#TIFF23: “DICKS: THE MUSICAL” REVIEW
By Amanda Gilmore
Dicks: The Musical is an instant Cult Classic.
Based on the off-Broadway musical Fucking Identical Twins by Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson (who also co-write and star here), you better believe there has never been a film quite like this before. It’s an uproarious Musical-Comedy riff off of The Parent Trap that needs to be seen to be believed.
It follows identical twin brothers Craig (Sharp) and Trevor (Jackson) who’ve never met each other. One was ...
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#TIFF23: “WILDCAT” REVIEW
By Amanda Gilmore
Ethan Hawke returns to the Director’s chair to explore the life and art of American Author Flannery O’Connor, who’s stunningly portrayed by his own daughter Maya Hawke.
Hawke and Co-Writer Shelby Gaines’s Script focuses on O’Connor’s life when she left New York City in 1950 and returned home to live with her mother Regina (a dazzling Laura Linney). It was here that she was diagnosed with lupus. At the ...
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#TIFF23: “FAIR PLAY” REVIEW
By Amanda Gilmore
Chloe Domont makes an assured, bold feature debut with the riveting Fair Play.
It follows couple Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) who live and work together, leading them to live double lives. In their private life, they are madly in love and share a cosy apartment. In their work life, their relationship is strictly platonic as it is a violation of company policy at their firm. Their love becomes tested ...
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#TIFF23: “EZRA” REVIEW
By George Kozera
EZRA opens with stand-up comedian Max Bernal (Bobby Cannavale) as he regales the audience at a comedy club with funny and insightful observations, some of which include his being a father of an autistic son named Ezra (William Fitzgerald), who lives with his soon-to-be ex-wife Jenna (Rose Byrne). Max, who was once a successful comedy writer, now lives with his father Stan (Robert De Niro), a no nonsense, pugilistic individual who had been fired from many high-profile ...
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#TIFF23: “FOUR DAUGHTERS” REVIEW
By Amanda Gilmore
The latest from Writer-Director Kaouther Ben Hania, who was the Co-Winner of the Cannes ’23 Golden Eye Award, tells a heartbreaking story through a hybrid Documentary and Drama model.
It tells the true story of Olfa Hamrouni and her four daughters. Documenting the story of how her two eldest daughters, Ghofrane and Rahma, disappeared in 2015 (aged 16 and 15) and how that shaped and emotionally affected the lives of Olfa and her two youngest daughters, Eya and Tayssir ...
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#TIFF23: “FINGERNAILS” REVIEW
By Mr. Will Wong
Christos Nikou makes his English feature directorial debut in Toronto-filmed FINGERNAILS. It's quirky, cute and will make you squeamish. All of that in one sitting.
Though the Film dons a nostalgia to it, it is set in the future. Couples now have the ability to test if in fact their love is true at an institute specializing in finger nail tests, putting couples through intimacy-enhancing activities. Anna (Jessie Buckley) lands a job at the institute after testing ...
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#TIFF23: DAY SIX SIGHTINGS – JESSICA CHASTAIN, PETER SARSGAARD, MICHEL FRANCO, OREN KINLAN, JOHN CARNEY AND CHRISTOS NIKOU
As TIFF '23 begins to wind down, we enjoyed a much more leisurely pace today. Any time Jessica Chastain comes to town, we show up just like she always shows up for her fans. Despite only having four minutes to greet her fans, who lined the street outside Royal Alexandra Theatre for Michel Franco's MEMORY, she made the most of it, walking the line interacting with everyone. She is just absolutely lovely and still despite her stature and success, THE NICEST CELEBRITY ON THE PLANET. Her care ...
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#TIFF23: “FLORA AND SON” REVIEW
By Amanda Gilmore
Flora and Son is the feel-good film of the year.
Dubliner Flora (Eve Hewson) is a young mother struggling to connect with her teenage son Max (Orén Kinlan). Max has stolen and been caught one too many times. If caught again he’ll be sent to juvie. Knowing Max has an interest in music, Flora brings home an acoustic guitar with the hopes it’ll keep him out of trouble. Unfortunately, Max doesn't take the bait. Stuck with the guitar, Flora decides to learn it and takes ...
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#TIFF23: “LIMBO” REVIEW
By Amanda Gilmore
Australian auteur Ivan Sen delivers a slow-burning Crime Drama that plays as a commentary on the justice system.
Detective Travis Hurley (Simon Baker) arrives in the Southern Australian mining town of Limbo to investigate the 20-year-old cold case of Charlotte, a local Indigenous girl. Travis has a hunch that the killer may still live locally.
Charlotte’s murder was met with apathy by the investigating officers and the non-Indigenous townsfolk at the time…and ...
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#TIFF23: “THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE” REVIEW
By George Kozera
Germany's official entry for Best International Feature for the 2023 Academy Awards, THE TEACHERS LOUNGE is an extraordinary movie that tackles issues as diverse as racism, teenage rebellion, and misinterpreted events or comments with aplomb and startling finesse. Due to a series of thefts at a high school, a seventh-grade Turkish student is interrogated by school executives, where new math teacher Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch in a hypnotic performance) is an unwilling ...
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