BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE continues to dominate a seconds traight week, taking $50 million this weekend for Warner Bros., from 4,575 theatres. Its tally comes in now at $186.4 million already.

SPEAK NO EVIL debuts in second with $12.3 million from 3,375 theatres for Universal Pictures. It gets a strong 85% on the Tomatometer.

Third goes to the resilient DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE with $5.5 million from 3,075 theatres for Disney, its eight week run now at $621 million.

In fourth is AM I RACIST? with $4.7 million for SDG Releasing, playing at 1,517 theatres.

REAGAN rounds things out with $3.2 million, its three week total at $23.5 million now for Showbiz Direct.

Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy-nominated Actor MATTHEW MODINE continues to build a lasting and celebrated career appearing recently in Best Picture-winning OPPENHEIMER and THE DARK KNIGHT franchise.

The Toronto Independent Film Festival runs September 9-14, 2024 and his latest work, THE MARTINI SHOT just premiered at the Fest earlier this week. Modine also did a private screening of the film for a select audience only at The Hazelton Hotel‘s Norman Jewison Theatre.

The Dramedy centers on a Director shooting what he believes will be his final film, and while it appears to be any other movie, the Director is filming, it opens up the question of existence and one’s impact on the world. In addition to Modine, the Film also stars John Cleese, Fiona Glascott, Stuart Townsend and more.

THE MARTINI SHOT is directed and written by Stephen Wallis and currently still is doing the Festival circuit where it has racked-up a whopping 60 awards internationally.

We chat quickly with Modine about the Film:

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

In all a very fulfilling and successful TIFF ’24 for us! This will be the final daily of the Fest for us and we hope you had fun! Some sightings from Day Nine:

•Lucy Liu
•Steven Soderbergh
•Callina Liang
•Chris Sullivan

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

By David Baldwin

Rita (Zoe Saldaña) is a defence lawyer in Mexico City with the uncanny ability of helping her wealthy clients stay out of jail. She is contacted by a local drug kingpin for assistance in finding the right discreet medical centres to complete their gender affirmation surgery from man to woman. She needs to help get the kingpin’s young wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) and children to safety in Switzerland as well. Four years later, Rita meets the fully transitioned Emilia Pérez (Karla Sofía Gascón) who now wants to become reacquainted with her family.

Oh, and did I mention that this is a full-blown rock opera filled head to toe with songs – almost all entirely in Spanish – while also being a Shakespearean tragedy?

EMILIA PÉREZ is a sumptuous fever dream that should not work. But Co-Writer/Director Jacques Audiard manages to balance all of the ideas and genres (including it also being a crime thriller and a moving exploration of discovering one’s true self in the LGBTQ+ community) into one cohesive and beautiful film. I loved the look and the feel, and felt the songs and dance sequences – yes there are plenty of those as well – were exquisite. While I wish there was a true showstopping number, I still feel like we are gifted a solid soundtrack that will get lots of future replay on Spotify.

If I hold anything really again EMILIA PÉREZ, it’s that there are a few subplots and characters that feel extraneous and take away from the commanding performances by the lead trio of Saldaña, Gomez and Gascón. This is a story about powerful, flawed women first and foremost, and they each slay in their own way from start to finish. There’s a reason why the Cannes Film Festival bestowed the Best Actress prize to the three of them (plus Adriana Paz) rather than highlighting only one of these spectacular performers. So why should we care about characters like Edgar Ramírez’s Gustavo? Some of this leads to sag in the middle that I wish was tightened up a bit better, but I will admit that it’s easy to look past and forgive once you see what a distinct and unique sensory feast the rest of the film is.

EMILIA PÉREZ screens at TIFF ’24:

Monday, September 9 at 6:15PM at VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre

Tuesday, September 10 at 11:30PM at VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre

Friday, September 13 at 5:45PM and 9:00PM at TIFF Lightbox

Saturday, September 14 at 9:00AM at TIFF Lightbox and 9:45PM at VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre

Sunday, September 15 at 12:00PM at TIFF Lightbox

By David Baldwin

In 1983, FBI Agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) has come to small town middle America to investigate a series of bombings and bank robberies. As he digs further in, he discovers that it is a case of domestic terrorism and cult leader Bob Matthew (Nicholas Hoult) is gearing up for an armed revolution against anyone who stands in the way of the Caucasian race taking back what they think they deserve.

THE ORDER is a startingly piece of true crime that has more than a few eerie similarities to modern times. It is unsettling even at the best of times and will certainly get under your skin. Hoult’s character specifically is one of the most despicable in the Film, but the way he plays up the charm and rizz in certain scenes will make you second guess why you are meant to hate him so much (and then he goes ahead and shows his young son how to use a gun at a party and you suddenly know exactly how you are supposed to feel). Director Justin Kurzel threads the needle carefully between tough moments like this and a handful of propulsive action beats that will have you glued to your seat.

Law and his epic broom handle mustache are great here, acting in a much more reserved and calculated way versus his unhinged work in fellow festival selection Eden. Tye Sheridan is another standout as a local officer helping with the FBI’s investigation and Marc Maron makes a lasting impression in a small role as a local radio DJ.

While some may write off THE ORDER as slight or as rather simply, a “Dad movie”, it is still a solid thriller that does a great job staying grounded and not taking massive swings. And sometimes, that is more than acceptable.

