TOP 10 FILMS TO WATCH AT TIFF

Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem in mother!

A lot of people maybe asking if summer is already over and for some it does not even seem like it even started.  Perhaps the weekend cottage getaways are over and school has started but it does not have to be so dull and nerve wracking especially with this year’s slate of films at the Toronto International Film Festival which prove to be exciting and noteworthy.  Even though domestic box office sales have plummeted to historic lows and this being Piers Handling’s second last year at the TIFF helm, this year’s biggest film festival in Toronto might sneak up on the lazy moviegoers and give them a nice surprise making sure that they are missing out.  Especially when director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Requiem for A Dream) returns with his home invasion thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem in mother!  This collaboration is already something the audience can not dare to miss.  FERNTV lists the other films on our TOP 10 films to watch at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Matt Damon in Suburbicon

George Clooney’s Suburbicon is already making a big buzz in the circuit as he gets both Ethan and Joel Coen to write this dark comedy about a man by the name of Gardener Lodge, played by Matt Damon, who wants to change his domestic situation because he is in love with his wife’s sister, played by Julianne Moore.  Set in the suburbs in the 1950s, the plan to get rid of his wife, also played by Julianne Moore, goes south and all hell breaks loose.  You can bet that Suburbicon has a lot of star power with a lot of today’s movie icons behind the wheel and with the wits of both the Coen brothers, this film will be something that many of us have been waiting for and might prove to be a saving grace to the film industry.

Elle Fanning as Mary Shelley

Director Haifaa Al-Mansour directs this Irish-American romance film that stars Elle Fanning as Mary Shelley and her love affair with poet Percy Shelley played by Douglas Booth.  This biopic shows the courtship between the womanizer Percy Shelley who is only 21 and already has a failed marriage to his resume and Mary Shelley who goes against the grain of the status quo during those times and the wishes of her single parent father.  The film leads up to the time where Mary Shelley total rebels and grants the wishes of her celebrity poet Percy as they spend a summer in a Swiss chateau.  This is the time where total debauchery takes place and when the classic all time book Frankenstein was written.  Mary Shelley is a film that many moviegoers will be curious about.

Emma Stone and Steve Carrell in Battle of the Sexes

It seems you cannot stop the momentum of Emma Stone who returns one year later after La La Land to play tennis star Billie Jean King opposite of Steve Carrell who plays her tennis adversary Bobby Riggs in Battle of the Sexes.  Directed by both Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton who both directed Little Miss Sunshine, Battle of the Sexes follows the lives and the lead-up to the one of the biggest matches in tennis history between both Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs back in 1973.  There are much more layers to the matchup alone as Billie Jean King’s marriage is failing and Bobby Riggs is trying to win back his ex-wife while all this media hype is going on.  This is going to be one of the powerhouse films with sharp humour that will take place at TIFF this year.

Sally Hawkins as Elisa in The Shape of Water

Director Guillermo del Toro returns to a genre where the whole world just fell in love with him when he presented the world with Pan’s Labyrinth.  The Shape of Water follows highly touted Sally Hawkins who plays Elisa who is a muted janitor during the height of the Cold War era who discovers a secret experiment in a US government laboratory.  She discovers a type of underwater monster like creature who she develops a relationship with and wants to save its life with the opposition of the federal agent responsible for this experiment who is played by another TIFF veteran, Michael Shannon.  The Shape of Water goes back to the cinematography and tone of Pan’s Labyrinth with the characteristics of monster classics.

The Tragically Hip in Long Time Running

If you were not able to catch the 2016 tour of The Tragically Hip or their last concert on CBC then you have the great chance of how great this tour was and what it meant to this country of Canada.  Both director Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier brings this great tour onto the silver screen with the Tragically Hip’s great sound which took so much out of Gord Downie after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.   Long Time Running is all about reaching from within and giving out the performances of your life which is what this Kingston born quintet did to take the country of Canada by storm during their tour.  What a way to celebrate and represent TIFF and our country than having this great film premiering at this festival.

Matilda Lutz in Revenge

The country of France seems to always make their way into the programming of Midnight Madness because of their cutting edge films.  Director Coralie Faraget directs this Revenge tale that stars Matilda Lutz who play Jen who is the mistress of a millionaire boyfriend, played by Kevin Janssens, who takes her on a hunting trip with his wealthy pals.  Things start to go south when they start making passes at her which evolves into a horrible experience of assault.  Shades of the film I Spit On Your Grave, Revenge gets down to business when Jen takes matters into her own hands in which these men have no idea of what is in front of them.  With the film’s tone that resembles Mad Max, the tone of New French Extremity has reached a certainly different level.

Ellen Page in The Cured

Halifax native Ellen Page stars in The Cured which is David Freyne’s directorial debut about what happens when a zombie apocalypse is finally contained and cured.  We have seen every type of zombie possible on the silver screen and on the tube but what actually happens when a zombie becomes human again and brings himself back into society.  Sam Keeley plays Senan who is that zombie who has gone through hell and has done some horrible things while he was infected.  He then tries to come back to the only family who has survived that being his sister in law who is played by Ellen Page and her son.  Senan goes through a post zombie depression where he cannot forget what he has done and being trusted by his family is something that must be monitored.

Kate Winslet and Idris Elba in The Mountain Between Us

Kate Winslet is back into a survival type movie that made her so popular in Titanic but The Mountain Between Us has her battling with Idris Elba in surviving a new element and environment.  After a tragic plane crash, both Alex Martin, played by Kate Winslet, and Dr. Ben Bass, played by Idris Elba, must survive a snowy mountain terrain by depending one another and doing whatever they can in their helpless journey.  Without any help coming to them, both of them have to rely on their inner strength in hopes in finding the help they need to get out of their circumstances.  Does the movie Alive ring a bell during this film?  The Mountain Between Us seems to have those characteristics.

Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz in Disobedience

It seems that everything that Rachel McAdams turns to gold and becomes an Oscar magnet but having Rachel Weisz alongside you in a film should surely be an Oscar magnet.  Director Sebastián Leilo directs Disobedience which follows a New York single but rich photographer Ronit, played by Rachel Weisz, goes back to her London based Jewish Orthodox family when her rabbit father dies.  When she returns home to pay her respects and gains her inheritance, she rekindles her childhood friendship with Esti, played by Rachel McAdams, who is her cousin’s Dovid’s wife.  Dovid, played by Alesandro Nivola, gains the most out of the inheritance but starts to lose his wife to Ronit as the black sheep of the family continues to go against the family’s wishes.