STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS returns to Disney+ Friday, February 21, 2020. The critically-acclaimed Series reaches a conclusion over these twelve brand-new episodes!

See the Trailer:

(Photo/video: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada)

Hot off its Golden Globe wins this past weekend, 1917 expands to 3,434 theatres this weekend for Universal Pictures, taking top spot at the Box Office with $34 million. The Sam Mendes war flick gets 89% on the Tomatometer and also an A- CinemaScore. Looks like momentum is peaking right in-time for Monday’s Oscar nominations.

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER still is going strong in second with $17.3 million for Disney, a tally of $477 million domestically in its run so far.

Third spot goes to JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL which still continues to perform for Sony Pictures with $13 million, a total $255 million gross over five weeks.

LIKE A BOSS debuts in fourth spot with $12 million in 3,078 theatres for Paramount Pictures. The Comedy sees 21% on the Tomatometer and a B CinemaScore.

JUST MERCY opens in sixth with $10.5 million from 3,275 theatres for Warner Bros. It gets 82% on the Tomatometer and an exceptional A+ CinemaScore.

UNDERWATER debuts in ninth with $6 million from 2,791 theatres for 20th Century Fox/Disney. 

SPIES IN DISGUISE rounds-out the Top Ten with $5.2 million for 20th Century Fox/Disney.

For a third straight week it’s all about STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER with a take of $37 million from 4,406 theatres for Disney. This brings its run in North America to $454 million.

In second is JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL with $24.5 million from 4,134 theatres for Sony Pictures.

Third goes to THE GRUDGE with $13 million from 2,642 theatres also for Sony Pictures. The Reboot gets an F CinemaScore and 19% on the Tomatometer. Franchise best still goes to 2004’s original with $39.1 million and a #1 debut.

Fourth is LITTLE WOMEN with $12 million, a healthy $58 million over two weeks domestically for Sony Pictures.

UNCUT GEMS gets eighth spot with $5.8 million from 2,686 theatres for A24/Netflix.

CATS is at the bottom of the Top Ten with $2.5 million for Universal Pictures in its second week out.

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER makes it two weeks on-top, taking $89.6 million at the Box Office week two this post-Christmas Holiday weekend, from 4,406 theatres. Thus far, it has grossed $380.9 million domestically for Disney.

JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL is second with $30.8 million from 4,227 theatres for Sony Pictures. It has grossed $176 million in its third week.

FROZEN 2 takes third with $18.5 million, a total $423 million in its sixth weekend for Disney.

LITTLE WOMEN debuts in fourth with $18 million for Sony Pictures, from 3,308 theatres. Greta Gerwig‘s Adaptation gets 95% on the Tomatometer.

SPIES IN DISGUISE opens in fifth with $13.1 million from 3,502 theatres for 20th Century Fox. It gets 73% on the Tomatometer and an A- CinemaScore.

UNCUT GEMS lands in sixth with $10.9 million for A24/Netflix, expanding to 2,341 theatres. It gets 93% on the Tomatometer and oddly, a disproportionate C+ CinemaScore.

CATS in its second week out gets $5.1 million from 3,380 theatres for Universal Pictures.

RICHARD JEWELL rounds-out the Top Ten with $2.9 million for Warner Bros., a total $16 million in three weeks.

2019 was a remarkable year in Cinema. More than ever are we seeing Netflix and female Directors at the forefront and you will see this in the Team’s year’s best. Once again we are thrilled to share our favourites with you and would love to see how these align with your own personal faves. If you haven’t caught-up yet on your 2019 viewing, we hope the Team gives you some inspiration for your Holiday viewing!

Enjoy the rest of your Holidays and to an even more amazing 2020!

Team Mr. Will

L to R: Jonathan Godfrey, David & Alyssa Baldwin, George Kozera, Justin Waldman x Mr. Will

(There in spirit: Amanda Gilmore, Siobhán Rich)

A farewell to beloved Thompson Diner, where we held our 2019 Holiday Brunch.

