Fans of THE CROWN will love this brand-new Featurette for the beloved Series’ second season. Expect more Prince Philip (Matt Smith) and bigger dilemmas for Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) as they head into the ’60s.

See the Featurette:

Netflix Canada stream THE CROWN SEASON TWO Friday, December 8, 2017.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

Well, that’s one way to handle things!  After its TIFF ’17 Premiere, DOWNSIZING has been on our minds. Check-out its new Trailer and Poster!

Synopsis:
Downsizing imagines what might happen if, as a solution to over-population, Norwegian scientists discover how to shrink humans to five inches tall and propose a 200-year global transition from big to small. People soon realize how much further money goes in a miniaturized world, and with the promise of a better life, everyman Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) and wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to abandon their stressed lives in Omaha in order to get small and move to a new downsized community — a choice that triggers life-changing adventures.

See the Trailer:

Artwork:

Paramount Pictures Canada release DOWNSIZING this Christmas.

(Photo/video credit: Paramount Pictures Canada)

Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to take Readers to see DARKEST HOUR which premiered here at TIFF ’17, Gary Oldman gaining tons of Oscar buzz.

Screenings take place:

Toronto – Wednesday December 6 – Varsity Cinemas 7pm

Vancouver – Monday December 11 – Fifth Ave Cinemas 7pm

Montreal – Monday December 11 – Forum 7pm

Synopsis:
A thrilling and inspiring true story begins at the precipice of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman) must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.

See the Trailer:

Artwork:

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Universal Pictures Canada release DARKEST HOUR in Toronto Friday, December 8, 2017 exclusively at the Varsity.

DARKEST HOUR will then expand to Montreal & Vancouver Friday, December 15, 2017 and release wide Friday, December 22, 2017.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

By Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong

The year that was 2017 is almost over and that means we have an entire slate of 2018 Movies to look forward to. Whether you’re a fan of animation, superheroes, or space cowboys one studio has the answer to all your dreams: Walt Disney Motion Pictures Canada. As the home of Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney Animation and Disney Live Action among others, they are host to the Must-See Movies of 2018 than you can shake a lightsaber at.

Before you start trying to figure out how Coco fits into the greater Pixar universe or prepare to jump to lightspeed in anticipation of December’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the team here at Mr. Will Wong has your inside scoop to everything Disney in 2018.

Kicking things off in February, Chadwick Boseman returns as the eponymous hero in Marvel’s Black Panther. The action moves to the kingdom of Wakanda where T’Challa’s enemies are conspiring to take down the new king. Director Ryan Coogler has assembled a star-studded cast featuring a villainous Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, and Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira members of Wakanda’s elite all-female special forces.

Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 book A Wrinkle in Time can be found on the shelves of countless children and movie critics around the world. In March, Oscar-nominated Director Ava DuVernay will tackle this timeless Novel with a Cast featuring Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine, Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon. Frozen’s Jennifer Lee adapted this story of a girl who learns her father is being held captive on a distant planet decides to save him the help of her brother, a classmate, and a little interdimensional travel.

There is no end of excitement for May’s Avengers: Infinity War. This Movie will bring together heroes from all corners of the Marvel universe as they battle Josh Brolin’s Thanos.

One word has the ability to make all animation fans thrill: Pixar. In June Brad Bird returns to direct of one of the most highly anticipated animated, superhero Sequels in decades: The Incredibles 2. Joining Bob, Helen, Violet and Dash is baby Jack Jack whose powers manifested at the end of last Movie. Pixar is keenly-aware of never messing with a good thing and have reunited not only the Director and Cast but also many of the behind-the-scenes people including the Composer and Producers. Prepare to be dazzled but remember: no capes!

November marks the return of Vanellope and Ralph (Sarah Silverman and John C. Reilly) in Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2. Details of this Disney Animated Sequel were first shared in July at D23 and although we can’t tell you much we assure you Ralph Breaks the Internet is even better than the first.

