The Toronto Film Critics Association have named their 2023 winners, led by THE ZONE OF INTEREST which was named Best Picture. The Awards are now in their 27th year.

The Awards Gala will be held early 2024 where winners of two prizes will be named: Rogers Best Canadian Film and Rogers Best Canadian Documentary. Each award is worth $50,000. Blackberry, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person and SOLO for Best Canadian Film, and Rojek, Someone Lives Here and Swan Song for Best Canadian Documentary. The two runners up in each category will receive $5,000.

Winners are as follows:

Best Film
Winner: ​The Zone Of Interest
Runners-Up: All of Us Strangers & Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Director
Winner: ​Jonathan Glazer – The Zone Of Interest
Runners-Up: Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon & Justine Triet – Anatomy Of A Fall

Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Barbie
Runners-Up: Anatomy Of A Fall & Past Lives

Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: ​Killers of the Flower Moon
Runners-Up: All of Us Strangers & Poor Things

Best Lead Performance
Winners: ​Sandra Hüller – Anatomy Of A Fall & Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
Runners-Up: Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers, Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers, Emma Stone – Poor Things & Kôji Yakusho – Perfect Days

Best First Feature
Winner: ​Rye Lane
Runners-Up: American Fiction & Past Lives

Allan King Best Documentary
Winner: 20 Days in Mariupol
Runners-Up: The Eternal Memory, Four Daughters & Swan Song

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: ​Fallen Leaves
Runners-Up: Anatomy Of A Fall & The Zone Of Interest

Best Animated Feature
Winner: Robot Dreams
Runners-Up: The Boy and the Heron & Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Best Supporting Performance
Winner: Ryan Gosling – Barbie & Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
Runners-Up: Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon, Robert Downey, Jr. – Oppenheimer, Glenn Howerton – BlackBerry & Charles Melton – May December

Best Breakthrough Performance
Winner: Teyana Taylor – A Thousand And One
Runners-Up: Charles Melton – May December & Dominic Sessa – The Holdovers

Best Performance In A Canadian Film
Winner: Glenn Howerton – BlackBerry
Runners-Up: Jay Baruchel – BlackBerry & Théodore Pellerin – Solo

It’s all WONKA, driving Moviegoers to the Box Office this weekend with $35 million from 4,203 theatres. This latest take on the famtastical Chocolatier with star Timothée Chalamet doing promoting around the world including a stop in Toronto this week, gets 85% on the Tomatometer.

THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES is a distant second with $6 million from 3,291 theatres for Lionsgate/Cineplex Pictures taking it to $145 million domestically.

THE BOY AND THE HERON is third with $4.5 million, taking it to $22.3 million in its second weekend for GKIDS and Cineplex Pictures.

Fourth goes to GODZILLA MINUS ONE with $4.4 million from 2,622 theatres for Toho, a total $33.7 million grossed in North America. This is a huge feat for Japanese Cinema, boasting two films in the Top Five this weekend.

TROLLS BAND TOGETHER rounds the Top Five out with $4 million, taking it to $88 million for Universal Pictures.

What a year 2023 has been for Canadian racing! For the first time in a while Horse of the Year title in Canada looks a bit of a headscratcher. Why? Because the spotlight shone on several stars this year. Not a bad problem at all!

Woodbine-based mare FEV ROVER won not one but two Grade I races, the E.P. Taylor and the Beverly D. north and south of the border respectively, which in any other year would make her a shoe-in for consideration. Let’s not forget a very impressive third in the Grade I Diana at Saratoga as well. She has kept reigning Horse of the Year MOIRA at bay, only for us to see that champion filly surpass her and run a bang-up third in the Breeders’ Cup against the world’s best after being close-up all year.

Sprinter PATCHES O’HOULIHAN won an incredible six races, each one escalating in difficulty for the same connections who brought us the unforgettable Pink Lloyd. He is showing many reminders of that same brilliance Pink had… and at only three years old. But otherwise the three-year-old male division is far from having one singular leader. TOUCH’N RIDE won both the Breeders’ Stakes and Grade III Ontario Derby through disqualifaction, while PARAMOUNT PRINCE strung together a pair of dazzling efforts this Summer in the nation’s most prestigious affair, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the King’s Plate and its precursor, the Plate Trial.

The three-year-old filly division is led by the tough ELYSIAN FIELD who won the Woodbine Oaks, but a valiant second in both the Queen’s Plate and Breeders’ Stakes against males. Her stablemate SOLO ALBUM also had a strong campaign, winning the Grade III Selene Stakes and then the Ontario Derby against males before being disqualified. She capped it off finishing second against older competition in the Maple Leaf Stakes behind the consistent older filly MILLIE GIRL who is one of the standouts of her own division.

In the two-year-old male division, there is the promising MY BOY PRINCE who has proven himself locally with dominance, and also on a world stage running second in the Grade I Summer Stakes and a third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

The older male division also sees several vying for the throne including TYSON, who had a great summer campaign taking the Grade II Seagram Cup and Grade III Dominion Day Stakes, en route to running third in the U.S. in the Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Champion older filly/mare Sprinter division sees LOYALTY at its summit, winning both the Grade III Hendrie and Grade II Bessarabian Stakes, consistent throughout the whole season and improving further from her sophomore season.

