IT: CHAPTER TWO debuts at the Box Office with a smashing $92 million from 4,570 theatres across North America for Warner Bros. It also has the distinction of the second-highest opening ever for an R-rated film, behind only its predecessor. It gets 63% on the Tomatometer and a B+ CinemaScore.

ANGEL HAS FALLEN is a distant second with $6 million in its third week out for Lionsgate Films/VVS Films. It has earned $53.5 million domestically.

GOOD BOYS places third with $5.4 million, a total $66.9 million over four weeks for Universal Pictures.

PEANUT BUTTER FALCON lands in seventh with $2.2 million, a total $12.2 million grossed over five weeks for Roadside Attractions and levelFilm.

DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD rounds-out the Top Ten with $2.1 million, a total $51.4 million grossed over five weeks for Paramount Pictures.

Review by Mr. Will Wong

Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) seems to be on the verge of greatness under the persistent urging of his father (Sterling K. Brown). While everything seems fine initially, things take a drastic turn for the worse after his girlfriend Alexis (Alexa Demie) finds out she is pregnant with his child and his world crumbles. In the face of a tragedy, which threatens to tear Tyler’s family apart, his father, mother (Renée Elise Goldberry) and sister (Taylor Russell) are left to pick-up the pieces and find themselves again.

Filmmaker Trey Edward Shults’ (Krisha, It Comes at Night) hits you like a tidal wave in its first act but calms into a ripples in the second. While dialogue is sparse and the Film takes a nuanced tone, this is where Waves finds its flow in its meditation on grief.

Harrison delivers pure intensity in a performance which solified him a TIFF ‘19 Rising Star, while Russell shows a quiet maturity in her ability to express a deep undercurrent of emotion with little dialogue. Shults gets the honour of a Score by Academy Award winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross which intensifies the Film. Drew Daniels‘ Cinematography is breathtaking, whether it be his gorgeous captures of the Florida waters or çloseups that bring us up-close and intimate to these characters, particularly Harrison in his panic.

While Waves’ unevenness might not be for all, it is an ambitious effort even if it asks for your patience. It screens at TIFF Tue, Sep 10 at Ryerson Theatre, 8:45pm, Wed, Sep 11, Scotiabank Theatre, 6pm and Sun, Sep 15 at Ryerson Theatre, 2:45pm.

It’s been a relief getting a breather finally and we actually are finding time to see some movies! We saw Joker which filled two theatres completely at an industry screening and it was enthralling seeing Joaquin Phoenix go all in! While it does a number on you, it is well worth getting shaken for.

Less sightings today, but here are a few we had. Hover cursor right on each album to navigate.

JUDY – Premiere

HARRIET – Afterparty

Also, a huge congratulations to Mike, who won our TIFF ’19 Tenth Anniversary Prize Pack!

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Review by George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong

Take a heaping cup of Guy Maddin’s influence, sprinkle liberally with Wes Anderson’s imaginative plot machinations and way with words then finally add just a wee bit of Tim Burton to keep you slightly discombobulated and you have the recipe for Canadian director, Matthew Rankin’s, most bizarre and audacious Feature debut THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. This off-kilter, off-the-wall “biopic” of how William Lyon Mackenzie King became Prime Minister of Canada is genuinely funny and the personification of the words original and unique. There are so many elements and twists in this movie that I won’t reveal because THE TWENTIETH CENTURY has to be seen and savoured to fully appreciate the bizarre world we have just entered. Daniel Beirne (as Mackenzie King) has captured a piece of my non-conformist heart with his hysterical performance.

Want to see a movie flaunts gender roles, watch a competition that includes clubbing puppet baby seals and sexualizes footwear while maintaining romantic subplots and Quebec’s need to be unique? Do not walk…run to see THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. To quote a line used often in the Movie, you will love it “as sure as a winter’s day in spring”.

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY screens at TIFF Tue, Sep 10, Ryerson Theatre at 11:59pm, Thu, Sep 12 Scotiabank Theatre at 9:45pm and Sat, Sep 14 Scotiabank Theatre at 1:30pm

Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong

Cagalera (Benny Emmanuel) and Moloteco (Gabriel Carbajal) want to leave their impoverished lives behind. Cagalera is living in the shadow of an abusive alcoholic father and Moloteco lives alone in a ramshackle house that could blow over at any minute. They need money badly, and must continually look for new and more dangerous ways to find it.

In his second Feature behind the camera, Gael García Bernal delivers an intense and uncompromising vision of life in a Mexican slum. It is a character study that is equal parts raw and intimate, rarely taking a breath in-between all of the chaos that ensues. And while I admire his gritty approach, I am not quite sure what Bernal was striving for with how obscene and grotesque some elements of the Film are. For one, the violence is vicious and often shocking just for the sake of it. For another, the dialogue seems disingenuous and mean-spirited. I would forgive these faults if there was more than a brief hint or two of introspection. Do not get me wrong, Emmanuel and Carbajal are positively luminous in their roles. But the Script by Augusto Mendoza could and should have done them more favours.

