We live for TIFF and our hearts are filled with gratitude that we live in the City with the greatest Film Festival in the world! Team Mr. Will break-down for you their top Films to look-out for at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. With single tickets going on sale to the public Monday, September 4, 2017 at 10:00 AM EST, perhaps you could use a bit of inspiration for your own Festival picks?
From our Family to yours…
Siobhán Rich (@Typo_Eh)
Pop culture played a big part in my picks this year with The Room, Barack Obama and Wonder Woman playing key roles in three of my selections. The other two premiered at festivals earlier this year to wide acclaim are are sure to be on everyone’s top Films of 2017.
BPM (Beats Per Minute)
Call Me By Your Name
The Disaster Artist
The Final Year
Professor Marston and the Women
Jonathan Godfrey (@Skot_Somers)
This year I’m sticking to Indies! First off there’s Cannes darling, The Square. A satirical look at the Post-Modern Art World and all of its troubling social issues. Second is Jane, a Documentary about the beloved primatologist Jane Goodall. Third, The Lodgers, is an Irish Horror that was shot in one of the country’s most harrowing haunted houses. Fourth, Apostasy. The aptly-titled Film focuses on a rebellious youth within a controlling cult. Lastly, my only non-Indie, The Shape of Water. The latest Monster Movie from Toronto’s adopted son, Guillermo del Toro. All good and hopefully great. Time will tell. Have a happy Festival!
The Square
Jane
The Lodgers
Apostasy
The Shape of Water
Justin Waldman (@DubsReviews)
The Disaster Artist
James Franco tackles The Room in adapting the Book written by Greg Sestero who played “Mark” in arguably one of the worst movies ever made, The Room.
Unicorn Store
Brie Larson makes her directorial debut with an extraordinary cast.
The Florida Project
From the director of Tangerine this small Indie film will be one of the standouts from the Festival as well without a doubt.
Molly’s Game
Aaron Sorkin script. Aaron Sorkin directing.
mother!
Early reviews and buzz out of Venice, alleviate all rumours surrounding its changed release date.
Amanda Gilmore (@GilmoreAmanda)
The Disaster Artist
This Film is hilarious from beginning to end and James Franco gives the performance of his career as Tommy Wiseau. It will delight Midnight Madness fans, The Room fans and everyone else that sees it.
Call Me By Your Name
Since Sundance, this Film has received rave reviews for the story, direction, and acting. It’s sure to garner multiple award nominations and possibly some wins come Awards Season.
Downsizing
As soon as it screened at the Venice Film Festival it was a sure fire hit calling it Alexander Payne’s finest work.
The Florida Project
Sean Baker impressed audiences with his directorial debut Tangerine and now he’s back with this touching examination of familial love. Set around a daughter and her young mother living in a motel, this will be the tearjerker of the Festival.
Lady Bird
Greta Gerwig has written some brilliant female roles over the past few years. Now she’s making her directorial debut with her latest script starring Saoirse Ronan.
David Baldwin (@DaveMABaldwin)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
I saw the Trailer for this Movie back in March and was on-board immediately. Frances McDormand looks like the perfect match for Martin McDonagh‘s spectacular writing.
The Disaster Artist
I love The Room, and the behind the scenes story is the most fascinating, hilarious, ludicrous and absolutely insane thing I have ever read. I have been waiting ever so patiently since SXSW to experience the madness — and bonus points because it will be at Midnight Madness with the maestro himself, Tommy Wiseau, in the audience.
mother!
I know literally nothing about this Film beyond it starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, and that it is directed by Darren Aronofsky. That’s more than enough to get me excited. The posters have been cryptic at best, so I’m really hoping that I’m rewarded for going in blind.
Mom and Dad
The premise of parents killing their kids for 24 hours had my curiosity. Having Nicolas Cage in the leading role got my attention.
Manhunt
John Woo‘s return to the kind of action movies that influenced a generation of Filmmakers and film fans. If there aren’t any doves or dual wielding pistols, I’m rioting.
