Skip to content

Posts from the ‘TIFF2011’ Category

Sep 13

Livid (2011) 
Livide

Directed by: Julien Maury & Alexandre Bustillo

3 stars

Sweet-natured teenager Lucie (Chloé Coulloud) goes to work as an intern for Mme. Wilson (Catherine Jacob), helping to look after house-bound old people.  An injection here, a change of diaper there – the visits are brief.  But Mme. Jessell (Marie-Claude Pietragalla) is different. For a start, she’s been in a coma for decades. Then there’s that seriously creepy house she lives in, with its rumoured hidden treasure.  And last, why is she permanently receiving blood transfusions…? Read more

Sep 13

The Incident (2011)

Directed by: Alexander Courtes

2 stars

1989, Washington State.  In an asylum for the dangerously insane, George (Rupert Evans) leads a motley group of cooks who prepare, with varying degrees of care, food for the inmates, which they serve through a small hatch in a large, supposedly unbreakable window.  By night, George and the others are also a wannabe band.  Then, during a torrential storm, the power goes out, and suddenly the inmates are running amok. Read more

Sep 13

Breathing (2011)  
Atmen

Directed by: Karl Markovics

4 stars

Nineteen year-old Roman (Thomas Schubert) divides his time between the juvenile detention centre outside Vienna where he has been held for five years, and day-release jobs that he seems not to want to hold down.  He is withdrawn, uncooperative and sullen, but more fearful than aggressive.  He is shut in by more than walls, and appears to have liitle interest in release.  But with another parole hearing approaching, he takes a job with the municipal undertakers. Read more

Sep 12

1 Comment

Extraterrestrial (2011)

Directed by: Nacho Vigalondo

4 stars

Julio (Julián Villagrán) awakes in the apartment of a woman (Julia, played by Michelle Jenner) he can barely remember from the previous night.  Their awkward, hangover-hazed conversation is soon interrupted by their discovery that the phones and TV are not working, Madrid is deserted and a four-mile diameter spaceship is hovering over the city. Read more

Sep 12

The Deep Blue Sea (2011)

Directed by: Terence Davies

4 stars

In post-war London, Hester (Rachel Weisz) is unhappily married to Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale), a much older man in thrall to his mother.  She falls for Freddie (Tom Hiddleston), a glamorous Battle of Britain fighter-pilot, but the romance is soon as faded as the one-room apartment they move into.  As Freddie turns increasingly hostile, and William tries to get her back, Hester attempts suicide, but is unsuccessful in every respect. Read more

Sep 12

Shame (2011)

Directed by: Steve McQueen

5 stars

Handsome executive Brandon (Michael Fassbender, looking more than ever like a young Christopher Plummer) can attract beautiful women with ease, but does not enter into relationships, preferring one-night stands, hookers and porn.  He avoids contact with his only relative, fragile sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan), and is increasingly distracted at work. Read more

Sep 12

Lipstikka (2011) 
Odem

Directed by: Jonathan Sagall

3 stars

Two old friends, Lara (Clara Khoury) and Inan (Nataly Attiya), both living in London, meet after a long separation.  Over the course of a day, and with numerous flashbacks to earlier stages of their lives, we learn how something about how they reached this point. Read more

Sep 11

2 Comments

You’re Next (2011)

Directed by: Adam Wingard

3 stars

Produced, it is rumoured, especially for the Midnight Madness theme at TIFF 2011, You’re Next presses every single button on the slasher-horror control pad – repeatedly.   And that’s not a criticism.  Going upstairs alone? Check.  Ignoring warnings? Check.  He’s behind you?  Check.  These, and many more, are served up with great style. Read more

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »