...the more they suck. I got the reminder I'd set for myself to buy my tickets for this year's film festival and promptly visited their web site. I thought I would just quickly buy my usual 20 tickets and get back to work. A quick perusal of the available packages told me that they've made a change this year and that the normal 10-ticket packages are no longer good for the Elgin Theatre (that's the Visa Screening Room for all you high-powered consumers out there) showings. Now, I'll readily admit that it's not my favorite venue. Sure, it's beautiful, but the sound in there kind of sucks and it's always a struggle to hear the dialogue. But, some of the big films only show there and at Roy Thompson Hall, which has always been excluded from the ticket packs.
I may be forced to see more films this way. I guess that's the upside. I'll buy my 20 tickets, and then if there's some film that I just have to see and it's only showing at Roy Thompson Hall and the Elgin Theatre, it'll be beyond my control -- I'll have no choice but to buy a single ticket at exorbitant prices for that screening. I know you're all just feeeling sorry for me.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Bummer
I got an e-mail yesterday from the B&B association in Toronto. They regret to inform me that my B&B hostess will not be able to provide with a room for the week of the festival. I suspect she has retired. Bummer. Now I have to seek new shelter.
It's challenging picking out the right B&B. Location, accommodations, breakfast, amenities and personality all have to be considered. Barb's B&B had great location, livable accommodations, good breakfast, and interesting breakfast chit chat. I doubt I'll find as good of a location, but perhaps I'll get free wi-fi to make up for it. A desk would be nice.
Why not a hotel? Price, for one. B&B's offer more of a personal touch as well. Sure, every now and then, you find yourself locked out and stashing your luggage behind objects in the front lawn, but I got a good story out of it.
It's challenging picking out the right B&B. Location, accommodations, breakfast, amenities and personality all have to be considered. Barb's B&B had great location, livable accommodations, good breakfast, and interesting breakfast chit chat. I doubt I'll find as good of a location, but perhaps I'll get free wi-fi to make up for it. A desk would be nice.
Why not a hotel? Price, for one. B&B's offer more of a personal touch as well. Sure, every now and then, you find yourself locked out and stashing your luggage behind objects in the front lawn, but I got a good story out of it.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Booked
I just booked my flight for this year's film festival. I'm officially giddy. I paid for it with frequent flier miles, which is nice, though I still had to pay $48.94 in fees. Anyway, my B&B room is booked (I hope they leave the right key this time), and I've got an airline ticket. All that's left is to buy my festival tickets and spend torturous hours sifting through 350 movie synopses. And wait for 179 days.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Review: Juno
Okay, it seems like forever since a couple friends and I headed down to the Fleur Cinemas to catch Juno, which at the time was the new surprise independent hit. We got there to find a line out the door and around the corner. We got sneaky and sent in a squatter to grab a few seats while two of us stayed behind to deal with the mundane "purchasing of the tickets".
Juno was directed by Jason Reitman, who previously had a handful of shorts and Thank You For Smoking in his list of directorial credit. For Juno, Jason racked up a killer cast including Ellen Page (remember her?), Michael Cera of Superbad fame, "the beautiful" Jennifer Garner (yes, she is, but has anyone else noticed how she's always introduced as "the beautiful" Jennifer Garner, like Jennifer is her middle name?), teen heart throb (okay, he's 39 now) Jason Bateman, Allison Janney (of many credits including American Beauty and The West Wing) and J.K. Simmons (think J Jonah Jameson). Spoiler alert (okay, real life, not the movie plot) -- Diablo Cody, an ex-stripper, wins best original screenplay for this one. Ellen Page loses to some French chick. Sadly, I didn't see it at the 2007 film festival, though I did have to wait behind a crowd of gawkers when Jason Bateman and Ellen Page exited the theatre.
Juno is the tale of a unusual high school girl who decides one day, out of boredom, to have sex with her friend Paulie Bleeker. Paulie is a nerd, and Juno is that girl that all the guys secretly have a crush on but won't admit it because she's weird. Apparently, they're both quite fertile, and after running through a dozen or so pregnancy tests, Juno is at last resigned to the fact that she's pregnant.
Her adventures over the next seven or eight months take her out to meet fellow classmate Su-Chin, who spends her weekends protesting in broken English outside an abortion clinic, through the halls of of her high school as "a cautionary whale", to her parents, who were maybe hoping for the easier-to-deal-with drug problem, and a troubled young couple hoping to adopt a healthy baby.
The script is smart and filled with wit, angst, bitterness, broken dreams, hope, and chair sex. Oh, there's nothing explicit here. Juno is something like 16 and though Ellen was at least 19 when the film was made, she does an astounding job of playing a 16 year old and that would be just a bit much. The film stays safely in the implied sort of PG-13 sex.
A short note to the "my parents would never act like that, this is so unrealistic" crowd: It's a movie, it's about people that are different than you. Get over it. And no, it is not encouraging teen pregnancy. But I also think that it rightly points out that it is also not the end of the world, and that life can go on normally, as it almost always does. Boy, we're resilient creatures.
In conclusion, happy happy joy joy, I liked the film. It's intelligent, entertaining, deals with complex issues while not getting bogged down in its own seriousness. And it was a nicely upbeat contrast to the more downer films of the season. My imdb rating: 8/10.
