Toronto International Film Festival [1999]

Movie Reviews

All the Rage Starring: Joan Allen, Jeff Daniels, Andre Braugher, Robert Forster, Gary Sinise, Bokeem Woodbine, Josh Brolin, Anna Paquin, David Schwimmer, Giovanni Ribisi "Like "Two Days", and the obvious inspiration, "Pulp Fiction" (lampooned briefly when Daniels returns the tape to Brolin's video store, unimpressed), "All The Rage"s various seemingly scattershot plot threads in the end turn out to be rather intricately connected, with characters serving as leads in one subplot and as supporting characters or even walk-ons in another. " [Read the full review] The Big Brass Ring Starring: William Hurt, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Hawthorne, Irene Jacob ""The Big Brass Ring" began as a screenplay intended by Welles to bring about his commercial comeback. His version was set in Europe, shortly after the Presidential race of 1980, and was apparently considerably less melodramatic and tawdry (it was published in paperback briefly, but I've never been able to track down a copy). As revised by Hickenlooper and Sweeney, "TBBR" plays like the most absurd episode of "Falcon Crest" you've ever seen, with plot points that make "General Hospital" during the Liz Taylor years seem like a Cassavettes film. " [Read the full review] Breakfast of Champions Starring : Bruce Willis, Barbara Hershey, Lukas Haas, Glenne Headley, Nick Nolte, Albert Finney " It's a hard story to adapt (almost all of Vonnegut's novels are -- "Slaughterhouse Five" wasn't exactly perfect either) and I must admit that scriptwise, Rudolph did a great job of adapting "Breakfast of Champions." The addition of garish, funky graphics was fun but I found that they popped up at the oddest times; I'm not even sure they were totally necessary. And the use of a strobe light during the climax really ruined a pivotal point in the story for me, diluting the action and rendering it practically incomprehensible." [Read the full review] Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris Cast : Shinobu Nakayama, Ali Maeda, Ayako Fujitano, Gamera "Guardian Of The Universe", Iris "While all the L.A types and their wannabes ran off to smoke Cuban cigars at trendy Bistro 990, REAL movie buffs were hooting and jeering until after 2 A.M. as a giant tortoise kicked alien butt. Despite what the press coverage said, THIS was the true closing film of the Festival." [Read the full review] Jakob the Liar Starring: Robin Williams, Alan Arkin, Bob Balaban, Hannah Taylor Gordon, Michael Jeter, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Liev Schrieber, Nina Seimaszko "First things first: "Jakob The Liar" is in no way, shape, or form, an easy American stab to cash in on the fluke success of Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful". "Jakob" was shot in 1997, before Williams' "Patch Adams", and before "Life Is Beautiful" was even released in Italy. .. Nor is it "Good Morning, Nazi-Occupied Poland", with Williams riffing on manically during phony radio broadcasts." [Read the full review] The Limey Starring: Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzman, Barry Newman "If there's any justice in the film universe, "Blair Witch" wizards Artisan Entertainment will score another major hit this coming fall with their release of Steven Soderbergh's intense, visually dazzling new genre-bender." [Read the full review] Music of the Heart Starring: Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan,Jay O. Saunders, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman "Most films run out of momentum as they play themselves out, but "Music Of The Heart" is one of those rare entries that gets BETTER as it goes along. From the opening song from Gloria Estefan, sung over heartwarming photos of Roberta and family, I was prepared for the worst. "When did Craven turn into Nancy Meyer and Charles Shyer?" I muttered to myself, as I took in the mushy, melodramatic first act and wished I'd had something harder in my Styrofoam cup than the Dark Roast. " [Read the full review] Princess Mononoke Featuring the voices of: Billy Crudup, Gillian Anderson, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Billy-Bob Thorton, Jada Pinkett Smith "This film is nothing less than the "Beowulf" or "Star Wars" of animated adventure films, with as complex a plot as you're likely to find in any half-dozen novels combined in the "Fantasy" section of your local bookstore, and action sequences that explode beyond the 2D renderings" [Read the full review] The War Zone Starring: Ray Winstone,Tilda Swinton, Lara Belmont, Freddie Cunliffe "To say this film is difficult to watch is an understatement. Not because it's a bad film -- it's actually beautifully shot, using the Devon countryside to its fullest and using muted colors to establish a distict mood, and it's incredibly well acted -- but because it's completely uncompromising in its evocation of despair, rage and sheer evil. And that's exactly what Roth, in his talk with the audience after the film, said he was after." [Read the full review]

Reviews by RobertL and Lidia F