Toronto International Film Festival 2011

Don't have the time or space to review all the films I saw at TIFF, but here are some of the better ones. Overall, I would say that there weren't as many standout films for me as in some other years, but the festival is always enjoyable for the ambiance and the audiences.

Shame
Steve McQueen's unflinching drama examines the life of an outwardly successful man in New York City with a sex addiction. Brandon (Michael Fassbender) leads a seemingly normal (albeit lonely) life while hiding his sexual compulsions which include porn, prostitutes, anonymous hookups and excessive masturbation (in the men's room at work, for example). His descent is accelerated as his needy sister (Carey Mulligan) crashes at his sterile apartment and later, an attempt at a normal relationship with a co-worker fails (in his mind, anyway). Brave performances by Fassbender and Mulligan. A hard look at a type of addiction we don't see often portrayed in film.

Pina (documentary)
A visual feast, Pina captures stunning excerpts from some of choreographer Pina Bausch's original works--both in the theatre and in and around the German town that was home to her company, the Tanztheater Wuppertal. Featuring dancers of varying ages, who offer brief reflections on Bausch (who died prior to the filming and is seen only briefly), this dance (which I knew very little of going into the film) is like a whole new way of communication. A powerful and evocative soundtrack also adds to artistry of the film, a tribute to a unique artistic genius.

PINA - Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost - International Trailer from neueroadmovies on Vimeo.

Take This Waltz
In Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz, Michelle Williams plays a writer struggling with a seven year itch. OK, she's actually married five years to Seth Rogan, a cookbook author, and their relationship is amiable but lacking spark. Then along comes Daniel (Luke Kirby) with whom she shares mutual chemistry and attraction. Will she give in to desire or not? Film is also interesting for the matter-of-fact full-frontal female nude scene in the showers at the YMCA. Michelle Williams, Sarah Silverman and assorted middle aged ladies are shown completely naked for an extended scene.

Hysteria
A fun romantic comedy set in Victorian England and dealing with the invention of the vibrator. Hugh Dancy plays a modern-thinking doctor who finds himself fingering women to orgasm while working in the offices of a doctor (Jonathan Pryce) treating women for "hysteria" (what was then a catch-all phrase for assorted female maladies). The doctor's daughter is the emancipated Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a social worker who believes in women's equality. Orgasmic equality is achieved when Dancy and his wealthy friend (played with hilarious dry wit by Rupert Everet) invent the vibrator and thus free women of the need of a man. Light, but fun, with some modern day parallels. Should be a hit with women (and anyone who loves them).



Friends With Kids
Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt, who also directed the film) are bffs. After their friends start having kids they decide to have their own, share parentage, and continue dating other people. Of course, trouble ensues as they struggle to separate their feelings for each other--are they friends or lovers? I really liked the relationship between the two--very much like a straight Will & Grace.