Hey folks, Harry here with a report from the dashing young Steve Holt and his thrilling adventures in the fabulously international metropolis known as Toronto and its recent soiree that they call a Film Festival. I loved THE INFORMANT - and I've nearly no doubt that I'm a future lover of A SERIOUS MAN and UP IN THE AIR! As I'm sure you will be as well. Here ya go...

Hey Harry

TIFF 09 this year has been dynamite as usual. You cant wander the streets of downtown Toronto without seeing a celebrity of some kind. Me and my buddy were even followed for 2 blocks by Megan Fox and her boyfriend!!!! But enough about that. You want to know about what I saw!!!

The Informant!

This is Stephen Soderbergh's return to populist cinema after Che and The Girlfriend Experience.
Matt Damon, about 30 lbs above normal, plays a whistle blower for a company that produces glucinate, a corn based extract that apparently is used in just about everything. He feels there is something rotten with the way his company is conducting business so he enlists the aid of the FBI. From this basic synopsis things spiral out of control to a point that everything from there on in is breeded by an elaorate web of lies. Seems a kind of boring topic for a movie but it's told by Soderbergh in Ocean's 11 mode so it's filled with odd ball characters and even odder scenarios.
I dont think I've seen Matt Damon put in a better performance. He's essentially taken his character from The Talented Mr Ripley, completely chubbed him out, added a really bad hair piece, and injected him with a whacked out personality disorder. It's a hilarious performance that demands notice. The subject matter was inherently dry, but with the constant, stream of consciousness voiceover by Damon, it was made to be interesting and hilarious. Everyone else in the movie have to be praised for playing off of Damon's eccentric quirks, especially Scott Bakula and Melanie Lynsky. It's certainly a fun movie born out of a really dry topic and I think will have a lot of people laughing.

A Serious Man

Ok, so the Coen Brothers followed No Country For Old Men with the piece of fluff know as Burn After Reading. I say fluff as the subject matter wasn't as weighty as its predecessor, however I found Burn After Reading to be consistently funny and interesting. I thought they would follow that up by going back to some serious subject matter. Errrrr....no...I was wrong. They followed it up with what I see as a 60's Jewish fable that I think would be best enjoyed if you were "of the faith". Don't get me wrong, there were some really funny scenes but I think that's all it seemed to be. A series of amusing set pieces held together by some observation on Jewish faith. And not being very familiar with the customs of that faith it left me a little cold. I'm sure a good chunk of the audience I saw it with on premiere night must of been Jewish because they seemed to lap it up but I just didn't get it. There were isolated funny scenes, especially involving the main character and his stoned, horny next door neighbor, but I found the overall tone of the movie uninvolving. And don't get me going on the ending. If you thought the end of No Country For Old Men was baffling, wait til you get a hold of this.

Up In The Air

Right. I'm going to go out on a limb. Best movie of the festival. Ok, I'm going to go further out on that tree branch. Best picture of the year!!!!!!!!! This movie affected me that much. It was out right hilarious, it was touching, it provoked feelings in me that wanted to make me immediately hug my wife afterwards, which unfortunately is not possible as she is out of town until later this week. This movie is built on two things, great performances and a pitch perfect script to solicit those performances. The dialogue in this is pure gold!!!!!!! A little synopsis? George Clooney plays a guy who has to travel around the country to different companies, firing people on behalf of people that are too chickenshit to do it themselves. Scenario seem a little weak? It's not!!!! What this basic storyline milks about basic human nature and the state of the current economy speaks volumes. Clooney puts in, bar none, the best performance of his career, and that's saying a lot. It's a character that on the surface you should probably despise, but you absolutely do not. He's a guy that is just simply good at what he does and loves what he does for the perks that it bears forth. I wont say anything more than that because I don't want to spoil it, but I think it's one of the best characters to come around in awhile. Every single supporting character I think is also flawless. Everyone from Vera Farmiga, who essentially plays Clooney's female counterpart, to JK Simmons and Zach Galifianakis who have cameos as fired employees. I think you should essentially discover it for yourself without me delving into too much detail. I promise you it's not going to end the way you think and I guarantee you will be reevaluating the way interact with others afterwards.

If you use this, you can call me STEVE HOLT!!!!