Juno was directed by Jason Reitman, who previously had a handful of shorts and Thank You For Smoking in his list of directorial credit. For Juno, Jason racked up a killer cast including Ellen Page (remember her?), Michael Cera of Superbad fame, "the beautiful" Jennifer Garner (yes, she is, but has anyone else noticed how she's always introduced as "the beautiful" Jennifer Garner, like Jennifer is her middle name?), teen heart throb (okay, he's 39 now) Jason Bateman, Allison Janney (of many credits including American Beauty and The West Wing) and J.K. Simmons (think J Jonah Jameson). Spoiler alert (okay, real life, not the movie plot) -- Diablo Cody, an ex-stripper, wins best original screenplay for this one. Ellen Page loses to some French chick. Sadly, I didn't see it at the 2007 film festival, though I did have to wait behind a crowd of gawkers when Jason Bateman and Ellen Page exited the theatre.
Juno is the tale of a unusual high school girl who decides one day, out of boredom, to have sex with her friend Paulie Bleeker. Paulie is a nerd, and Juno is that girl that all the guys secretly have a crush on but won't admit it because she's weird. Apparently, they're both quite fertile, and after running through a dozen or so pregnancy tests, Juno is at last resigned to the fact that she's pregnant.
Her adventures over the next seven or eight months take her out to meet fellow classmate Su-Chin, who spends her weekends protesting in broken English outside an abortion clinic, through the halls of of her high school as "a cautionary whale", to her parents, who were maybe hoping for the easier-to-deal-with drug problem, and a troubled young couple hoping to adopt a healthy baby.
The script is smart and filled with wit, angst, bitterness, broken dreams, hope, and chair sex. Oh, there's nothing explicit here. Juno is something like 16 and though Ellen was at least 19 when the film was made, she does an astounding job of playing a 16 year old and that would be just a bit much. The film stays safely in the implied sort of PG-13 sex.
A short note to the "my parents would never act like that, this is so unrealistic" crowd: It's a movie, it's about people that are different than you. Get over it. And no, it is not encouraging teen pregnancy. But I also think that it rightly points out that it is also not the end of the world, and that life can go on normally, as it almost always does. Boy, we're resilient creatures.
In conclusion, happy happy joy joy, I liked the film. It's intelligent, entertaining, deals with complex issues while not getting bogged down in its own seriousness. And it was a nicely upbeat contrast to the more downer films of the season. My imdb rating: 8/10.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Review: Atonement
Stranded in Des Moines before Christmas, I decided to head down to the Fleur Cinemas to pass time that evening. Atonement, which had received great reviews, was one of the only films showing that I hadn't already seen at the film festival in September, making it an easy choice. Joe Wright directed this film, and chose Keira Knightley once again as his leading lady, having previously cast her in Pride & Prejudice.
The movie is based on the highly reviewed book by Ian Mcewan. Set in pre-World War II England, it follows the romance of Cecilia Tallis (Knightly) and Robbie Turner, portrayed by James McAvoy. They are observed at key moments by Celcelia's younger sister Briony, a budding playwright, who is missing key pieces of information. Her youth leads her to get carried away with her conclusions and she acts on them fervently.
The movie is based on the highly reviewed book by Ian Mcewan. Set in pre-World War II England, it follows the romance of Cecilia Tallis (Knightly) and Robbie Turner, portrayed by James McAvoy. They are observed at key moments by Celcelia's younger sister Briony, a budding playwright, who is missing key pieces of information. Her youth leads her to get carried away with her conclusions and she acts on them fervently.
Bad things happen. Then worse things happen. Then Briony makes an attempt at achieving the title of the film. It may not be enough, but she does what she can, considering the circumstances.
I liked the film for its use of perspective and how one can make the wrong conclusions without having all the information. Some friends of mine found the ending on the schmaltzy side, and perhaps it was, but it didn't stop my enjoyment of the film. Perhaps my senses are still dulled 10 years after seeing Titanic. My imdb rating: 8/10.
Review: National Treasure: Book of Secrets
We saw another movie on vacation and decided on the new release National Treasure: Book of Secrets based solely on the likelihood that it would be easy to consume a large bag of popcorn during such a film. A sequel to the original and very likely the middle of a trilogy (be prepared to witness an obvious setup), it again stars former cool independent actor Nicolas Cage with Jon Turteltaub in the director's chair. Nick has settled into a familiar pattern of high payday, low risk film roles that have dominated his career for over a decade.
This episode picks up from the last one with sidekick Riley Poole, played by Justin Bartha, peddling books at Borders. I'm curious how much they paid for that in-movie commercial. Anyway, his character seems to have the purpose of beefing up the comedic content of the film, but most of his one-liners seem to miss. I don't know if I blame Justin, but the script is just a little flat.
The movie carries on pretty much like you'd expect, leading up to Ben Gates kidnapping the president of the United States. That would be a spoiler if it was so highly publicized in the trailer. The president is a make-believe president by the way -- likable, intelligent, suave, and an air of integrity.
The movie is fun for what it is, but generally wastes the talents of the aforementioned Mr. Cage, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris, and Harvey Keitel. It's not that anyone is bad, but there just isn't a meaty role to be devoured in the script. My imdb rating: 6/10.
This episode picks up from the last one with sidekick Riley Poole, played by Justin Bartha, peddling books at Borders. I'm curious how much they paid for that in-movie commercial. Anyway, his character seems to have the purpose of beefing up the comedic content of the film, but most of his one-liners seem to miss. I don't know if I blame Justin, but the script is just a little flat.
The movie carries on pretty much like you'd expect, leading up to Ben Gates kidnapping the president of the United States. That would be a spoiler if it was so highly publicized in the trailer. The president is a make-believe president by the way -- likable, intelligent, suave, and an air of integrity.
The movie is fun for what it is, but generally wastes the talents of the aforementioned Mr. Cage, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris, and Harvey Keitel. It's not that anyone is bad, but there just isn't a meaty role to be devoured in the script. My imdb rating: 6/10.
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