Filmmakers Guy Maddin, Matthew Rankin tell TIFF crowd about coming through Winnipeg’s ‘anti-mainstream’ scene

Filmmakers Guy Maddin, Matthew Rankin tell TIFF crowd about coming through Winnipeg’s ‘anti-mainstream’ scene

Two Winnipeg-spawned filmmakers who have both offered up surreal visions of the Prairie city — albeit almost 20 years apart — talked to a Toronto International Film Festival crowd this week about the reception to their latest movies and what it’s like to try to present Winnipeg to the world in film. Guy Maddin and Matthew Rankin … Read more

Pro wrestling superstar John Cena announces upcoming retirement during Toronto event

Pro wrestling superstar John Cena announces upcoming retirement during Toronto event

John Cena announced on Saturday night in Toronto that he will retire from professional wrestling next year after two decades in the ring. The wrestler-turned-actor delivered a heartfelt speech to a stadium of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fans at Scotiabank Arena, who booed in disappointment as Cena said the 2025 season would be his last. … Read more

Elton John, Amy Adams films among first titles announced for TIFF 2024

Elton John, Amy Adams films among first titles announced for TIFF 2024

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

Érik Canuel, director of Bon Cop, Bad Cop and other Quebec hit films, has died at 63

Érik Canuel, director of Bon Cop, Bad Cop and other Quebec hit films, has died at 63

Quebec filmmaker Érik Canuel, who directed several notable films, including La loi du cochon, Nez rouge, Le dernier tunnel and Bon cop, bad cop, died Saturday. He was 63 years old.  Annexe, a Montreal-based communications firm, confirmed Canuel’s death on Monday. The director was diagnosed with multiple myeloma seven years ago and died following complications related to secondary plasma cell leukemia.  Canuel … Read more

Cannes is looking pretty Canadian this year with David Cronenberg, Guy Maddin features

Cannes is looking pretty Canadian this year with David Cronenberg, Guy Maddin features

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

Prolific ‘king of B movies’ filmmaker Roger Corman dead at 98

Prolific ‘king of B movies’ filmmaker Roger Corman dead at 98

Low-budget cinema maestro Roger Corman, who cranked out hundreds of outrageous films over six decades and helped launch the careers of acclaimed directors Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron and Ron Howard, died on Thursday at age 98, family members said. Corman, a producer and director hailed as the “king of B movies,” died … Read more

Titanic, Lord of the Rings actor Bernard Hill dead at 79

Titanic, Lord of the Rings actor Bernard Hill dead at 79

Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and went down with the ship as the captain in Titanic, has died. Hill, 79, passed away Sunday morning, agent Lou Coulson said. Hill joined The Lord Of The Rings franchise in the … Read more

Ryan Gosling’s good graces ground The Fall Guy’s meta-movie shenanigans

Ryan Gosling’s good graces ground The Fall Guy’s meta-movie shenanigans

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

American author Paul Auster, prolific and experimental man of letters and filmmaker, dead at 77

American author Paul Auster, prolific and experimental man of letters and filmmaker, dead at 77

Paul Auster, a prolific, prize-winning man of letters and filmmaker known for such inventive narratives and meta-narratives as The New York Trilogy and 4321, has died at age 77. Auster’s death was confirmed on May 1 by his literary representatives, the Carol Mann Agency, which did not immediately provide additional details. Auster had been diagnosed … Read more

Canadian actor Kenneth Mitchell, who continued working after ALS diagnosis, dead at 49

Canadian actor Kenneth Mitchell, who continued working after ALS diagnosis, dead at 49

Toronto actor Kenneth Mitchell who found consistent work in television and film, even after a 2018 diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has died. He was 49. Mitchell’s family said in a post on his Instagram account that the actor from Star Trek: Discovery and Jericho died on Saturday. “For five and a half years, … Read more