For the benefit of those of you who may eventually be directed here from someone's TIFF rundown, and who may assume that 57/100 amounts to an F.
100-90: Masterpiece, or damn close. Very rare.
89-80: Fanthefucktastic. Near-lock for my year-end top 10 list.
79-70: Definitely something special. Do not miss. Likely list contender.
69-60: Very good, but also flawed or missing some crucial element.
59-50: Didn't quite work for me, but has many redeeming qualities.
49-40: Demerits clearly outweigh merits.
39-30: I really did not enjoy this picture, but talent was involved.
29-20: When will this fucking picture end. When.
19-10: Outright fiasco and/or unwatchably boring.
9-0: One of the worst movies I've ever seen. Very rare.
W/O: I don't know the director and the first two reels (about 35 to 40
minutes) didn't convince me that (s)he has it going on.
The Lesson (Kristina Grozeva & Petar Valchanov,
Bulgaria/Greece): TK
[There are seven films I want to see in the next slot, and none in
this one. Good job fellas.]
Not My Type (Lucas Belvaux, Belgium/France):
TK
[Belvaux.]
'71 (Yann Demange, UK): TK
[NYFF.]
Run (Philippe Lacôte, France/Ivory Coast): TK
[Cannes.]
Girlhood (Céline Sciamma, France):
TK
[Cannes. Can only do this if I W/O of Run.]
Alleluia (Fabrice Du Welz, France/Belgium):
TK
[Cannes; Blake liked it; Calvaire was...memorable.]
Far From Men (David Oelhoffen, France): TK
[Late addition. Was gonna sleep in, but I see now this is in Venice Comp,
so might as well take a look.]
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Roy
Andersson, Sweden/Norway/France): TK
[Andersson.]
Over Your Dead Body (Takashi Miike, Japan): TK
[Miike.]
Return to Ithaca (Laurent Cantet, France):
TK
[Skipped his last one, but he's still a major name.]
The World of Kanako (Tetsuya Nakashima, Japan):
TK
[Dead slot; seem to recall that some friends were big fans of
Confessions.]
Two Shots Fired (Martin Rejtman,
Argentina/Chile/Germany/Netherlands): TK
[NYFF. Public screening.]
Men, Women & Children (Jason Reitman, USA): TK
[Bizarrely dead slot.]
The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland, UK): TK
[Sorta liked Berberian Sound Studio. Alternately, I can try to
get into the 12:15pm National Gallery, Lightbox 3.]
Second Coming (Debbie Tucker Green, UK): TK
[This whole]
Elephant Song (Charles Binamé, Canada): TK
[fucking day]
Tokyo Tribe (Sion Sono, Japan): TK
[is dead slots, to the point where I'm even gonna give Sono another
chance.]
Manglehorn (David Gordon Green, USA): TK
[DGG.]
The Equalizer (Antoine Fuqua, USA): TK
[Maybe this'll be another Training Day? Probably not...
Alternatively, I can try for the 12:15pm National Gallery at
Jackman Hall.]
Tales of the Grim Sleeper (Nick Broomfield, USA/UK):
TK
[NYFF.]
Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2 (Johnnie To, Hong
Kong/China): TK
[Loved the first one.]
Modris (Juris Kursietis, Latvia/Germany/Greece):
TK
[Dead slot; haven't seen many (any?) Latvian films.]
A Girl at My Door (July Jung, South Korea): TK
[Cannes.]
The 50 Year Argument (Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi,
USA): TK
[Scorsese.]
A Hard Day (Kim Seong-hun, South Korea):
TK
[Cannes.]
TK (TK): TK
[What I do here depends on whether I not I W/O of A Hard Day,
which runs 156 minutes.]
Heaven Knows What (Benny Safdie & Joshua Safdie,
USA/France): TK
[NYFF.]
The Theory of Everything (James Marsh, USA/UK): TK
[Dead slot; Marsh is "of interest," albeit of marginal interest to me.]
The Humbling (Barry Levinson, USA):
TK
[Levinson, still, for some reason. (Also a dead slot.)]
Phoenix (Christian Petzold, Germany): TK
[Not a huge Petzold fan to date, but this is clearly the best option.]
Itsi Bitsi (Ole Christian Madsen,
Denmark/Croatia/Sweden): TK
[Literally the only film I can see in this slot, unless I go public.
Which I might do: Breathe, 6:30pm @ Scotiabank 4.]
The Editor (Matthew Kennedy & Adam Brooks, Canada):
TK
[Dead slot. Seems to be the exact same film as Berberian Sound
Studio, but there was room for improvement there. Public alternatives:
Girlhood, 8:45pm, Scotiabank 2; Silvered Water, Syria
Self-Portrait, 9:30pm, Scotiabank 4.]
While We're Young (Noah Baumbach, USA): TK
[Baumbach.]
TK (TK, TK): TK
[Last-minute schedule shuffling. Will wing it here.]
Love & Mercy (Bill Pohlad, USA): TK
[Dead slot. Possible public of Jauja, 6:45pm, LB1.]
Good Kill (Andrew Niccol, USA): TK
[Niccol's films tend to at least be interesting.]
The Vanished Elephant (Javier Fuentes-León,
Peru/Colombia/Spain):
TK
["Doesn't read as totally dull in programme book."—Charles
François. Possible public of Xenia, 9:45pm, Scotiabank
13.]
The Imitation Game (Morten Tyldum, USA/UK): TK
[Dead slot; interest in Turing.]
Revenge of the Green Dragons (Andrew Lau & Andrew Loo,
USA): TK
[It's either this or Bahrani, and he's been intolerable of late.]
Ruth & Alex (Richard Loncraine, USA): TK
[Dead slot; Loncraine's made one film I loved (Richard III). ]
Pasolini (Abel Ferrara, France/Italy/Belgium): TK
[NYFF.]
Luna (Dave McKean, UK):
TK
[Mirrormask was pretty great.]
Spring (Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, USA): TK
[Dead slot.]
Boychoir (François Girard, USA): TK
[Girard has never made another film anywhere near as strong as
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, but I keep hoping.
Other options unappealing.]
Time out of Mind (Oren Moverman, USA): TK
[NYFF. Let's stick to questions about Rampart, folks.]
Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, USA): TK
[Hartley.]
The New Girlfriend (François Ozon, France):
TK
[Ozon.]
In Her Place (Albert Shin, Canada/South Korea):
TK
[Dead slot. Had originally scheduled Eden here, but I can now
see that pre-fest in L.A.]
Tusk (Kevin Smith, USA): TK
[For professional review.]
Everything after this point will be improvised (public screenings). Possible films for Sat/Sun: Breathe (Sat 9:15am); Horse Money (Sat 11:45am); Black Souls (Sat 3:30pm); Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait (Sat 6pm); Jauja (Sat 9:30pm); The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Sun 3:15pm).