In my opinion, this year has been one of the strongest years in Film for a VERY long time. We had amazing diverse creative talents in front and behind the camera who have worked together to make outstanding work, which is precisely why making this Top Ten list has been extremely difficult for me. I would love to write a Top 30 list if I was allowed, but sadly I’m not. Because of this, I have made my list according to my favourite films of the year that I could also re-watch multiple times for years to come. I have also added some honourable mentions because let’s face it, this year was flipping awesome!

DISCLAIMER: I have yet to see 1917 at the time of writing this list.

The Films below are listed in alphabetical order, they are not ranked.

Booksmart
Honey Boy
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Knives Out
Late Night
Little Women
Marriage Story
Parasite
Us

Honourable Mentions:
The Peanut Butter Falcon: an extremely touching and unique coming-of-age story.
Ready Or Not: an inventive thriller with one wickedly funny and badass female lead.
Rocketman: I LOVE Elton John and this film was a knockout!

Written in order the release, the following are my faves for 2019: winter began with If Beale Street Could Talk, a tale of struggle set to a mesmerizing score. Next, Alita: Battle Angel, a great anime adaptation with mesmerizing MOCAP (Motion Capture) work. Spring brought Toy Story 4, a 3D spectacle for the ages; and Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood, another spectacular Script from Tarantino. IT Chapter 2 scared me silly this summer, and A Hidden Life was my TIFF ’19 darling. Fall brought with it a Trilogy of favorites: the powerful performance piece, Joker; the breathtaking animation of Frozen 2; and of course, a forever favorite, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Winter has returned, and with it, Little Women, a wondrous adaption to warm this holiday season. I have high hopes for 2020, including: Dune, Tenet, Mulan, No Time to Die and Bill & Ted Face the Music.

GEORGE KOZERA (@PartyG on Twitter)

2019 was a banner year for me, watching movies in a darkened theatre. I saw many impressive features from either first-time Directors or from established awards winners. Netflix, the little distribution company that could, released movies that were eclectic in genres and superior in quality and for the second year in a row, one of its offerings made my list as Number One. I saw movies that bored deeply into my skin and heart and mind and soul. It is with apologies to the Christmas releases that I have yet to see (Little Women, Bombshell, 1917, Uncut Gems) and too many Honorable Mentions to list that I submit my Top Ten of 2019:

1. Marriage Story
2. Jojo Rabbit
3. Waves
4. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
5. Parasite
6. The Irishman
7. Knives Out
8. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
9. Joker
10. Rocketman

JUSTIN WALDMAN (@DubsReviews on Twitter)

2019 has certainly been an interesting year for movies. We saw the end of The Skywalker Saga, the warfare between Netflix and Distributors continues to grow increasingly-tense, Scorsese and Iger are teasing a conversation. Movies had more surprises this year, and there have been some genuinely heartwarming and enlightening movies this year. In alphabetical order here are my top 10 movies to end out the decade.

Booksmart
Olivia Wilde directing Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever may have been the most unexpected, most hilarious thing I have seen all year but this Movie is endlessly-fantastic. It is the only Movie I have seen countless times this year, it became an instant classic for myself, that will be adored for the ages.

Jojo Rabbit
Taika Waititi in my mind can do no wrong when it comes to filmmaking. Ragnarok, What We Do In The Shadows,and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Waititi constantly delivers genuinely heartwarming and hilarious movies. Jojo Rabbit is no exception to that, the WWII satire is everything I expected of it and more.

Joker
I love some brilliant Joaquin. I love me some Joker. I just love this Movie. It is haunting and ingenious, but please for everything that makes this great, do not make a Sequel.

Knives Out
This Whodunit was one of the biggest questions from this Agatha Christie-esque film. It was marvelously-acted, packs a punch, and let’s face it, were all obsessing about knitted sweaters now.

The Lighthouse
I couldn’t begin to tell you what I thought I was getting myself into when I went to see this. All I can tell you is that it is one of the strangest, brilliant movies I’ve seen all year and I still think about it all these months later.

