Tuesday 17 December 2013

Toronto Film Critics Association Gives Its Nod To...


Well, the Toronto Film Critics Association has made their list and checked it twice, and we can all now speculate as to how this roster of films will do at the upcoming Golden Globes and the Oscars. Some awards such as the Manulife Financial Student Film Award (best from programmes at Humber College, Ryerson University, Sheridan College and York University ) and the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award will be selected on January, 17, 2014. The three finalists are: The Dirties, directed by Matt Johnson, Gabrielle, directed by Louise Archambault; and Watermark, directed by Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky.

It’s been an unusually thrilling year for cinema,” said TFCA President Brian D. Johnson, film critic at Maclean’s. And these awards celebrate a remarkable diversity. Among our distinctive Canadian finalists, each offers an inspired take on a compelling issue—from school bullying in The Dirties to sexual liberation among the disabled in Gabrielle to epic environmental crisis in Watermark.”

The full list of Toronto Film Critics Association Awards winners and runners-up:

BEST PICTURE
Inside Llewyn Davis” (Mongrel Media)
Runners-up
            “Her” (Warner Bros.)
            “12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)

BEST ACTOR
            Oscar Isaac, “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Runners-up
            Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
            Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST ACTRESS
            Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Runners-up
            Julie Delpy, “Before Midnight”
            Greta Gerwig, “Frances Ha”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
            Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Runners-up
            Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”
            James Franco, “Spring Breakers”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”
Runners-up
            Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”
            June Squibb, “Nebraska”

BEST DIRECTOR
            Alfonso Cuarón, “Gravity”
Runners-up
            Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, “Inside Llewyn Davis”
            Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”

BEST SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED OR ORIGINAL
Spike Jonze, “Her”
Runners-up
            Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy, “Before Midnight”
            Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, “Inside Llewyn Davis”

BEST FIRST FEATURE
            “Neighboring Sounds”, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho
Runners-up
            “Fruitvale Station”, directed by Ryan Coogler
            “In a World …”, directed by Lake Bell

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
            “The Wind Rises” (Touchstone Pictures)
Runners-up
            “The Croods” (20th Century Fox)
            “Frozen” (Walt Disney Pictures)

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
            “A Touch of Sin” (Films We Like)
Runners-up
            “Blue Is the Warmest Color” (Mongrel Media)
            “The Hunt” (Mongrel Media)

BMO ALLAN KING DOCUMENTARY AWARD
            “The Act of Killing” (Films We Like)
Runners-up
            “Leviathan” (Films We Like)
            “Tim’s Vermeer” (Mongrel Media)

ROGERS BEST CANADIAN FILM AWARD FINALISTS
The Dirties” (Phase 4 Films)
Gabrielle” (Entertainment One)
Watermark” (Mongrel Media)

The Toronto Film Critics Association was established in 1997 and is comprised of Toronto based journalists and broadcasters who specialize in film criticism and commentary.  All major dailies, weeklies and a variety of other print, electronic and web outlets are represented. Members of the TFCA also participate in the Federation of International Film Critics (FIPRESCI).  As such, they have sat on juries at festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto, Montreal, Miami, Palm Springs, Chicago, Pusan, Moscow, Amsterdam, London and Vienna, among others.

Source (quote/list):
Virginia Kelly, Meghan Parnell
V Kelly & Associates

Source (logo):
http://www.torontofilmcritics.com

Source (Poster): courtesy of imdb.com

Saturday 7 December 2013

Canada's Top Ten Announced!

CANADA'S TOP TEN 2014
"10 FILMS
10 DAYS
$10 A TICKET
1 PROUD NATION" 
-TIFF



As a supporter of Canadian film, I look forward to TIFF announcing its selection of films that will be screening at its Canada's Top Ten To make the list, "each film must have premiered at a major film festival or obtained a commercial theatrical release in Canada in 2013. The filmmaker must be a Canadian citizen or resident working on a Canadian production or co-production."  Canada's Top Ten runs January 3 to 12, 2014 at TIFF Bell Lightbox and besides films will include In Conversations with filmmakers Denis Villeneuve and Jake Gyllenhaal, and John Greyson and TIFF Artistic Director, Cameron Bailey.

Like every list out there, debates will break out on social media in regards to the merit of the 10 features and 10 shorts that have been chosen this year. Entertainment One Films should be proud to have five films in the mix, but I'm happiest about the mix of established (Denis Villeneuve) and new filmmakers (Jeff Barnaby) that they have chosen to support. The rest of the features list doesn't surprise me, and as someone who has had the difficult task of doing a Top Ten list, I know that not all good films can make the cut. I'm thrilled that I will get to see some of the features that I missed at TIFF 2013, especially Asphalt Watches, Gabrielle, and When Jews Were Funny

In terms of the shorts, I am stunned that shorts such as Cory Bowles' Anatomy of Assistance, Jasmin Mozaffari's Firecrackers, Bruce Alcock's Impromptu and Randall Okita's Portrait as a Random Act of Violence were not included in the Shorts Programme. I would have selected any of these films over the way-too-long, An Extraordinary Person and Paradise Falls! But hey, not my list, and I would sit through these again to see the brilliant Noah, the heart-warming, Nous avions, The Chaperone 3D and other the selections.

Asphalt Watches, Shayne Ehman and Seth Scriver (Delusional Brothers)
Enemy, Denis Villeneuve (Entertainment One Films)
The F Word, Michael Dowse (Entertainment One Films) 
Gabrielle, Louise Archambault (Entertainment One Films) 
Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Jeff Barnaby (Entertainment One Films) 
Sarah préfère la course (Sarah Prefers to Run), Chloé Robichaud (Les Films Seville) 
Tom à la ferme (Tom at the Farm), Xavier Dolan (Entertainment One Films) 
Vic et Flo ont vu un ours (Vic + Flo Saw a Bear), Denis Côté (Films We Like)
Watermark, Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky (Mongrel Media)
When Jews Were Funny, Alan Zweig (KinoSmith)


A Grand Canal, Johnny Ma (Maktub Films)
Quelqu’un d’extraordinaire (An Extraordinary Person), Monia Chokri (La Distributrice de films) 
The Chaperone 3D, Fraser Munden and Neil Rathbone
The End of Pinky, Claire Blanchet (NFB)
In guns we trust, Nicolas Lévesque (Travelling) 
Noah, Walter Woodman and Patrick Cederberg
Nous avions, Stéphane Moukarzel (Travelling) 
Paradise Falls, Fantavious Fritz
Subconscious Password, Chris Landreth (NFB)
Yellowhead, Kevan Funk


For complete schedule, please visit: http://tiff.net/topten/films/2014/schedule#03/01/2014
416.599.TIFF (8433) 1.888.599.8433
Tickets: $10 each/ 6 Film Pack $50 

CCT quote/list courtesy of TIFF.

1.         Photo courtesy of www.tiff.net A BUMP ALONG THE WAY (DISCOVERY) Synopsi s: With her charismatic smile and formida...