The province of Manitoba is extraordinarily well represented this month at the Toronto International Film Festival. Officially, the province lays claim to seven films at the festival, which opened Thursday: four features and three shorts, all with Manitoba connections. Never before in the 49-year history of the festival have so many Manitoba-made films been presented. Bear … Read more
Newfoundland and Labrador documentary filmmaker Jamie Miller is helping bring a unique part of her province’s popular culture to the screen. “In our generation, we grew up turning on our news station in the middle of the night and seeing just bonkers psychedelia content,” she said of her upbringing in St. John’s watching NTV, the local television network … Read more
Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning screenplay writer of Shampoo, The Last Detail and other acclaimed films, whose work on Chinatown became a model of the art form and helped define the jaded allure of his native Los Angeles, died Monday surrounded by family at his home there, said publicist Carri McClure. She declined to comment on any cause of death. … Read more
A documentary about Elton John and an Amy Adams-led horror comedy about a stay-at-home mom whose life turns surreal will have their world premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival. Elton John: Never Too Late promises to “pull the back the curtain” on the superstar’s life and is co-directed by R.J Cutler and Toronto’s David Furnish, … Read more
The Cannes Film Festival opened Tuesday with the unveiling of Greta Gerwig’s jury selection and the presentation of an honorary Palme d’Or — the festival’s most prestigious prize — for Meryl Streep as the French Riviera spectacular kicked off its 77th edition. But along with buzzy films from Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, to Kevin Costner’s … Read more
There’s a perilous stunt at the heart of The Fall Guy. More dangerous than the record-breaking truck roll, or surfing a metal trash bin across the streets of Sydney. This is a movie torn between two tracks. Part is a super-charged satire on the excesses of Hollywood. Much of The Fall Guy takes place on the set of … Read more
Gabriela Cowperthwaite is the first to admit her new film, I.S.S., is out of step with her career to date. The director of Blackfish (a documentary about the cruel treatment of orcas in captivity, Children of the Underground (about a covert network built to smuggle families away from abusive partners) and Our Friend (a true story of … Read more
An Indigenous superhero gets her own Marvel spinoff next week — the first of the company’s bets on projects that don’t require prior knowledge of its popular cinematic universe. The Disney+ series Echo stars Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, a.k.a. Echo, the Indigenous-Latin American leader of the Tracksuit Mafia, a criminal gang run by the villainous Wilson Fisk, … Read more
Let’s get the honourable mentions out of the way, first. Rihanna performed at the SuperBowl — and announced a pregnancy while she was onstage. The Beatles released a new song using an old demo from the late John Lennon, featuring additions by Paul McCartney, the late George Harrison and Ringo Starr, as well as a little help … Read more
Netflix’s newest apocalyptic thriller, Leave the World Behind, has people talking. Directed by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, the film stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke and Kevin Bacon. It’s adapted from the 2020 novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam, and produced by Higher Ground Productions, the company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama. Despite shooting to No. … Read more
