TORONTO - A LOOK BACK

The festival is over and I am waiting to go the airport. I have time to reflect on the whole experience of the 30th TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL. This was one of the best times that I have ever had at a festival. The thing that makes this such a great festival is the people. One thing that I seemed to do quite a bit of was stand in line. Since I didn’t have tickets to many of the screenings, the only way to get in was to stand in the “rush line” and hope that people with tickets didn’t show up and you could get in. This meant at least an hour or two in line for almost every movie that I saw. I had a chance to meet so many people and get to know them while waiting in the rush lines. There was kind of a community formed in this process. We were all in it together. These friends that I made in line, would pop up all over the place throughout the festival. Sometimes I would see them and they would let me into line with them, sometimes the other way around. If I had tickets to a screening that I couldn’t make it to, I would not sell the ticket, I would give it to a “line friend”. I got several tickets from people for free while I was waiting in line. If any of my “line friends” are reading this, let me take a quick second to say thank you. Thank you for making this a memorable experience...

FESTIVAL WRAP UP:
So in honor of the end of the festival, I want to say a few words about my favorite movies that I saw here…

SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE. Simply the best movie at the festival. Since this movie will not be released until February, I have already seen my favorite movie of next year… Beautiful. Disturbing. Engaging. Thought provoking. CHAN-WOOK PARK!

APRIL SNOW. A heart breaking tale of love and the pain that it can cause along with the redemption that it can provide. Like Lady Vengeance, this is also Korean and supports my belief that some of the best movies in the world are coming out of Korea.

CAPOTE. One of the most talked about films at the festival and for good reason. Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers an Oscar worthy performance as the twisted, manipulative and charismatic Truman Capote. This is a great film that gets inside the mind of one of the greatest novelists on the 20th century.

BREAKFAST ON PLUTO. Again… a great performance, this time by Cillian Murphy, anchors this film. It’s unique characters and storytelling make this film a must see for anyone that is ready for something different.

NORTH COUNTRY. I list this one last because I didn’t see it here in Toronto. I saw a rough cut a couple months ago, but even in the rough cut form, this is a great film. From what I heard around town, “North Country” got the most enthusiastic response from any audience at the festival. You will hear a lot about this one as we get closer to the Oscars.

Thank you to the people of Toronto and everyone that I met. This was an amazing experience and I hope that I am able to come back again next year.