TIFF, 9/14.

The LA Weekly's Scott Foundas on one of the best he's seen so far at the Toronto International Film Festival: "The movie is Lake of Fire, and it represents the culmination of some 15 years spent by the British commercials and music video director Tony Kaye canvassing the US abortion debate.... Make no mistake, Kaye suggests, we are living in times of civil war, and if you don't believe him, just look into the eyes of Emily Lyons, a nurse blinded and disfigured in the 1998 bombing of a Birmingham abortion clinic, and - whether you pity her or feel that she got what she deserved - try to feel otherwise."

Death of a President is "all setup and no payoff," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. Fortunately, she was able to catch Jia Zhangke's Still Life: "What makes the film not only a formal but also a human triumph is the filmmaker's insistence on the primacy of the individual in even the most dehumanizing of contexts."

B Ruby Rich sends a dispatch into the Guardian, and she's far, far more impressed with DOAP, arguing that it's "centrally concerned with the death of civil liberties, the dangers of the Patriot Act, and the certainty with which secret investigations and round-ups can only find the wrong people, misunderstand every situation, focus on the wrong subjects, and, in the end, lead to a near-fascist government that endangers everyone.... Its other, equally important, agenda is to demonstrate how efficiently technology can be used to misinform." More from Jim Emerson and the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Cheryl Eddy.

Cinematical has pulled together a mighty helpful index to its extensive Toronto coverage so far. Seems unfair to highlight any one entry, but many will want to know about Scott Weinberg's interview with Bong Joon-ho, director, of course, of this year's gotta-see, The Host.

Following up on his review, Michael Guill�n talks with Bahman Ghobadi about Niwenang (Half Moon) and with Tsai Ming-liang about I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (review).

J Robert Parks catches a "magnificent short film that played before Daratt. 'Meokgo and the Stickfighter' is an incredibly rich, visually striking 19-minute short set in Lesotho that uses African oral tradition and the Hollywood Western in equal measure. I know I could take 15 minutes from Times and Winds or I Don't Want to Sleep Alone which would compare favorably to 'Meokgo,' but I can't imagine I will see a better self-contained work this fest."

"Big Bang Love, Juvenile A is not likely to appease his J-horror fanatics who eagerly anticipate the thrills of [Takashi] Miike's more sadistic work, and certainly is not targeted towards kids awaiting another comic-book adaptation, especially given its mature content," writes Chiranjit Goswami at Not Coming to a Theater Near You. "Instead, Miike's film feels like a brooding existential mystery, frequently kinetic but also periodically pensive, where young men grapple with questions concerning identity and connection."

Dave Kehr on Exiled: "[Johnnie] To keeps the suspense flowing on several levels at once, as the film moves from one impeccably executed action sequence to the next, and still finds room for rich characterizations (the insolent, imperturbable [Anthony] Wong may be the only authentic heir to Bogart) and plenty of humor."

At Twitch:

• Todd: "Challenging with superb performances, intelligent writing and just the right amount of flash, Prague is a truly rewarding experience. Very highly recommended." And I'm relieved to see his take on Invisible Waves. It is a disappointment. Also, an interview with Black Sheep director Jonathan King. Jim Emerson reviews that one.

• Opus: "Alatriste is proof yet again that even the biggest budget can't save a film if it's lacking a solid storyline and well-developed characters." Also, Quelques Jours En Septembre and Macbeth.

• Kurt reviews the Canadian zombie flick End of the Line and then, for a change of pace, Little Children: "A carefully structured satirical melodrama, it feels like the humanist hybrid of Todd Solondz's Happiness and Lars Von Trier's Dogville, complete with droll voice-over narration." Related online listening tip: Jeffrey Wells gets fifteen minutes with Todd Field.

• Mack starts out liking Trapped Ashes, but feels let down halfway through.

• Mathew: "S&Man is a post-modern masterpiece; a documentary film in which one of the subjects is you, the viewer." More from Jim Emerson.

"As a hard core [Hal] Hartley fan who's seen the early films enough times to be able to quote from them as a Jesus freak might from the Holy Book, there was no way I'd skip [Fay Grim, a] sequel of sorts to the 1997 masterpiece Henry Fool," writes Matt Riviera. "I couldn't help being disapointed, however, by a story which sacrifices the wonderful indiosyncratic intimacy of earler films to clumsy and clunky political satire." Eugene Hernandez disagrees, calling it a "highlight of my moviegoing here."

Matt Dentler: AJ Schnack's Kurt Cobain About a Son "is unlike any music-related documentary you've ever seen. In many ways, it's unlike any documentary that's being made these days. For that, AJ is sure to find some challenges, but as pure cinema and history, it's a revelation."

The Fountain, The Half-Life of Timofey Berezin, Trapped Ashes, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Fay Grim, Still Life - for the AV Club's Scott Tobias, a "losing streak," finally put to an end by Paul Verhoeven's Black Book.

David Poland didn't just hate Bobby.

Look who's in Toronto for the New York Observer: Rex Reed. Also, Sara Vilkomerson tracks down Sacha Baron Cohen.

Posted by dwhudson at September 14, 2006 1:48 PM