Over the past 10 years or so I have attended the Toronto International Film Festival, I had been lucky enough to have seen some wonderful films, however the last couple of years I have been either disappointed with the process, the films or the lack of people involved in films attending. This year was my deciding year if I was going to continue attending. Not happy with my selection time or process I was on the fence.

I have to say this year saved my from jumping ship. I either loved or enjoyed my 7 movies that I attended this year. So much so, that it was hard to come up with my ranking list. So hear are my reviews and impressions of the seven movies I was lucky enough to see.

1. La La Land
2. Mascots
3. Blue Jay
4. Lion
5. Before The Flood
6. Barry

A special mention for my 7th TIFF movie, Justin Timberlake & The Tennessee Kids
1) La La Land. Just announced as the TIFF Peoples Choice winner for 2016, I was so glad that I was able to see this movie before it opens in December. A last minute addition, I picked up this movie the day before as another screening due to demand was announced.
The movie stars Ryan Gosling as a jazz pianist and Emma Stone as an actress in Los Angeles. They have perfect chemistry together. It is directed by Damien Chazelle who also directed Whiplash.
After a couple of  chance meetings they begin a romance. La La Land is being called a modern day musical. Now it is a musical, but I don’t want this to turn people off of it (I personally love Musicals so I may seem a bit bias)
This is not your broadway type musical where the whole movie is one big song. No the this is more along the lines of a Hollywood musical from the 40’s.
I loved the story, the costumes , the entire style of the movie and of course the music. The entire movie I had a smile on my face even during the last scene which also brought out a few tears.
This is a movie that I will being going to see again when it comes out to a wide release in December.

 

2) Mascots. This is the movie that I wanted to see the most when the films were announced. It ended up being the last movie I saw on the final Saturday night. One of my favourite movies of all time is Best In Show. So I always always look forward to seeing anything that Christopher Guest and cast of great improv actors come up with. This one was no Best In Show, but it wasn’t A Mighty Wind either, so it was a quite enjoyable movie. It is the mockumentary about the World Mascot competition and who will get the Gold Fluffy Award. The usual cast is here. Jane Lynch,Jennifer Coolidge, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley, Jr, Chris O’Dowd, Parker Posey, and of course Fred Willard. They are all incredibly funny and I can’t wait to see this one again, for those subtle jokes that you miss the first time

This movie will be skipping any sort of theatrical release and going straight to Netflix in October. I highly recommend it

3) Blue Jay. Firstly this not a documentary about the Toronto Blue Jays like my friend originally thought, it is actually the furthest thing from it. Like Mascots this is another movie that is going straight to Netflix at the end of the year. This movie stars only two actors Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson and it is shot entirely in black and white. It is about two people who meet up unexpectedly in a grocery store and then spending the next 24 hours together. Well written and acted, this was a bit of a surprise for me how much I enjoyed it as well a twist scene in that last 20 minutes makes this film thought provoking about a misunderstanding and age can change the outcomes of your life.

Look for it on Netflix at the end of 2016

4) Lion. Lion was one of the most talked about movies at TIFF, and I was able to get an extra showing for it. I had heard that it was the tearjerker of the festival. Is it bad that I didn’t shed a tear, maybe but I blame it on the fact that I already knew the story. It stars Dev Patel ,Nicole Kidman and I think a forgetabble Rooney Mara. Patel plays Saroo Khan who at 5 years old becomes lost and homeless in a strange city, only later to be adopted by an Australian couple. The movie is based on a true story about how Saroo used the then new Goggle Earth to figure out what really happened to him. The movie of rm e was a little long, but I am sure this will be front and centre at the upcoming awards shows.

This movie is worth a look for sure.

5) Before the Flood. This the big Leo climate change save the world documentary. Also it was my first movie of TIFF.

I am pretty sure the main reason that Leo stars in this, is not that he is passionate about climate change (he is). It is to get people to watch it.  We get to see Leo travel the world in hope of finding answers to how we can help protect the world we live in. Over the 90+ minutes we are giving a stunning visuals of  the Alberta tar sands, how Miami Beach is going to be lost under water, to what is becoming the lack of forests being destroyed.

This documentary is definitely worth a watch, yet I have to say Leo is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

6) Barry

I put this movie last in my ranking. Not necessary because it was bad, mainly because it was just ok. There was nothing really wrong with it at all, but it’s not really that memorable.   Lately there have been a few movies based on some part of Barack Obama’s life. This one takes when a then 20 year old Barry moves to New York City. It offers an insight into is life as an university student. The mistakes he makes and trying to figure out what he should be doing.

The actor who plays “Barry” is Devon Terrell is spot on with his Obama impression. The rest of the movie is worth a watch on Netflix,  but I am not sure if I would pay money to see it a theater.

7) Justin Timberlake and The Tennessee Kids . I am not actually sure why this was at TIFF, but it was fine with me. I am giving this special mention, because it was more an event than a movie. The event would be his 20/20 Experience tour , which I was very lucky to have seen all three times is came to Toronto. This was his Jonathan Demme directed concert film. For those looking to see a Truth or Dare style concert documentary you will be disappointed. This is only his concert performed on the final 2 dates in Las Vegas. While this is third movie that I saw going straight to Netflix in October it seems the most obvious one to go that route.

This screening was showing in the Imax theatre. At that time we learned that originally it was to filmed and screened in Imax prior the Netflix deal. My audience would be the only audience in the world to see this concert as it was intended to viewed. Trust me I felt like I was back at the show, and at times I forgot I was in a theatre and almost started to sing along. This is a must watch for any Timberlake fan and I can’t wait to see it again next month.