Little Women
Moment of truth, this was my first Little Women and what Greta Gerwig manages to do with it is nothing short of inspiring. However when you have Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Timothée Chalamet, Meryl Streep and Saoirse Ronan its also hard not to be delighted the entire time.

Midsommar
This was horrifying. Ari Aster still manages to haunt me with his brilliant Horror Film. The Director’s Cut is significantly better than the theatrical cut as well, as well as more haunting when you pay attention to the background. There is nothing else to say.

Parasite
If you’ve seen it, you know EXACTLY why its on the list. If you have not, why are you waiting? Stop reading immediately and go see the Movie. There is literally no reason not to. It is brilliant and deserves all the acclaim.

Uncut Gems
Give Sandman everything. This Movie is neurotic, anxiety-inducing acid and you cannot look away. I felt dirty after watching the Movie, but I can’t shake it. Adam Sandler has never delivered a better performance.

Waves
This Movie broke me, is the easiest way to put it. It is beautiful, it is tragic, it is heartwarming, it is heartbreaking. This Movie launches a rocket right into the feelings and explodes on impact.

2020, you’re the start of a new decade, you better deliver as well as if not better than 2019.

DAVID BALDWIN (@DaveMABaldwin on Twitter)

1. Parasite
2. Jojo Rabbit
3. Marriage Story
4. The Farewell
5. Us
6. Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood
7. Honey Boy
8. Blinded By The Light
9. 1917
10. Booksmart

2019 will go down as one of the best years for Film this decade – maybe even the singular best one. There is so much to say about these ten brilliant Films, and even more to say about the multitude of films that did not make this list. Yes, many will remember this year for the end of The Avengers and Star Wars Sagas. But others will remember it for the magnificent new discoveries that were made, for the masters making some of their best work to date and for the actors we completely wrote-off giving us plenty of reasons to remember them again. I lived, breathed and loved so many movies this year. And know that with the impending birth of my first child, that so much about next year and the next decade of my filmgoing life is going to be so drastically different. So it might just be the nostalgia talking, but I doubt I will ever see another exquisite year of Cinema like this ever again.

Mr. Will’s 2019 Best-Of List is here.

(Photo credit: Netflix/Fox Searchlight/MK2/Mongrel Media/Sony Pictures/Mr. Will Wong)

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER flies high in its debut with $195 million from 4,406 theatres for Disney, capping-off 40 years of Star Wars films. While Reviews have been mixed at 57% on the Tomatometer, a B+ CinemaScore helps its cause a bit.  To place it in context with other Films in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, this still is unable to surpass the first, THE FORCE AWAKENS which in 2015 nabbed $245 million in its debut.

Second spot belongs to JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL, which is a distant second with $42 million from 4,227 theatres for Sony Pictures, taking it past the $120 million in its second week domestically.

In third is FROZEN 2 with $14 million, nearing that $400 million-mark in North America for Disney.

Fourth is CATS with $10 million from 3,380 theatres for Universal Pictures.  Critics have panned Tom Hooper‘s Musical Adaptation with 19% on the Tomatometer and a C+ CinemaScore.

BOMBSHELL continues to see the benefits of great word of mouth, landing in fifth with $7.5 million from 1,480 theatres for Lionsgate Films/Mongrel Media, expanding from just four locations last weekend.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD rounds this out with $1.6 million for Sony Pictures from 1,524 theatres, a total $52 million grossed in North America. The Film was made for $25 million.

In celebration of STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, Toronto will be getting its own Canadian-exclusive Fan Experience!

The Bell Media Campus at 277 Queen Street West will play host to the nine-day Exhibit which runs from December 13 from 1p.m. – 7p.m. and remain open daily for the rest of the run from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

#THERISEOFSKYWALERTO Experience contains six rooms inspired by the past 40 years of Star Wars including:

The Lightsaber Room
The Chewie Inspired Room
The Force Room
The C-3PO Inspired Room
The Toy Room
The Ticket Room

Walt Disney Studios Canada release STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Friday, December 19, 2019.