As the holiday season approaches, Disney hopes to enchant audiences with their take on a Tchaikovsky classic in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. Most people will be thrilled to see Keira Knightley in the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy to Mackenzie Foy’s Clara. Devoted ballet enthusiasts will no doubt be more focused on the addition of Misty Copeland in this ballet inspired Movie. Morgan Freeman is along for the ride as the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

But wait, that’s not all! In May, head back to a galaxy far, far away when Solo: A Star Wars Movie hits the big screen. A third Marvel Movie is headed for theatres in July with Ant-Man and the Wasp. Finally, 2018 will definitely end on a high note when Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda sing their way to the big screen in December’s Mary Poppins Returns.

That’s just a small taste of the wonders Walt Disney Pictures Canada has in store for fans next year. Small kids and big kids alike are sure to find something to love in 2018.

There aren’t many awards which Canadian-born Actress Anna Paquin hasn’t earned. The Winnipeg-born star has the distinction of being the second-youngest actress ever to win an Oscar for her work in Jane Campion‘s 1993 Film The Piano, and also a Golden Globe Award win too for her popular role in acclaimed HBO Series True Blood as Sookie Stackhouse. In addition to recent work starring in CBC series Alias Grace and Bellevue, the latter which brought her to Toronto earlier this year, Paquin has a high-profile recurring role as Rogue on the X-Men Franchise.

Despite being based in America, Paquin gets a heroine’s welcome home being honoured with a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. She sees herself honoured alongside national treasures like two-time Olympic Champion Donovan Bailey and Scientist/Activist David Suzuki. Receiving inductions post-humously are Humanitarian Viola Desmond (seen on our most recent $10 note), Telecommunications Pioneer Ted Rogers, and Musician Stompin’ Tom Connors (Cineplex Legends Inductee). JUNO Winner Shawn Hook received this year’s Allan Slaight Honour.

Paquin arrived at the 19th edition of the ceremony glamorous in shimmering flower adornments and black (dress by Pamella Roland), husband Stephen Moyer opening the door for her as she exited her SUV like the perfect gentleman he is. She now can count herself among the 173 notables honoured with stars along the walkways of Toronto’s Entertainment District. Singer/Songwriter Jann Arden filled Gala hosting duties.

Paquin and Moyer (born Emery) both recently collaborated together on upcoming Film The Parting Glass, filmed here in Toronto. Moyer directs, with their True Blood Co-Star Denis O’Hare penning the Script.

Beyond Famous: Canada’s Walk of Fame, an hour-long Documentary hosted by past Inductee Eric McCormack, airs on Global Television Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 8 PM ET.

See a Snap of the stunning Paquin and us:

More over at http://canadaswalkoffame.com.

Canada’s Walk of Fame is brought to us by Cineplex Entertainment, NBCUniversal, Slaight Communications, Air Canada and Global Television.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

A v. healthy weekend at the Box Office, but alas THOR: RAGNAROK remains triumphant a second straight week. The latest in the Marvel Franchise earns $56.1 million in week two from 4,080 theatres, a total $209.1 million grossed thus far in North America.

In second is 20th Century Fox‘s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS with $27.9 million from 3,331 theatres domestically.  The Agatha Christie Adaptation with a star-studded cast gets 58% on the Tomatometer from Critics and a B CinemaScore.

DADDY’S HOME 2 opens in third narrowly edged-out for second, with $27.5 million from 3,575 theatres for Paramount Pictures. It gets 16% on the Tomatometer from Critics and an A- CinemaScore. It’s 2015 Predecessor debuted with $37 million by comparison.

A BAD MOM’S CHRISTMAS is in fourth in its second week out for STX Entertainment/eOne Films with $11.6 million. Thus far it has tallied $39.9 million.

Acclaimed TIFF ’17 selection LADY BIRD rounds-out the Top Ten with $1.7 million for A24 Films/Elevation Pictures in its second week out, expanding to just 37 theatres across North America.

Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to take Readers to see PITCH PERFECT 3!  Screenings take place Wednesday, December 20, 2017 as follows:

TORONTO
EDMONTON
MONTREAL
CALGARY
VANCOUVER
OTTAWA

Synopsis:
Now graduated from college and out in the real world where it takes more than a cappella to get by, the Bellas return in Pitch Perfect 3, the next chapter in the beloved series that has taken in more than $400 million at the global box office.

After the highs of winning the World Championships, the Bellas find themselves split apart and discovering there aren’t job prospects for making music with your mouth.  But when they get the chance to reunite for an overseas USO tour, this group of awesome nerds will come together to make some music, and some questionable decisions, one last time.

Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Hana Mae Lee, Ester Dean, Alexis Knapp, Chrissie Fit, Kelley Jakle, Shelley Regner, Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins all return and are joined by additions including John Lithgow and Ruby Rose.

Trailer:

Artwork:

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Universal Pictures Canada release PITCH PERFECT 3 Friday, December 22, 2017.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

Spielberg + Streep + Hanks together at last! 20th Century Fox release the new Trailer for THE POST. We’re unsure how we lived this long without seeing these three legends together!

SYNOPSIS:
Steven Spielberg directs Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in The Post, a thrilling drama about the unlikely partnership between The Washington Post‘s Katharine Graham (Streep), the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, and editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks), as they race to catch up with The New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spanned three decades and four U.S. Presidents. The two must overcome their differences as they risk their careers – and their very freedom – to help bring long-buried truths to light.

Cast: Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Alison Brie, Carrie Coon, David Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, Jesse Plemons, Matthew Rhys, Michael Stuhlbarg, Bradley Whitford, Zach Woods

See the Trailer:

Poster:

20th Century Fox release THE POST in select cities Friday, December 22, 2017 and wide Friday, January 12, 2018.

(Photo/video credit: 20th Century Fox)

One of the biggest breakout hits of TIFF ’17 saw not Indie Darling Greta Gerwig in front, but instead behind the camera. The star of acclaimed Films like Frances Ha and Jackie makes her directorial debut with self-written, though not entirely autobiographical LADY BIRD. For one, Gerwig unlike the Film’s central character would never make anyone call her by another name. Furthermore, she insists that none of its characters solely are based on people she knows, but more so bits and pieces of them.

The Film stars two-time Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan in its titular role  (name inspired probably by the Mother Goose rhyme). It centers on a teen Sacramento girl struggling to break-free from the confines of her hometown to a post-secondary life in cultured New York City. Her family is struggling financially as well as she herself to make the grades needed to succeed at her big plan. All the while she begins to find herself in love and life, determined to defy her loving mother’s (played by TONY winner Laurie Metcalf) discouragement. Despite her defiance, Lady Bird very much is a story about the love shared between mother and daughter.

Gerwig looks to great coming-of-age films like Boyhood, 400 Blows and Amarcord for inspiration, but these largely are male-centric.  Her Film gives us a refreshing spin as a look at a young woman’s experience with personhood.

Our Siobhán Rich (@Typo_Eh) had the pleasure of attending a junket with Gerwig recently in Toronto, her second visit to the City following Lady Bird’s festival success.  The Film just gained domestic distribution through Elevation Pictures.

Siobhán asks Gerwig  about the Film’s phenomenal casting.

Gerwig recalls about finding her perfect Lady Bird. “I met Saoirse here in Toronto at TIFF in 2015. She was here with Brooklyn and I was here with a Film called Maggie’s Plan. She read the script and she really responded to it. She had this real instinct about it. She said, ‘I know I’m from a tiny town in Ireland. And it’s all the way across the world but I just know this. I know character and I know this story. I feel it in my heart.’ We met-up and we read the whole script out loud. She read all Lady Bird’s lines and I read all everybody else’s lines. I just knew instantly that she was the right person for the part. But then I made her read the whole script because I’m selfish and I wanted to hear it out loud. That’s just what directors do! (LAUGH) So, I cast her and I moved the Movie for her because she’s my Lady Bird.”.

