In Contention

Tag: Guy Maddin

  • Toronto updates lineup, plus ‘Take This Waltz’ teaser

    The vast Toronto Film Festival lineup is a still-growing beast, but today it swelled to 125 titles with the addition of a cluster of homegrown Canadian titles, including two films — Mary Harron’s “The Moth Diaries” and Jean-Marc Vallée’s “Cafe de Flore” — that will debut at Venice a few days earlier. Most exciting, however, is the world premiere of “Keyhole”: avant-garde auteur Guy Maddin’s first dramatic feature in several years reunites him with former muse Isabella Rossellini, while Jason Patric (hey, remember him?) takes the lead.

    Steve Pond has the list of new Canadian additions, while you can check out the full lineup (thus far) at the festival site.

    Speaking of all thing Canadian, by the way, a couple of readers have asked for a space to air opinions on the teaser scene (I’m not sure why some are calling it a trailer) recently released for the TIFF-booked “Take This Waltz,” the Michelle Williams-Seth Rogen romantic drama from Oscar-nominated actress-turned-filmmaker Sarah Polley. I thought the spot too isolated and inconsequential to merit much discussion, but the force is strong — check it out after the jump, if you’re so inclined, and share your thoughts.

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  • All in good taste

    There’s no real reason to pay attention to the Chlotrudis Awards,which took place on Sunday. After all, they’re a casually organised set of honours determined by an enthusiastic group of Boston-based film lovers — that apparently get mentioned on IMDB and precisely nowhere else.

    But hey, when their taste is this exemplary, they deserve a bit of notice. After all, in the thick of awards season, people actually bother with the innumerable, obscure regional critics’ awards and their largely yawnsome copycat choices. The Chlotrudis Awards, by contrast, go commendably against the grain.

    Any organisation that singles out the exceptional, Oscar-snubbed work of Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein in “I’ve Loved You So Long” is in my good books, while “The Edge of Heaven” is a pretty fresh, adventurous choice for Best Picture of 2008. “Happy-Go-Lucky,” meanwhile, continues to generate affection, taking Supporting Actor kudos for Eddie Marsan and half a Best Director award — in another inspired move, Mike Leigh and Guy Maddin (“My Winnipeg”) tied for that honour.

    OK, so nobody really notices or cares about these awards, but it’s the principle that counts. I applaud them. Check out a full list of winners and nominees here, if you’re so inclined.