Friday, September 7, 2012

#TIFF12 day two thoughts - Imogene, The Place Beyond The Pines, The Master

I only saw three movies today because I also went to work today.

The three went from OK to GOOD to AMAZING.

Imogene - starring Kristen Wiig & Annette Bening. My pals and I talked about this afterwards and we all agreed that the actual script was pretty "meh" and that the reason it was enjoyable on any level was due to the cast. I didn't hate it, but I would not actively recommend it.

The Place Beyond the Pines - the new one from the director of Blue Valentine. This was not originally on my list, but everyone seemed so psyched about it so I added it. I was super into it for almost all of it, but the damned thing went on and on.. I suspect there is a pretty decent movie somewhere inside of those 2 hours and 20 minutes, and that a couple rounds of testing will help it out a great deal. But the second half got real, real heavy-handed. Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan Gosling's performance get a big seal of approval from me. But honestly it was one of the first "longer" movies in a long time that not only felt long - it felt about twice as long as it actually was.

The Master - THE MASTER! Despite a stressful pre-show seating situation, I was SO jazzed when the black screen showed the simple white text of the title. Couldn't believe I was finally sitting down to see one of my most anticipated films not just of TIFF but of the year. It doesn't disappoint. Everything I'd heard about the performances was dead on. I don't really know what else to say other than I was delightfully in awe of every last frame. I am in utter agreement with everyone who is motivated to see it a second time. Also I am bummed there was no Q&A.

Tomorrow is going to be crazy. Waking up in six hours to go to a 9:30 film which will be the first of five. If I am lucky I will also find some time to eat food tomorrow. Today was not so great on that front. Oops.

YAY TIFF!

1 comment:

  1. yayyy, good to hear about the master. i can't wait. next week!

    ReplyDelete