TORONTO ONWARD!

I'm leaving town for the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday. Five nights, six days, (at least) 15 films. I've spent much of the last hour crafting potential schedules of what I want to see. Naturally, many things aren't screening until after I leave, but I shant complain--there's still a lot to pick and choose from. Among films I want to see the most: Thom Fitzgerald's 3 NEEDLES, Hou Hsiao-Hsien's THREE TIMES, Michael Cuesta's TWELVE AND HOLDING, and Terry Gilliam's TIDELAND (alas, a selection without a number in the title).

The impending, anxious thrill of visiting a city (heck, a country) for the first time is also just starting to register.

Saw GRIZZLY MAN on Labor Day: it's a strong rival to MURDERBALL and DOUBLE DARE for the year's best documentary. Nearly as provocative and cathartic as CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS, in my opinion. Timothy Treadwell is a figure the Maysles Brothers would die for; luckily, Werner Herzog offers considerable insight on this strange, misguided, but not reprehensible man-child.

*****

Just as the new Fall TV season rears its pretty little head, I'm going on hiatus where this blog is concerned. Since I'm going to be saving the majority of my film-related posts for another blog, I believe it's time to step back and re-think what this one should encompass. Some days I feel like tearing it all down in haste and drumming up a vastly different version 2.0, but I probably won't. However, it'll be three years old come November, and I don't want to fall into an uninspired, auto-pilot rut. I'll probably be back later in the month.

As I said to a friend leaving town not long ago: Be good.