Jealous in Korea

Well, TIFF starts on Thursday, which for me is tomorrow, and I'm so sad that I'm not there. Though I think I only ever saw one film with Laura one year (or maybe I even imagined that bit), I have always loved the allure of the Festival. I mean, every late summer, our little town gets transformed into celebrity heaven...the Intercontinental Hotel is a flurry of photographers, onlookers, and eager celeb stalkers. I loved the energy, the pure Hollywood of it all. And in our little metropolis, no less. Yorkville came alive...well sure, that's the only place the stars would shop! But since Laura lived so close, we too shopped there, ate there, mingled with the celebs. Again, its not like we actually saw many actors (or any really, except for Jimmy Fallon that time at a club), but it was the promise, the hope of seeing one, that really meant so much to me. Silly me, I know, but I just can't help myself :)

Here are my picks for top TIFF movies (that is, if I was there, I would try my hardest to see these ones. There are 12, so I would take any one of them that I could...what a geek):


1. Bright Star (it's about John Keats, the poet...who doesn't want to see an affair between a poet and his outspoken lov-ah?)

2. Dorian Gray (ah, the Victorian age. Need I say more?)

3. Good Hair (Chris Rock is really funny. Since bad tv runs rampant in Korea, I watch "Everybody Hates Chris" a LOT. This movie is about his daughter's real-life question, "Daddy, why don't I have good hair?" It explores the fascination with hair among African-American people.)

4. I Am Love (Tilda Swanson...she is like an etheral being that I can't quite decide if I love or hate. Anyway, she has an affair with a much younger man...believable? I'm not sure.)

5. Leaves of Grass (you know how I feel about Edward Norton. Remember him in Fight Club? Oh my dear. Anyway, he plays both twins in this film, about one who took the high road and became a professor [or something like that] and the other, who also took the high road [hahahaha] and grows hydroponic pot. I love that pun.)

6. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (I'm imagining something whimsical like Willy Wonka or Mr. Duncan from Duncan's Toy Chest in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. I love a little whimsy.)

7. The Invention of Lying (since I've become a HUGE The Office fan [oh yeah, Sarah, I forgot to tell you that...I'm THRILLED], this movie staring Ricky Gervais as the guy who figures out how to lie in a truth-only world, really appealed to me. Seems funny and again, whimsical.)

8. The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (I heart Robin Wright Penn. And though she seems too young to be in a movie about moving with her husband to a retirement village, I'm eager to see her again. Word is her and Sean Penn split up...too bad.)


9. The Road (okay, I don't want to see this at all, but it seemed so acclaimed, and Viggo Mortensen is in it. Can it really be bad? I'll have to let you know.)

10. Whip It (Drew Barrymore directs [for the first time] Ellen Page. Page plays a young woman [girl?] who abandons a beauty pagent for the roller derby. Sounds dumb, but I'm so going to watch it. And much like Juno, I may watch it 15 times.)

11. Youth in Revolt (Remember Michael Cera from Juno? He's trying hard to win yet another heart in this movie...he is so cute. Remember how he put deoderant on his inner thighs before running? That's classic.)


12. The Waiting City (the pictures of this movie reminded me of what I've seen of Bangkok and Seoul combined. A couple goes to adopt a child, Ang Jolie styles, but they get caught in the beaurocracy and then turn on each other. Clearly. I guess not every adoption story is quite like Harry and Charlotte's.)

So there are my picks from the hoards of films I've looked over. Oh, I'll tell you though, I'm not stoked to see Clooney's new one. It seems strange. I don't even remember the name. Oh Georgie, what's happening? You love that odd mustache too much. Go see a Chosen One for me and report back. I would LOVE to be there this weekend :( so I'm a little TIFF'ed off :)