Stills from popular TIFF films.

Recommendations for your TIFF Schedule


Because I know a lot of you can't take a week off of work and watch fifty movies during the festival, and because I know a lot of you will be trying to catch one or two screenings over the next ten days whenever you have some time off, and because I'm hopped up on painkillers and all I've done all weekend is stare at the TIFF Film Schedule...I am hereby presenting a day-by-day look at some of my highlights of the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

In order to make it easier for you to pick something to watch during the few hours you have free during the day, I've chosen three films for each day of the festival that might pique your interest: one that falls somewhere in the morning (9am-1pm), one in the afternoon (1pm-6pm), and one in the evening. The list is by no means exhaustive, but if you've got some time to kill and are looking for some quick tips as to what to watch, here's a look at some of my recommendations.

Thursday, September 6
Evening: Young People Fucking - Whether you're the ex, the best friend, or the bored couple, sex underlies all the personal relationships in this Canadian film.

Friday, September 7
Morning: The Mother of Tears - Violence, sex, and gore galore: the best way to kick off a Friday morning.
Afternoon: The Pope's Toilet - When the Pope comes to town, people are going to need a place to pee, which is no easy task in this film.
Evening: Lust, Caution - Cinema giant Ang Lee leaves the range and the outback for a story set in pre-Revolution Shanghai

Saturday, September 8
Morning: Chacun son cinĂŠma - Over thirty of the world's best filmmakers come together to celebrate their love of the cinema.
Afternoon: The Edge of Heaven - Characters look for family and love from Germany to Turkey in Fatih Akin's newest film.
Evening: Happiness - A fast-paced playboy falls for a dying woman and Hur Jin-Ho's film chronicles the collision of separate worlds.

Sunday, September 9
Morning: Ex Drummer - A cover band needs a drummer. Hijinx ensue and Koen Mortier is there to tell the story.
Afternoon: GLASS: a portrait of Philip in twelve parts - Scott Hicks takes a look at one of the most prolific and influential composers of our time.
Evening: Obscene - The legendary Barney Rosset pushed the envelope in his time, and this documentary finds out what made him tick.

Monday, September 10
Morning: No Country for Old Men - The Coen Brothers' newest film is gory and action-packed, and one of the most anticipated films of the year.
Afternoon: Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Shekhar Kapur returns with the follow-up to his award winning film Elizabeth with an amazing ensemble cast.
Evening: Run, Fat Boy, Run - David Schwimmer's first major feature film is a tale of a man that has to run a marathon to win back the love of his life. What's there not to like?

Tuesday, September 11
Morning: Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame - The youngest member of the celebrated Makhmalbaf family takes us to Afghanistan and shows us that she lives up to the family name.
Afternoon: Shake Hands with the Devil - Roy Dupuis plays General Dallaire in this big screen adaptation of the famous autobiography about the Rwandan genocide.
Evening: Very Young Girls - The average age for entry into prostitution in the USA is just thirteen, and this documentary tracks that very disturbing fact.

Wednesday, September 12
Morning: Four Women - Four stories of four women in Kerala, told by master filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan and starring Nandita Das.
Afternoon: Forever Never Anywhere - Three unlikable men in a crashed car, as told by Antonin Svoboda.
Evening: The Tracey Fragments - A tormented Ellen Page leaves her town for the big city of Winnipeg. You had me at Ellen Page.

Thursday, September 13
Morning: Paranoid Park - Gus van Sant plays with your sensitivities in this warped crime drama.
Afternoon: L'Age des tĂŠnebres - Denys Arcand returns to show us why he's one of our country's best filmmakers in the conclusion to his trilogy.
Evening: Angel - With Francois Ozon at the helm, you can expect this movie to be lush, grandiose, but never predictable.

Friday, September 14
Morning: Fados - Carlos Saura pays tribute to the fado musicians of Portugal in his newest film.
Afternoon: The Stone Angel - The book we all had to read in high school comes to the big screen, and features a performance by blogTO favorite Ellen Page.
Evening: Before the Rains - One of the most gorgeously shot films in years, Santosh Sivan's newest movie feature some fantastic acting by Nandita Das and Rahul Bose.

Saturday, September 15
Morning: Amal - Canadian filmmaker Richie Mehta takes us to India to find kindness and love.
Afternoon: Mutum - Sandra Kogut reminds us of how the world looked to us when we were ten years old.
Evening: Blind - Ruben once was blind, but now can see. How does this affect the lives of the people around him?

Advance tickets go on sale tomorrow, so if you've already got your work schedule, be sure to head over to the TIFF website and buy your tickets before they sell out.

As usual, you can find daily TIFF news, film reviews, and special interviews right here on blogTO, so be sure to come back often and check out our TIFF content that will be updated several times a day.

(Image: Stills from Before the Rains, Juno, Elizabeth: The Golden Age courtesy of TIFFG.)


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