Toronto Film Festival: Which movies are getting buzz from critics
Will some of the movies screening at the Toronto Film Festival have their names called on Oscar night? This year, the Toronto Film Festival will include screenings of multiple movies that have reviewers interested.
'Demolition' stars Jake Gyllenhaal.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
With the beginning of the Toronto Film Festival, critics are getting a look at the movies that may be winning Oscars next year.
This year鈥檚 Toronto Film Festival includes screenings of high-profile films starring actors like Jake Gyllenhaal, Matt Damon, Rachel McAdams, Johnny Depp, Julianne Moore, and Eddie Redmayne. The festival officially opened on Sept. 10.
The movie 鈥淒emolition,鈥� which stars Gyllenhaal as an investment banker whose wife has recently died in a car crash, is directed by Jean-Marc Vall茅e, who was behind the recent Oscar contenders 鈥淒allas Buyers Club鈥� and 鈥淲ild鈥� (鈥淒allas鈥� earned actors Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor statuettes, respectively, while 鈥淲ild鈥� earned actress Reese Witherspoon an Oscar nomination for Best Actress). The film recently screened in Toronto.
Critics found fault with the plot of the movie but praised the work of both Gyllenhaal and Vall茅e, with writing that Gyllenhaal鈥檚 work is 鈥渉is best performance since 鈥楤rokeback Mountain鈥�.. [Gyllenhaal and Vall茅e鈥檚] unexpected creative choices across the line salvage a sledgehammer-obvious screenplay鈥� and writing, 鈥淎s farfetched as [the plot] sounds, Gyllenhaal makes it all feel compellingly real.鈥�
Another film that has already got reviewers talking is Michael Moore鈥檚 newest film, 鈥淲here To Invade Next.鈥� Moore has not directed a feature film since his 2009 movie 鈥淐apitalism: A Love Story鈥� and his new movie 鈥淚nvade,鈥� which has Moore travel to Europe and look at positive aspects of life in various countries, 鈥渇unny鈥� engaging鈥� and 鈥渆qually affecting and annoying in its simplicity鈥� it does make America look cartoonishly bad in comparison.鈥�
Other high-profile films are still to come. Some that have industry watchers鈥� interest piqued are the film 鈥淭he Danish Girl,鈥� which stars last year鈥檚 Best Actor Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne as one of the first people to go through gender reassignment surgery; director Ridley Scott鈥檚 adaptation of the bestselling novel 鈥淭he Martian鈥�; 鈥淔reeheld,鈥� which stars last year鈥檚 Best Actress winner Julianne Moore as a woman who encounters trouble leaving her pension benefits to her domestic partner; 鈥淏easts of No Nation,鈥� which stars Idris Elba as an African warlord, is directed by Cary Fukunaga of 鈥淭rue Detective,鈥� and is released by Netflix; 鈥淏lack Mass,鈥� which stars Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger; 鈥淪potlight,鈥� a movie about the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigations by the Boston Globe into charges of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Boston dating back to the 1960s; and 鈥淪tonewall,鈥� which is directed by Roland Emmerich and is about the 1960s riots of the same name.
Festivalgoers got to know better such Oscar-winning films as 鈥�12 Years a Slave鈥� and 鈥淭he King鈥檚 Speech鈥� at the Toronto Film Festival, and the event is the first chance many critics have to see movies that are getting Oscar buzz. The festival was established in 1976 and always drew interest, with the early movie 鈥淚n Praise of Older Women,鈥� which debuted in 1978, especially making headlines. But in recent decades, eventual Oscar Best Picture winners like 1999鈥檚 鈥淎merican Beauty鈥� and 2008鈥檚 鈥淪lumdog Millionaire鈥� received a big dose of publicity from the festival, helping them receive the big prize. One wrote, 鈥淚f Toronto audiences did not lionize [鈥楽lumdog], and vote it to an audience award, it would never have been released in theatres and it would never have gone on to win a slew of Oscars.鈥澛�
The festival will end on Sept. 20.
[Editor's note: This reporter's father was employed by the Boston Globe at the time the Catholic Church abuse stories were published.]