The race for the nation’s top jockey, while competitive, once again goes to KAZUSHI KIMURA with almost $7 million in earnings, though SAHIN CIVACI had a career best season at Woodbine, close behind him. And how about these apprentices? The future is looking bright with new talents Amanda Vandermeersch, Sofia Vives, Rachel Slevinsky, Fraser Aebly and Pietro Moran all having great seasons, making their presences felt.

MARK CASSE and team also continue their domination, winning a whopping $7.6 million in purse money at Woodbine in 2023, almost doubling the earnings of a second Team KEVIN ATTARD, who had a great year also with $3.9 million in earnings.

Let’s look back together at what’s been a highly competitive year in 2023, with highlights from Woodbine and a short visit to Saratoga where we got to see racing’s biggest stars, including Cody’s Wish and White Abarrio!

Wishing you and your loved ones a restful Holiday. While we can’t wait for the 2024 season, a break is in good order!

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Paramount Home Entertainment x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win a copy of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM on 4k UHD!

TlWildly entertaining, action-packed, and Certified Fresh with a 96% critic score* on Rotten Tomatoes®, this new hit movie delighted audiences around the world.  The latest adventure features eye-popping animation, an all-star voice cast, and plenty of humor for the whole family to enjoy together.  Available now on Digital.  On 4K Ultra HD SteelBook, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD December 12, 2023.

Bonus Features:

• TEENage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• The Mutant Uprising
• New York, New York: The Visual World of MUTANT MAYHEM
• Learn to Draw Leo

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Share this post from our “X” account for another shot!

Rules and regulations here.

(Photo credit: Paramount Home Entertainment)

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win a copy of GRAN TURISMO on 4k UHD!

SYNOPSIS:
Gran Turismo is based on the unbelievable true story of a team of unlikely underdogs – a struggling
working-class gamer (Archie Madekwe), a failed former racecar driver (David Harbour), and an idealistic
motorsport executive (Orlando Bloom). Together, they risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world.

Gran Turismo is an inspiring, thrilling, and action-packed story that proves that nothing is impossible when you’re fueled from within.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

4K UHD, BLU-RAY™ AND DIGITAL EXTRAS
● Special Features
o Deleted & Extended Scenes
o The Engine: Driving the Visuals
o The Pit Crew: Action and Stunts
o The Garage: The Amazing Automobiles
o The Plan: The True Story of Jann Mardenborough
o The Wheels: The Fast-Acting Cast

DVD
● Special Features
o The Plan: The True Story of Jann Mardenborough
o The Wheels: The Fast-Acting Cast

CAST AND CREW
Directed by: Neill Blomkamp
Produced by: Doug Belgrad, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, Dana Brunetti
Screenplay by: Jason Hall and Zach Baylin
Story by: Jason Hall and Alex Tse
Based on: The Play Station Studios Video Game
Executive Producers: Matthew Hirsch, Jason Hall, Kazunori Yamauchi, Hermen Hulst
Cast: David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell Horner and Djimon
Hounsou

SPECS
Run Time: Approx. 134 Mins.
Rating: PG-13. Intense Action and Some Strong Language
4K UHD: 2160p Ultra High Definition / 1,90:1 • Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1
compatible), French (Doublé au Québec) 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Spanish, English & French (Doublé au
Québec) – Audio Description Tracks 5/1 Dolby Digital • Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

• Color
  Blu-ray™: 1080p High Definition / 1.90:1 • Audio: English & French (Doublé au Québec) 5.1 DTS-HD
  MA, Spanish, English & French (Doublé au Québec) – Audio Description Tracks 5.1 Dolby Digital •
  Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish • Mastered in High Definition • Color
  DVD: 1.90:1 Anamorphic Widescreen • Audio: English & French (Doublé au Québec), Spanish, English –
  Audio Description Tracks 5.1 Dolby Digital, French (Doublé au Québec) – Audio Description Track Dolby
  Surround • Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish • Mastered in High Definition • Color

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Share this post from our “X” account for another shot!

Rules and regulations here.

AVAILABLE ON 4K UHD, BLU-RAY™ & DVD NOVEMBER 7, 2023
ON DIGITAL NOW

(Photo/video credit: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

To pump us up further (as if it were needed!) for MEAN GIRLS, we get a new Featurette speaking to some of the amazing Choreography we will see in the Film!

