Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
From Director George Clooney and Writers Joel and Ethan Coen, the anticipation for Suburbicon was through the roof. Unfortunately the anticipation got the best of this Film and it falls flat. What should’ve been a Film that goes out of the park ends up as a foul that no one can catch.
The Movie focuses on Rose (Julianne Moore), Gardner (Matt Damon) and their son Nicky (Noah Jupe). They live in a small suburban neighbourhood in the 1950s-era and the neighbourhood becomes shaken up when they are the subjects of a home invasion that takes a dark turn. The Movie ends up turning into a dark(er) Thriller as it progresses and introduces us to the most interesting character, Roger (Oscar Isaac).
The performance from Oscar Isaac is what makes Suburbicon most interesting, but he is far too under utilized and the rest of the Film is rather bland shockingly. With what both Clooney has proven behind a camera and the Coen’s have proven with a script, there was so much hope that falls so short that there truly is no saving grace.
Suburbicon screens at TIFF on Saturday, September 9th at 6:30 PM at the Princess of Wales and Sunday, September 10th at 12 PMÂ at Roy Thomson Hall.
Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong
Many people credit the birth of horror to the book Frankenstein. What is often forgotten, however, is the Author of that genre-defining Book: Mary Shelley. In this eponymously-titled Movie, modern audiences are given a brief look into the life of this important literary figure.
When Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Elle Fanning) meets Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth) she has no idea the poet she has fallen in with is married, and by the time she does it is too late. Defying her father, she leaves with her lover in the middle of the night with only her beloved stepsister Claire (Claire Clairmont) by her side. The three live in poverty off Shelley’s earnings as a writer. A chance meeting with Lord John Byron (Tom Sturridge drowning in guyliner) eventually bring the trio to Geneva where Mary is inspired to write her first Book.
The formation of the ideas behind Frankenstein evolve on-screen in predictable fashion but the eventual discussion of the book in the Third Act will permanently alter how you see the doctor and his monster. Despite the rather florid dialogue, Saudi Arabian Filmmaker Haiffa Al-Mansour’s big budget debut is a solid Film. Led by Fanning, the strong cast makes Mary Shelley a must-see during the Festival.
Search Engine Pictures will screen Mary Shelley at the following times:
Saturday, September 09 6:30 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall
Sunday, September 10 1:30 p.m. Scotiabank Cinemas 2
TIFF ’17 officially is switching into high gear as the starpower begins to pour over Toronto this weekend. Unlike previous years, we still are seeing a lot of action spilling into next Monday and Tuesday.
Greta Gerwig is getting tons of buzz for her work in autobiographical LADYBIRD, which she directs. We spotted the super-gracious Gerwig and Laurie Metcalf whom you remember from Sitcom Roseanne. Star Saoirse Ronan unfortunately couldn’t make it in this year despite being scheduled.
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We ❤ Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci. Together in a Movie? Yes, please! The two star troubled relationship Drama THE CHILDREN ACT and both were so lovely despite time constraints with fans!
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There is no celebrity as nice as Jessica Chastain and we are thrilled her performance in Toronto-made MOLLY’S GAME is getting raves. The Film marks the directorial debut of Oscar-winning Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Watch Chastain own the fan chaos like a boss!
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Father-Son Dramedy Brad’s Status stars Ben Stiller and fresh face Austin Abrams, directed and written by Mike White. We spotted some of them out and about earlier amidst their Press stops.
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Oscar-nominated Canuck #EllenPage is back at TIFF with zombie cure fantasy The Cured. She was amazing with fans! 🍁
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Oscar-nominated Actor Ed Harris returns to the same City he filmed TIFF ’17 selection KODACHROME.
Everybody loves Charlie Day! The Funnyman stars in equally-funny Louis C.K.’s I LOVE YOU, DADDY at TIFF ’17. While Co-Stars John Malkovich and Edie Falco weren’t quite as giving as he, Day more than made-up for it taking the time out to greet an entire line of fans at Ryerson Theatre.
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MARY SHELLEY recounts the eponymous Author’s first romance with Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and stars Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth, Maisie Williams and Bel Powley. Its stars rang-in its TIFF ’17 Premiere tonight at Roy Thomson Hall en route to a party at STORYS/RBC House. Attending by surprise was Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan, whose wife Amelia Warner oversaw the Film’s music.
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One of the best bashes of TIFF annually is the InStyle Magazine Party, brought to us by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The Party drew-out an A-List crowd, along with several up-and-comers. See some of the names who graced the Carpet!
