Yes, I did go see BORAT. I figure we each deserve one guilty pleasure on the trip, right? Hysterical by the way. Despite it's initial wacky physical comedy, it is in fact a scathing commentary on the U.S. I could feel myself sinking into my seat from embarrasment as I laughed until I cried. Well, there it is. Our secret is out, the sad part it that I know there are a lot of people out there who WON'T get it...ugh.

Before BORAT I went to LOVE AND OTHER DISASTERS. Yes, it's a chick flick with Brittany Murphy as a modern day Holly Golightly, but the dialogue is clever, Murphy is charming, and in the midst of all its cutesy set ups, the film remains shockingly unpretentious. I love films like this for what they are: fun escapism. And isn't that what chick flicks are all about?

A.B. (after Borat), I went to 10 ITEMS OR LESS. Normally, I must confess I am a person who hates movies about making movies. Just a pet peeve of mine, but this film is so clever and who can help but be beguiled by Morgan Freeman and Paz Vega. Both are just trying to get through another day, initially getting in one anothers' way then ultimately being the only person who could have helped the other through it. So I guess it really isn't a movie about making movies, but it's the closest I'll ever get to liking one.

I wanted to like HULA GIRLS so badly. My ex-husband's parents were among the very first luau dancers at Walt Disney World and having heard of their misadventures in a strange land throught this film would be right up my alley. Based on a true story, the film starts out with all the elements of a moving story. A village struggling against change, a young girl with high hopes, an outsider as teacher. But somehow as the film wears on, it lost me. If the entire village burst into tears one more time, I thought I was going to scream. Don't get me wrong, this is the same girl who enjoyed LOVE AND OTHER DISASTERS and is a big fan of a good cry, but man, I just wanted someone in the village to yell at them all to stop being so overly emotional every second.

Matthew was right, the SHORTBUS party was really fun but long and I either had to get really drunk or go home and go to sleep. Sleep won out as I am reluctant to make an ass out of myself in public on a normal day in front of my friends, let alone in front of other professionals in a foreign country...maybe next year.
-- Shannon

And yet again, SHORTBUS and BORAT dominate Enzian's TIFF coverage! Is 10 ITEMS OR LESS something we'll be seeing next March at F3?