By Erik Davis
The 2015 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 15-second instant reviews for you to devour. 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.
The Martian
Party line: Matt Damon stars in this adaptation about an astronaut who gets stranded on mars after his team leaves thinking he died in a storm. In order to survive long enough to be rescued, he’ll have to get crafty and, well, science the sh*t out of everything he has at his disposal.
Biggest surprise: This is a major Oscar contender.
Watch my 15-second review
YO! Here’s my 15-second review of Ridley Scott’s excellent THE MARTIAN. #tiff15 #themartian #fandango pic.twitter.com/vh4IreSLME
— ErikDavis (@ErikDavis) September 11, 2015
Watch the trailer
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Green Room
Party line: A hard rock band desperate for money takes a gig playing at a neo-Nazi bar and accidentally witnesses something they shouldn’t, forcing the bar owner — a smooth, calculated and violent Patrick Stewart — to hold the band hostage until they can figure out how to clean up the mess. Chaos ensues.
Biggest surprise: Director Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin) is the real deal. Watch out for this kid.
Watch my 15-second review
Yo, here’s my 15-second review of GREEN ROOM, from the director of the excellent BLUE RUIN #TIFF15 pic.twitter.com/qkd5zRlzFp
— ErikDavis (@ErikDavis) September 11, 2015
Watch a clip
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Demolition
Party line: When his wife dies in a car accident, a successful businessman (Jake Gyllenhaal) begins to literally demolish everything in his life in an attempt to feel something, anything, in this witty and moving drama about picking up the pieces before you even begin to put them back together.
Biggest surprise: There really is nothing more therapeutic than banging the crap out of a wall with a giant mallet.
Watch my 15-second review
Hey, here’s my 15-second review of Jake Gyllenhaal’s DEMOLITION #TIFF15 pic.twitter.com/unny5YfCwO
— ErikDavis (@ErikDavis) September 11, 2015
Watch the trailer
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Dheepan
Party line: A somewhat surprising winner of the Palme D’or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Dheepan tracks the story of a man, woman and child who pretend to be a family in order to flee their warring country only to find themselves trapped in a very different — and more intimate — war between each other.
Biggest surprise: I know a lot more about Sri Lanka now than I ever did before.
Watch my 15-second review
Here’s my 15-second review of the darkly intimate (and timely) Cannes darling, DHEEPAN #tiff15 #dheepan pic.twitter.com/lNmwy1mdrv
— ErikDavis (@ErikDavis) September 11, 2015
Watch the trailer
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I Saw the Light
Party line: Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen star as legendary country singer Hank Williams and his wife Audrey Mae in a biopic that follows Williams’ historic rise as one of the most successful country singers of all time — a man whose personal life was often plagued by alcoholism and health problems.
Biggest surprise: Wow, who had any idea that Tom Hiddleston was such a great singer?
Watch my 15-second review
Watch a clip
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Still to come: Lotsa buzz from Toronto, including thoughts on films like Beasts of No Nation, The Danish Girl, Trumbo, The Lobster, High-Rise and more.
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