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DeFore in Toronto: Buzzzzzz
Critical warfare is something you don’t get at every festival, but is sure can be fun to watch. The only downside for me is that it usually boils up around high-profile movies that I don’t see here because I know they’ll open soon at home. (Other journalists feel a burning need to be the first anywhere to declare a film righteous or unholy.)
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” the two hour, forty minute Western starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, is one example. I’ve already heard it called a masterpiece in the mode of Terrence Malick on one hand, and one of the most self-indulgent pics in years on the other. I have to say, the cumbersome title doesn’t really argue against the latter verdict.
Similar opposing opinions have greeted “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” the sequel to the Cate Blanchett vehicle “Elizabeth.” What nobody seems to disagree about is that Blanchett’s name is going to be on Oscar ballots this year, whether for this film, for her turn as Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes’ experimental “I’m Not There,” or both.
The critical divide over “Across the Universe,” the Beatles musical by Julie Taymor, creator of the “Lion King” Broadway show, is more subtle: Is it horrible dreck that should be laughed off screens, or simply pretty lame? This one I’ve seen, and I lean toward the less extreme view. Make no mistake, though: I’ll be advising friends to steer clear of the self-important wannabe epic, whose inexplicable sins include writing roles for Janis- and Jimi- proxies in addition to all the Beatle-oriented inventions.
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