69 in 25: A Recap of Fall Festival Season

For the third year in a row, I packed a suitcase, left my home (and lovely wife Maddy), and headed north for several weeks of fall film festival fun. This year involved 25 total days away from home, five nights at the Toronto International Film Festival and the rest at the New York Film Festival. During those 25 days, I watched 69 films, averaging 2.76 a day. Broken down, that’s 17 films at TIFF, 37 at NYFF, and 15 outside the festival setting. 8,060 minutes for a total of 134.33 hours of watching movies during this stretch, the equivalent of 5.597 days.

After all of the watching, here is my official ranking of the films and the major standout moments from the fall festival season. This list includes festival releases, new theatrical releases, and older films, creating a well-balanced film diet over the course of my travels. 

69: I Play Rocky – TIFF Public Screening

I cannot stress how much I loathed this film. Every beat, every line is so predictable. People in the audience were finishing sentences before they happened because it was so unoriginal, and I learned nothing about Sly Stallone and the making of Rocky that I didn’t already know. Tracy Letts is innocent, per usual.

68: My Wife Cries – NYFF Press Screening

67: I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming – NYFF Press Screening

66: Wild Horse Nine – TIFF Press Screening

I’m a fan of a lot of Martin McDonagh’s prior work, particularly In Bruges (2008), but I found this to be really grating. I saw this screening in the IMAX theater at Scotiabank Cineplex in Toronto, and it was absolutely packed. Even though most folks were moved by the ending, you could tell at least 90% of the crowd was itching to get to Club Kid just a few rooms over. 

65: Nobody’s Violence – TIFF Public Screening

64: Misty Green – TIFF Press Screening

63: The Julia Set – TIFF Press Screening

62: Elsinore – TIFF Public Screening

61: The Dreamed Adventure – NYFF Press Screening

60: Atonement – TIFF Press Screening

59: The Man I Love – TIFF Press Screening

58: The Day She Returns – NYFF Press Screening 

57: A Long Winter – NYFF Press Screening 

A Long Winter kicked off NYFF screenings, and it was such a rush to be back in line outside Walter Reade Theater yet again, seeing friends I’d made from years past and getting to know folks newer to the NYFF scene. Shame about the film, but not much could kill the high I get when I first arrive in New York. 

56: The Beloved – TIFF Public Screening

55: Nowhere to Lay My Eyes – NYFF Press Screening 

54: Clarissa – NYFF Press Screening 

53: Everything Else is Noise – NYFF Press Screening 

52: Nine Temples to Heaven – NYFF Press Screening

51: Resident Evil – AMC Lincoln Square 

I elected to skip a NYFF screening of The Man I Love to see this just across the street, and it was an absolute game changer. We went to dinner with one of my best friends and grabbed a couple of Blue Moon tallboys (only $11 at the AMC, which is a steal for New York in my opinion). While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the film, we had a lot more fun with this than I would have rewatching The Man I Love. 

50: Coward – TIFF Press Screening

49: Fatherland – NYFF Press Screening

48: Diary of a Mad Old Man – TIFF Press Screening 

47: The Assassin(s) – TIFF Press Screening

46: Club Kid – NYFF Press Screening 

45: Purgatory – TIFF Public Screening

44: Heil Jupiter! – NYFF Press Screening

43: Cruel Intentions – Digital

42: Dao – NYFF Press Screening

41: From Dusk Till Dawn – Digital

40: Everybody Wants to F*** Me – TIFF Press Screening

39: Arne Goes to Space – TIFF Press Screening

This film was by far my favorite discovery at TIFF. Incredibly funny and sweet, it was a great change of pace that lifted my spirits after several heavy films in a row. Arne was also a reminder that these festivals are just as much about discovery as they are about catching the biggest films gearing up for an awards run. 

38: Double Freedom – NYFF Press Screening

37: A Man of His Time – NYFF Press Screening 

36: The Face of Horror – TIFF Press Screening

35: Possible Love – NYFF Press Screening

34: Bitter Christmas – NYFF Press Screening

33: Risky Business – Digital

32: Burning – Digital

31: Wasteman – Digital

30: Iron Boy – NYFF Press Screening

For press screenings at NYFF, you typically stay in one theater for a whole day, fitting at least four (sometimes up to six) films in a day. They also do some counter programming across the street for smaller films that don’t need as big a theater to serve their purpose. In my three years of attending NYFF as press, I had never ventured across the street until Iron Boy. It’s an absolute delight, and it gave me the thrill of taking a risk on something rather than just sticking with what’s being shown in the big theater. 

29: It Ends – Syndicated Theater

28: Minotaur – NYFF Press Screening 

27: La Gradiva – NYFF Press Screening 

26: Primetime – AMC Lincoln Square

25: Bucking Fastard – NYFF Press Screening

24: Tender Loving Care – NYFF Press Screening

23: The Loneliest Man in Town – NYFF Press Screening

If Arne Goes to Space was my favorite discovery at TIFF, then The Loneliest Man in Town took home that prize for NYFF. I had no clue what this was about and was floored by its slow reflection on memory and being trapped in the past, which prevents you from moving toward an inevitable future. 

22: Everytime – NYFF Press Screening 

21: Fjord – NYFF Press Screening 

20: Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie 

19: Once Upon a Time in Harlem – NYFF Press Screening

18: Making Marie Antoinette – NYFF Press Screening

17: A Statement – NYFF Press Screening

16: The Unknown – NYFF Press Screening

15: Behemoth! – NYFF Press Screening

Behemoth! was easily my most anticipated movie of NYFF, and it almost delivered in every way. This was my first big World Premiere of the fest, and it’s hard to describe the feeling of being among the first people to see a movie, even if it’s bad. There are no Cannes reviews or peer reactions to come in with. I can’t put it into a box before seeing it; I can just let it wash over me, unfettered from outside opinions. You can find my review at The Rolling Tape!

14: Digger – Alamo Brooklyn

13: Digger (in VistaVision!) – AMC Lincoln Square

Digger is really good. Sorry if this offends. 

12: Marie Antoinette – Digital

11: Godzilla Minus Zero – NYFF Press Screening

10: Rose – NYFF Press Screening

9: The History of Concrete – Nitehawk Prospect Park

8: Sunset Boulevard – Syndicated Theater

7: Paper Tiger – NYFF Press Screening on 35mm

6: NAZA – NYFF Press Screening 

NAZA is one of two (2) screenings I have attended in my short “career” as a critic that required me to check my phone at the door. The other? Michael (2026). NAZA is absolutely crushing and an incredible theater experience. The whole audience was collectively beaten down with confessions of atrocity after atrocity happening in Gaza. See this as soon as you can. 

5: Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother – TIFF Public Screening 

4: All of a Sudden – NYFF Press Screening 

3: The Debut – NYFF Press Screening

2: The Devils – NYFF Press Screening on 35mm

1: Babylon – Paris Theater on 70mm 

Yes, I know it’s lame to list a movie that came out four years ago as my favorite film I saw during festival season. But hear me out: How many times do you get to watch one of your Letterboxd top four films on a gorgeous 70mm print with three of your best friends in the entire world after the most perfect day galavanting around New York City? I’d venture to say zero, unless you and your three best friends happen to live in New York; then maybe you get to this every day or two. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I cried listening to the score, looking at my friends enjoy a collective five-star masterpiece in our eyes. 

List Courtesy of Cameron K. Ritter