My Tiff18 10 films I watched in 10 days.

The Toronto International Film Festival Just wrapped up yesterday and this year I saw a lot fewer films and this year had a noticeable change to the vibe of the festival.

Out was Harvey Weinstein and his Big and Little Indie films and in was a lot more female directors and films that don't have the Hollywood star power.

My Tiff was stacked with volunteer shifts at the beginning of the festival and watching a few films during the week followed by a closing night shift and a couple of rush lines.

This year's People's Choice Winner was my favourite film that I saw at the festival this year and I saw it the day before the festival so I was hoping it would have been A Star is Born because I wasn't able to see that film this week even though I was volunteering on that shift and got to see the Stars of the film.

Here is the list of films I saw this year in my order of Preference.

1.  Green Book - Look for Academy Award nominations for Viggo Mortenssen and Mehershali Ali who gave stellar performances in this film.  This is a multi layered film that is beautiful and thoughtful.

2.  Driven - Jason Sudekis plays the neighbour of the Delorian designer and they get involved in some shady dealings together.  Fun to watch the production design of this film.

3.  This Changes Everything - A documentary that was close to my heart because it showed data on how women are not given the same opportunities as men in the film industry and if you are a visible minority you have even less chances of getting work in the industry.

4.  Public - Emilio Esteves directs this drama about homeless men who decide to take over the public library on one cold night in Cincinnati.  The scene at the end is very memorable.

5.  Sharkwater Extinction - This is the final film by Rob Stewart the champion activist for the survival of Sharks and putting a spotlight on how shark finning is destroying our ecological environment.  This film is both beautiful, brutal and sad because it's bittersweet that the film was made but Rob Stewart didn't live to see it's fruition.  The family were in attendance at the screening.

6.  A Private War - Rosamund Pike plays a tortured journalist who is compelled to go to war zones to tell people's stories at the risk of her own life.  This is a true story of a female journalist who would go to lengths that her male counterparts wouldn't.  She covered historic news events that no one else did.

7.  Widows - Starring Viola Davis and Michelle Rodriguez who play widows who join forces with other widows who are threatened to come up with the money that was lost after their failed heist.  Viola Davis is as intense as expected.  Liam Neeson plays her husband and his character does a lot of unexpected things.  Colin Farrel plays a  shady Mayoral candidate and Daniel Kaluuya plays a totally evil sadistic enforcer.  This is a Hollywood blockbuster of a film

8.  Life Itself - Created by the writer of the TV show This is Us. - This is a film that is broken up into a few stories with some connecting links.  The most compelling story was with Antonio Banderas who finally plays a good man in this film.  Bring the tissues for this one.

9.  Vox Lux - Natalie Portman plays a badly behaved pop star who's hard living takes a toll on her. A big stretch for Portman but I think the film could have been better in the hands of a different director.

10   Husband Material - I was at the world premiere of this Bollywood Film.  This film was more of a music video strung together with some aggressive character dialogue.  I didn't connect with the characters of this predictable film and didn't stay for the whole film but the audience who obviously knew the actors were enthralled with it.  I think this has a specific audience that isn't me.

This is not my City -Toronto :(

I woke up and turned on the tv to find out that there was another random shooting on the Danforth in Toronto last night.  12 people were shot and one person killed and the shooter is dead.

All I keep asking myself lately is WHY?  Why does this keep happening and why is the level of violence increasing at an alarming rate?

Our Mayor John Tory is always quick to respond to these situations and understands how serious and life shattering these events are and he is trying to develop a strategy with the Police to try and curb gun violence but I am starting to feel like they are fighting a losing battle.

My City is not my City anymore.  Even as little as 3 years ago I felt differently about living in Toronto and feeling free to roam the streets.  3 years ago I wasn't working and was spending a lot of time at street festivals and blogging about them on my Food Blog.  Now I have lost the desire to be in crowds of people because the risks are ever increasing because sick people are now targeting large groups of people and trying to destroy as much human capital is they can. 

The first time there was a big shakeup in the world was after 9/11 when people couldn't believe that there was a plan to hijack planes with the sole intent of killing people at the twin towers in NYC.

Ever since then random violence from gun shootings or terrorism or now the driving over people have escalated throughout the world. 

I live in Willowdale and my community changed in April when one depressed guy decided to hop into a van and run people down on a very busy warm and sunny workday lunch hour and kill innocent people just going about their daily business.

We have had the summer of the gun back again this summer with every weekend having escalating death tolls from random gun violence.  Violence is no longer targeted to someone being angry at someone else for something specific to them only.  Violence is everywhere and there is often no reason for it.  Many times the people shooting random people kill themselves or are killed by Police so we never find out why they do this.

The Why is what we need to find out so that we can figure out how to prevent it before someone decides to pick up a gun or form a plan to hurt other people.

I don't think having more Police is the only answer because mostly the attacks have no warning and the Police can only control the aftermath after someone has been shot or run down.

We need to look at what has changed in our World.  Is it the media broadcast of these events and people trying to keep topping the last one or is it the fact that people don't care about consequences anymore and have lost empathy for others.  Is it the violent video game mentality where they think it's cool to shoot people or is it that there are people that are just so extremely angry that all they want to do is make people go away.

I am ANGRY too... I am angry at the people that make these decisions that destroy so many people's lives but I am never going to buy a gun,  make a bomb or jump in a van and form a plan to kill innocent people.   How does it get to that point?  What are the red flags and why aren't we seeing them? 

I want my City back and want to feel free to walk a street festival, sit on a patio, go to the movies, go to the mall or a concert or even just walk down the street alone. 

Growing up I never had to think about the chances of getting shot or getting run down and making my decision on whether to do something or not because of it.  Now young people growing up have to be aware 24/7 that violence can be anywhere and everywhere and they have to be suspicious of strangers all the time and have to learn about what to do in case violence occurs.  I never thought about these things growing up and hope that we can find a way to go back to that way of life at some point.

Is it because there are too many people in this city now?  Is it because the court system is not handing out harsher sentences to violent offenders?  Is it because the bad people have no fear or remorse anymore?  Is it because people have become used to these kinds of things now and think it's just a matter of timing before it happens close to home. 

That's not acceptable to me.  We need to keep asking Why?  We need to find out How we can change the progression of these kinds of events. 

What? Why? Is it.... Poverty?  Racism? Terrorism?  Mental Health?  Anger?  Addiction?

I want to see my City and the World reverse the violent tendencies.  The only people that need guns are the Police and Military.  We need to get rid of the desire for someone to want a weapon that will cause destruction of innocent lives.

Mass shootings don't have to become the new normal.  I feel sad for the World and the future of the kids that will inherit it.

If you see a red flag do something.

I want my Toronto to be #TorontoStrong again.