Reviews by Vickie

I'm one of Moviepie's staff writers, and I've been reviewing films and film festivals — including TIFF, the (now-defunct) Worldwide Short Film Festival, and Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival — here for more than 20 years. I'm based in Toronto, and although I'll sit through just about any genre (except horror), my absolute fave films are documentaries: I see 50+ at Hot Docs every year! That said, I've also seen You've Got Mail more than 100 times (a conservative estimate!) and quote from it almost daily.

TIFF 2012: And the winners are...

TIFF 2012: And the winners are…

And, so, another festival draws to a close. Yesterday, TIFF handed out its trophies for 2012, and you can read about all the winners here. Much to my surprise – and, seemingly, the genuine shock of many a TIFFgoer – the Audience Award was claimed by David O. Russell’s...

Vickie

TIFF 2012: The Award Winners

And, so, another festival draws to a close. Yesterday, TIFF handed out its trophies for 2012, and you can read about all the winners here. Much to my surprise – and, seemingly, the genuine shock of many a TIFFgoer – the Audience Award was claimed by David O. Russell’s...

Vickie

TIFF 2012: I-meh-gene

Last year, I ended my TIFFing on a meh note. This year, though my ratio of great films to mediocre films favors the latter category more than it did in 2011, I nonetheless once again concluded my fest-going with a film that didn’t quite wow me as much as...

Vickie

TIFF 2012: The Best Worst Movie

On occasion at TIFF, if you’re lucky, you’ll see something that defies description. Sometimes, it’s a film that is so breathtakingly fantastic that it seems impossible to find the words to accurately convey to anyone unfortunate enough to have missed it how amazing it is; sometimes, it’s a movie...

Vickie

TIFF 2012: This Woman’s Work

One of my favourite things about TIFF is the ability it affords cinephiles to discover, and then follow the careers of, international talent whom we might not otherwise get a chance to see at work, be they actors or directors. Many years ago, I saw a film at the...

Vickie

TIFF 2012: Dawn of the Dud

Sooner or later at every TIFF, it happens. After a string of good-to-great movies, and just when I start to think maybe I’ve lucked out and chosen nothing but winning films, my streak comes to an end – sometimes abruptly (i.e., I get up and walk right out of...

Vickie

TIFF 2012: Sing Out Sisters

Many of the films at TIFF – this year and every year, for that matter – tend to be of the Heavy or Serious or Important variety; movies that may leave you shaken or angry or depressed or downright queasy by the time you walk out of the theater...

Vickie

TIFF 2012: Smells Like Teen Spirits

As I’ve mentioned in previous years, sometimes I purposely choose films of a given theme on a festival day, and sometimes it’s just a coincidence that I wind up attending screenings that share some kind of common thread. The latter was the case yesterday, as I wound up with...

Vickie

TIFF 2012: Waves, Baby

Though this was only my second day of TIFFing, it was the fourth day of the festival, and I’d been hearing a few accounts of ticketing snafus at the various venues, movies starting up to an hour late and general unpleasantness when arriving for screenings. My day-one experience at...

Vickie

TIFF 2012: Favored by Fortune

There’s something comforting about the arrival of the Toronto International Film Festival, and settling in to my first screening of the fest, each September. Despite all its accompanying aggravation and frustration and run-ins with clueless newbie volunteers, TIFF comes with a weird familiarity that, for me, is like slipping...

Vickie
HotDocs 2010 Day Six: Lessons and Love

Hot Docs 2012: Women in India + The End

It’s always sad when Hot Docs ends. It’s like the end of ten days of documentary-movie camp, during which I got to hang out with all kinds of neat people and make new friends and do fun things like hurry from venue to venue to see a whole slew...

Vickie
HotDocs 2010 Day Six: Lessons and Love

Hot Docs 2012: Waiting

Partly by design and partly by coincidence, my entire day – in terms of screenings and experiences – somehow dealt with waiting. Literally and/or figuratively. First up was Waiting for Lightning (6/8), director Jacob Rosenberg’s film about pro skateboarder Danny Way and his decision to try to jump over...

Vickie