We started the Toronto Film Festival with “Call Me By Your Name,” a gay love story in which the characters sexually abuse a peach.

On Monday came Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” in which Sally Hawkins– that nice girl from England– gets it on with a sea monster. She also goes full frontal. That’s not the Sally Hawkins of the past.

Scientists have captured this sea monster but he’s no blob. He looks like a sexed up version of C3PO from “Star Wars.” And although he’s got gills, and kind of monstrous face, it also seems that all that swimming has been good for him. He’s in excellent shape.

Hawkins and Octavia Spencer are the female janitors at the government facility where the monster is being held. Michael Shannon is the evil doctor who wants to perform experiments. Shannon also has it in for the two cleaners because they want to treat the sea monster like a person.

If this sounds familiar it’s because in many ways it is. There are large doses of “ET,” “Splash,” and more recently, “Stranger Things.” But del Toro adds just enough of his signature style to make “Shape of Water” his own. The soundtrack is exceptional, and the tap dancing in kind of a Busby Berkeley number has to be seen. There’s also top notch supporting work from Richard Jenkins and Michael Stuhlbarg.

Twenty years ago Judi Dench– then 63 years old– made her debut to American audiences playing Queen Victoria in John Madden’s “Mrs. Brown” and received her first Oscar nomination. A year later, she won her  Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for playing Queen Elizabeth I in Madden’s “Shakespeare in Love.” She was on screen for 8 minutes but it was indelible performance. Five more nominations followed through 2014, plus international fame as M in the James Bond movies.

So now what? Yesterday, Dame Judi returned to playing Queen Victoria and premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in “Victoria and Abdul,” Stephen Frears’ show stopping account of Her Royal Majesty’s end of life flirtation with a young man, a Muslim from India who turned her world upside down. It’s a true story drawn from letters discovered in 2010 and published as a best seller.

The story could not be more timely as Abdul Karim (Ali Kazal) was treated like dirt by the royal household for being Muslim. His associate, his wife, her mother all were greeted as servants by everyone except Victoria, who made Abdul her teacher, or “Moonshie,” and valued his friendship ultimately with royal honors. Even her son Prince Bertie (eventually King Edward, grandfather of the current Queen) played beautifully by Eddie Izzard, conspired to do in Abdul.

Dame Judi received not one but two standing ovations on Sunday at the Princess of Wales Theater. The first one was just for coming out and waving. The second was after the screening, for the work of a lifetime. I dare say she will be nominated again for an Oscar, and this time she’ll win to cap off a remarkable career. Her Victoria now is fiery and feisty but also a true Lioness in Winter, trying to hold on to her throne but knowing her 62 year rein will end with the 19th century. It’s a performance of a lifetime.

There are plenty of young actress lined up for the Oscar this year. Emma Stone in “Battle of Sexes,” Jessica Chastain in “Molly’s Game,” Sally Hawkins in “The Shape of Water”– they are all likely candidates with Annette Bening and Meryl Streep in the mix as well. But Dame Judi will not be denied.

“Victoria and  Abdul” opens September 22nd. I expect it will be a crowd pleaser– it’s very funny, extremely lively. Frears is a consummate director. He certainly knows royalty– he directed Helen Mirren to an Oscar as “The Queen.” This film is must see movie going– and you want to see it on a big screen as the production itself– shot in locations not allowed before– is absolutely brilliant with detail, color, and magnitude.

As for Dame Judi, when I even mentioned an Oscar at the tea served for her at Soho House, she almost recoiled. “Oh no!” she cried, “Let’s not get into that!” Well, indeed, Let’s.

Day 2 in Toronto started with a disappointment but then all systems were ‘go.’ George Clooney’s “Suburbicon” didn’t work out the way it was supposed to. More on that later.

In succession there were three pretty terrific offerings. First “The Florida Project” starring Willem Dafoe and a cast of newcomers was absolutely charming. Sean Baker’s follow up to “Tangerine” couldn’t be lovelier. The Indie Spirit and Gotham Awards should eat it up. It’s sort of like “Beasts of the Southern Wild” set in Orlando at Disney World.

Then Aaron Sorkin made his directing debut from a script he wrote adapting the memoir “Molly’s Game” by Molly Bloom. Jessica Chastain is simply sensational as Molly, with Idris Elba and Kevin Costner doing excellent supporting work. Chastain should reap an Oscar nomination– and maybe a win. Sorkin’s writing is actually musical. His screenplay shines as usual. What a thrill all the way around.

But then the big surprise was Harvey Weinstein’s rabbit out of a hat. Neil Burger directs the American version of “The Intouchables,” now called “The Upside.” Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart, and Nicole Kidman star, with a disarming cameo by Julianna Margulies. No one thought this remake would work, and no one believed Kevin Hart could act. But guess what? Harvey Weinstein has a potentially huge hit here.

