Almost there (again)

It's just over two days from the launch of TIFF 2014. About three weeks ago, I went through the annual ritual of taking the catalogue and slicing and dicing a schedule out of the 300+ films on offer this year.

It's an interesting way to extract possible trends for the year. A few things I noticed:

• There were several films about a man with a past who, while trying to follow a new path, is dragged back into the old ways (the "one last job" film). 
• Quite a few films were co-directed. In fact, it seemed at first glance that there were a lot more of these films this year than previous years. 
• Several films about taking control of the end of one's life. I think this is reflective of the current debate raging in the public sphere about quality of life and having the choice to decide when one's death will occur. 

It's a curious year as far as the films go. At this point, it doesn't feel that there is a "big" film or films that will capture people's attention (last year featured "Gravity" and "12 Years a Slave, to name two). As usual, I've tried to mix things up in the final list, combining films from different countries and from as many of the individual programs as possible. 

The fun starts on Thursday night in Lebanon ("The Valley") and ends in Finland ("The Grump").