TIFF 2016: Winners & Review Index

TIFF just ended crowning La La Land with the coveted People's Choice Award (runners up: Lion & Queen of Katwe) and Jackie with their new juried prize. We haven't totally closed up shop - we've left the door ajar because there are a few articles left to come. It takes time processing all of this art that's rushing over us! Films give us so many feelings! The Toronto International Film Festival is my personal favorite film festival in the world:  easy to attend, friendly, well organized, less prohibitively expensive than other festivals. I saw and enjoyed 27 movies and would have seen a few more but for getting sick in the rain and rush. But the festival experience is such that even mediocre or bad movies can be remembered with positive associations.

Here are all the reviews and articles (thus far) in one place in case you missed any or would like a handy index.

my ten favorites from TIFF '16 (in no particular order)

Reviews from TIFF 16
• The Apprentice - Singapore's Oscar submission
• Arrival - Denis Villeneuve's gripping superbly crafted sci-fi journey
• The Bad Batch - Ana Lily Armipour's cannibal wasteland satire
• Blind Sun - Visual paranoia in Greece
• Catfight - Anne Heche vs. Sandra Oh three times
• Colossal - Anne Hathaway is a Kaiju in this cult oddity
• The Commune -Thomas Vinterberg's wonderful 70s drama
• Death in Sarajevo -Bosnia's politically fired up Oscar submission
• A Decent Woman - Argentinian whatsit about a nudist maid
• Elle - Paul Verhoeven & Isabelle Huppert serve up twisted cerebral comedy
• Frantz - François Ozon's black & white drama of grief & guilt

• Handsome Devil - coming of age at a rugby-mad boarding school
• A Monster Calls - a visual fantasy about a young boy losing his mother
• My Life as a Courgette - Switzerland's animated/foreign Oscar submission
• Nocturnal Animals - Tom Ford's lurid meta movie
• Pyromaniac - a Norwegian thriller
• (re) Assignment - Walter Hill's ill advised gender surgery noir
• The Red Turtle - a mute magical beauty, sure to be Oscar-nominated
• Sand Storm - an Israeli drama about female oppression and marriage
• Santa & Andres -a Cuban political drama about LGBT oppression
• Strange Weather - Holly Hunter returns!
• The Wedding Ring - a Nigerian romantic fable 

Non Review Articles
• A Cocktail with Sigourney - tall, beautiful, funny
• Michael Fassbender Tribute - He has some regrets 
• Moonlight's Oscar buzz - a note of caution 
• Jackie Bought by Searchlight - watch out Oscar race 
• Hidden Figures Brunch Pt 1 - Glen Powell 

Still to Come
There are a few more articles coming, as stated and Oscar charts will be updated shortly to reflect all this new knowledge. We'll also have plenty of chances to discuss Moonlight, The Handmaiden, La La Land, and Jackie, (opening in that order October through December) since they'll all be up for either Oscars or our own prizes at TFE. I didn't review them properly (yet) because it's always hardest to write about films you love. You want to do them justice and festival schedules are rushed. But know this for now: they are all excellent and it's going to be an amazing Fall Film Season if any of the as yet unseen titles like Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk or Fences or Silence (if that even opens) deliver on this level, too. That's got to be reassuring after that truly terrible movie summer we all endured. I purposefully skipped Toronto titles that will also be playing at New York Film Festival (which begins September 30th) or are opening during it but soon we discuss these films, too: Julieta, Aquarius, Birth of a Nation, Neruda, Queen of Katwe, Magnificent Seven, Manchester by the Sea, Certain Women, My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea, Sieranevada, The Ornithologist, Toni Erdmann, Edge of Seventeen and Personal Shopper

Comments

[morganb]

You know we're all still waiting for your thoughts on LION Nicole Kidman - don't you? :) One tweet from a press conference about her laugh does not a review make :)

But thank you - amazing reviews and impressive coverage this year as always, did you get any sleep?

[morganb]

Damn it, I forgot to end the strikethrough after Lion :D

[NATHANIEL R]

morganb -- unfortunately I did not get to see LION. *weeps*

[MrX]

Great work once again Nathaniel !

[beyaccount]

As a previous unenthused hater of La La Land, I tried so hard to hate the movie when I watched it. Loved it instead. Deserves Best Picture to be honest.

[Paul Outlaw]

Around this time two years ago, I saw Whiplash and knew right away that Simmons had the Oscar in the bag. Yesterday I saw Queen of Katwe and I would say the same thing about Lupita, except she's a recent winner (without the same narrative as Simmons). But if Disney (who certainly has the resources) pushes this properly, she should at least be a lock for a nomination. Personally, I loved the performance.

[Joseph W]

Amazing, amazing work Nathaniel. Looking forward to your LA LA LAND and MOONLIGHT reviews.

[Pedro]

Thank you for the time spent at movie festivals and keeping us informed and entertained!

[Michael R]

Cannot wait for your review of Jackie!

[cal roth]

Yeah, as a longtime fan of Pablo Larraín, Jackie is now my most anticipated movie of the year

[DrG]

Thanks Nathaniel - so many exciting films coming out this Fall - can't wait! I enjoyed your Letterboxd TIFF list too!