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#TIFF17: #TonyGoldwyn at #TIFF2017 with #MarkFelt. #TIFF #TorontoInternationalFilmFestival #Scandal
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Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
Yorgos Lanthimos made a big name for himself with 2015’s The Lobster, he now returns to TIFF with his newest Film The Killing of a Sacred Deer and takes creepy and sinister to a new level. The Film is something truly disturbing and gut wrenching, so strap yourself in for one hell of a ride.
The Film focuses on surgeon Steven (Colin Farrell) who takes Martin (Barry Keoghan) under his wing. At first everything seems relatively normal, despite the fact that a grown man is befriending a young boy, until we find out that Martin’s father died on Steven’s surgery table. This is where the movie starts to take a twist for Steven and his family consisting of Anna (Nicole Kidman), Kim (Raffey Cassidy) and Bob (Sunny Suljic). Steven is faced with an impossible task, can Steven make the ultimate sacrifice or will it be made for him?
The Killing of a Sacred Deer is not for the faint of heart, but it is an intense Thriller that is lightened with a sprinkling of dark humour throughout.
It screens at TIFF on Saturday, September 9th at 9 PM at the Elgin Theatre, and Sunday, September 10th at 11:15Â AM at the Princess of Wales Theatre.
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is a rebel and outsider. She is in her last year of Catholic high school and insists people call her Lady Bird. She dreams of escaping her family in Sacramento, but her grades need a massive improvement.
Lady Bird is a delight from start to finish. It taps into the same adolescent angst as TIFF ’16 Closing Night Film The Edge of Seventeen, but feels a little more introspective and nostalgic – no doubt due to Gerwig’s hilarious and touching screenplay. The first-time Director shows a real knack for honing-in on great character moments – no matter how ordinary they might be. She has also assembled a terrific Cast, highlighted by magnificent performances from Laurie Metcalf and Beanie Feldstein (Jonah Hill’s younger sister!).
But Ronan is the one who is the true knockout, alternating between scathing humour and teenage melodrama with ease. She disappears into Lady Bird, giving us yet another reason to continue watching this spectacular young talent.
Lady Bird screens TIFF ’17 at the following times:
Friday, September 8 9:00 p.m. Ryerson Theatre
Saturday, September 9 7:00 p.m. Scotiabank Theatre 2
Saturday, September 16 8:45 p.m. Elgin Theatre
Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong
The Boston Marathon bombing of April 2013 impacted many people but perhaps few so drastically as Jeff Bauman. Director David Gordon Green’s latest effort Stronger, follows Bauman on his path toward recovery and redemption.
Hailing from the working-class suburb of Chelmsford, Jeff (Jake Gyllenhaal) was standing near the marathon’s finish line ready to cheer on his on-again/off-again girlfriend Erin (Canadian Tatiana Maslany). Moments before bombing he saw a young man in a baseball cap and looked him in the eyes. When Jeff awoke in hospital the next day he learned he had lost both his legs. His mother (played by Miranda Richardson) and guilt-ridden girlfriend try to help on the road to recovery as he wrestles with PTSD and the weight of the expectations thrust upon by a nation desperate for a hero.
In order to make the audience feel more connected with Bauman and his trauma, Green relies rather heavily on close-ups but this does not detract from the stellar performances, particularly from Maslany. Although formulaic, Stronger does its best to recreate the rather unlikable Bauman and paint him as a modern, if highly flawed, hero.
eOne Films will screen Stronger at TIFF ’17 at the following times:
Friday, September 8 6:30 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall
Saturday, September 9 10:45 a.m. Winter Garden Theatre
Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong
Former Olympic hopeful Molly Bloom was always the smartest woman at the table. Molly ran poker games on both coasts and made millions catering to rich, elite men who thought nothing of losing six figures in a single night. Filmed in Toronto, Molly’s Game asks us to feel empathy for a woman whom Writer/Director Aaron Sorkin clearly feels none.
As the Movie opens, Molly (Jessica Chastain hiding under thickly applied make-up) is being arrested by the FBI. Her lawyer (Idris Elba) suggests that she tell the unedited story of her time setting-up high stakes poker games for the rich, famous, and unsavoury of both LA and New York. Unwilling to betray her personal code of ethics, Molly refuses. Instead, Molly tells us the story of her boss (Jeremy Strong), Player X (Michael Cera), and all the people she met on her way down.