MEAN GIRLS IS ONLY IN THEATRES PREMIUM LARGE FORMAT SCREENS, AND DOLBY CINEMA JANUARY 12^TH, 2024

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS

From the comedic mind of Tina Fey comes a new twist on the modern classic, MEAN GIRLS. New student Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called “The Plastics,” ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George (Reneé Rapp) and her minions Gretchen (Bebe Wood) and Karen (Avantika). However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), she finds herself prey in Regina’s crosshairs. As Cady sets to take down the group’s apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey), she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all: high school.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY

Jeff Richmond, Nell Benjamin, Eric Gurian, Erin David, Pamela Thur

PRODUCED BY

Lorne Michaels, Tina Fey

BOOK BY

Tina Fey

MUSIC BY

Jeff Richmond

LYRICS BY

Nell Benjamin

BASED ON THE STAGE MUSICAL “MEAN GIRLS”

SCREENPLAY BY

Tina Fey

DIRECTED BY

Samantha Jayne + Arturo Perez Jr.

STARRING

Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, Busy Philipps, Ashley Park, Tina Fey, with Tim Meadows

(Photo/video credit: Paramount Pictures Canada)

British Singer-Songwriter Kenya Grace has had a huge 2023 with atmospheric breakout hit “Strangers” becoming a viral sensation worlwide thanks to TikTok.

Grace made her first visit to Toronto, playing two sold-out shows at Drake Underground, abbreviated 45 minute sets leaving fans wanting more. Toronto was fortunate enough to be one of the few stops she did, ending her tour on a high note. She now is prepping the release of her EP via Warner Music.

Grace was so kind to come out and say “hello” after her set and there were many there to see her, and she was so lovely to take her time getting to know the faces behind the “likes”!

See our Snap:

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/Warner Music)

Samsonite Canada and BOSS have just launched their exclusive suitcase collection! Check it out now on the Samsonite Canada website!

The co-created collection features three luggage sizes:

Samsonite Lite Box Alu Hugo Boss Spinner Small ($1,300)

Samsonite Lite Box Alu Hugo Boss Spinner Large ($1,500)

Samsonite Lite Box Alu Hugo Boss Spinner Trunk ($1,600)

Each piece is super lightweight, built with high-quality aluminum, soft-touch interior lining with BOSS branding, and designed with care for great detail. The trio seamlessly complement BOSS’s Fall/Winter 2023 collection, resonating with the BOSS ethos of self-determination and unique tailoring.

This collaboration came about together seamlessly, as both Samsonite and BOSS have a shared dedication to producing high quality, carefully designed products.

(Photo credit: Samsonite Canada)

Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win passes to an Advance Screening of NIGHT SWIM. Screenings take place as follows January 3, 2024:

Toronto: Scotiabank Theatre

Montreal (EN): Cinema Banque Scotia

Synopsis:

No running. No diving. No lifeguard on duty. No swimming after dark.

Atomic Monster and Blumhouse, the producers of M3GAN, high dive into the deep end of horror with the new supernatural thriller, Night Swim.

Based on the acclaimed 2014 short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire, the film stars Wyatt Russell (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) as Ray Waller, a former major league baseball player forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his concerned wife Eve (Oscar^® nominee Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin), teenage daughter Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle, this fall’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) and young son Elliot (Gavin Warren, Fear the Walking Dead).

Secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to pro ball, Ray persuades Eve that the new home’s shimmering backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for him. But a dark secret in the home’s past will unleash a malevolent force that will drag the family under, into the depths of inescapable terror.

Night Swim is written and directed by Bryce McGuire (writer of the upcoming film Baghead) and is produced by James Wan, the filmmaker behind the Saw, Insidious and The Conjuringfranchises, and Jason Blum, the producer of the Halloween films, The Black Phone and The Invisible Man. The film is executive produced by Michael Clear and Judson Scott for Wan’s Atomic Monster and by Ryan Turek for Blum’s Blumhouse.

Genre: Horror

Starring: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren

Directed by: Bryce McGuire

Written by: Bryce McGuire,

Based on the short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire

Producers: James Wan, Jason Blum

Executive Producers: Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Ryan Turek

To enter for a chance, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK and indicate your City. Share this post from “X” for an extra chance.

Rules and regulations here.

Universal Pictures Canada release NIGHT SWIM in theatres January 5, 2024.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

Hot off his Golden Globe nomination, Timothee Chalamet gave Toronto a sweet surprise, arriving at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in support of his upcoming holiday release, WONKA! Taking on the iconic titular role of Willy Wonka, this new re-telling of the classic story by Roald Dahl, directed by Paul King (Paddington), is set to inspire a new generation. The Film is Wonka‘s origin story recounting his rise from a destitute boy to a world-famous Chocolatier.

Toronto was lucky to be a part of the Film’s whirlwind tour, seeing stops in Tokyo, London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles and more. Chalamet made a quick appearance at Yorkdale’s WONKA’S SWEET ESCAPE Pop-Up, greeting fans and posing for photos. He even signed the wall and a life-size chocolate bar! The installation is on till January 2, 2024, giving visitors a chance to win a shopping spree at the luxury mall. And even if they don’t win, there’s a chance to get Wonka treats and pose for some fantastical photo ops!

Chalamet made his way up to the Cineplex to walk the gold carpet, speaking with select outlets and we were so honoured to be there!

Some highlights from WONKA‘s gold carpet:

Some snaps:

Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release WONKA in theatres December 15, 2023.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Bros. Pictures Canada/Mr. Will Wong)