18 September 2000

Did I waste enough time yet? Do I really have to make a Top Ten list? Oy! I can't do it. So, here's a list of films I liked or liked a lot.

Chopper (Te/To)
Dr. T & The Women (To)
Eisenstein (To)
Girlfight (Sun)
Keep The River On Your Right (To)
Liam (To)
Momento (To)
Pandaemonium (To)
The Princess & The Warrior (To)
Sade (To)
Sexy Beast (To)
Shadow of the Vampire (Te/To)
A Shot At Glory (To)
Soldiers in the Army of God (To)
State & Main (Te/To)
Tigerland (To)
A Time of Drunken Horses (Te/To)
Two Family House (Sun)
Un Vraine Jeune Flle (To)
The Uncles (To)
Urbania (Sun)
Vulgar (To)
The Widow of St. Pierre (Te/To)

Okay...no "Best of" list. It just feels wrong. Instead, I'm going to take the films that stand out the most for me and give them awards for their outstanding features.

BEST ART FILM: Before Night Falls (To) - Hands down, the best art film I've seen this year. Not everyone loves Julian Schnabel the man, but Julian Schnabel the director has done some real magic with this film. There are showier films, but Schnabel has absorbed the language of film and spit it out in new and fascinating ways in this intimate tale of a gay Cuban poet in exile of the heart, the mind and the body.

MOST COMMERCIAL MOVIE WITH A DISTRIBUTOR: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Te/To) - This film is an unstoppable force everywhere it goes. The question that everyone has is, will Sony Pictures Classic be the unmovable object? I know that S.P.C. wants to make this film happen with great passion, but anything less than $50 million at the box office...yes, even for a film in Mandarin...will be a pitiable shame. This is a film for everyone over 14. It won the People's Choice Award at Toronto, just as it did in Telluride.

MOST COMMERCIAL MOVIE WITHOUT A DISTRIBUTOR: The Dish (To) - The Dish came in second in the People's Choice Award here at Toronto. That's quite a feat as the film was only here for two days, premiering at the end of the festival. I'm not going to beat the drum again here...my comments can be found in the Day 17 coverage (THB 9/16). But even more than Ang Lee's masterpiece, The Dish has the heart that makes it a natural for a Best Picture nod from The Academy. It's that good, but even more, it is family, it is warmth, it is joy.

MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENTARY: Les Glaneurs et La Glaneuse (To) - Agnes Varda has made a film that is fun to watch, but which also makes you think. It's about the homeless, but it is about all of us.

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Fighter (To) - Director Amir Bar-Lev hit a home run when he decided to give his life and his crew's time to two men who are as interesting together as any two fictional characters ever have been. And first-timer Bar-Lev showed that he's no fluke, also contributing a so-good-it-had-to-be-the-closer short to the festival's 25 X 25 project. (See below and THB 9/17)

BEST DOGMA 95 FILM OF THE YEAR: The King is Alive (Te/To) - An easy call for me, since I really don't like Dancerin the Dark. But Kristian Levring's film is a lot better than just that. This odd tale of 11 people lost in the desert has a surprise lurking around every corner. And tour-de-force performances by actors who could have easily gone way, way, way over the top. A really fascinating movie that will probably play a little differently every time I see it.

FILM MOST INCAPABLE OF GENERATING GLIB HEADER: Innocence (Te/To) - Another beautiful story from Paul Cox about love and its eternal importance. The film tied for third place with Billy Elliot in the People's Choice voting, so unlike A Wonan's Tale, I'm hopeful that this film will avoid The Overlooked Film Festival, having freed itself from being overlooked.

MOST DISTURBING FILM: Our Lady of the Assassins (Te) - I didn't expect it when I saw this digital film from Barbet Schroder, but it has stuck with me and I can't escape its memory. This story of a romance in an era of the most raw kind of "civilized" savagery is truly horrifying...mostly because what it represents is so true.

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Born Romantic (To) - There are some great ensemble films in these festivals, but there isn't a group of actors more charming, more confidant and more likely to break out, one after the next after the next than the team of Craig Ferguson, Ian Hart, Jane Horrocks, Adrian Lester, Catherine McCormack, Jimi Mistry, David Morrissey and Olivia Williams.

MOST LIKELY TO BE NOMINATED FOR A LOT OF OSCARS THIS YEAR: Quills (Te) - I believe in Quills in a big way. If you want to know why, just read THB 8/28.

ALSO QUITE LIKELY TO GET OSCAR NODS: Almost Famous (LA), Billy Elliot (LA), The Contender (To) - These three films have legitimate shots as acting nominations. Almost Famous will probably get a writing nod for Cameron Crowe. The Contender could get a writing nod for Rod Lurie. And Universal Focus, the brand new art arm of Universal, will be pushing Billy as the feel-good Oscar film of the year. But Billy came in third in the People's Choice Award voting here at Toronto, behind the much lauded Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger and the still U.S. distributor-free, The Dish. Hmmm...maybe Universal Focus will buy The Dish.

MOST UNDERRATED FILM TO BE AT TORONTO & SUNDANCE: You Can Count on Me (Sun) - This film from Kenneth Lonergan is a delight. Laura Linney has one of her best roles here and Mark Ruffalo should become a movie star if this ever gets attention from a crowd.

BEST DOG: Best In Show (To) - It's just funny. Funny, funny funny. Some will like it more than Guffman, some less. But it's...you know.

BEST REVERIE OF THE PAST: Chunhyang (Te/To), In The Mood For Love (To), Jazz (Te) - Three beautiful movies. Well, Jazz is really 10 beautiful little movies all by itself. Nonetheless, Chunhyang is an epic fable that understands that great story telling has moved people for hundreds of years... and still does today. In The Mood For Love is Wong Kar-wai's warm-hearted tale of love and honor and the challenges that they bring. It's set in 1962, but feels like a romantic drama of the 1940s. And Jazz is, well, simply stupendous. Like Ken Burns' earlier comprehensive documentaries, it is in a genre of its own.

MOST TELLING LOOK AT THE FUTURE: Thomas in Love (To), 25 X 25 (To) - Thomas in Love takes us to a nearby future where agoraphobia can be as easily indulged as a need for a pizza in 30 minutes or less. It's a film that makes us question the choices that we are already facing and that will be coming at us faster and faster in the years to come. What do we need? What we think we want when we think we want it or human connection? Surprisingly, 25 X 25, the short films commissioned by the festival, made by filmmakers with films here, was surprisingly sharp in getting to the good, bad & ugly of the festival. The festival organizers will be well-served to take a long, careful look at what is being said. This is a great festival, but even greatness can be improved upon.

It's been a great run. Until next year...

READER OF THE DAY: The Balt'mor Stud writes: "I saw an advance screening of Almost Famous last night. It had me in tears. You can't help but relate your own life with that of young William. Each of us has our own memory of the first time we heard THAT SONG. The one that changed our lives forever. The scene where William finds his sisters records is beautiful. I am begging the Academy to find a nomination for Philip Seymour Hoffman as Best Supporting Actor. Please! Oh! Please! I want to personally thank Cameron Crowe for making this film. I cant wait to see the film in all its uncut-almost 3 hour DVD glory."

E ME: How do I recuperate?