#TIFF16: “PATERSON”

Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong Everyone goes through phases in their lives when they allow themselves dream and to be more than the box society has prepared for them: they embrace their identities as anarchists, heroes, poets, or artists. It is only when outside forces conspire to suggest that reality should be free of symbolism or poetry that people begin to forget their dreams and accept settling. Paterson (Adam Driver at his finest) is a former Marine from Paterson, New Jersey. ... Read more

#SPOTTED: TIFF DAY 4 SIGHTINGS – AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON, MICHAEL SHANNON, RACHEL WEISZ, TARAJI P. HENSON, RAMI MALEK, OLIVIA COOKE, BILL NIGHY + MORE

TIFF fever continues throughout Toronto on the Festival's fourth day!  Premieres took place tonight including Fashion icon Tom Ford's NOCTURNAL ANIMALS starring Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and an in-absentia Jake Gyllenhaal.  Also premiering tonight was Oscar bait DENIAL starring Rachel Weisz over at Princess of Wales Theatre.  THE PROMISE starring Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale also premiered at Roy Thomson Hall tonight. An A-List Cast including Matthew McConaughey, ... Read more

#TIFF16: “DENIAL”

Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong Some facts are so basic that they are not questioned: the sky is blue, Elvis is dead, and millions of Jewish men, women, and children were the victims of a genocide acted out by the Nazi party during World War II. In the mid-1990’s American Deborah Lipstadt was sued in the British courts for defamation for calling Holocaust denier David Irving a “liar and falsifier of history.” Lipstadt was forced to prove her innocence by putting history on ... Read more

#TIFF16: “IT’S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD”

Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong Auteur Xavier Dolan returns to TIFF this year with a Film but with the weight of expectations on him, we have come to expect even more of the Master Filmmaker. Unfortunately Fans expecting something as great and heartfelt as Mommy might feel a bit underwhelmed. The story focuses on Louis (Gaspard Ulliel) who has been away from home for an extended period, only to return home announcing to his family that he is terminally-ill. Upon his return, ... Read more

#TIFF16: “I, DANIEL BLAKE”

Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong Daniel (Dave Johns) is on mandatory work leave after suffering a heart attack. His doctors will not approve his going back to work, but the government has deemed him fit to return. As he fights to collect his Employment and Support Allowance, he befriends single mother Katie (Hayley Squires), who is struggling to provide for her two young children. Director Ken Loach won the prestigious Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for this ... Read more

#TIFF16: “JULIETA”

Review by George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong Wunderkind auteur, Spanish Oscar-winning director Pedro Almodovar returns to TIFF '16 with JULIETA, a melodramatic female-centric Film that focuses on guilt and grief. Adapted from short stories written by Nobel prize winner, Alice Munro, the Movie opens in Madrid with Julieta (Emma Suarez) about to move to Portugal with her lover until a chance meeting with her estranged daughter’s best friend. Abandoning her plans, she stays behind in Madrid and ... Read more

#TIFF16: “AMERICAN HONEY”

Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong It wouldn't be TIFF if it weren't divisive, right?  Andrea Arnold’s American Honey should play well to the Arthouse-craving Festival crowd, although we're unsure how the mainstream might perceive it. American Honey starts off by introducing us to our main character Star (Sasha Lane) and how fed-up she is with the daily grind. Whether that be her abusive and less than caring boyfriend or it be her sister's children that she took upon herself to ... Read more

#TIFF16: “WINDOW HORSES”

Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong Growing up, National Film Board Animated Shorts like The Cat Came Back and Log Driver’s Waltz helped define what it meant to be Canadian. They represented a support of the arts and a style of animation that were unique and unlike anything produced elsewhere at the time. Ann Marie Fleming’s Movie Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming) is a nostalgic return to those halcyon days at the NFB. Rosie (Sandra Oh) was raised by her ... Read more

#TIFF16: “MOONLIGHT”

Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong We are rarely the same people as children that we are as teenagers or adults. Outside forces like time, family, and even social status shape our world views and mold our characters. In writer/director Barry Jenkin’s brilliant new Film, Moonlight, we witness how seemingly small actions and insights change one boy’s life at childhood, adolescence, and finally adulthood. When Juan (Mahershala Ali) first happens upon 9-year-old Little (Alex R. ... Read more

#TIFF16: “PERSONAL SHOPPER”

Auteur and Festival favourite Olivier Assayas returns with his latest, Personal Shopper, an eclectic mixture of the supernatural, a Thriller and heartfelt Drama. Reuniting with numerous members of the cast from Clouds of Sils Maria, this is truly unlike anything we've ever seen. Front and center in a phenomenal performance is Kristen Stewart as Maureen, whose fraternal twin dies suddenly in Paris. Her brother we learn like she, was a medium and she becomes obsessed with any confirmation from ... Read more