Late night TIFF reactions, let’s go!
The Teacher’s Lounge
Get ready for the most entertaining 98 minutes of hell on a movie screen you’ll see all year when The Teacher’s Lounge arrives to a screen near you. Thrillingly acted and written with real panache, I definitely see how this movie was chosen by Germany as their Oscar submission.
NYAD
Annette Penning plays Diana Dyad in this really good movie. It smartly anchors the film in Nyad’s pursuit of swimming from Cuba to Florida, and sprinkles in moments from her life in fascinating ways. I want to applaud the entire crew for making this movie as kinetic and visually interesting as they possibly could. I felt like I was on the ride with Nyad without feeling as though this was was some sappy inspirational story, even if it did have some of the same beats. Also, Jodi Foster and Rhys Ifans do the Lord’s work in this.
KILL
This is in the top ten most fascinating title card drops in movie history. There is so much movie before you even see the title on the screen and then the movie just ramps up. I am going to ding some points for the main characters making some boneheaded decisions, but for the carnage and intensity, I still grade it 3/5 stars.
Flora and Son
If it’s one thing John Carney is going to do, it’s create a delightful entertaining movie. Flora and Son is another in his long line of successes. Eve Hewson plays a mother to a rambunctious son who finds solace and potentially love via guitar lessons with a man from LA (Joseph Gordon Levitt). Eve is absolutely wonderful in the movie and Orén Kinlan as her son is up to the task of being the emotional lynchpin of her life. The movie is cute, though I do thing in the attempt to be a light and fun 94 minutes, it left some meat on the bone that the (for story reasons) mediocre songs can’t lift.