1401 - Daydream Nation

This film is in the Canada First program at TIFF, which is the program we would have been in had we been selected. So I was excited to see this for several reasons - the first being that it's Canadian, the second because my new friend Katie Boland is in it, and third because I fucking LOVE Kat Dennings.
Kat is great in this, she builds on a lot of the great stuff we've seen her doing in films, but at the same time really has a chance to shine within the material that she's given. Jon Joffin's cinematography was fantastic and the music selection added a really nice emotional touch to the film. Katie is pretty damn awesome in her scenes as well and manages to steal a few great moments. I look forward to working with her at some point (that goes for you as well, Ms. Dennings!)
If I have to give criticism to the film it's this - it's very ambitious in that it wants to be a lot of different things, and I think that the film suffers a bit because of it. Films often use the 'coming-of-age' blanket to justify a passive protagonist that doesn't really have a goal or agenda, but just drifts through. It helps a lot when that protagonist is Kat Dennings though. There is a lot to like and enjoy about this film and I really hope that it gets an audience inside and out of Canada. I think that the writer/director, Mike Goldbach, is someone we're going to see time and again, and if you're reading this Mike, I'd love to buy you a beer sometime and talk shop.