I mentioned a few weeks back that the festival press screenings had started a week earlier than usual; as a result, the TIFF experience now spans five weeks instead of four, and the sprint of the festival proper has turned into the last leg of a marathon.

I am so very, very tired. But I’m still filing my characteristically overlong pieces for Sympatico/MSN; the latest, about this year’s surfeit of musically inclined movies, is up now.

And in a stroke of good fortune, the movies are getting better. They’re also getting longer; I’ve seen three films in the last few days that cracked the 150-minute mark, and a few more that have come very close.

When they’re good, the length is not a problem; when they’re bad, or directed by Ang Lee (or both), it really hurts.

Another screening beckons. I shall check back in with you later. In the meantime, please go see “3:10 to Yuma“. It’s really good.