GREG KLYMKIW'S 10 BEST FILMS AT TIFF 2012: ALL THE MOVIES I WAS ABLE TO SIT ALL THE WAY THROUGH AND LOVE WITHOUT RESERVATION AT THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (TIFF 2012) - By Greg Klymkiw

ALL THE MOVIES I WAS ABLE TO SIT ALL THE WAY THROUGH
DURING THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (TIFF 2012)
AND ACTUALLY ENJOY WITHOUT ANY RESERVATIONS WHATSOEVER

By Greg Klymkiw

In brief, here are my star ratings for the stuff I enjoyed at this year's orgy of cinema in Toronto. You can check out full reviews on a number of them here and soon, I'll be filing a full round-up of this year's festival over at the delightful UK-based "Electric Sheep - a deviant view of cinema".

So, in alphabetical order, here are:

Greg Klymkiw's 10 Best Films at TIFF 2012

ACT OF KILLING, THE - *****
BABY BLUES - **** (tied with Penance)
BEYOND THE HILLS - *****
BLACKBIRD - **** (tied with Krivina)
CAPITAL - ****
FILL THE VOID - *****
KRIVINA - **** (tied with Blackbird)
THE MASTER - ****
PARADISE: LOVE - **** (tied with Spring Breakers)
PENANCE - **** (tied with Baby Blues)
RHINO SEASON - ****
SPRING BREAKERS - **** (tied with Paradise: Love)
STORIES WE TELL - *****

Close Runners-Up (in alphabetical order):

FRANCES HA - ***
GINGER AND ROSA - ***1/2
LOVE, MARILYN - ***1/2
REBELLE (WAR WITCH) - ***1/2
ROOM 237 - ***1/2


The bottom line is this:

If I had to pick the absolute best movie at TIFF 2012 it would be a tie twixt Sarah Polley's STORIES WE TELL and Joshua Oppenheimer's THE ACT OF KILLING in the Documentary category and Cristian Mungiu's BEYOND THE HILLS and Rama Burshtein's FILL THE VOID in the Drama category.

Obviously, if anyone let me have my way, I'd be giving the Best Canadian Feature Award to Polley's STORIES WE TELL and the Best Canadian First Feature Award to Igor Drljaca's KRIVINA.

I'm exhausted.

Are you?

Tomorrow I'm going to cleanse my palate and see my lithe Ukrainian princess Milla Jovovich kick some zombie ass in RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION even though it's bound to be utterly dreadful.