I really liked Sorry to Bother You but I live in Oakland, and one of my nieces is an extra in the movie. It's very much an Oakland movie.

I went with The Favourite and while it was really well done and the performances were fantastic, I didn't make it all the way through. Not for me, I guess, although some of the choices were really fascinating, like the conversation between Sarah and the young guy in the big wig, with all the background noise still audible. The fish eye lens was a cool choice, too.

Knives Out is AWESOME. Probably the most fun I had during the entire festival, and absolutely the type of film to see on the big screen with an appreciative audience. I've missed several lines of dialogue because of deafening laughter in the theater (gigantic Princess of Wales theater with 2000 seats, which was sold out.) Y'all are in for a treat.

Total tally of the films seen during TIFF: 34. I've thoroughly enjoyed most of them -- overall, a much better festival than last year in terms of the quality of the films.

Some other movies seen during the fest I could recommend:

The Kingmaker: a documentary about Imelda Marcos (First Lady of Philippines in 60's-80s) that charts her ascent, fall, and attempts at re-ascension to power, which is happening right now at the Philippines. Both entertaining and frightening as fuck. It's coming to Showtime so should be easily available in the few months.

Bad Education: about an embezzlement scandal in a Long Island high school about 15 years ago, starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney, who are in top form. Fun fact: it was written by a screenwriter who was actually a student at the school when the scandal broke out.

The Lighthouse: second feature by Robert Eggers, who did The Witch. It's a two-hander with Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as a pair of lighthouse keepers in New England circa late 1800's, with period-specific language, amazing black and white photography, and a claustrophobic aspect ratio (almost a square). It's a fucking weird film and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. The performances are mad and fearless.

Ford v Ferrari: Didn't think I'd like this one as I don't really give a crap about cars, but it's terrifically well-made with fine performances. The racing scenes are genuinely exciting. I mean, it has like 100 middle aged white dudes and 1 woman, but the movie was so entertaining, I only minded a little.

Waves: a gorgeously shot family drama, with wall-to-wall music and dreamy cinematography. I haven't seen such interesting POV switch in a narrative film since USS Callister.

Alright, that's it for dispatches from TIFF. Got a long drive ahead of me. Looking forward to the new releases that came out in theaters while I was busy festival-ing (Hustlers and Ad Astra) -- you'd think I've had enough of movies but apparently not!

Thanks, again, Vonnie!

Love getting your reviews to keep my antenna alert.

And I talked to a couple of festival goers this afternoon who were convinced that it was the best film of the festival and the frontrunner for People's Choice Award. It might pull a Life Is Beautiful.

And it sounds like those people were right. Though I read that Green Book won last year? So.

I think The Favorite has to be watched in the right company. I can't imagine watching it alone and having nowhere for my confused side-eye to go.

And it sounds like those people were right. Though I read that Green Book won last year? So.

Yep. TIFF audience loves films with social messages that manage to be both funny and feel-good, which fits both Jojo and Green Book. I think Jojo Rabbit is a more interesting film, but whether it appeals to an individual person will depend a lot on one's tolerance of whimsy. It'll divide opinions when it comes out, as previous TIFF winners did (Green Book, Three Billboards).

The runners-up for People's Choice Award were Marriage Story and Parasite, which were my 2 favourite films for the festival. So the people were not completely smoking the crack. :) Personally, I would consider Jojo a middle of the pack film out of mostly excellent movies I saw during the fest.

My top 10 (out of... good Lord, 34 films, that I saw during TIFF):

Parasite
Marriage Story
Portrait of Lady on Fire
Knives Out
Uncut Gems
La Belle Epoque
The Cave
Bad Education
Dolemite Is My Name
Ford v Ferrari

I also saw Joker, which has an amazing central performance by Joaquin Phoenix and is beautifully shot, but which I did not like much. I'm already annoyed at all the award conversation and discourse it's gonna generate.

Did you see A Hidden Life, Vonnie?

I think The Favorite has to be watched in the right company. I can't imagine watching it alone and having nowhere for my confused side-eye to go.

Yeah. I mean, it really fascinated me in a lot of moments, but there were others ... Rachel Weisz plays a better bully than I would have thought.

Did you see A Hidden Life, Vonnie?

I did! I made the fatal mistake of scheduling this 3 hour movie in the afternoon post lunch, and... was very sleepy for the first hour, heh. Malick's moody, contemplative style did not help the matters much. It does build up to something very moving in the last hour, and I cried a great deal, but honestly it did not need to be 3 hours long. I mean, he was able to make something beautiful and poetic that lasted 90 economical minutes early in his career (Days of Heaven, still my favourite of his). I kinda wish he'd hold back a bit and go back to something like that.