TIFF '24: "Grand Tour" confirms Miguel Gomes has the Magic Touch

by Cláudio Alves

Some directors wish to transcend the artform they practice. Watching their creations, one senses a force pressing upon you, pushing toward a prescribed and somewhat contradicting immersion. Their hands are forever busy, guiding the viewer away from the theater, from their awareness of the cinematic device. Such artists want you to forget you're watching a film. They beckon surrender, but not to cinema. Instead it's to their story, their vision, sometimes their message. And there's nothing wrong with this approach. But there's nothing right either, not necessarily. I know I fell in love with cinema because of its particularities, not in spite of them. So, I don't wish to forget or abstract myself from the lot. Maybe that's why I adore the cinema of Miguel Gomes as I do. 

Regard his filmography and you may realize he is the antithesis of those other cineastes. Moreover, Gomes is all the better for it. If you want proof, look no further than Grand Tour, for which the Portuguese filmmaker won a well-deserved Best Director prize at Cannes…

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This Film Year, I'm Thankful for...

by Cláudio Alves

Happy Thanksgiving!

The world is burning and everything sucks, principled people are few and far between, with depression and bad news always waiting 'round the corner. And yet, even now, there are things to be thankful for. As a cinephile, I've found that films often represent a reprieve from doom, including when they catalyze one's anger and throw it back at the audience. Indeed, it's difficult to imagine life without those moving pictures. From a personal perspective, it's impossible to conceive of the past months without these screen-bound pleasures. So far, 2023 has been a fantastic year for my journey as a film fanatic, from stellar pictures to unprecedented opportunities.

It only seems fair to share some of that joy in a day that, for my American friends, is all about celebrating gratitude. Sure, I'm Portuguese, but the sentiment persists beyond borders. Without further ado, this film year, I'm thankful for…

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My best IMAX Experience

by Cláudio Alves

As a last hurrah, Oppenheimer has been back on IMAX screens since last week, allowing interested audiences to revisit it in the format before the film comes to streaming on November 21st. Enjoy your last chance to see Cillian Murphy's bronzed pores projected sky high, closeups galore for titanic portraiture, faces the size of monuments. Indeed, this year, because of Nolan's blockbuster biopic, it seems like big screen superiority has been more discussed than usual, with cyclical discourse about the latest pictures to shine bright on IMAX. So much so that it got me thinking about my best experiences with the giant screens…

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TIFF '23: Final Farewells and a Jury of One

by Cláudio Alves

Since THE BOY AND THE HERON opened the festival, there was a Studio Ghibli pop-up store. Sadly, I didn't take either of these giant fur babies home. But it was tempting!

All things in life must come to an end, so it's time to say goodbye to TIFF '23. Words will never be enough to express my gratitude to Nathaniel and the Media Inclusion Initiative, whose help made this coverage possible. Overall, I watched 59 features and six shorts, reviewing most of them along the way, and getting positively drunk on cinema. It was especially incredible to experience so many of these films on giant screens, unlike the sort I get to experience in Lisbon-based festivals. To watch something like Rosine Mbakam's Mambar Pierrette on the Scotiabank Theater's IMAX screen is an experience I won't soon forget.

Beyond the films, I met amazing people at TIFF, from fellow critics to festival programmers and ex-directors, editors, and the like. I even got to take a selfie with Abe, my fellow Team Experience member who I only knew through Zoom until now. Pardon the sentimentality, but this was a dream come true…

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TIFF ‘23: A Humorous Look at Activism in ‘A Difficult Year’

By Abe Friedtanzer

Courtesy of TIFF

There are many things to be angry about in today’s world, including the inaction by governments around crucial issues. Activism takes many forms and often has specific aims, but the goals of a protest movement can also be wildly unattainable. The very funny A Difficult Year pokes fun at that notion with its story of two opportunists who become involved with an anti-commercialization group for all the wrong reasons...

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