By: Henry J. Fromage –
I actually caught more than these films Day 1 of TIFF, but as I suspect is film festival policy everywhere, I’ll be running them after their first public screening. Great start, though, and more to come!
403. Went Up the Hill
Vicky Krieps and a very Zac Efron-looking (meant entirely as a compliment) Dacre Montgomery star as the wife and estranged son of a clearly monumentally talented architect. After the visitation, she invites him to stay the night, and when both fall asleep, something wondrous and perhaps frightening happens- the spirit of the dead woman possesses each in turn, communicating what they both need through the other. As the days and nights continue, though, we find that what started as a beautiful way of grieving becomes something more sinister. Krieps and Montgomery are superb in what amounts to three roles shared between them, and the icy production and sound design are pitch perfect for the story director Samuel Van Grinsven is telling. Two Beers.
TIFF Special Drinking Game:
Take a Drink: for each possession
Take a Drink: for signs that maybe this ghost ain’t so nice
Do a Shot: for each visit to the ice
404. Cloud
Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa has a style all his own, and strikes oddball gold here in this story of a scrapping internet reseller of dubious goods who starts to notice signs that those who may rightfully not like him very much have figured out who he is. A bit of a reselling procedural/thriller for the first half, it enters truly bonkers territory when his new, more rural location starts to present the same signs. A movie that is either a delightfully droll assaying of the worst of the internet, or a depiction of a psychotic break, or maybe even somewhere between the two- never less than totally engaging, though. Two Beers.
TIFF Special Drinking Game:
Take a Drink: for each new batch of shit to sell
Take a Drink: for each anxious wait by the computer
Take a Drink: whenever Sano offers up an awfully convenient amount of help
Do a Shot: for bankbooks or credit cards
