Bleed for this Miles Teller

The 2016 Toronto International Film Festival is in full swing, with many of this fall's most anticipated movies rolling out over the course of several days here in one of Canada's friendliest (and cleanest) cities. 

This year I'm here seeing as many movies as I possibly can, and in between them all I'm recording 30-second(ish) instant reviews for you. Plenty more can be said about each and every one of these films, but if you want a quick bite-sized nugget to help give you a sense of what to expect, check this out.

(Note this year's French fry rating scale is in honor of the choice meal in Canada: poutine!) 

 

Bleed for This

Review

 

Trailer

What else you should know: Bleed for This was directed by Ben Younger, whom you may remember from his 2000 film, Boiler Room. Like Boiler Room, Bleed for This is similarly bro-tastic in its approach, but what it lacks in heart it makes up for with passion. 

Colossal

Review

 

 

No trailer exists at this time for Colossal

What else you should know: The brilliance of Colossal does rest in its concept, but also in its drastic shift in tone halfway through. What begins as a very funny genre film about the monsters we literally become when drunk eventually turns into a dark thriller about a jealous man who will stop at nothing to destroy the girl who liked someone other than him.

Nocturnal Animals

Review

 

 

Trailer

What else you should know: Like Colossal above, Nocturnal Animals also has a pretty brilliant shift in tone, except that shift in tone occurs throughout the film as we shuffle back and forth between the kidnapping thriller happening inside a book and the superficial kidnapping happening outside it. It doesn't always work, but the ways with which it toys with the audience are pretty spectacular. Plus, Michael Shannon's detective character is fantastic, and doesn't play by the rules. But neither does the film, so it all kinda works.

Lion

Review

 

 

Trailer

What else you should know: The film is just good enough to win over audiences, but not strong enough to win over Oscar voters. Its fantastic first half gives way to a second half that doesn't seem to move quite as briskly as what came before it. However, a very powerful and emotional ending may assist in helping audiences forget the previous 45 minutes ever happened.

Stay tuned for more from this year's festival, and you can find additional TIFF coverage here.