Read the TIFF guide and you get the impression that every entry is a potential Oscar winner. Me, I check for reliable directors, good casts and subjects that move me.
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Trust
You may think of him as just a Friend, but as a director David Schwimmer wades into dramatic territory in this story about young Annie, who connects to the wrong person online. There’s suspense, a ripped-from-the-headlines theme and Catherine Keener, who was awesome in this year’s Please Give, as Annie’s mom. I’d watch her in anything.
September 10, 9:30 pm, Roy Thomson Hall September 11, 11 am, Visa Screening Room (Elgin) September 19, 9 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
The Debt
Three Israeli Mossad agents come into the spotlight – and soon regret it – when the daughter of one writes a book about their 1965 mission to capture a Nazi war criminal. With a dream cast of Helen Mirren, Ciarán Hinds and Tom Wilkinson, how can director John Madden (Shakespeare In Love) go wrong?
September 14, 6:30 pm, Roy Thomson Hall September 15, 11 am, Visa Screening Room (Elgin) September 19, 10 am, AMC 7
All About Love
Yes, there’s new work by Gregg Araki and Bruce LaBruce, but TIFF this year is woefully short of dyke content. So step right up to this Hong Kong entry by veteran filmmaker Ann Hui about lesbians struggling with commitment.
September 14, 4:45 pm, Isabel Bader September 15, 9:30 pm, AMC 5 September 18, 9:30 pm AMC 3
Potiche
Like all films by François Ozon, Potiche is about women and power, in this case, what happens when Suzanne, the wife of a manufacturer, takes over the company when her husband suffers a heart attack. Ozon fave Catherine Deneuve plays Suzanne. Need I say more?
September 13, 6:30 pm, Roy Thomson Hall September 15, 9:30 am, Varsity 8
Client 9: The Rise And Fall Of Eliot Spitzer
I howl with glee whenever hypocritical politicians get embroiled in scandal. So I’m looking forward to this documentary by Alex Gibney (Taxi To The Dark Side) about Eliot Spitzer, the former New York attorney general and industry watchdog who turned out to be an escort agency’s infamous Client 9 and was then thrown out of office.
September 11, 10 pm, Scotiabank 3 September 13, 12:30 pm, Winter Garden September 19, 9:15 am, Scotiabank 4
