Toronto 2009: IndieWIRE’s Critics’ Poll

Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man (top); Joel and Ethan Coen (bottom)

Peter Knegt reports that an indieWIRE poll of "more than 25" film critics and bloggers (blogging film critics?) shows that the overwhelmingly favorite film screened at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival was Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man (not to be confused with Tom Ford’s A Single Man or the Michael Douglas vehicle Solitary Man), a black comedy about a suburbanite (Michael Stuhlbarg) whose life suddenly unravels after his wife asks for a divorce. A Serious Man hits US theaters on Oct. 2.

Colin Firth, Julianne Moore in A Single Man

The best performance was delivered by Colin Firth in A Single Man (not to be confused with either [...]

2009 Toronto Film Festival Winners

Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (top photo); Lee Daniels

The bizarrely titled Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, formerly known as Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire, was the Audience Award winner at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival. The Toronto win, which follows widespread critical acclaim and a couple of Sundance awards earlier in the year, has pushed Precious to the forefront of likely Oscar contenders come February 2010. (Last year’s Toronto winner and critics’ favorite, Slumdog Millionaire, eventually turned out to be the best picture Oscar winner.)
Directed by Lee Daniels, Precious tells the story of an overweight, illiterate, pregnant teenager (Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe) who is abused by her mother (Mo’Nique), [...]

Toronto Film Festival Awards 2009

2009 Toronto Film Festival Awards
2009 Toronto Film Festival: Sept. 10-19
2009 Toronto Film Festival Winners
 

Cadillac People’s Choice Awards:
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE

Runners-up:
MAO’S LAST DANCER (above, top)
MICMACS (above, lower photo)

Documentary:
THE TOPP TWINS

Runner up:
CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY

Midnight Madness
THE LOVED ONES

Runner up:
DAYBREAKERS

FIPRESCI Special Presentation Prize: HADEWIJCH

FIPRESCI Discovery: THE MAN BEYOND THE BRIDGE

Best Canadian Feature: CAIRO TIME

Skyy Vodka Best Canadian First Feature: THE WILD HUNT

Best Canadian Short: DANSE MACABRE

Honorable Mention: THE ARMOIRE

 
Toronto International Film Festival Site
Toronto Film Festival Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Toronto 2009: UP IN THE AIR, YOUNG VICTORIA, Israel Controversy

George Clooney in Up in the Air

Nomi Morris on Up in the Air in GlobalPost, via The Huffington Post:
"This year, the film that has generated the greatest buzz is Up in the Air, the latest by [Jason] Reitman, director of the hits Juno and Thank You for Smoking, and son of Hollywood director Ivan Reitman (Ghost Busters). Up in the Air stars [George] Clooney as a "termination engineer," who has no home life outside of his job, jetting around the country helping American companies fire people. Both funny and sad, the film examines a society where frequent flier points become a substitute for family attachments. Reitman used documentary footage of 25 real people who had lost their jobs in Detroit [...]

Toronto 2009: Michael Moore Photos

Michael Moore at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival screening of Capitalism: A Love Story
"The true believers of socialism in the United States of America are Wall Street and corporate America," Moore remarked. "They want the safety net there for themselves and they have very willingly taken … trillions (of dollars) of our money."

Anti-bailout protesters

Photos: Overture Films
Click on the photos to enlarge them.