Although perhaps a little bit more commercially minded than his cheaply produced, almost verite, largely improvised mumblecore dramas, Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies takes the same unforced and loose approach as the writer/director/editor/actor’s other creative endeavours and crafts a gentle, sweetly realized look at love and friendship.
The Husband Special Presentation Director: Bruce McDonald Canadian filmmaking icon McDonald continues the dark streak he’s been on lately, but this time taking a long hard look at analyzing what makes a real life monster and the affect personal demons can have on loved ones. It’s as poignant and emotional as it is funny and […]
Parkland Gala Director: Peter Landesman As a depiction of the events on the day of American President John F. Kennedy’s assassination on November 22nd 1963 – as well as the three days in the wake of the killing – Parkland doesn’t cover any historical or narrative ground that hasn’t been touched on before, nor does […]
Here it is! Your one-stop guide to all of our reviews, interviews, and features for anything and everything involving the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Keep checking back throughout the day as new reviews, interviews, and features are being added all the time!
We turn the TIFF 2013 spotlight on the Short Cuts Canada program, looking at all but one of the shorts showing across all six programs designed to bring the best in Canadian short form filmmaking to festival audiences.
Like Father, Like Son Special Presentation Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda Ryota (Masaharu Fukuyama) and Midori Nonomiya (Machiko Ono) are a hard working professional couple who live with their only child, Keita, in a modern Tokyo high-rise. After the hospital delivers the shocking truth about their son being switched at birth, the Nonomiyas suddenly find their lives […]
Only Lovers Left Alive Special Presentation Director: Jim Jarmusch It’s easy to get lost in a song, which explains why it’s so easy to immerse yourself in Jim Jarmusch’s wandering snow globes. From the Memphis ghosts of Mystery Train to the street bred samurai of Ghost Dog, Jarmusch embraces musical influence in a very literal […]
The Great Beauty Special Presentation Director: Paolo Sorrentino We all get something different out of art. Some escape their regular lives for intervals of drifting into the others’ work, some have cocooned themselves with it, and some couldn’t give a shit. In Sorrentino’s newest, Jep Gambardella (Gomorra and Il Divo’s Toni Servillo), an acclaimed writer […]
Burt’s Buzz TIFF Docs Director: Jody Shapiro You’ve likely had that moment. Crawling through the Shoppers Drug Mart aisle, scanning the shelves for where the toothpaste begins. Eventually your eyes cross the rack of Burt’s Bees products, the massive yellow skin-care care brand, marked with the face of a hirsute woodsman. Maybe not each time, […]
Blue is the Warmest Color Special Presentation Director: Abdellatif Kechiche This year’s Palme d’Or winning film at Cannes (which was awarded the prize thanks to a Steven Spielberg headed jury), unfolds as a love story between two French girls: high schooler Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) in and fine arts student Emma (Léa Seydoux). As their relationship […]
The Animal Project Contemporary World Cinema Director: Ingrid Veninger It’s unfortunate that Ingrid Veninger’s new film, The Animal Project, is ultimately unsuccessful as a larger piece, because the scattered moments of human observation that make up the film are almost always careful and poignant. Sadly, the situation created to spark all these moments feels out […]
Stay Contemporary World Cinema Director: Wiebke von Carolsfeld Stay, based on the novel by Aislinn Hunter, tells the story of a historian, Dermot (Aidan Quinn), living in a small coastal village in Ireland with his much younger lover, Abbey (Taylor Schilling). Early in the film, the two learn that Abbey is pregnant, causing a rift […]
The Lunchbox Gala Director: Ritesh Batra There’s nothing wrong with a charming little drama, especially when it stars the brilliant Irrfan Khan in the lead role. The Lunchbox is about Saajan (Khan), a widower on the verge of retirement who begins receiving a lunchbox delivery from the wrong place. The woman sending the lunches everyday, […]
Philomena Special Presentation Director: Stephen Frears Based on the true story of Philomena Lee, an elderly Irish woman who became pregnant as a teenager and had her child taken away from her by the Catholic Church and sold for adaption, Philomena, manages a curious balance of tones, both comedic and dramatic. Co-written by Steve Coogan […]
At Berkeley TIFF Docs Director: Frederick Wiseman At over 80 years old and delivering a film over four hours in length, renowned observant documentarian Wiseman shows no signs of slowing down, delivering an immersive look at the inner workings of one of the world’s top universities. While the focus at times gets placed squarely on […]
