2013 - Godzilla

I have to admit that I'm not super familiar with the history of Godzilla in cinema outside of the pop culture stuff that most people know.  I have to say that I found this to be pretty darn entertaining.  What I think was really amazing about the direction of this film was how well the POV of various people was used super effectively during our set piece to ground us in something and show us what this really means to be people outside of it rather than just being destruction for the sake of it.  Having Godzilla pitted against other monsters and being more of a heroic role was a much more solid choice than having him be our villain.  As you can imagine this film has it's fair share of hokiness, as some of Cranton's over the top pleading can attest - but on the whole it's entertaining, and while teasing a fair share of them, doesn't fall into the cliche these films often live in.  I loved the subtle way Godzilla was shown, especially through fighting - keeping us in other characters POV was really important for those sequences as well. Over-all - really well done and entertaining!

1878 - Blue Jasmine

It's so exciting to see a Woody Allen film on opening night, especially in a city like Toronto.  The first screening I tried to attend was sold out - which actually made me happy :)

This film is the story of watching a woman unfold.  Her husband is a Madoff type.  Blanchette does an amazing job of unravelling the layers of this character whom could so easily be absolutely unlikable.  Cate's been getting the lion's share of the glory from this but Sally Hawkins and Bobby Carnivale are so great here as well.  

I think it's in pretty limited release, but if you're a Woody fan at all you should absolutely seek it out whilst still in theatres.