By John H. Foote
What could be the final group of films for TIFF was announced this morning, some nice surprises among them.
Two more Galas were added, another sixteen in the Special Presentation series, along with the Contemporary World Cinema, Masters and Wavelength programs.
Here are today’s standouts.
LUCY IN THE SKY with Natalie Portman as an astronaut recently back from space slowly unraveling. The inside word is very strong on Portmans’ performance.
A HIDDEN LIFE is the latest from Terence Malick, who I believe is vastly overrated and self-indulgent. Mixed reviews at Cannes greeted the film.
SEBERG…Kristen Stewart as controversial actress Jean Seberg. I am in. Stewart has long been far more talented than given credit for being.
LES MISERABLES…Said to be a stunner, this French crime epic is set in the modern day and never stops moving. One of the hottest tickets at the fest.
THE AERONAUTS had huge buzz a month ago, but that settled. Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones are reunited in a hot air balloon.
All film synopsis available at tiff.net
One of Canada’s best-known film critics, he spent 10 years on TV as co-host of Reel to Real, and another 10 in education (still writing as a critic) as Director of the Toronto Film School, where he created the curriculum for three programs and taught film history. Film has always been his passion. He has written for magazines such as Toronto Life, Fashion and Hollywood North, been quoted in the Los Angeles and New York Times, as well as the major Toronto dailies. Online he has written for such sites as The Wrap, In Contention, Awards Circuit and The Cinemaholic. His first book Clint Eastwood – Evolution of a Filmmaker, was published in 2010. His second Steven Spielberg: American Film Visionary, a massive volume, has just found a publisher and he’s working on American Film Renaissance – 1967-2018 with Nick Maylor. As a critic, he has had the good fortune to interview directors and stars such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, Emma Stone, Jane Fonda, and countless others. As he quips, “Everyone but Jack Nicholson!”
