I Am Love (Luca Guadagnino, 2009)

7/10
Attractive-looking film starring Tilda Swinton as a woman married into a powerful Italian family, and whose actions threaten to burst it apart at the seams. Swinton is great and everything is well-acted, but there was a lot of ebb and flow in terms of keeping my interest - sometimes I was hooked, sometimes I was bored. But I have to say, the last couple of scenes in the movie are so bracingly powerful and brilliantly filmed they almost make up for everything that precede it. But I didn't feel the tension that was supposed to build throughout at all times, so I have to dock it a couple of points there.

Rubber (Quentin Dupieux, 2010)

7/10
The first of my 11 films at the Fantasia Festival this year was Quentin "Mr. Oizo" Dupieux's debut film about a murderous tire. Last year the first movie I saw at the festival was La Antena, a silent feature film from Argentina that I thought would have worked better as a short. Rubber gave me the exact same vibe - the idea of a tire stalking and killing insects, then birds and rabbits, then people, is funny at first but becomes increasingly one-note as the movie wears on. Stephen Spinella as the surrealist sherriff in charge of tracking down the tire is the best part. There's also a subplot involving a bunch of characters watching "the movie" afar through binoculars that makes for some nice self-referential humor, but it can also come off distractingly smug, particularly for a debut film. There's a great monologue given by the sheriff to open the movie, but when it's shown again from a different camera angle during the closing credits, you get the nagging suspicion that Dupieux is a bit too proud of himself and his writing abilities. A fun watch with some laugh-out-loud moments, but not without its flaws.

Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010)

9.5/10
I thought it was absolutely tremendous is just about every way. Didn't know I could care so much about animated toys but come on, if you didn't tear up at any point in the last 20 or so minutes, you're a robot. Definitely the best movie I've seen so far this year (not saying a whole lot though). The only thing I could really dock it 0.5 for was that I thought the middle was surprisingly dark and humorless for a while - especially for essentially a kid's film. But then the last act goes right back to being incredible again. I really hope they don't try to do a fourth one...even though Pixar probably could pull it off, 3 was just a perfect ending to the series.

Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter, Ash Brannon & Lee Unkrich, 1999)

8/10
Just a notch below the original on first blush but also quite good, especially for a sequel that, on the surface, seems to be recycling the plot of the first one. But there were a lot of nice touches (the "other" Buzz and Zerg, the other toys getting more face time, etc) that made it rise above typical sequel fodder. I could see myself eventually liking this one more than the original actually.

Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995)

8.5/10
First time seeing it, it was a lot of fun, and of course touching too. Lots of genuinely funny moments too, and the camaraderie between Buzz and Woody is very satisfying.

Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004)

6.5/10
To be honest, with all the critical acclaim this movie got, I was a little letdown. At times it's pretty tepid and safe, although there are definitely a few laugh-out-loud moments. It's a testament to both the script and the acting that the two main characters Miles and Jack are, when you get down to it, wholly unlikeable people, but not a chore to watch for 2 hours (although Giamatti's Miles grates at times). But like I said, I was left expecting something...bigger.

Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)

9/10
Really liked it a lot...loved the setting, the mise-en-scene, whatever you call it...the view from the rear window is perfect cinema, seared in my mind forever. James Stewart and Grace Kelly are both fantastic. Probably a notch below Psycho and above Vertigo in terms of my preference of the 3 Hitchcock movies I've seen.