Mr. Will (@mrwillw)
Having seen a handful of the key TIFF ’17 titles, I am the greatest champion for Sundance favourite CALL ME BY YOUR NAME. I love Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love, A Bigger Splash)‘s work and once again he pushes the boundaries and our perceptions of love in this beautifully-told Novel adaptation. It is gorgeous, a bit dangerous and emotional – everything a TIFF Film should be. I have yet to see I, Tonya and mother! but both have great pedigrees and with that come high hopes. The Disaster Artist was magical, Battle of the Sexes was superb. That being said, my Top Five are as follows:
Call Me By Your Name
I, Tonya
mother!
The Disaster Artist
Battle of the Sexes
Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong
A common thread in films this year has been the importance of family. After debuting to critical praise at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the Safdie Brothers’ latest outing explores this theme by looking at the lengths brothers will go to for one another. With the bulk of the Film taking place over the course of a single night, Good Time is the well-paced story of a hustler, a bank robbery, and a series of very unfortunate events.
Despite Connie Nikas’ (Robert Pattinson) need to manipulate everyone around him, the one driving force in his life is his brother, Nick (Ben Safdie). When Connie’s greed causes a bank heist to go bad and his brother is caught by the police, Connie is determined to get him out of jail no matter what it takes. Acting first and thinking third results in a series of mishaps including breaking the wrong person out of police custody and breaking into a theme park in the middle of the night. Even as the police try and track him down for a mounting series of crimes, Connie remains focused on freeing his brother.
Although many British actors portray Americans onscreen few of Pattinson’s contemporaries have mastered the accent with his aplomb. Nothing brings an audience back to reality faster than hearing their New York protagonist suddenly say certain words in a very proper English accent. While it may seem like an odd facet of his portrayal to focus on, it speaks well to Pattinson’s dedication to his craft that he attempts to perfect every aspect of the character.
The Movie also boasts an impressive supporting cast including Oscar two nominees: Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight). But the real standout is Taliah Webster whose portrayal of Crystal skillfully balances both the naiveté and world weariness of her character.
From the slightly grainy film quality to the generous use of close-ups, Good Time is reminiscent of early 80s David Cronenberg. Adding to this aesthetic is composer Daniel Lopatin’s synth-heavy score which plays behind a New York reminiscent of a grittier, pre-Giuliani era. To create this Cronenbergian mood, Co-Directors Ben and Josh Safdie surrounded themselves with a familiar team including Co-ascreenwriter Ronald Bronstein and Cinematographer Sean Price Williams.
At the end of the day much of the Movie’s success lies with Pattinson. His performance grounds the Movie and makes the audience empathize with a morally-ambiguous antihero even as he makes a series of ever more questionable choices in his quest to save his brother. In a summer of stand-out Independent Films this one promises a Good Time will be had by all.
Elevation Pictures release Good Time on Friday, August 18, 2017.
Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong
Remakes are tricky animals: the director is faced with the dilemma of both honouring the original and putting their own unique stamp on the new Film. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes the director hits out of the park and is awarded with the Best Director Award at Cannes. The Beguiled elevates itself above the source material and marks a welcome return to form for Writer/Director Sophia Coppola.
The Film opens in 1863 when Amy (Southpaw’s Oona Laurence) discovers a wounded Union soldier (Colin Farrell) near her boarding school. The other residents of the school are less eager to assist the Irishman but the school’s headmistress, Martha Farnsworth (Nicole Kidman with a well-practiced southern accent) agrees to sew his leg up and nurse him back to health. During his convalescence, Corporal McBurney meets all the residents of the school including the disenchanted Alicia (Elle Fanning) and the sole remaining teacher, Edwina Dabney (a woefully underused Kirsten Dunst). As he ingratiates himself into their lives, the residents of the school find themselves changing to suit the enemy solider they have brought into their fold.
Not enough can be said about the exquisite Cinematography from Philippe Le Sourd. Even with the sound of guns and cannons in the background, the opening moments of the Film evoke the sultry beauty of a French impressionist painting. Later, this same juxtaposition is captured when the camera pans across the country side to a scene worthy of a Dutch master marred only by plumes of black smoke to remind the audience of the dark realities of war.
Coppola uses visual contrasts skillfully throughout the Film to build toward the final climax where the tame animal the women have brought into their home finally turns on them. From the clothing choices made by each character to the final scene where they gather united on the front porch but are seen from the other side of the wrought iron fence still imprisoned in their roles by the mores of the time. By removing the male gaze which hangs so prominently over the 1971 Clint Eastwood vehicle, the women of Miss Martha Farnsworth’s School for Girls are each given purpose and enfranchisement.
