Review: “Ticket to Paradise”

“Ticket to Paradise,” director Ol Parker’s Bali-set romantic comedy, closes with a good old-fashioned blooper reel playing over the end credits. In the footage, stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney goof off, riff off each other, laugh hysterically, and just seem to overall be having a great time in each other’s company. The pair, who […]

Review: “TÁR”

“Tár’s” breakdown of power hierarchies begins before we are even introduced to its subject, before we really have an inkling of what writer director and producer Todd Field’s 3rd feature film is actually about. It opens with a backwards end credit sequence in which the crew members typically relegated to the bottom of the list […]

Review: “Halloween Ends”

Walking out of my screening of “Halloween Ends” last week, I witnessed what may be considered a microcosm of most die hard fans’ reaction to David Gordon Green’s final installment in his “Halloween” trilogy: a man, wearing a “Halloween” T-shirt and clutching a Michael Myers mask in one hand, shouting at his friends—or perhaps no […]

TIFF 22 Female Filmmaker Roundup

When I attended the Toronto International Film Festival for the first time this year, I really wanted to prioritize watching films by female filmmakers, of which the festival seemed to have a great slate this year. Out of the 31 movies I saw at the festival, 11 of them were by female directors—a decent number, […]

TIFF Review: “Chevalier”

Toronto International Film Festival 2022 Special Presentations World Premiere “Chevalier” introduces its subject in spectacularly dynamic fashion: Joseph Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) walks into a concert held by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart like he owns the place, and challenges the famed composer to a duel, their violins their weapons. The resulting face-off, during which Joseph and […]

Review: “Blonde”

Kim Kardashian stirred up controversy for the gown she chose to wear to the Met Gala earlier this year, although not because of the look itself. The buzz came, rather, courtesy of the gown’s origins: it was the same nude-colored, beaded dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in 1962, when she famously sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. […]

TIFF Review: “Butcher’s Crossing”

Toronto International Film Festival Gala Presentations World Premiere Of all the varied genres Nicolas Cage has explored over the course of his long and colorful career, an old school western is one he hasn’t really touched. But it turns out that the part of buffalo hunter Miller is the exact right fit for Cage, one […]

TIFF Review: “The Whale”

Toronto International Film Festival 2022 Special Presentations North American Premiere There’s a parallel to be found in Brendan Fraser’s recent career trajectory and the life of the character he plays in “The Whale,” Charlie, albeit a tangential one. After stepping away from Hollywood after being a top box office draw in the 1990s and early […]

Review: “Don’t Worry Darling”

Olivia Wilde’s 2019 directorial debut “Booksmart” was a genuinely warm and humorous look at female friendship. With her sophomore feature, Wilde broadens her scope in favor of a narrative that’s much more ambitious. But that’s about the best thing I can say about “Don’t Worry Darling,” a repetitive thriller whose feminist themes are too broad, […]

TIFF Review: “Corsage”

Toronto International Film Festival 2022 North American Premiere Romy Schneider made such an indelible impact playing Empress Elisabeth of Austria in the “Sissi” trilogy as a teenager in the mid-1950s that not only did the success of the films launch her into the celebrity stratosphere, but they have become a tradition in Austria and other […]