Hotel Swooni: The lies (and truths) we tell for happiness

Kaat Beels makes an amazing directorial feature film debut with Hotel Swooni, a movie about the lies we tell for the sake of happiness and the truths that make us happy.

It's a poignant film about ordinary people's betrayal, redemption and happiness.

Screening was marred however by a cell phone ringing (the third time this has happened to me at TIFF this year) and loud moviegoers waiting in the lobby.

Their chatter seeped through the walls and doors into cinema, seeming to ruin the audience's concentration and moviegoing experience.

— Debra Black

How to pass the time before your movie starts

Inside a woman knits a baby sweater to pass the time.

Near her, a group of festival-goers assess the movies they've seen so far and the lottery system that decided how they picked their movies. Two friends joke with another patron that they only let their husbands go with them to one movie at TIFF, the rest they see with one another. Then they discuss how movies are picked for TIFF. Other patrons have a lengthy discussion on morality.

Stragglers come rushing in, bumping seat backs.

— Debra Black

The case of the abandoned screening ticket

About 50 people patiently waiting in middle of cinema in the line up at AMC for the 6:45 p.m. screening of Hotel Swooni.

As fresh popcorn pops at the concession, some are reading books, some are doing crosswords, others are listening to their iPods. Some even wolf down bad movie hotdogs as a hasty dinner.

Then a woman comes out of the bathroom asking if someone forgot their ticket for the screening there. No one answers. A TIFF volunteer takes it.

Then, we're ushered into our cinema.

— Debra Black

Nicolas Cage's home invasion

(Nicholas Cage speaks at the press conference for Trespass on Sept. 14. Paul Irish/Toronto Star)

Nicholas Cage’s new movie Trespass is centered around the horror of a home invasion, an experience the actor says he can relate to in a small way.

Although it was not violent, the actor told a TIFF news conference that a few years back he had a mentally disabled man wake him and his wife up at 2 a.m. in their bedroom.

“It was in Orange County and my two-year-old was there,” he said. “The man was naked except for a leather jacket and he was eating a Fudgesicle.”

Cage said he jumped out of bed, the man ran into the bathroom and the police were called.

The actor says he’s the type of person who doesn’t own a gun and will try to talk issues out first.

“The police told me if it was any house on the street (they all own guns) he would have been shot on sight,’’ he said. “I didn’t press charges. It was horrible for my wife.”

He said the incident helped him better understand his character, Kyle, who must protect his wife Sarah (Nicole Kidman) and his daughter Avery (Liana Liberato) in the film.

The home invasion could have been simple and over in minutes, but Kyle refuses to open the safe, and that’s when the action begins.

Director Joel Schumacher, pictured at left, said he enjoyed putting “flawed” people into a pressure cooker — in this case, the confines of the house — and to simply watch the action unfold.

Cage said Schumacher utilized a feeling of chaos on the set and chaos can make actors feel confident making them willing to try anything.

The director said some may see an undertone in the movie of some modern American families. Kyle, Sarah and Avery float around a large, beautiful, prestigious home but are not really connected until the calamity of the home invasion.

“The house, the cars don’t mean anything when your family is in jeopardy,” said Schumacher.

— Paul Irish

Super cool TIFF pics

Harvey Weinstein wants to party with Michele Bachmann‎

Studio head honcho Harvey Weinstein played politics at the Gala premiere of Butter at TIFF Tuesday night, getting the film's co-star Olivia Wilde, hilarious in the role of a blackmailing stripper-turned-butter carver, to read a letter to the crowd at Roy Thomson hall before the lights dimmed for the movie.

He started with some shoutouts to cast and crew, including Canada's Jason Reitman, who was "an inspiration and guiding light for this film. I love his movies and I love his dad's movies. Jason is a great cinema lover and one of the smartest people I've met in this industry."

Then he got to the meat of the matter:

"In 20 years of coming to the Toronto Film Festival, I've never released a statement for a film. But I would like to take this moment to formally invite Republican Congresswoman from Minnesota and Republican presidential candidate, Michele Bachmann, to co-host with me the big premiere of Butter in Iowa in a few months from now. I know Michele will already be in Iowa for the caucus, so we can save some money on airfare and travel. I would of course be more than happy to fly in the other leading members of the Tea Party movement to make an entire day of it. We could take some math classes in the morning to help balance the budget, brush up on the Constitution in the afternoon, play some ping-pong and then maybe some verbal ping-pong on gay rights and women's rights (especially the right to choose). But at night we can all go hand-in-hand to the premiere of Butter, a fun and important film where we'll share some popcorn and laughs. These are the kind of bipartisan efforts that makes America great.

I look forward to hearing from Michele and I'm particularly looking forward to those classes on the Constitution.

All my best,

Harvey

Harvey Weinstein arrives at the InStyle and The Hollywood Foreign Press party at the Windsor Arms Hotel on September 13, 2011. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Restoration a delightful requiem for old Tel Aviv

Restoration proved to be a delight. Yossi Madmony directed.

During the Q and A after the show, Madmony said the movie was a requiem for old Tel Aviv, where the film was shot, as much as it was the tale of a fractured relationship between a father and son.

The restoration of a piano is key as is the classical score. The ties that bind and unravel are part of the psychological processes examined in the film.

Restoration is definitely a family affair as Madmony's actress wife played a role in it of a prostitute.

His six-year-old daughter and her love for a string quartet that plays on the streets of old Tel Aviv influenced the music and resulted in the group being part of the film.

-- Debra Black