Happy Wednesday everyone! Hope you’re all in good health. Well, my Rheumatoid Arthritis flared up again earlier this week that I had to stay home Monday as I could barely lift my water bottle, let alone drive. My left hand is still swollen which makes typing a pain but thank goodness for Aleve!
In any case, I did have a blast watching Bridget Jones Baby last night…
I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about #BridgetJonesBaby but for the most part it, um delivered. A bit uneven but w/ genuinely uproarious moments.
— FlixChatter (@FlixChatter) September 14, 2016
Ok how about those links!
Well if you’re paying attention to film festivals like me, you’re likely been following Toronto International Film Festival that’s going on this week through this Sunday.
Lucky Jay & her crew have been covering TIFF this year, check out her blog for reviews, including La La Land!
Courtney just posted her thoughts on the highly-anticipated The Birth of A Nation, one of those films that I still want to see and judge for myself.
Another Torontonian Ryan also attended TIFF, check out his review of Andrea Arnold’s American Honey
Margaret is back with her phenomenal visual parallel posts, this time on Neon Demon vs. Black Swan
Meanwhile, Nostra just caught up with Kevin Costner’s crime flick Criminal
Jordan just reviewed the YA thriller Nerve, whose composer Rob Simonsen I’ll be featuring later this week!
Allie reviewed an early 2000s comedy that I happened to enjoy quite a bit, Napoleon Dynamite
The Sea of Trees has been completely lambasted by critics, well looks like Khalid agreed w/ them
Paul just talks about the classic rom-com The Philadelphia Story
Hey it’s back to school season, so check out Michael‘s answers on his Back-t0-School Movie Quiz!
Last but not least, check out Cindy‘s latest Lucky 13 on the topic of Al Pacino the Mentor
…
So, speaking of TIFF, I’ve been reading a bunch of TIFF reviews the past week. There are some I’ve been anticipating (i.e. Free Fire which sounds like a blast), but some new ones I just heard about that intrigued me (Korean crime drama The Age of Shadows, British WWII drama Their Finest). ELLE starring Isabelle Huppert sounds brutal but then again what do you expect from agent provocateur Paul Verhoeven. It’s also one of the films my crush Sam Riley saw at Cannes last May 😉
Of course the buzz surrounding the musical La La Land and sci-fi drama Arrival have been incredible, I sure hope they both lived up to the hype! So if I were to list my top 10 most anticipated movies out of TIFF, this is what it’d look like:
…
You can check out IMDB’s TIFF mini guide or The Hollywood Reporter‘s coverage for a list of movies screened at TIFF.
///
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Thank you for the mention Ruth. I hope you’re feeling better today!
Pleasure Paul! Well I’ll get better eventually 🙂
Sorry to hear about your hand, hope it’s better. I hurt my foot and it’s swollen on Monday, so I too couldn’t go into work.
I haven’t paying much attention to the festival, I’ve seen some tweets about it. I want to see Arrival for sure and if/when Free Fire gets a release date here in the States then I’ll see it. It’s been a long time since I saw film by Paul Verhoeven, Elle sounds interesting though. It appears he had enough of Hollywood’s system and left town.
Yeah it’s really no fun when my Rheumatoid Arthritis flared up, but I think I’m also coming down w/ something
I hope your foot gets better too, Ted!
The buzz around ARRIVAL really intrigues me, and I love Sicario so I’m curious what Villevue’s doing w/ a scifi. Yeah, I was surprised to see him doing a French film but I suppose outside the studio system they allow him to be edgier.
I’m still limping but I think it’s getting better, it’s definitely an annoyance when some part of your body isn’t function 100%.
I’ve avoided any early reviews and new clips or trailers of Arrival, want to get in as fresh as possible. I think Verhoeven just got tired of making Hollywood films, he made two back to back big budgeted films back in the late 90s and early 2000s and both didn’t perform well at the box office. I remember Arnold asked him to come back and do the Total Recall sequel but I think the studio didn’t trust either of them and didn’t give them the budget they asked.
Yeah, let’s hope we both get better soon Ted 🙂
I only saw the first trailer of Arrival but won’t see any more. You’re right it’s the kind of movie that’s best seen w/ as little info as possible.
Interesting bit about Verhoeven, well he probably is happier now too.
I remember years ago when I was watching a show I can’t remember the name, the host would bring in famous actors or directors to talk about their career and when Verhoeven was a guest, he was brutally honest about Hollywood. One film student asked him what his recommendation would be to young filmmakers if they get an offer to do big budget studio film, his answer was “Don’t do it!”, Lol. He said if you don’t have enough experience in the film business, don’t even think of accepting a big budget picture offer from studios, it will mostly ruin that person’s career. He’s right, most young filmmakers’ career were ruin because they rush into big studio projects.
