• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Event Calendar
    • Submit Event
  • About Us
    • Our Contributors
    • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Arts & Entertainment
    • Comedy
    • On Screen Dayton
    • On Screen Dayton Reviews
    • Road Trippin’
      • Cincinnati
      • Columbus
      • Indianapolis
    • Spectator Sports
    • Street-Level Art
    • Visual Arts
  • Dayton Dining
    • DMM’s Brunch Guide
    • Restaurants with Private Dining Rooms
    • Dayton Food Trucks
    • Quest
    • Ten Questions
  • Dayton Music
    • Music Calendar
  • On Stage Dayton
    • On Stage Dayton Reviews
  • Active Living
    • Canoeing/Kayaking
    • Cycling
    • Hiking/Backpacking
    • Runners
  • How to Support Dayton Businesses, Nonprofits During COVID-19

Dayton Most Metro

Things to do in Dayton | Restaurants, Theatre, Music and More

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

TIFF 2019 – Day #1

September 6, 2019 By Jonathan McNeal

Hello Everyone.

Today was the first day!

Though screenings for the public didn’t start until this evening, there were several options for press and industry (aka P&I) starting at 9am.  I don’t review films that I don’t watch in their entirety, so I won’t write much about the first film I saw (a portion of) today.  I knew going in that I didn’t have 3 hours to spare, so I watched the first 2 hours.

Then I left that screening in order to attend my first full film – this year’s big winner at Cannes – PARASITE. “A family of cunning derelicts scheme to enter a wealthy household’s employ in this genre-bending, Palme d’Or–winning thriller of class struggle from South Korean master Bong Joon-ho.” (taken from TIFF catalog) Bong Joon-ho directed SNOWPIERCER, MOTHER, and THE HOST – which all played at THE NEON.  PARASITE is a terribly interesting film.  What first starts as almost a zany and fun “stick it to the rich” comedy, has a sudden tonal shift and becomes much more caustic. This film is a brilliant achievement with a lot to say about class, but I suspect the unsettling material in the third act might make it a hard sell to many of our regulars.

My next film of the day was PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE – “Hired to paint a portrait ahead of a prospective marriage, an artist in 18th-century Brittany finds herself falling for the reclusive would-be bride, in the Cannes Queer Palm–winning fourth feature from writer-director Céline Sciamma.” (taken from TIFF catalog)  Full of lovely photography and told at an elegant pace, this film is absolutely gorgeous.  There’s very little music in this film…in fact, there is no traditional score – just a couple moments of music used with great craft.  That said, the sound design is exquisite – crackling fire and creaking floorboards add their own rhythms.  And I’ve never watched brush strokes on canvas with such interest.  The script is marvelous (it won the screenplay award at Cannes – of which it clearly deserved), and I wrote down several lines I want to remember.  The chemistry between the two leads sets the screen ablaze, and the director makes so many compelling and wonderful choices.  A true gem.  There is no trailer yet for this film, just some clips.  Check this one out:

 

My last film of the evening was also my first public film of the day – THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD.  “Director Armando Iannucci (The Death of Stalin) brings his sardonic wit — and a stellar cast that includes Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Gwendoline Christie, Peter Capaldi, and Ben Whishaw — to Charles Dickens’ classic autobiographical novel.” (taken from TIFF catalog).  Armando and Dev and several other cast members were part of a post-screening Q&A after this evening’s screening (but sadly no Tilda!), and their attendance certainly added to the glitz of opening night.  This re-telling of the beloved Dickens’ novel is told with a very contemporary visual style, and some bold choices are made – and many are well executed. There’s a lot of comedy in this adaptation (the screenplay is by VEEP’s Simon Blackwell), but I felt a certain mania in this version that led me to never really care about anyone.  I laughed numerous times and there are certainly some really terrific moments…but overall, it wasn’t as strong as I had hoped.  There is no trailer (and very few images yet) for this film.

Tomorrow has 2 of my highly anticipated films on the docket.  Can’t wait!

Thanks for reading,

Jonathan

Filed Under: On Screen Dayton Tagged With: bong joon-ho, Dayton, Dev Patel, Neon, parasite, portrait of a lady on fire, the personal history of david copperfield, TIFF, tilda swinton, toronto

About Jonathan McNeal

Jonathan McNeal, a graduate of Wright State's Motion Picture Production program, has been managing THE NEON in downtown Dayton since the Fall of 2001. Having grown up in a small town in northeast Ohio, the idea of an independent movie theater that showed hard-to-find films seemed like something that could only be found in a major metropolis. Upon moving to Dayton in the early 1990's, finding THE NEON was a was like finding a new home.
McNeal's film work includes the documentary of Dayton's beloved drag troupe - THE RUBI GIRLS. The doc premiered in San Francisco in 2003 and played across the country and as far away as Australia. The film continues to be played at night clubs and on college campuses as an educational and outreach tool.
McNeal himself has been a part of the performance troupe since 1997.


