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TIFF roundup: Honeydripper, Chacun Son Cinema, and Smiley Face

I caught three films toward the end of the Toronto International Film Fest, and being that the TIFF is now over, it seemed to make more sense to jot them all down together. The fest this year was great fun. I managed to catch 11 films, seeing at least one flick every day. This, in hindsight, I do not recommend. When planning my film selection next year, I'd schedule at least one evening off!

Honeydripper is the latest film from American auteur John Sayles. It stars Danny Glover in a commanding performance. He plays Pinetop, an aging jazz musician and bar owner living in 1950's Alabama, and faced with declining opportunities and a pig-headedness about the guitar-based rock music that everyone seems to want to hear. When you've spent quite a number of days watching quirky, indie flicks, Honeydripper is a refreshing contrast of big Hollywood. Afterward, there was a Q&A. And while almost the whole cast was in attendance, the director insisted on fielding all questions, which seemed strangely egotistical and off-putting.

Chacun son cinema was a special ensemble film commissioned for this past year's Cannes festival. Thirty-three international directors were asked to contribute a three-minute short. The only direction they were given was that the short should have something to do with the "movie-going experience." The resulting film is quite a treat. It's surprising how different each film is, and yet, there are common threads running throughout. Among them: The experience of seeing films as a child, the end of a favourite moviehouse, audience reaction to the events onscreen. (There are also some strange common threads as well -- the act of seeing a film as a blind person, having your belongings stolen mid-movie, broken or jammed projectors.) The range of the films makes it tough to pick favourites, but a number stand out: Lars Von Trier's macabre audience encounter, David Cronenberg's reality TV clip, Nanni Moretti's "Diary of a Spectator." There's enough here that no one should be disappointed. (Except for the Jane Campion short, which is truly horrid.)

Finally, I managed to close out the festival with a truly fun and happy-go-lucky flick: Smiley Face by Gregg Araki. The director has apparently avoided making a "stoner comedy" for years, but felt that the script (by actor Dylan Haggerty) was simply too good to pass up. And he's right. From the opening moments, you settle into light chuckling that quickly evolves into full, unstoppable belly laughter that doesn't let up for the entire 88 minutes of the film. Anna Faris is a comedic genius in the role of Jane, a stoner who has a bit too much one morning and faces a challenging day trying not to act "too stoned." All I have to say is this: You'll never think about President Garfield or Lasagna the same way again. Ten stars out of five. And there's an amazing soundtrack to boot.

Posted on 09/18/07 by: garyc 11:13 PM