'Battle of the Sexes,' 'The Shape of Water,' 'Downsizing' Top Picks by THR's Chief Film Critic | TIFF 2017 - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

Todd McCarthy discussed his favorite films from this year's festival.

Transcript

00:00Quiet, set please. Rolling sound.

00:03Take six.

00:05After a long, pretty, dreary summer, suddenly everything looks great again

00:10because you have a number of films that are really good

00:13and that people will get excited about

00:15and it will take them away from their televisions

00:17and from the superhero films for a few minutes.

00:19Three of the films that I like best during this whole festival season,

00:30which have been in Toronto, are Guillermo del Toro's film,

00:33The Shape of Water, which won the grand prize at Venice.

00:36It's a terrific, imaginative, gorgeous, very unusual film

00:42that plays into Guillermo del Toro's interest in sci-fi,

00:46but it also has terrific real-life characters in it.

00:49It's a wonderful combination. It's one of his very best.

00:51Probably, for me, it's one of his two best films that he's ever made.

00:54This creature is intelligent, capable of language, of understanding emotions.

01:06Downsizing, Alexander Payne's science fiction film,

01:09it doesn't feel like a science fiction film

01:11because it feels like it's set in the real world.

01:13I think it's maybe his best film.

01:16I think it's a really, really imaginative film,

01:18continually surprising in the directions that it goes in.

01:21You can't possibly anticipate where the film is going while you're watching it.

01:24Some people have not gone all the way with the film

01:27and have reservations about it.

01:28I think it's a film that really can be discussed in a lot of detail in many, many ways,

01:33but I think it's a terrific film also.

01:35But then, perhaps the most sheerly entertaining film

01:38that is just madly enjoyable is Battle of the Sexes,

01:43which is by Valerie Ferris and Jonathan Dayton.

01:45I am not saying that women don't belong on the court.

01:48Who would pick up the balls otherwise?

01:49Oh, my God.

01:50Very, very, very fine film, which I think audiences will eat up.

01:54Certainly, Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water is fantastic.

01:59And you've got other performances in that film as well,

02:01but she really steals it.

02:02I think she's really going to be out there, you know, up front,

02:06when you're talking about best actresses of the year.

02:09I mean, in terms of performances,

02:21maybe the most striking one is Frances McDormand in Three Billboards.

02:26She's just terrific in it.

02:28This reporter, for one, hopes this finally puts an end

02:30to the strange saga of the Three Billboards outside...

02:33This doesn't put an end to shit, you fucking retard.

02:35This is just a fucking start.

02:37Why don't you put that on your good morning, Missouri,

02:39fucking wake-up broadcast, bitch?

02:41Sam Rockwell also plays an outrageous character,

02:43who you just loathe.

02:45He's terrible.

02:46And then there's a twist to it that comes along.

02:48I think Battle of the Sexes' Emma Stone is terrific.

02:51Really terrific.

02:52And Steve Carell is very good too,

02:53but it's really Emma Stone's film.

02:55I'm going to be the best.

02:56That way I can really change things.

02:59Gary Oldman will certainly get a lot of attention

03:02for his performance as Winston Churchill.

03:04We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.

03:10It's kind of showy.

03:12I mean, showy in a theatrical, actorly way,

03:15which I think a lot of people enjoy,

03:16so it works very well.

03:18We'll see you all agree very well.

03:24Thank you, Mark.

03:26We'll see you next time I'll see you next time.

03:28Bye.

03:30Bye.

03:32Bye.

03:33Bye.

03:35Bye.

03:36Bye.

03:37Bye.

03:38Bye.

03:40Bye.

03:41Bye.

03:42Bye.

03:43Bye.

03:45Bye.

03:46Bye.

'Battle of the Sexes,' 'The Shape of Water,' 'Downsizing' Top Picks by THR's Chief Film Critic | TIFF 2017

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