#TIFF18: “COLD WAR” REVIEW
Review by George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong
Polish Director Pawel Pawlikowski’s follow-up to his Oscar winning “Ida” is another delectable black and white Feature that focuses strongly on his past and his heritage. Dedicated to his parents, COLD WAR is an exquisite love story between an older man and younger girl that is doomed from the start, yet lasts a decade throughout many countries in Europe during the cold war decade. Wiktor meets Zula when she auditions to join a folkloric song and ...
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#TIFF18: “ROMA” REVIEW
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
After stops at Venice (where it won the prestigious Golden Bear) and Telluride, Oscar-winning Director Alfonso Cuarón has brought ROMA to TIFF. The Film takes place in the early 1970s, revolving around live-in maid Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) and the middle-class family she works for in Mexico City’s Roma district.
The story at the heart of ROMA is important to the Film, but it comes secondary to the feeling and nostalgia Cuarón evokes in every frame ...
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#TIFF18: “HIGH LIFE” REVIEW
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
A spaceship housing criminals and screwups is heading for a Black Hole close to Earth. Monte (Robert Pattinson) is awake and tending to the care of the ship – while also taking care of his daughter, who was actually born on the ship. But not everything is cheerful as it seems.
Saying anything more would spoil the surprises legendary French Director Claire Denis has in store for audiences in her English language debut. Suffice to say, fluids are ...
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#TIFF18: “HOLD THE DARK” REVIEW
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
Medora Slone’s (Riley Keough) son has gone missing in the Alaskan wilderness. She presumes wolves have taken him, and calls in expert Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright) to help track down the body and kill the wolf who did it. But Russell suspects something is not quite right, and when her husband Vernon (Alexander Skarsgård) returns home from a tour in the Middle East, things only become more violent.
Hold the Dark is Director Jeremy Saulnier’s most ...
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#TIFF18: “FIRST MAN” REVIEW
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
After making huge splashes in Venice and Telluride, Oscar-winning Director Damien Chazelle’s First Man landed in Toronto earlier this week. The Film chronicles the true story of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) and his journey towards becoming the first man to walk on the moon.
Visually, First Man is breathtaking. The attention to detail is immense, and the way the camera claustrophobically captures action inside multiple spacecrafts is truly wondrous. ...
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#TIFF18: DAY EIGHT – GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE, JOEY KING, SOPHIE COOKSON, MIREILLE ENOS, ALAN RUCK, PETER SARSGAARD, PARKER SEVAK + MORE
By Mr. Will Wong
We're approaching the tail-end of TIFF '18 and have loved finally getting a chance to see some Movies. We can say with confidence that A STAR IS BORN will be a huge force and will gain plenty of momentum out of the Festival as it embarks on Awards Season. We even conducted a poll on which Film our Readers think will win the coveted People's Choice Award!
What will be your #TIFF18 People's Choice winner?
— MR. WILL WONG 📸 (@mrwillw) September 13, ...
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#TIFF18: “THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER” REVIEW
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year (where it won Best Director for Sara Colangelo), The Kindergarten Teacher lands in Toronto for its Canadian Premiere. Lisa Spinelli (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a bored Kindergarten teacher who yearns to be noticed and appreciated by her family and her night-time poetry class. By chance, she hears her five-year-old student Jimmy Roy (Parker Sevak) reciting his own poetry, and sets out to assist ...
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#TIFF18: “JEREMIAH TERMINATOR LEROY” REVIEW
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy tells the true story of Laura (Laura Dern) who created a writing persona called Jeremiah ‘Terminator’ LeRoy. When questions arise about who this LeRoy guy is she gets her sister-in-law, Savannah (Kristen Stewart), to play him in public. This Film will be having its World Premiere as the Closing Night Gala.
This true story is brought to life beautifully and full of authentic humour by Writer-Director Justin Kelly. These ...
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#TIFF18: “SHOPLIFTERS” REVIEW
Review by George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong
Not only did SHOPLIFTERS win the prestigious Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, it should be a shoo-in for a Best Foreign Film nomination this Awards Season and, most importantly, be a must-see at TIFF '18 this year. Set in a slums part of Tokyo rarely seen on the big screen, a poor family of five augment their low paying jobs and monthly pension by stealing from stores for essentials like food and shampoo. When they add an abandoned ...
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#TIFF18: “WHAT THEY HAD” REVIEW
Review by George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong
As someone who has personally experienced the insidiousness of Alzheimer’s Disease, WHAT THEY HAD is one of the few movies that features the day to day horrors one is subjected to. When Ruth (a terrific, yet underutilized Blythe Danner) is found in the hospital after wandering the streets of Chicago on a snowy winter night clad only in her nightgown, her son Nick (Michael Shannon, exceptional as always) calls his sister in California, Bridget (Hilary ...
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