I think he’s sick of Hollywood politics and left town.
Thanks for the link and I’m curious about La La Land.
Hope your hand will get better soon!
Are you a fan of musicals Nostra? It’s a hit and miss but that one sounds really good.
Some of them like Moulin Rouge and of course Singing in the Rain. As I’ve seen it compared to the last one I’m excited 🙂
Yep I LOVE Moulin Rouge and Singing in the Rain too, well I sure hope it does live up to the hype.
There’s so many great films coming out of Toronto: La La Land, Nocturnal Animals, Arrival, A United Kingdom, Elle, Free Fire, Colossal, and Raw. I hope the fall/awards season is better than the summer.
Well given the Summer it’s been, the Fall movie season sure has to be better!
Great post. I am looking forward to a United Kingdom and La La Land, and no matter how hard I try I just cannot take Arrival movie seriously – it is just preposterous, in my opinion, or maybe it is just me…
I love BELLE so much, I can’t wait to see what Amma Asante would do w/ A United Kingdom. Ahah, well most sci-fis take some forms of disbelief from the audience, from what I read so far Arrival sounds intriguing, I hope I’m not wrong.
Arrival is great, actually.
Of the ones you listed, I’ve seen\am seeing about half, so lots more reviews to come, including Arrival, Their Finest, and Denial.
Lucky you Jay! So you’ve seen all those movies already? I actually have a press screening for Denial, I just can’t make the date.
Hope your hand is better and thanks for the link! I’m looking forward to Jackie, La La Land, Nocturnal Animals and Arrival, the last one doesn’t really interest me but I hope it’s good since Villeneuve next one is that Blade Runner sequel after all
Oh right, Nocturnal Animal sounds good too! Villeneuve is the main reason I’m curious about Arrival, as I like Sicario. Man that BR sequel can’t come soon enough!
There’s so many things I want to see from TIFF. La La Land, Snowden, Arrival, Nocturnal Animals, American Pastarol, Free Fire. I hope you feel better soon!
Hi Brittani! My hand is slowly mending, thanks. I have no desire to see Snowden at all, maybe a rental if the reviews are good. American Pastoral sounds interesting, esp since it’s Ewan McGregor’s directorial debut. Glad you’re also excited for Free Fire!
I’m really enjoying the overwhelming out-pour of positivity surrounding Lala Land! I wasn’t too keen on it at first, but now I’m totally on the bandwagon! Thanks for the link and support, Ruth! 🙂
Hi Courtney! So you’ve seen La La Land? It sounds like something joyful to see on the big screen. We’ll see if it’ll *cure* my aversion to Gosling, ahah.
No, no! I haven’t seen it yet, but all the positive press has me totally stoked to see it 🙂 🙂
Yeah, there’s rarely a so-so review of it out there, or I just haven’t read it yet.
I am sorry to hear you suffer from RA and pray your pain and swelling has receded. Thanks once again for the sound out. I appreciate you! Several of these films you list look good. Like many others, I’d like to see La La Land and Arrival. The others I don’t know about, but I’ll investigate and look forward to your reviews, Ruth!
Hi Cindy! Thankfully it’s only a mild version of RA but yeah when it flared up it’s REALLY painful!
A lot of these films are women-centered, including the seemingly brutal & provocative ELLE, which I’m very intrigued by.
Seeing Bridget Jones’ Baby next week. Really looking forward to it. I’m a sucker for the Bridget Jones movies.
Hi Dan! I hope you enjoy it, I think it’s still a lot of fun and given Emma Thompson wrote it, there’s a bunch of witty lines.
I’m green with envy for all those who get to go to these major film festivals. So much good stuff sounds like it is coming out of TIFF and it’ll probably be a year before I see any of them haha! Better late than never I suppose!
Hi ya Tom! I’m envious too, esp TIFF as there are always SO many great films playing there. I think some of the bigger films might open within a year but you’re right, the indie ones would take ages to get to most of us who don’t live in NYC or LA.
Sorry about your hand. I think we both had the same feelings about Bridget Jone’s Baby. Would love to have your check out my review too : https://rinsebeforeuse.wordpress.com/2016/09/21/bridget-joness-baby-worth-the-wait/
Hi there, thanks for the comment. Haven’t got a chance to do a full review of it, but yeah generally the movie’s still pretty fun.
Nice list! Pretty even number of movies I’m looking forward to – LaLa Land, Lion, A United Kingdom, Free Fire. Rachel Weisz seems to be in a lot of potential material this year. I hope she is recognized for something if it impresses critics and award panels.
Hi Katy! I just saw your Oscar prediction post. Lion is actually gonna be playing at TCFF this year, so excited! Glad you’re looking forward to Free Fire, that looks like fun! And yes, Weisz is having quite a year, but I love her, she’s so talented!