CHICUAROTES screens during TIFF at the following times:

Tuesday September 10, 9:15pm @ Scotiabank Theatre
Wednesday September 11, 6:15pm @ Scotiabank Theatre
Friday September 13, 5:15pm @ Scotiabank Theatre

Review by Mr. Will Wong

While Rupert Goold‘s JUDY might not be that feel-good Film of the year, it is a fascinating portrait framed around the final weeks of Hollywood icon Judy Garland’s (Renée Zellweger) life. Set in 1969, we see her homeless and struggling to support her children, hence taking on a string of sold-out London shows, which pull her away from her children as she fights to retain custody of them. We see her fall in love with her much-younger fifth husband Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock), battling her addiction to prescription pills and alcohol at once. We watch her world unravel as the Film handles it all with compassion.

While we feel some characters, particularly her love interests of the past and present are oversimplified and generic, all else pales in comparison to Zellweger‘s tour-de-force delivery. She is phenomenal in the glossy numbers under the bright lights with a big band as she is in the Film’s more heartbreaking moments where she is reduced to pure vulnerability.

While this story ultimately is tragic, Goold and Writer Tom Edge find that one last spark before Garland‘s light extinguished, and make it a beautiful, lasting moment.

JUDY screens TIFF Tues, Sep 10 at the Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre at 6:00pm and Wed, Sep 11 at the Elgin Theatre at 11:00am.

Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong

When Ellen (Meryl Streep) loses her husband she embarks on an investigation into corrupt insurance companies who are dodging her claims.

Director Steven Soderbergh and Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns tackle the secret world of financial corruption that was exposed in the Panama Papers, yet in a playful way. With the use of multiple characters and storylines, which are all intrinsically-connected, they take the audience on a journey on how to get rich through legal but immoral ways. They have an all-star Cast, consisting of Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas, who knock it out-of-the-park, especially when they break the fourth wall . The most impressive part of The Laundromat is how it takes a complicated tale of corruption, making it simple to understand.

The Laundromat screens at TIFF on Mon, Sep 9 at Princess of Wales Theatre at 6 PM, Tue, Sep 10 at Elgin Theatre at 2:15 PM, Fri, Sep 13 at Elgin Theatre at 5 PM, and Sat, Sep 14 at TIFF Bell Lightbox at 3:15 PM.

Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong

Daphne (Shailene Woodley) attempts to get her life back in order following a breakup, however, that proves difficult after meeting bad boy Frank (Sebastian Stan) and rational Jack (Jamie Dornan).

Director Drake Doremus is back with a highly-collaborative Feature about losing yourself and being responsible to find who you are again. Endings, Beginnings has a Script, but not in the traditional sense. Doremus had plot points and scenarios he wanted his characters to experience, however, his actors improvised all the dialogue. As his camera work lingers on his cast, there is an immense authenticity to each scene due to this improvisational method. Woodley completely immerses herself in adrift Daphne, Stan is a firecracker as the flawed yet enchanting Frank, and Dornan is charming as noble professor Jack.

Endings, Beginnings screens at TIFF on Sun, Sep 8 at Ryerson Theatre at 9 PM, Mon, Sep 9 at Scotiabank Theatre at 3 PM, and Sat, Sep 14 at Elgin Theatre at 9 PM.

Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong

After internet troll Miles (Daniel Radcliffe) upsets the leader of the live-streamed death match game Skizm, he awakes to guns bolted to his hands and a battle against the undefeated Nix (Samara Weaving).

Guns Akimbo is a non-stop thrill ride from beginning to end. Director-Writer Jason Lei Howden brings action and hilarity to a wholly original Story and executes it perfectly. His Script, although incredibly-fun, dives deep into our technological society and how it’s changing humanity. Along with that the visual effects are top-notch, the stunts are remarkable and there is one hell of a killer Soundtrack. If that weren’t enough, there is Radcliffe and Weaving who both bring their best game.

Guns Akimbo screens at TIFF on Mon, Sep 9 at Ryerson Theatre at 9:15 PM, Tue, Sep 10 at Scotiabank Theatre at 8 PM, and Fri, Sep 13 at Ryerson Theatre at 9 PM.

Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong

Cami (Heather Graham) and her teenage daughter Aster (Sophie Nélisse) live in the country and have a contentious relationship. When Aster’s estranged father dies, the pair drive to the funeral and encounter his new wife Rachel (Jodi Balfour) and their daughter Tallulah (Abigail Pniowsky). When Cami discovers that they are about to be evicted from their home, she invites them to stay with her and Aster.

That may sound like the set-up to the worst Sitcom ever made, but Director Aisling Chin-Yee and Writer Alanna Francis’ debut Feature is anything but hilarious. It does have some funny moments, but the majority of the Film feels instead like an intimate character study about grief, loss, acceptance and above all, family. It makes for very strong, very tight filmmaking that does not overstay its welcome, yet somehow remains substantially-awkward for the entire Film. The core cast is excellent in their roles, bringing a real lived-in quality to all four generations of women. While some of the conflicts the group go through seem overly manufactured (including a twist that feels tacked on for the sake of escalating tension), others feel very real with how emotionally eviscerating and heartbreaking they quickly become.

THE REST OF US screens during TIFF at the following times:

Friday September 6, 6:30pm @ Winter Garden Theatre [World Premiere]
Monday September 9, 7:30pm @ Scotiabank Theatre