The greatest triumph of Coppola’s Film over its 1971 predecessor will be in its stamp on film history. The original Movie is known for its male star. While Farrell’s Irish mercenary is interesting enough this remake will be remembered for its stellar female cast. Kidman, Dunst and Fanning play their roles of different phases of female sexual empowerment with a deft touch: Kidman looking for companionship, Dunst searching for love, and Fanning looking to rebel. Even Laurence’s young Amy is given a chance to preen when the Corporal calls her his best friend. Unlike in the Don Siegel-directed original, the soldier is not empowering the women but rather is the tool through which they each find their own strengths.
Hearing that Sophia Coppola is at the helm of any Movie is usually enough to woo any film lover but with The Beguiled the Writer/Director has truly outdone herself and firmly established herself as one of the best directors of her generation.
Universal Pictures Canada opens THE BEGUILED on Friday, June 30, 2017.
We love this time of the year as production picks-up in Toronto. Among the great things filming in our City is an intriguing new Thriller called STRANGE BUT TRUE, which recently was pitched at Cannes. Starring Greg Kinnear and Amy Ryan, the Film centers around a woman who five years after her boyfriend’s death, shows up at his family’s door to tell them she’s pregnant with his child. Although they try to believe her, they find out the truth is rather terrifying. Rowan Athale directs and it films through mid-July. Nick Robinson, Brian Cox, Blythe Danner and Connor Jessup also star.
We spotted the amazing Kinnear, whom while no stranger to Toronto having filmed The Kennedys here, hasn’t been here in a bit. The weather thankfully cooperated today as it filmed on the Lakeshore and while he was headed to lunch, he was so kind to stop for a quick snap!
See our Snap:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong/Sony Pictures)
Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver a chance to see Sofia Coppola‘s THE BEGUILED on Monday, June 26, 2017.
Synopsis:
World-premiering at the 2017 Cannes International Film Festival. “The Beguiled” is an atmospheric thriller from acclaimed writer/director Sofia Coppola. The story unfolds during the Civil War, at a Southern girls’ boarding school. Its sheltered young women take in an injured enemy soldier. As they provide refuge and tend to his wounds, the house is taken over with sexual tension and dangerous rivalries, and taboos are broken in an unexpected turn of events.
See the Trailer:
Artwork:
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Universal Pictures Canada release THE BEGUILED Friday, June 30, 2017.
(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)
Paul Verhoeven’s eclectic career has won him legions of Fans in both the mainstream and Arthouse worlds. The Basic Instinct helmer continually has pushed the envelope with several bright spots in his career like Starship Troopers, Total Recall, RoboCop and we actually “got” Showgirls and are unafraid to admit it.
He returns with French psycho-sexual Thriller Elle, which after drawing several raves at Cannes and TIFF ’16, now makes its way to theatres as France’s official Foreign Language submission at the Oscars.
Centering on video game company executive Michèle (Isabelle Huppert) who mysteriously gets attacked, she makes it a mission to find her assailant after failing to get the help of police. He edges-in dangerously close, ready to attack again at any moment and the suspense at times becomes unbearable.
Cleverly-crafted, we find ourselves mesmerized by the effortless cool of Michèle in what is an unforgettable performance by the legendary Huppert. We navigate through her complex world of lies, secrecy and seduction. All the while she must consolidate her strained familial relationships with her mother, son and her imprisoned father, while we learn more about her deep, dark past.
Mongrel Media release ELLE Friday, November 18, 2016.
After winning the Jury Prize in Cannes earlier this year and premiering at TIFF ’16, this is your chance to attend an Advance Screening of AMERICAN HONEY. Screenings take place in Toronto, Ottawa and Winnipeg the following dates:
Toronto – Oct. 12th, 2016, 7:30PM
Yonge & Dundas (10 Dundas St E #402, Toronto, ON M5B 2G9)
Winnipeg – October 12th, 2016, 7PM
Grant Park (1120 Grant Ave Unit 127, Winnipeg, MB R3M 2A6)
Ottawa– October 12th, 2016, 7:30PM
Scotiabank Ottawa (2385 City Park Dr, Gloucester, ON K1J 1G1)
Synopsis:
Star (Sasha Lane), a teenage girl from a troubled home runs away with a travelling sales crew that drives across the American mid-west selling Magazine subscriptions door to door. Finding her feet in this gang of teenagers, one of whom is Jake (Shia LaBeouf), she soon gets into the group’s lifestyle of hard partying, law-bending and young love.