The audience is expected to like Molly because she has a strict moral code which only slips due to ongoing daddy issues. (This is unambiguously explained by daddy himself, Kevin Costner, in an unneeded Third Act scene.) A worthy hot ticket if only for the cast, I’m calling Sorkin’s bluff and declaring Molly’s Game a weak ace.
eOne Films will screen Molly’s Game at TIFF ’17 at the following times:
Friday, September 8 6:00 p.m. Elgin Theatre
Saturday, September 9 11:00 a.m. Elgin Theatre
Now that’s more like it! We are still a bit bummed about Eminem cancelling on TIFF ’17, but today cheered us up! See some of the massive stars in and around town today at the world’s greatest Film Festival!
We ❤ Lady Gaga and when a last-minute addition was made to premiere her Netflix Documentary GAGA: FIVE FOOT TWO here, we realized how much that TIFF ‘17 game had stepped-up! Gaga appeared at an previously unannounced Press Conference today for the Documentary and a select handful of fans were lucky enough even to get the Selfie! She arrived right in the nick of time riding shotgun in her SUV.
I, TONYA gets its Premiere tonight and the buzz is feverish for the Tonya Harding Biopic. Stars Margot Robbie and Allison Janney are getting major Oscars buzz for their portrayals of the disgraced Figure Skater and her mother respectively. Also here is Captain America star Sebastian Stan who plays Harding‘s husband. All were incredibly-nice to fans as they did the rounds today!
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Boston Marathon Drama STRONGER comes into TIFF ’17 with some buzz and we welcome back Jake Gyllenhaal who by now should be an honourary Torontonian! Also with him were Co-Stars Miranda Richardson and Canada’s own Tatiana Maslany, the latter enjoying a Cali Love smoothie.
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Jason Sudeikis also was out earlier returning to the City where he filmed KODACHROME, which premiered here last night. Ed Harris was with him, although declining photos.
After kicking-off TIFF ’17 with Opening Gala BORG/MCENROE, Icelandic star Sverrir Gudnason was out earlier doing Press for the Film. Oddly, Co-Star Shia LaBoeuf who plays his Tennis arch-rival, was missing in action!
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Our favourite Duo are totally owning TIFF ’17! Loved seeing again Armie Hammer and TimothĂ©e Chalamet out pushing CALL ME BY YOUR NAME.
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While Eminem couldn’t make it out last night, we still loved seeing Director Joseph Kahn out tonight. He directs BODIED which got a great response last night in TIFF‘s Midnight Madness Programme.
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Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want Readers to win Advance Passes to see HAPPY DEATH DAY! Screenings take place as follows:
Toronto Oct 11 @7:00 PM Cineplex Cinemas Yonge-Eglinton
Vancouver Oct 11 @7:00 PM Scotiabank Vancouver
Edmonton Oct 11 @7:00 PM Cineplex Cinemas South Edmonton
Calgary Oct 11 @7:00 PM Landmark Shawnessy
Ottawa Oct 11 @7:00 PM Landmark Kanata
Synopsis:
Blumhouse (Split, Get Out, Whiplash) produces an original and inventive rewinding thriller in Happy Death Day, in which a college student (Jessica Rothe, La La Land) relives the day of her murder with both its unexceptional details and terrifying end until she discovers her killer’s identity.
Happy Death Day is directed by Christopher Landon (Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones) and written by Scott Lobdell and Landon.
See the Trailer:
Artwork:
To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at Mr. Will on Facebook and indicate your City.
Universal Pictures Canada release HAPPY DEATH DAY Friday, October 13, 2017.
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Opening Night Gala at TIFF ’17 is Tennis Drama BORG/McENROE. While its star Shia LaBeouf often is known for trouble in the news, he was all a gentleman for fans waiting for him at the Film’s Press Conference, walking the line signing autographs and doing photos-with. While it rained on his way out, he insisted on walking umbrella-free despite a Handler trying to keep him covered.
Later in the day, we spotted his iconic Co-Star Stellan SkarsgĂĄrd, father of Alexander and Bill, the latter destined for Box Office glory starring in Stephen King’s IT this weekend. Opting to slip early out of his Premiere, he stopped for a quick Photo before heading out for a bite.
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Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet are gaining huge Oscars momentum with their latest, an Adaptation of CALL ME BY YOUR NAME by Director Luca Guadadigno (A Bigger Splash, I Am Love). The Trio walked the Red Carpet tonight for the Film at Ryerson Theatre and were amazing, causing quite a commotion!
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It’s not every day we see Eminem in Toronto and today was supposed to be our lucky day! The Actor/Rapper produces BODIED from Music Video Auteur Joseph Kahn and was slated to appear at its Premiere at Ryerson tonight but cancelled late.
More tomorrow. We are expecting a bigger day!
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