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in ReviewsFilm Review: ‘The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain’ Packs an Emotional Punch
The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain is a dread-inducing film. If the title doesn’t immediately give it away, there isn’t hope present in this film. And it’s not meant to be a hopeful story; rather, it’s an honest depiction of a tragic event that feels more culturally apt than it should. Written and directed by David […] More
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TIFF Film Review: ‘Compartment No. 6’ Is the Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
Sometimes all you need to make an incredible movie is two people talking. That’s evidenced with great success in Compartment No. 6, the new film from director Juho Kuosmanen. Co-winner of the Cannes Grand Prix this year, the film arrives at TIFF with the story of two passengers who meet on a train for a […] More
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TIFF Film Review: Zhang Yimou’s ‘One Second’ Is An Ode to the Power of Cinema
Originally set to premiere at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival, Zhang Yimou’s One Second was mysteriously pulled days before screening. While the official explanation for the move was that the film had technical difficulties during post-production, speculation began immediately that the Chinese censors had their hands all over this. In the two years since […] More
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TIFF Film Review: ‘Petite Maman’ Is Another Céline Sciamma Knockout
How do you take the personal and make it feel universal? That was the task at hand for Céline Sciamma with Petite Maman, her follow-up to the massively acclaimed 2019 romance Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The world was at Sciamma’s feet after the reception she garnered for that instant classic, which resulted in […] More
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in Reviews
Film Review: ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is a Fun, Albeit Clichéd, Musical
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has memorable songs and terrific performances, but its clichéd story prevents it from truly soaring the way it should be. More
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TIFF Review: ‘I’m Your Man’ is a Brilliantly Aromantic Love Story
If you watched Maria Schrader’s I’m Your Man with no prior knowledge of its premise, you’d probably be blindsided by its stereotypical setup. A woman meets a man at lively nighttime establishment where they are greeted by a hostess before partaking in food, drinks and dancing. On the surface, it seems like any other first […] More
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Film Review: ‘Blue Bayou’ Goes Big to Draw Attention to a Tragic Issue
How a filmmaker chooses to tell a story is up to them, obviously. They can go big, they can go small, choose genres to play in, etc. It’s all part of the fun of going to the movies. However, sometimes you do wonder why a writer or a director (or both) opt to tell a […] More
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TIFF Film Review: ‘Spencer’ is Kristen Stewart’s Finest Hour and An Hypnotically Immersive Experience
Wow. I have seen the performance of the year. In fact, I also think I may well have seen the film of the year. The last movie II saw on the ground in Canada is the crowning (no pun intended) achievement of 2021 right now. Capping off my in person segment of the Toronto International […] More
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TIFF Film Review: Ben Foster’s Committed Performance Can’t Hold Up Biopic-By-Numbers ‘The Survivor’
Barry Levinson introduced the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of his latest film, The Survivor, by telling a story about being a kid in the late 1940s and discovering that his grandmother had a brother he never knew about when the man came knocking on their door. He stayed with Levinson’s family for two weeks, […] More
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TIFF Film Review: ‘Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash’ is An Epic of Crime and Romance
Incredibly striking 16mm photography fills the frames of Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash, the new feature from Indonesian filmmaker Edwin. Co-written by the director and Eka Kurniawan, based on Kurniawan’s book of the same name, the film tells the story of Ajo Kawir (Marthino Lio), a street fighter whose hyper-masculinity and need to […] More
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TIFF Film Review: Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Belfast’ is a Beautiful Love Letter and An Instant Oscar Frontrunner
Well, it happened. Here in Canada at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, a surefire Oscar player has emerged. Belfast is going to be impossible not to fall in love with, which will likely result in it being cited in multiple categories at the Academy Awards. Not only is the quality there, as this is […] More
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TIFF Film Review: ‘Lakewood’ Tries for Cheap Thrills Through Tragedy
Sometimes, you just get the sense that something isn’t being handled the right way. Now, I’m sure that everyone involved in Lakewood were convinced that they were making something important and respectful. You don’t get Naomi Watts in the lead role without that conviction. However, the movie, playing at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, […] More
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