Saw two new movies over at TIFF on subsequent days.
The first is Wim Wenders's Perfect Days. It is a very deliberate, essentially plotless film about a man who has found a level of contentment in his work as an outdoor toilet cleaner in Tokyo. In a sense, it is a homage to Ozu. It was ok but did feel a bit long. Not for everyone for sure.
The next day I saw Problemista by Julio Torres at TIFF. I don't know if it's going to get a wider release, but it is a very entertaining fantasy about an immigrant from El Salvador living in New York trying to get sponsored for a work visa to become a toy maker! In many ways it feels like a movie by Michel Gondry. Tilda Swinton is this out of control, high-strung art critic, who says she'll sponsor him but only after he helps her curate an art exhibit. (However, you may cringe with flashbacks of some of the bad bosses you had, or at least I did.)
Speaking of Gondry, I only just learned that he did a series of micro ads or super short films for Park MGM about 5 years back: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL29PD1z9x4FvSRNHp6el297kPP3AvyFBj
There are six of them, all 31 seconds long, though that includes titles and credits, so each of these is basically one scene of roughly 15 seconds in length. I'd say 2 or 3 stand out, but they simply are too short to evoke much interest on my part.