Christened the best autumn in memory

Two years after the final journey to Middle Earth, the Toronto International Film Festival provided a reminder of one of the things that make The Lord of the Rings the greatest trilogy in cinema history.

A lot of praise is rightfully heaped on director Peter Jackson for his monumental effort. But another element is fine acting, and the vivid reminders of that in Toronto this week were outstanding movies starring Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen in which they did not have to don hobbit feet, wear white hair or slice through Orcs with a scythe, respectively.

At the festival, which closed last night, Wood was playing a Jewish American who travels to a Ukrainian village to thank the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis in Everything Is Illuminated; Mortensen was an Indiana diner owner dealing with the aftermath of thwarting a violent robbery in A History of Violence; and Bloom, as we all know, is the hotshot West Coast sneaker designer who returns to Kentucky when his father dies in Elizabethtown. All are fine performances that show how easily each actor can disappear into a role.

Who knew Aragorn was such an all-American guy? Or how contemporary Legolas could be? Frodo is again on a search, this time wearing a dark suit and thick glasses. We've seen all these guys in other roles, but then they went away for several years and produced more than nine hours of film that cemented them in these characters.

Wood says it's good to see his fellow Rings actors' new work and that they do follow each other, as hard as that can be in the movie business.

"It's a bond that won't ever be broken, through time and space," Wood said Tuesday. "A year or two could go by, and it would be like nothing."

Asked if Rings was something he needed to "shake off," Wood said, "I think I'm just trying to move forward, which means moving away from that thing. I believe I've always had the philosophy that every job that I do should be different from the last that I did."

That was reflected during a question-and-answer session following the world premiere of Illuminated. A questioner tried to draw a comparison between his character in the movie and the sadistic killer he played in Frank Miller's Sin City, earlier this year.

"Duuuuude," he purred. "They are sooooo different."

We may miss them in Middle Earth, but the festival showed that it's also nice to have them back.

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Academy buzz

If the Oscars were given out today, it seems Philip Seymour Hoffman would be a front-runner for best actor in the title role of Capote and Reese Witherspoon would get a nod for playing June Carter in Walk the Line. At least, that seemed to be the consensus among critics and festival-goers. Shirley MacLaine is getting chatter for her subdued performance in In Her Shoes -- "I love getting those things," she joked Wednesday. I'd also like to suggest Eugene Hutz for supporting actor in Everything Is Illuminated. His first acting role is key to Liev Schreiber's film, and it's a brilliant performance that seamlessly moves from the absurd to the sublime.

Thumbs up for fall

Roger Ebert wrote in Canada's National Post newspaper that, based largely on the Toronto Film Festival, "This is the best autumn movie season in memory."

His memory is a lot longer than mine, but I certainly can't argue based on the 12 films I saw there last week. Picking a favorite was tough, with movies like Capote and In Her Shoes to pick from. But I have to go with Illuminated. Schreiber's directorial debut is funny, clever, beautiful and profound. It can't get here fast enough.

And keep in mind, I didn't get to see buzz-heavy picks like Mrs. Henderson Presents, Bee Season, Thank You for Smoking or Trust the Man. We have a lot to look forward to.

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