Toronto 2019: The Wrap-Up and the Rankings

After two-and-a-half weeks, two countries, four flights and 22 reviews, I'm home. It's been a pretty exhilarating journey from my first Venice to my 11th Toronto, and I'm still processing the whole adventure.

But in terms of discoveries, let me focus on Darius Marder's Sound of Metal, which I've been raving about to anyone who would listen. Starring Riz Ahmed as a rock drummer losing his hearing, this is an addiction-and-recovery drama like no other; its potential conventionality is wiped away by what Marder and his capable cast have come up with. Amazon bought Sound of Metal at Toronto, and I hope it finds its audience. (One thing: I've had people express hesitation about seeing the movie because they don't like metal. That is a very small component of the film, and it's dispensed with pretty early on.)

Below is a ranking of every Toronto film I saw, either at TIFF or before, including at Sundance and Cannes. (Links lead to individual reviews.) For now, the adventures are over, and the passport and foreign currency are back in the drawer. It's very nice to be back with Susan, who has gotten hooked on Queer Eye while I've been gone. She also met Peter Farrelly at a screening. I think she was even busier than I was.

46. The Goldfinch
45. Jojo Rabbit
44. Wasp Network
43. Abominable 
42. My Zoe
41. Blackbird
40. Martin Eden
39. The Traitor
38. Lucy in the Sky
37. Honey Boy 
36. Les Misérables
35. The Climb
34. Bad Education
33. Atlantics
32. Pelican Blood
31. Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band
30. Radioactive
29. The Laundromat
28. Zombi Child
27. Adam
26. Dolemite Is My Name
25. Deerskin 
24. The Truth
23. Hope Gap
22. Ema
21. Bacurau
20. Sorry We Missed You
19. A Hidden Life
18. Pain and Glory
17. Portrait of a Lady on Fire 
16. The Perfect Candidate 
15. Knives Out
14. The Kingmaker 
13. State Funeral 
12. Waves
11. Clemency
10. Parasite
9. Frankie
8. The Wild Goose Lake
7. Synonyms 
6. The Whistlers
5. Sound of Metal
4. Joker
3. Uncut Gems
2. Marriage Story
1. The Lighthouse

Toronto 2019: 'My Zoe' Review

Julie Delpy's latest film is a study of a mother who refuses to give up on her ailing daughter ... which leads her to take some desperate measures. I reviewed this uneven drama for Screen International.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Pixar Superheroes, Lame Bromances and 'Before Midnight'

This week's podcast feels like it's stuck in a time warp. Incredibles 2 is the sequel to a movie that came out in 2004. Tag could have easily come out 10 years ago, back when bromances were a big deal. And Before Midnight is the latest (last?) movie in a series that began in 1995. You can hear the whole episode down below.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: 'Ocean's 8,' 'Hereditary,' 'Won't You Be My Neighbor?' and 'Before Sunset'

On this week's episode, we talk about three new movies: the ones with the women pulling a heist, the one with the woman whose house may be haunted, and the one about the kindly television host. Then, in our Reboot segment, we look back at Before Sunset. Up next week: Before Midnight. You can hear the whole show below.

The Grierson & Leitch Podcast: Your Mailbag Questions, 'Before Sunrise' and 'Kindergarten Cop'

It's a slow movie week, so we decided to answer a bunch of listener questions. Lots of good stuff in there. Then, for our Reboot segment, we look back at Before Sunrise (still amazing) and Kindergarten Cop (better than expected). Check out the whole thing down below.

Sundance 2013: Ranking the Best and Worst of the Festival

In the span of about a week, I saw 25 films at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. That sounds like a lot, and it is, but because I wasn't in Park City for the festival's entire run, there are still several titles I wish I could have seen: Escape From Tomorrow, The Spectacular Now, Fruitvale, Blue Caprice, Valentine Road, After Tiller, Toy's House, even jOBS. Those will have to wait, sadly, but I wanted to offer that caveat to the below ranking to suggest that it's far from a definitive overview of everything that was available at the festival. Nonetheless, this was my 2013 Sundance. Links lead to my reviews... (Update: I had forgotten to include the one film I saw before the festival, The Gatekeepers. It's added now.)

26. Very Good Girls
25. A.C.O.D.
24. May in the Summer
23. Prince Avalanche
22. Don Jon's Addiction
21. The East
20. Sightseers
19. Computer Chess
18. Magic Magic
17. Big Sur
16. Lovelace
15. S-VHS
14. In a World...
13. Touchy Feely
12. Breathe In
11. God Loves Uganda
10. Ain't Them Bodies Saints
9. Mother of George
8. Crystal Fairy
7. Fill the Void
6. Two Mothers
5. The Gatekeepers
4. Mud
3. C.O.G.
2. Upstream Color
1. Before Midnight

Sundance 2013 Review: 'Before Midnight'

How many trilogies get better with each film? The Lord of the Rings, right. Anything else? I can't think of any others, either. Until now. Richard Linklater's Before Midnight isn't flat-out lovely like Before Sunset, but the emotional complexity of the thing is rather remarkable -- heroic, even. Watching the film last night at its Sundance premiere, I was reminded of a line by Robert Christgau about Bob Dylan's Love & Theft: "It's profound, too, by which I mean very funny." That's a great way of describing this movie as well. My rave is up at Screen International.