By John H. Foote WESTERN STARS (****) Bruce Springsteen is without peer as the greatest rock and roll poet in music history. His blue collar background has brought out some of the most intensely personal songs in modern music, singing about life in small towns, girls, cars, family, friends and life. Very few artists possess…
By Nick Maylor (***) A good movie featuring a brilliant performance by Rene Zellweger in the title role, Judy is a lavish character study that never stops being interesting due to Zellweger’s utterly captivating performance. The film is based on the West End and Broadway play End of the Rainbow by Peter Quilter and portrays…
By Nick Maylor (***) Netflix has been flexing its muscle here at TIFF with several films and they deliver a satisfying comedic drama here that features large backdrops and themes, but is mainly anchored by its two lead actors who share a remarkable chemistry that is endlessly watchable The film stars Anthony Hopkins as Joseph…
By Nick Maylor (***) I’m not a car guy. Some folks love them the way I love guitars, obsessing on the automobile’s history, evolution and innovation. I dig flashy cars in movies but there’s only one car I’ve ever really cared; the Batmobile (which is, ironically, an unlimited number of different cars). However, I am…
By John H. Foote The traffic in the lobby of the massive ScotiaBank Cinema has thinned out considerably as many critics and industry folks have gone home or headed to New York for the next big festival. You can actually walk through here without bashing into anyone or getting bashed into. Once again the incredible…
By Nick Maylor (***1/2) Todd Phillips’ R-Rated film starring Joaquin Phoenix is without question, an impressive piece of filmmaking. It features a brilliant performance by Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a mentally distressed loner living with his mother in 1980s Gotham City who, through a series of unfortunate and troubling circumstances, transforms himself into a familiar…
By John H. Foote Eighteen years ago today I was commuting into TIFF. Having been critically injured in a near fatal car accident, my wife did not want me staying in the city alone, so I decided I would see just two films a day and come home each night. I was listening to Howard…
By John H. Foote When it was announced that Joker would be here as a Gala film, I admit I groaned. Seriously? Is that the direction TIFF was taking post-Piers Handling? Visions of Godzilla (1998) at Cannes danced in my head, the moment Cannes became irrelevant. I should have had more faith in these programmers,…
By Nick Maylor (***) Eddie Murphy has been wanting to make a movie about the life of Rudy Ray Moore for close to ten years now. Moore famously created the character of Dolemite, star of several Blaxploitation films. The film chronicles Rudy Ray Moore, an over-the-hill musician and comedian who creates the character of Dolemite…
TIFF Review: SEBERG By Nick Maylor (***) This film based on the life of Jean Seberg stars Kristen Stewart as the actress who became a target of the FBI’s surveillance program COINTELPRO is an effective thriller that shows the ugly side of government overreach when it comes to perceived threats. Stewart gives a fine performance…