#REVIEW: “SPLIT”
Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong
The best part of M. Night Shyamalan’s latest psychological thriller is James McAvoy. Playing the role of a man with living with Dissociative Identity Disorder, McAvoy is mesmerizing as he introduces the audience to seven of the 24 personalities hidden inside Kevin Crumb’s mind. From coldly calculating OCD-Dennis to innocent Hedwig, McAvoy plays each personality as its own distinct character rather than an offshoot or quirk of the greater whole. ...
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#REVIEW: ” THE FOUNDER”
Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong
Few things represent America as well as McDonald’s. Fast, disposable food for a society that reveres speed and impersonality for its day to day survival. With a Big Mac combo no more than a few blocks away at all times, most people are as familiar with the "golden arches" as they are with the American flag. In The Founder, Writer Robert D. Siegel paints a picture of the birth of this company that couldn’t be more American if it were written on a ...
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#REVIEW: “PATRIOTS DAY”
Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
Based on the horrific bombings that occurred in Boston in April 2013, Patriots Day tackles the events shortly prior to the attack and the days afterwards.
The Movie starts-off by introducing us to characters that were affected by the bombings and its aftermath, right away connecting the audience on a personal level. The story then moves to Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) amidst an arrest for a misdemeanour, then being told by the Commissioner, Ed ...
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#REVIEW: “LIVE BY NIGHT”
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
In recent years, Ben Affleck truly has solidified his standing in the world of Cinema. He directed the fantastic Gone Baby Gone, and he managed to change practically everyone else’s opinion of him overnight as an artist. An Oscar and a Dark Knight appearance or two later, and we have his latest multi-hyphenated work, Live By Night.
World War I is over and prohibition is in effect. Joe Coughlin (Affleck) is a noble thief, doing his best not to fall ...
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#REVIEW: “20TH CENTURY WOMEN”
Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong
Few years in recent memory have been as good for women in Film as 2016. In the latter part of the year, interesting and diverse roles for women seemed abundant. Great example of strong female roles that pass the Bechdel Test can be found in the new Film 20th Century Women. Dorothea, Julie and Abbie are as much a product of the eras in which they were born as they are the one they currently inhabit, 1979 Santa Barbara.
Born in 1924 when “the people ...
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#REVIEW: “SILENCE”
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
The legendary Martin Scorsese directed the ridiculously-controversial The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988. While he was promoting the Film, he was handed the novel Silence. And ever since that moment 28 years ago, he has been trying to direct a Film based on that Book. And after years of false starts, we are finally able to watch his passion project in all its glory.
After discovering their mentor Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson) has renounced his ...
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#REVIEW: “HIDDEN FIGURES”
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
As the United States continues the Space Race with Russia in the early 1960s, a gifted team of African-American women (initially relegated to the “Colored Computers” department of NASA) were using their mathematical and engineering expertise to help behind the scenes.
Having attended the exclusive preview of Hidden Figures at TIFF this past September, my expectations for the final Film were more inflated than I would like to admit. I was ...
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#REVIEW: “A MONSTER CALLS”
Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
Sometimes a Movie sets out to tug on our heartstrings. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. However in the instance of J.A Bayona’s A Monster Calls, it is safe to say that it succeeds. Emotions run high in this wonderfully-thought-out adaptation of Patrick Ness’s book of the same name. The only calling out to be heard are the noises people suppressing their cries.
The Movie focuses on our lead character Conor (Lewis MacDougall) as he ...
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#REVIEW: “E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL IN CONCERT” AT SONY CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
E.T.'s universal appeal is undeniable. The 1982 Steven Spielberg classic is one of the first Movies I saw ever which drew me truly to the magic of cinema. I was late to catch-on to its legacy - my first time seeing it on its 20th anniversary in 2002 at my local Cineplex, thanks to Enzo at my local video store. Instead of taking our rental money, generously he gave me and my dad twenty dollars, urging us to go enjoy it in a format that it is ...
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#REVIEW: “LA LA LAND”
We've seen many Films about falling in love and usually the 'happily ever after' begins there, leaving us at that. A rarity however is a Film that captures with great truth the tenderness of both falling in and out of love and also the costs of pursuing our dreams.
Director Damien Chazelle wowed us with Academy Award winner Whiplash back in 2014. In already what is looking like a brilliant career ahead, he dispels defiantly any talk of a sophomore slump in current Oscar Frontrunner and ...
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