Over the weekend, rush liners got a pretty cold shoulder from autumn's cameo and it made TIFF Festival Street a bit damper than would be desirable. Still a tonne of marquee films screened including Freeheld and we got a George Clooney guest-spot.
It should be said that more than a few of those films seemed to land with a bit of a "meh" including Our Brand is Crisis, and a trio of biopics in The Program, Trumbo and I Saw The Light.
There were also some definite highlights including an under the radar role for Julianne Moore in Maggie's Plan and the Jason Reitman directed live read of The Princess Bride. The star of the original 1987 cult classic film Cary Elwes was there and he was joined by the film's director Rob Reiner as well as Patrick Stewart, Rachel McAdams, Donald Glover and even Georges Laraque.
On the Scene
The big news, as you no doubt heard if you care at all, was that George Clooney showed up for the premiere of Our Brand Is Crisis with his producing partner Grant Heslov. He was also seen having a drink at Ivan Reitman's spot Montecito. X-Men co-stars Patrick Stewart and Ellen Page were spotted at Holt Renfrew and John Travolta even showed up at Byblos.
Not to be out done, Entertainment Weekly's Toronto party saw Brie Larsen with her Room co-star, 8-year-old Jacob Tremblay, as well as Sandra Bullock, Tom Hiddleston and even Denis Villeneuve and Jean-Marc Vallée swapping war stories.
Hiddleston is said to be the best part of I Saw The Light, the Hank Williams biopic, but he's also in Ben Wheatley's High-Rise which was also shown as part of the TIFF Platform programme. The cast apparently celebrated the film's premiere last night at the aforementioned Byblos.
In the Spotlight
The Dressmaker has Kate Winslet and a premise with potential going for it but doesn't seem to be getting much hype. I'm intrigued though, and we will have to see if Australian-director Jocelyn Moorhouse can deliver on this story of a woman who returns from the world of high fashion abroad to get some revenge in her hometown. It also features Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth and Hugo Weaving. Here's hoping for something a little more lively than last year's A Little Chaos for Winslet.
Roy Thompson Hall. 60 Simcoe St. 6:30 p.m. 118 minutes
Dark Horse
Reviews for director Pablo Aguero's Eva Doesn't Sleep acclaimed its oddness and thereby piqued my interest even further to see it. This experimental flick tells of a conspiracy surrounding the corpse of Argentina's deceased first lady Eva Peron and features Gael Garcia Bernal giving what is said to be the creepiest turn of the entire festival.
Scotiabank Theatre. 259 Richmond St W. 4:15 p.m. 85 minutes
