#TIFF23: “SOLO” REVIEW
By George Kozera
SOLO takes us into the world of Montreal’s illustrious drag queen scene, where Simon (Theodore Pellerin) is a rising star. Simon is a make-up artist during the day and has a wonderful and loving relationship with his supportive family (his sister, a seamstress, even creates his outfits), though it’s been over 15 years since he last saw his estranged mother. Claire (Anne-Marie Cadieux) left the family to go to Europe to pursue a career as an opera singer and is now world ...
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#TIFF23: “THE END WE START FROM” REVIEW
By Amanda Gilmore
Director Mahalia Belo makes an assured debut feature with this adaptation of Megan Hunter’s prophetic Novel of the same name.
Climate change has caused cataclysmic flooding in London causing residents to become houseless. This sends a new mother (Jodie Comer), her partner (Joel Fry), and their days-old newborn to flee to the English countryside to stay with his family. But when his parents die and the couple reaches the end of their food supply, the family must ...
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#TIFF23: “MOTHER, COUCH”
By Amanda Gilmore
Swedish Writer-Director Niclas Larsson makes his English language feature debut with this surreal familial drama starring a masterful Ewan McGregor. It follows three estranged siblings who reunite when their mother (Ellen Burstyn) refuses to get off a couch at a furniture store. Mother, Couch is a story about the immense impact a mother has on her children. For the sake of this story, her youngest son David (McGregor). It has a similar tone and themes as Ari ...
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#TIFF23: DAY THREE SIGHTINGS – NICOLAS CAGE, VIGGO MORTENSEN, DEVERY JACOBS, HALEY BENNETT, NOAH CENTINEO, FINN WOLFHARD AND MORE
TIFF '23 Day Three was one for the books. Make no mistake, while there certainly are fewer stars in town than previous years, this doesn't mean we're putting-in less time and effort. With the Festival officially being in high gear, the sightings around the City were bountiful!
We started the day off with a Nicolas Cage sighting right away! He looked amazing in a turquoise corduroy outfit, so kind to stop for fans while promoting Toronto-shot DREAM SCENARIO.
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#TIFF23: “MR. DRESSUP: THE MAGIC OF MAKE-BELIEVE” REVIEW
By Mr. Will Wong
Robert McCallum directs MR. DRESSUP: THE MAGIC OF MAKE-BELIEVE and there will be tears shed watching this loving tribute to a national icon.
If like me, you grew-up in the '80s and '90s, chances are that Mr. Dressup (Ernie Coombs) babysat you weekday mornings. The former understudy of Fred Rogers found his way into the hearts of children across the country with his long-running series MR. DRESSUP airing on CBC from 1967 to 1996. This portrait captures his true essence ...
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#TIFF23: “FITTING IN” REVIEW
By Amanda Gilmore
Writer-Director Molly McGlynn delivers an honest, touching and hopeful film about gender, sexuality and what makes a woman a woman.
High schooler Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) is planning on losing her virginity to her boyfriend Adam (D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai). During a doctor's visit to get birth control, she learns she has a rare reproductive condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome. This means she doesn’t have a uterus or cervix and has a shortened ...
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#REVIEW: “NORTH STAR” REVIEW
By George Kozera
In NORTH STAR, three sisters reunite at their family home set in the visually sumptuous Itchen Hampshire England area to attend their mother’s third marriage. Katherine (Scarlett Johansson) is a Royal Navy officer, recently promoted to a new position and is ignoring many calls from her partner Jack. Middle sister Victoria (Sienna Miller) is a Hollywood Actress, single again with a 14-year-old son. Georgina (Emily Beecham) is the youngest and is quite emotional as she ...
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#TIFF23: “THE PEASANTS” REVIEW
THE PEASANTS is one of the most visually astonishing movies I have seen in recent memory. Utilizing hundreds of painters and animators, each frame of this movie is an oil painting over the filmed scene. I cannot oversell how truly remarkable the finished product is and I was in complete awe as the story progressed.
Real life husband and wife, DK & Hugh Welchman directed and co-wrote this movie based on the Nobel Prize-winning set of books by the same name. Set in a tiny village in ...
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#TIFF23: “WOMAN OF THE HOUR” REVIEW
By George Kozera
To be perfectly frank, I had some trepidations and resisted seeing Anna Kendrick’s feature film directorial debut with WOMAN OF THE HOUR. When the subject matter deals with rape, a serial killer and is based on a true story, I would assume that even the most seasoned filmmakers would think twice about tackling such sensitive topics and I questioned whether Kendrick had the gravitas and skill to undertake such a project. I need not have worried. Not only has this ...
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#TIFF23: “DEATH OF A WHISTLEBLOWER” REVIEW
By David Baldwin
Luyanda Masinda (Noxolo Dlamini) is a South African investigative journalist who just watched her friend be murdered as he sat right beside her. He had been telling her about a story he was working on involving deep government corruption and secret chemical warfare tests dating back several decades. Luyanda starts digging to learn more about what he was researching and quickly finds herself in way over her head.
DEATH OF A WHISTLEBLOWER is a Political Thriller with a lot ...
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