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TIFF is over halfway done, but I've just now had some time to write up a few reviews of what I've seen. (It's been a good year, if not an outstanding one. Everything I've seen has been good, but there haven't been a lot of standouts. Yet.)

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

I don't usually do midnight screenings anymore (I am too old and they usually turn into accidental naps) but when I heard both Weird Al and Daniel Radcliffe were going to be at this screening I couldn't resist. The film is, appropriately, a parody of biopics, with Radcliffe gamely playing an unhinged version of Weird Al who is seduced by Madonna for nefarious purposes. It's wildly funny, and was even better with a packed midnight audience who were very, VERY into it.

Maya and the Wave

I am irresistibly drawn to surfing documentaries, and this is a good, if infuriating, one. It's subject is Maya Gabeira, a rare woman in the overwhelmingly male world of big wave surfing. Gabeira goes through an insane amount during the ten years the documentary covers, from a major injury it took her years to recover from to being disrespected by the men in the sport for having the nerve to do what they do as well as or better than them.

The Lost King

I couldn't resist the combination of Stephen Frears directing, Steve Coogan writing and Sally Hawkins starring in the story of the woman who led the search for the body of Richard III. Like Maya and the Wave, it's another story of a woman facing overwhelming odds to achieve her goal, and then being undercut by the men around her who take the credit for her work.

In Conversation with Viola Davis & Gina Prince-Blythwood

Not a film, but a conversation with Davis and Prince-Blythwood in support of their film, The Woman King. (I very much want to see the movie, but couldn't fit it in my schedule.) Davis is as wonderful in person as she is when acting, and the event was almost like being in church: Davis would say something inspiring/wise, and the audience (me included) would audibly react with gasps and cheers. Prince-Blythwood was also wonderful to listen to as they both discussed their careers and the barriers they've faced as black women trying to get films made in Hollywood.