See the Trailer:
Artwork:
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Lane + Mr. Will
Elevation Pictures release AMERICAN HONEY on:
October 14, 2016 – Toronto, Montreal
October 28, 2016 – Halifax, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria
(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)
Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong
In Canada we tend to hold our exalted heroes to a higher standard: their greatness must be maintained and never tainted with the mediocrity we accept from lesser mortals. In recent years Quebec’s Xavier Dolan has been hailed as a new archetype of Film Deity at whose altar Cinephiles worship and with offerings of praise and critical acclaim. Thus in May when word from Cannes suggested his latest Film, It’s Only the End of the World, was less than perfection Canadians were quick to rally around their hero.
Adapted from a play by Jean-Luc Lagarce, the French, subtitled Film follows the laconic Louis (Saint Laurent’s Gaspard Ulliel) as he travels home for the first time in 12 years. Before he can break the news that he is dying he is swept up into his family’s complicated internal dynamics. The brooding Antoine (Vincent Cassel) is resentful of the attention his prodigal younger brother is receiving from both the family and his timid wife Catherine (Marion Cotillard). Louis’ younger sister Suzanne (Léa Seydoux) is desperate for attention and approval from her absentee brother. And the family matriarch (Nathalie Baye) is torn between treating her son like visiting royalty and desperately wanting to keep him tied to her home.
Typical of the director’s style, Dolan leaves nothing to chance in this intimate character study. Having put his stamp of approval on everything from the costumes to the note perfect music it would seem logical that everything would come together as it had in his previous Films. Instead everyone seems to be trying too hard and the dramatic dénouement comes off as over-wrought rather than meaningful.
Had almost any other director’s name been attached to this film it would have been given passing nods of middling praise as a Canadian success. From Dolan, however, It’s Only the End of the World can only be called a rare misstep into the world of mediocrity.
eOne Films release It’s Only the End of the World on XXXX.
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 searing and deeply emotional portrait of two adults determined to survive – and for good reason. The Film plays a bit episodically, but it is downright heartbreaking throughout. Its utterly frigid third act feels like a punch in the face by the time the credits roll. While Loach’s filmmaking coupled with Paul Laverty’s screenplay play like a damning and slightly melodramatic essay against the British government, every performance more than makes up for it. Johns is terrific as the titular Daniel, but Squires steals the show with every devastating moment she has to go through. Their work here will likely be the most raw and genuine you see during TIFF ’16. It might be an aggravating experience, but I, Daniel Blake demands to be seen.
Just be sure to bring tissues.
I, DANIEL BLAKE screens at TIFF ’16 on Monday, September 12, 2016 at 8:30 PM at Scotiabank 1
and Friday, September 16, 2016 at 6:00 PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox 1.
Paul Verhoeven’s eclectic career has won him legions of Fans in both the mainstream and Arthouse worlds. The Basic Instinct helmer continually has pushed the envelope with several bright spots in his career like Starship Troopers, Total Recall, RoboCop and we actually “got” Showgirls and are unafraid to admit it.
He returns with French psycho-sexual Thriller Elle, which after drawing several raves at Cannes, now makes its way to Toronto where it should make a splash.
Centering on video game company executive Michèle (Isabelle Huppert) who mysteriously gets attacked, she makes it a mission to find her assailant after failing to get the help of police. He edges-in dangerously close, ready to attack again at any moment and the suspense at time becomes unbearable.
Cleverly-crafted, we find ourselves mesmerized by the effortless cool of Michèle in what is an unforgettable performance by the legendary Huppert. We navigate through her complex world of lies, secrecy and seduction. All the while she must consolidate her strained familial relationships with her mother, son and her imprisoned father, while we learn more about her deep, dark past.
ELLE screens at TIFF ’16 Friday, September 9, 2016 at 5:30 PM VISA Screening Room and Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 9:00 AM TIFF Bell Lightbox.
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