(Photo credit: Walt Disney Motion Pictures Canada)

It was an early morning with Star Wars star Joonas Suotamo. The Finnish-born Actor who has taken over the iconic role of Chewbacca in the Skywalker Saga, is in town to promote the latest Film in the Franchise, The Rise of Skywalker!

While the weather was awful, but this former Basketball player certainly wasn’t! I think he is the tallest star I’ve ever met at 6 ft. 11 1⁄2 inches!

We spotted him out along his Press Tour for the Film which sees him doing several television appearances including Breakfast Television and The Morning Show!

See our Snap:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Early morning with #StarWars star #JoonasSuotamo, who has taken over the iconic role of #Chewbacca in the #Skywalker Saga. The weather was awful, but this Finnish-born former Basketball player certainly wasn’t! I think he is the tallest star I’ve ever met at 6 ft 11 1⁄2 inches! Are you guys ready for #TheRiseofSkywalker when it comes out 12.20.19?

A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on Dec 6, 2019 at 6:25am PST

Are you guys ready for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker when it comes out Friday, December 20, 2019?

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Some new Character Posters from STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER for you to get excited about!

Synopsis:

Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams join forces once again to take viewers on an epic journey to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the riveting conclusion of the seminal Skywalker saga, where new legends will be born and the final battle for freedom is yet to come.

The film stars Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong’o, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo, Kelly Marie Tran, with Ian McDiarmid and Billy Dee Williams.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Abrams and Michelle Rejwan. Callum Greene, Tommy Gormley and Jason McGatlin serve as executive producers. The screenplay was written by Chris Terrio & J.J. Abrams and the story is by Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow and J.J. Abrams & Chris Terrio, based on characters created by George Lucas. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theatres on December 19.   

See them all:

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER opens in theatres on December 19, 2020.

(Photo credit: Walt Disney Studios Canada)

By George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong

Walt Disney Studios Canada sure knows how to throw an event! Invited guests were treated to goodies galore and then asked to take their seats at the Bell TIFF Lightbox Theatre where Disney had a lot to celebrate. Their streaming service, Disney+, had over 10 million sign-ups in its first day. And now, their Film Libraries include movies from Marvel, Fox, Fox Searchlight and much more. Alongside FROZEN 2, their other big end-of-year releases include STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER and what looks to be a quirky animated spy movie, SPIES IN DISGUISE featuring the voices of Will Smith and Tom Holland. But what had me excited was some of their Feature Films to be released in 2020.

THE KING’S MAN: An Action Adventure piece set during World War I and starring Harris Dickinson, Ralph Fiennes, this one has all the makings of a monster hit. The sequences shown were exquisitely filmed with a Cast of characters that tickle the imagination.

BLACK WIDOW: If the rest of this Movie has the same intensity as the fight scene between Scarlett Johannson (reprising her AVENGERS character) and Florence Pugh, it is going to soar! No more spoilers.

SOUL: Pixar definitely has another classic on its hands with this Animated Movie about a musician who has lost his passion for music is transported out of his body and must find his way back with the help of an infant soul learning about herself. The talented voices include Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey and Daveed Diggs and a sultry jazz Soundtrack, I cannot wait to see this.

ONWARDS: Set in a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, go on a journey to discover if there is still a little magic left out there in order to spend one last day with their father, who died when they were too young to remember him. This Animated Feature, voiced by Tom Holland, Chris Pratt and Julia Louis-Dreyfus should appeal to the young in age and the young at heart.

MULAN: A live-action version of the Disney Animated Classic about a young girl who disguises herself as a male warrior to save her father, just might hit all the right notes. The sequences shown were dazzling and the all-Asian Cast, exuded sheer power.

THE JUNGLE CRUISE: Another movie inspired by a Disney Amusement Park ride and starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, this one looks to be pure entertainment with a story that looks to be inspired by the Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn Classic THE AFRICAN QUEEN. The energy is high, the puns instill giggly groans and everyone on screen looks like they are having the time of their life.

(Photo credit: Walt Disney Studios Canada)