With several nods to Sondheim heard in Lady Bird, Gerwig‘s affection for Theatre is even more pronounced in the manner which she fills-out her cast. “Stephen McKinley Henderson I’d seen on Broadway. Lois Smith I’d seen off-Broadway. Laurie I’d seen at Steppenwolf and on Broadway. Tracy, I love all of his plays he’s written and I’d also seen him on Broadway. It felt like just a collection of people I think are incredible. Then the young cast: I saw Timothée Chalamet, who plays Kyle, on stage — I saw him in a John Patrick Shanley Play in New York called Prodigal Son and he was incredible. Beanie Feldstein just walked in and auditioned and I fell in love with her.”.

“There was a combination of ways we got that team together but really everyone was so great and I was so blessed with this cast. They were so ‘in it’ and able to make a family with each other.”.

Wearing her Helmer’s cap, she imparts an important bit of wisdom that helped make her directorial debut such a success. “Part of my process as a Director — I think the most important thing — is giving the candle, the little lit match of the character to the actor and saying, ‘It’s yours now. I don’t own it. I don’t know who this person is – it’s you. You tell me who they are because I can’t know what you know about this person.’ And I feel it’s this passing on of a character that’s vital to me.”.

Elevation Pictures release LADY BIRD Friday, November 10, 2017.

Get acclimated with one of the year’s greatest surprises.  Check-out its Trailer:

Gerwig with us at TIFF ’17:

#TIFF17: #GretaGerwig getting tons of praise for #LadyBird which she also directs. #TIFF #TIFF2017 #TorontoInternationalFilmFestival

A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 🎃 (@mrwillwong) on Sep 9, 2017 at 9:17am PDT

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong/Elevation Pictures)

Now in its 21st year, the Reel Asian Film Fest runs in Toronto from November 9-18, 2017.

The annual Festival has stamped itself as a fixture in the City giving lovers of contemporary Asian Cinema a public forum to share their bond. Highlighted by Opening Film DEAR ETRANGER from Director Yukiko Mishima (she will be in attendance) there are several Films giving Movie Lovers an array of options and genres to choose from. STAND UP MAN will be wrap the Festival also as the official Closing Night Gala.

Above this, there will be an In-Conversation-With spotlighting Canadian talent and the Cast of CBC’S Kim’s Convenience too will be appearing at the Festival on November 15, 2017 at Glenn Gould Studio. The Festival also will be offering free screenings for students and seniors before 5:00 PM.

Our Siobhán Rich (@Typo_Eh) had the chance to preview one of the Festival’s marquee titles, BAD GENIUS, which she tells us in the one Film you must see at the Festival!

Bad Genius

Most Heist Movies follow a formula that ends with the hero walking away with vast sums of stolen money. In Thai Director Nattawut Poonpiriya’s new Film Bad Genius, her ragtag group of thieves aren’t hardened criminals looking to take down a casino but rather teenagers looking to ace their exams.

Scholarship student Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensuking) is one of the smartest students at her elite high school. Her friend Grace (Eisaya Hosuwan), however, isn’t terribly bright so the two hatch a scheme to help Grace pass an important math test. News of Grace’s extra assistance gets around and soon Lynn is helping dozens of people in her year achieve better grades. With the biggest test of the year on the line Lynn, Grace, and their friends devise a plan that will take Lynn to Sydney where she must take the most important test of all their lives.

Although people may make parallels to 2004’s The Perfect Score, Bad Genius stands as a far more interesting and inventive premise. The plot twists are unexpected adding to the tension, particularly during the climactic Third Act. While the Film’s dénouement is less than satisfactory, a sharp script and strong performances make Bad Genius a must-see at this year’s Reel Asian Film Festival.

See the Trailer:

More on the Festival here.

(Photo credit: Reel Asian)