Summer is indeed over. I never got that much needed tan and already the Cinematheque is launching its fall programme.



The new season comes with a new branding (Cinematheque Ontario has been ditched for TIFF Cinematheque) in preparation for the big move-in-together with the rest of the festival's operations in the Bell Lightbox (the someday-to-be TIFF megacenter).

First up this season is a showcase of Toronto on Film, a set as diverse as the city itself, kicking off this Friday, October 9th. Not at all interested in movies that disguise our city as New York, Chicago, or Generic City, America, the series - a birthday shout out to Toronto on its 175th - features Toronto playing Toronto with screenings spread over the next couple of weeks and guest appearances by acclaimed local moviemakers.

You either love Toronto's club district or you stay far far away. As a downtown dweller and someone who has pushed past my club-going prime, it's easy for me to dismiss or deride both the clubs and the 905ers who descend on Richmond and Adelaide streets in their rented stretched Hummers for a night out in the big city.

But the club business is big business and like it or not, despite the efforts of area residents, the BIA and a certain city councillor it's not going to change in any drastic ways anytime soon.

In recent years, I've become dependent on the weekly headline blast from The Economist and Twitter feeds for information about the world. Quick and easy, but not exactly hard hitting or in-depth.

Enter M.U.C.K. - or Movies of Un-Common Knowledge - a new film fest that brings big issues to the big screen in Toronto. For its inaugural edition, running from October 1st to 4th at The Royal cinema, the M.U.C.K. Film Festival & Forum has lined up an eclectic bunch of feature docs tackling some of the major social, political, and economic messes of our time.

The idea behind M.U.C.K. is to engage audiences and to get people talking with filmmakers, organizations and experts after each screening. Will this stir up any local activism? Who knows, but I did learn a few things from this year's programme about folks taking positive action against environmental disasters, war, and injustice.

Following all the fuss and debate over TIFF's City to City spotlight on Tel Aviv, perhaps it's fitting that the Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF) is the next movie event to hit Toronto screens. From September 26th to October 2nd, the festival will run cinematic works from Palestinian short, feature, and doc makers - many of which tell compelling and entertaining stories while tackling some serious issues.

The festival's headliner this year is Amreeka, an acclaimed film that - I can assure you - has been oversimplified in the cookie-cutter feelgood trailer above. The Toronto Palestine Film Festival is hosting the Canadian premiere of the film on Saturday, September 26th at the Bloor, following great reviews, nods at Sundance and the Director's Fortnight FIPRESCI (international critics) Prize at Cannes.

Despite being a major industry schmooze, the Toronto International Film Festival holds that it is first and foremost an audience driven event. With this in mind, TIFF volunteer collect ballots after every screening and with all votes counted, this year's Cadillac People's Choice Award went to Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (with Oprah on the ticket as exec producer).

Earlier today, I kicked off the last of my TIFFing at a reception announcing this year's jury and people's choice picks. While my festival favourites (Fish Tank, The Time That Remains, Life During Wartime) were overlooked at the Awards, a surprising new list of must-see titles emerged.

The Toronto International Film Festival wraps up today. Here's what we've seen since our last set of reviews.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The Road
Watching this is everything I imagined post-apocalyptic North America to be. Based on Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name, The Road is haunting and chilling, partly because of Viggo Mortensen and Australian child star Kodi Smit-McPhee, who translate the story well, but mostly because visually, it's just damn epic. Forget DVDs or Internet streaming -- check this one out in a proper theatre for full effect. (Connie)