Comments

Comments

Primary Sidebar

Featured Events

  • Sat
    23
  • Sun
    24
  • Mon
    25
  • Tue
    26
  • Wed
    27
  • Thu
    28
  • Fri
    29

RiverScape Virtual Winter Yoga

9:30 am |

Harley-Davidson 21 Launch Party

12:00 pm | Buckeye Harley Davidson

Open Call for Models

2:00 pm | House of (DE-FI)ance: A Fashion & Design Co-working Experience

2nd Annual Ice Breaker Fest

4:00 pm | Fifth Street Brewpub

Ronald McDonald House Cooking Together

6:00 pm | your house

Dave’s & Confused

6:00 pm | The Phone Booth Lounge

DPAA presents Beethoven 8 and Florence Price

6:00 pm | Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center

Live Music With Generations Band

6:30 pm | Sojourners Brewstillery

Until Rust & Friends

6:30 pm | Courtyard Lounge

Derik Zoo

7:15 pm | Wiley’s Comedy Club

DPAA presents Beethoven 8 and Florence Price

8:30 pm | Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center

Winter Restaurant Week

| tba

Chili Fest

10:00 am | Findlay Market- Cincy

Rivers and Streams of the Miami Valley — and How Citizens can Make a Difference to Protect Them

2:30 pm | zoom

DLM Virtual Class! Sunday Supper Chicken & Dumplings

5:00 pm | ZOOM

Winter Restaurant Week

| tba

Young’s annual “Do Your Moo” Event

| Young’s Jersey Dairy

25% off Pizza Monday

11:30 am | Oregon Express

Charucterie Class

6:00 pm | AR Workshop

Open Mic Monday

6:30 pm | The Barrel

Cinematic Conversations at Home

7:00 pm | online event

Community Action Meeting: Actions For Anti-Racism

7:00 pm |

Winter Restaurant Week

| tba

Young’s annual “Do Your Moo” Event

| Young’s Jersey Dairy

Conversation with Airstream

10:00 am | Virtual Event

Spaghetti Tuesday

5:00 pm | The Trolley Stop

Burger Night

5:00 pm | Watermark

Jazz with Gail and Larry

5:00 pm | Spirited Goat Coffee House

Skyline Chili Fundraiser

5:00 pm | Skyline Chili

Tuesday Trivia

7:00 pm | The Dublin Pub

JCRC Community Conversation: Food Insecurity in Dayton

7:00 pm | ZOOM

Winter Restaurant Week

| tba

Young’s annual “Do Your Moo” Event

| Young’s Jersey Dairy

Women 4 Technology: Meaningful Mentoring

11:30 am | Virtual Event

Beginning Cake Decorating

6:00 pm | online event

Trivia w/ DagaTrivia

6:00 pm | Eudora Brewing Company

Write It Like You Mean It

6:30 pm | ZOOM

Masthead Brewing Beer Tasting

6:30 pm | The Caroline

Wednesday Trivia

6:30 pm | Troll Pub at the Wheelhouse

Open Mic with Blues Breakdown Band

7:00 pm | Hank’s Local

Gem City Market Walking Warriors

7:00 pm | Gem City Market

Wednesday Night Trivia w/ Dan Profitt

7:00 pm | Oinkadoodlemoo & Brew

Winter Restaurant Week

| tba

Young’s annual “Do Your Moo” Event

| Young’s Jersey Dairy

Johnnie Walker Seminar + Dinner

6:00 pm | Salar

Beginning Beekeeping Virtual Class

7:00 pm | ZOOM

Dayton Literary Peace Prize Virtual Book Club

7:00 pm | Virtual Event

Bingo

8:00 pm | Trolley Stop

Winter Restaurant Week

| tba

Young’s annual “Do Your Moo” Event

| Young’s Jersey Dairy

Latin Dance Party

5:30 pm | The Salvation Army Kroc Center

Route 88 Full Band

6:00 pm | Wings Sports Bar and Grille- Dixie

Heath Bowling Live

6:30 pm | Heroes Pizza House

Full Wolf Moon Hike

7:00 pm | Glen Helen

More Events…

DMM E-Newsletter


Give us your email address and we'll send you our DMM E-Newsletters
Email:  
For Email Marketing you can trust
Back to Top

Copyright © 2021 Dayton Most Metro · Terms & Conditions · Log in