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I'm a big fan of Denis Villeneuve so I almost had a coronary when I heard he was directing the new Bladerunner sequel. The first thing I loved about 2049 was the atmosphere the filmmakers managed to create, which carried on nicely from the first movie - the connection was almost tangible. The imagery was breathtakingly beautiful and I thought the sound design and music were incredibly impressive. Ryan Gosling fit the main part perfectly and I loved the aura Villeneuve managed to create around him. The only two little criticisms I had was 1) the Jared Leto character was a tad boring and 2) as a young woman, I found the hologram scenes hard to watch at times (but this is possibly just my taste and not necessarily a fault of the film itself). All in all, it's a very good sequel - certainly one of the best I've seen.

So glad I went to see this film at TIFF last week. From the breathtaking visuals, extraordinary sound design and the magnetic performance of Irish newcomer Ann Skelly playing Candice, this weird movie had me gripped all the way through to the final credits. The dreamy atmosphere is punctuated by dark moments of small town frustration/violence and the eerie support cast lend a menacing air throughout. My favorite thing about this film, besides all the obvious technical mastery, is the constant feeling of impending doom that surrounds Candice like a swirling fog. They have managed to nail what it feels like to be a teenage girl growing up in an oppressive (whether real or imagined) environment. 'Kissing Candice' certainly whet my appetite for seeing more from writer/director Aoife McArdle - an auteur to watch out for in the future. Can't wait to see what she does next. Impressive debut.

Having not been a huge Aronofsky fan in the past, I went into 'Mother!' with a completely open mind having not heard or read any reviews about it. I loved the creepy scenes with Bardem/Harris/Pfeiffer and I thought Jennifer Lawrence was amazing throughout. In all honesty, some of the scenes were very difficult to watch, but I imagine this is what was intended by the director and all I can say is that I went through many emotions whilst watching this film. Whether it is good or bad? I really, really loved the first half. The second half was very interesting to watch, but maybe not a pleasant viewing experience. But how many films nowadays can we honestly say is an 'experience' to watch? Not many. I'd like to see more filmmakers taking risks like this - uncomfortable as it was at times!