Color of the Ocean: Deeply disturbing but fabulous

Color of the Ocean was a deeply disturbing film set in the Canary Islands about a father and son who arrive there as illegal residents and about the lengths they'll go to achieve a new life.

The film is also about those who help and hinder them, as well as the people they, in turn, touch.

The film leaves many questions unanswered, prompting much discussion by the couple sitting behind me on the Dundas Streetcar.

Overall, a fabulous film!

Tomorrow, back in line in the afternoon.

-- Debra Black

All TIFF'ed out in the second-best row

Second to last lineup for this year's TIFF. I've seen 11 movies in eight days.

With one more tomorrow back here at AMC. Tonight, I'm seeing Colour of the Ocean at a 9 p.m. screening.

People here are patiently waiting munching on pretzels, and emailing or texting on their smartphones. Some chat about movies; others have a glazed, seen-too-many-movies look. A man and woman hug and kiss near the back of the line.

Think I'm movied-TIFFed out.

Plots of movies are all blurring together, as are lineups. Feel like I have spent the past eight days in a never ending, perpetually moving line.

And then suddenly a TIFF volunteer shouts above the din to alert us that it's time to enter the cinema. Finally in and the chaos of finding seats begins. 

"Is that seat free?" asks one fan to other movie goers in the row ahead of me. They say it is. He makes himself at home and sits happily.

"This is the best row " he tells them.

Hmm, if only I'd known. Too late for me to move. Guess I'm stuck in second-best row - just behind the best.

-- Debra Black

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

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

What's poutine? Waiting for Restoration to begin

No line up at Scotiabank Theatre for 10 p.m. screening of Restoration. Immediately ushered into theatre.

Conversation tidbits overheard in audience:

• What time is our movie in the morning?
• Grilled cheese would be perfect.
• I saw a Danish film.
• What's your cell phone plan?
• What's poutine?
• Gluten free french toast. Yuck, that sounds horrible.

-- Debra Black

Neil Young says he was a terror growing up in "Helpless" town

You know Neil Young's classic hit "Helpless," the one where he sings about Omemee, Ontario as the place with "dream comfort memory to spare"?

Turns out not all those memories are so comfortable, especially if you happen to be a turtle or an old lady who ran afoul of Young's youthful brand of mischief.

The Canadian rock icon was at the Princess of Wales Theatre Monday night, for the TIFF world premiere of Neil Young Journeys, the third in a series of musical documentaries on Young, each of them directed by Jonathan Demme.

It's mainly a concert movie, concerning Young's Massey Hall visit last May. But the music is framed by road-trip memories, as Young drives a vintage 1956 Ford Crown Victoria around places of his youth, including the Village of Omemee, celebrated in "Helpless."

Young jokes about what a holy terror he was there as kid, when he used to dress up in a homemade cowboy outfit (there's a picture of him in the movie doing just that).

He'd collect fish and turtles from the local watering hole and carry them through town on his wagon. Sometimes he'd stop at Coronation Hall, a local landmark, to make his own kind of personal statement.

"I think I killed a turtle by sticking a firecracker up its ass ... so my environmentalism roots aren't all that deep!" Young says.

He was in cahoots with a local troublemaker called "Goof," who would pay him five cents to say outrageous things.

"I'd do anything for a nickel," Young said.

"He'd give me a nickel if you'd say, 'You have a fat ass!' to an old lady."

The same pal told him that it was okay to eat the tar bubbles caused by road crews laying asphalt because "it would turn into chocolate."

Young didn't fall for that one.

A screening of Neil Young Journeys was followed by a Q&A with Young, Demme and audience members, moderated by TIFF programmer Thom Powers.

Canadian music icon Neil Young arrives at Princess of Wales theatre/RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR

An expansive Young announced that's he's written the first volume of his autobiography -- no release date yet -- and he's working on the second volume.

The Q&A was like old home week for Young.

Former classmates stood up to offer their memories. Someone who claimed to know Goof gave Young a letter purported to be from him.

Young wondered what Goof wanted him to do now for five cents.

And his old flame from Grade 4, a woman called Mary-Ellen, stood up in the audience to say hello. He hadn't seen her for decades.

"Mary-Ellen, is that you?" Young said, incredulously.

Young topped it off by giving her a dog collar that he won in a contest.

"I still haven't lost my touch," he joked.

-- Peter Howell

Jumping the gun on The Hunter

Seems I was caught up in the enthusiasm when talking to The Hunter director Daniel Nettheim on King St. on the weekend.

I erroneously blogged his new dramatic thriller The Hunter, starring Willem Dafoe, had been picked up for distribution.

Nettheim corrected me outside the eOne party at The Royal Conservatory Monday night: there’s some great enthusiasm surrounding the picture, but no sale is inked yet.

Guess you could say I jumped the gun. Fitting for a title like The Hunter.

- Linda Barnard