THE ORDER screens at TIFF ’24:

Sunday, September 8 at 3:00PM at TIFF Lightbox

Monday, September 9 at 2:30PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

Friday, September 13 at 7:30PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

Saturday, September 14 at 12:00PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

By Nicholas Porteous

We open on a particularly bland overhead shot as a car pulls into a driveway. It’s a reserved choice to serve as the opening for Steven Soderbergh‘s latest–but wait. The camera twists and turns and hovers down the stairs, revealing an empty house and an anxious realtor (Julia Fox–be warned: this is her only scene). There’s clearly something more to this strange, drifting perspective. Indeed, there’s a Presence in this house. A ghost. And for whatever reason, among the family of new occupants in this otherwise lovely abode, their young daughter Blue (captivating newcomer Callina Liang) shares some kind of connection with the spirit.

What follows is entirely from the ghost’s perspective, and it turns out to be a fantastic parameter for Soderbergh to play within. How does a non-speaking entity reveal its motivations? What kind of phantom are we dealing with here? And how will a family contend with the unknown force? You won’t hear another word about the plot from me, but if you’re looking for a good little ghost story, you’ve come to the right place. Presence is another small-scale, experimental gem from Soderbergh that moves at a clip and kept me intrigued–both as a narrative and as a technical act of storytelling–for its lean, 85-minute runtime.

David Koepp‘s Screenplay is occasionally guilty of tripping over the line into schlock and cheese, which plays at odds with Soderbergh’s relatively naturalistic approach. But all in all, Presence is a brilliant blend of family dramedy and supernatural suspense, anchored by a strong ensemble–featuring Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan as spiritually discordant parents–that imbues the camera with a perfectly calibrated sense of fear and wonder. Presence could be considered a minor work from a master Filmmaker, but its slender format and otherworldly themes have staying power. Don’t let this one pass you by.

Presence screens at TIFF ’24:

Friday, September 13 at 6:15 PM at The Princess of Wales Theatre

Saturday, September 14 at 7:45 PM at Scotiabank Theatre

By Mr. Will Wong

Max Minghella‘s SHELL really should have been a part of TIFF‘s Midnight Madness programme, vying to be a campy cult classic.

We meet Sam (Elisabeth Moss), an aging Actress struggling to land roles..In fact, she loses out to someone she once babysat.  She takes the suggestion to go to a wellness institution, Shell, which calls Zoe (Kate Hudson) its CEO. Sam begins to find confidence undergoing treatments.  But things get suspicious once clients begin disappearing inexplicably, unlocking some dark secrets about Shell.

We love that Minghella is drawing inspiration from camp, erotica and all that juicy stuff. Elizabeth Berkley gets her flowers here and Sam and Zoe‘s relationship at times feels very Crystal vs. Nomi in Showgirls.  

SHELL starts off rather solid, but fulfills its campy destiny in the final.act, going way over the top. Moss is superb, nailing the drama, comedy and horror of this.

SHELL screens as follows at TIFF ’24:

Thursday, September 12
VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre
9:30 pm

Friday, September 13
Scotiabank Theatre
5:30 pm

We are in the home stretch finally! Our TIFF ’24 DAY EIGHT included:

•Kate Hudson
•Kaia Gerber
•Elizabeth Berkley
•Este Haim
•Arian Moayed
•Lionel Boyce
•Max Minghella

Highlights from the day:

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

By Mr. Will Wong

Nicole Kidman is an Actress at the highest level possible and her latest effort BABYGIRL is an affirmation.

Actress-turned-Director Halina Reijn helms this very intimate look at female sexuality from a distinctive female lens. We meet Romy (Kidman), a high-power CEO who engages in an illicit affair with an intern at her company, Samuel (Harris Dickinson). Reijn delves into the power in their relationship and ultimately it is the intern who holds the upper-hand, with the threat of him destroying everything she has worked so hard to build including her career and family. BABYGIRL is a portrait of a woman in power and her world unravelling, but the question is why she makes the choices she does.

While sex is an integral component of the Film, it serves as a device to helping us try to understand this complex woman and her past. Kidman soars in the deep complexity of the assignment. Her Romy isn’t here to win hearts, Kidman is here to take us into her world and struggle to understand herself. Dickinson, meanwhile, completely disappears into Samuel – a fearless young man who certainly knows how to push buttons.

Taking notes from ’90s Erotica Thrillers, BABYGIRL feels reminiscent of that era, yet is unmistakably now and could only have been made today. Reijn is an exciting new Filmmaker with something to say.

BABYGIRL screens at TIFF ’24 as follows:

Tuesday, September 10
VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre
9:30 pm

Wednesday, September 11
Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
5:30 pm

By David Baldwin

Ash (Oscar-winner Riz Ahmed) works as a mysterious middleman who brokers deals between would-be whistleblowers and their former companies. He uses new and dated technology – and makes extensive use of the telephone relay system – to keep his clients safe and out of harm’s way. His newest client, Sarah Grant (Lily James), is being harassed by thugs hired by her former company to intimidate her. Ash is hesitant to help but relents when he realizes the henchmen are not letting up.

RELAY has an interesting hook, and feels very much indebted to the paranoid thrillers of the 1970’s and even the work of Alfred Hitchcock. Some of the Film’s twists feel a little forced and bizarre, yet Director David Mackenzie (whose previous credits include Hell or High Water and TIFF ’18 Opening Nighter Outlaw King) has a knack for keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout anyway. He makes great use of the foreground and background, dropping in small details that even the most obsessive viewer may not catch.

James does well as the damsel in distress, but this show belongs to Ahmed. He spends much of the Film silent and determined, always staying (or at least trying to stay) ahead of the thugs. While some of the exposition unlocking his character’s past could have been a little cleaner, the sheer rizz Ahmed exudes keeps the Film from totally grinding to a screeching halt and makes some of the ludicrous swings more digestible. His chemistry with James is wonderful but his chemistry with a computer screen is simply divine.

RELAY screens at TIFF ’24:

Sunday, September 8 at 3:00PM at VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre

Monday, September 9 at 3:00PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto