. With fragile emotion, Brenda Blethyn plays a white, British Christian woman from the Isle of Guernsey, who travels to London to find her daughter who has gone missing. With a majestic dignity, Sotigui Kouyaté plays a black, Muslim African man from France who likewise seeks out his missing son. Ultimately, they discover their adult children had been living together and their disappearance is directly related to the attacks on the London public transit system. Director Rachid Bouchareb moves the film at a measured pace, studying the two distinctly different characters and bringing them together gradually. As with Jean Charles, this film does not look at the causes of the attacks at all—only the unforeseen, and tragic consequences. (7/10)

Same Same But Different

As in The Reader, David Cross plays an earnest young man who falls in love with an unlikely woman in unusual circumstances. Here he is Ben, a German man on a post-college/pre-work holiday in Cambodia. He falls in love with Sreykeo, a girl he meets in a bar. They have a brief romance. After returning to Germany he learns that she is HIV positive. Rather than forgetting about her he returns to Cambodia seeking the best medication available. He returns again to work, and continues to giver her and her family money. Despites some bumps in the road, ultimately the two remain together (if it weren’t a true story I wouldn't have entirely believed it; I’m still not sure what the two saw in each other). Some kicking music in the soundtrack and visually pleasant. Official website. (7/10)