Big news: this film will have an Oscar qualifying run the last week of December. It’s that rarest of hybrids– a commercial and critical success, and a comedy to boot. “The Upside” has no downside. Wonderful work by all involved. Burger, whom I’ve always admired, hits every right note. Cranston and Hart have a wonderful rapport. Kidman is luminous– and she dances in the film!

Value added: I’m not sure she knows this, but three Aretha Franklin tracks are heard, she’s referred to in the film as The Queen. Her recording of “Nessum Dorma” is a big part of the movie.

Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name” might become known as “Brokeback Biscotti” or “Peachtree Mountain.” But this sensitively told gay love story set in Italy in 1983 has been a huge hit tonight as one of the opening night films of the Toronto Film Festival. It may also cause a stir because one of the characters has sex with a peach. Superior acting, especially from Michael Stuhlbarg as the most understanding and insightful parent in history. A beautiful hit.

Even though it’s set in 1983, “Call Me By Your Name” is going to resonate in 2017 with a lot of different people — but most likely young people in this new environment where it’s okay to be whomever you want. Michael Stuhlbarg is American and Jewish, and a professor of archeology who lives in Northern Italy with his Italian-French wife and son Elio (Chalamet) in a ramshackle country home. Into this comes a new assistant from the US, Oliver (Hammer), who’s like a shining Robert Redford-ish matinee idol.

It’s almost a set up. The parents seem to understand without discussing it that Elio– who is a gifted musician– is likely gay. They almost assign Oliver to Elio and watch their relationship grow– even as Elio struggles with his feelings and attempts to woo a local girl who has a crush on him. That’s the basic scenario as the relationship between the teen and the young assistant blossoms.

SPOILER as Armie Hammer pointed out to me after the screening at a party at STK in Toronto, no one dies, no one gets AIDS or is punished for  being gay. And an unexpected speech by Stuhlbarg toward the end of the film is so moving that it legitimizes the entire film and everything you’ve seen up to that point. It’s quite brilliant and should earn Stuhlbarg an Oscar nom for Best Supporting Actor. Whether you’re straight or gay. it’s a moment like no other in film. Bravo.

As for the peach– well, let’s just say that produce has never  had a moment like this in movies. Luckily, by November when the movie opens, peaches will mostly be out of season. Otherwise Stop and Shop would be having a problem.

Once again, Doris Day didn’t make the cut. But a lot of good people will receive Governors’ Awards aka Lifetime Achievement Oscars this year.

The Motion Picture Academy chose writer-director Charles Burnett, cinematographer Owen Roizman, actor Donald Sutherland and director Agnès Varda.

From the official release:

This year’s Governors Awards reflect the breadth of international, independent and mainstream filmmaking, and are tributes to four great artists whose work embodies the diversity of our shared humanity,” said Academy President John Bailey.

Born in Mississippi and raised in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, Burnett is an independent filmmaker whose work has been praised for its portrayal of the African-American experience. He wrote, directed, produced, photographed and edited his first feature film, “Killer of Sheep,” in 1977. His other features include “My Brother’s Wedding,” “To Sleep with Anger,” “The Glass Shield” and “Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation.” Burnett also has made several documentaries including “America Becoming” and “Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property,” and such short films as “The Horse” and “When It Rains.”

Roizman earned five Oscar nominations for his work on “The French Connection” (1971), “The Exorcist” (1973), “Network” (1976), “Tootsie” (1982) and “Wyatt Earp” (1994). He began his career shooting television commercials before making his debut feature film, “Stop,” in 1970. His other notable credits include “The Heartbreak Kid,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “Absence of Malice,” “True Confessions,” “The Addams Family” and “Grand Canyon.” Roizman represented the Cinematographers Branch on the Academy’s Board of Governors from 2002 to 2011.

With more than 140 film credits spanning six decades, Canadian-born Sutherland began his career with small roles in British and Italian films before his breakthrough in “The Dirty Dozen” (1967). Since then he has starred in such varied films as “M*A*S*H,” “Klute,” “Don’t Look Now,” “The Day of the Locust,” “1900,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” “Ordinary People,” “Cold Mountain,” “The Italian Job,” “Pride & Prejudice” and “The Hunger Games” series.

Belgian-born Varda has been called the mother of the French New Wave. Her first feature, “La Pointe Courte” (1956) – which she wrote and directed with no formal training – is considered to be the film that inspired the movement. Varda has experimented with all forms of filmmaking from shorts to documentaries to narrative feature films during her more than 60-year career, including such works as the New Wave classic “Cleo from 5 to 7,” “Le Bonheur,” “One Sings, the Other Doesn’t,” “Vagabond,” “Jacquot,” “The Gleaners and I,” her autobiographical documentary “The Beaches of Agnès,” and her most recent work, “Faces Places.”

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”