But what is the nature of film festivals? Mainly it is critics and spectators spending hundreds of dollars on passes and running from place to place to see as many films as possible. Toronto has also been viewed for many years as the launching pad for many films that will be up for Oscar contention this year. But last year, and apparently this year as well, there were no films that stood up above the rest, that people were sure would be the next Best Picture, or the next Best Actor or Actress awards.
Toronto was criticized for being too elitist, and maybe it is. Toronto, with Venice, Cannes, and Sundance, is one of the biggest film festivals in the world, and eventually it will elevate to that status over time. But the festival is mainly being criticized for being to greedy, even though they apparently dispersed thousands of more tickets this year. Howell thinks that maybe it's time for Toronto to turn the clock back and get some big world premieres in, rather then having other festivals take big films, to restore TIFF's thunder.
1 comment:
I understand the feeling of disappointment that sometimes comes with the expectation of something great. However, maybe it is a good thing that there were no major stunners that came out of this year's festival. The assurance of a hit means that someone has followed the formula that guarantees success. If there were no big hits, maybe it means that people were trying (unsuccessfully) to break out of the box.
Post a Comment