Cold Eyes Gala Directors: Cho Ui-seok, Kim Byung-seo Although technically a remake of 2007’s Eye in the Sky, this fast paced and entertaining South Korean cops and robbers thriller owes a lot more to Ben Affleck’s The Town and Michael Mann’s Heat than it does other films from the country. Ha Yoon-ju (Han Hyo-joo) has […]
When Jews Were Funny TIFF Docs Director: Alan Zweig Zweig (I, Curmudgeon, Vinyl) delivers his second film this year with a personal look at his desire to reconnect with the more openly comedic aspects of his heritage and upbringing, partially for the benefit of his young daughter who he wants to have an awareness of […]
Rush Gala Director: Ron Howard With a great attention to detail and a pair of exceptional leading performances, Howard’s period piece set against a historic, high speed Formula One racing rivalry in the 1970s surprises and thrills, both dramatically and visually. Hard living and reckless Brit James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) works his way up through […]
Don Jon Special Presentation Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt While Levitt’s first effort behind the camera showcases that he at least knows what to do on a visual level, his tale of a porn addict trying to come to terms with the priorities in his life is entirely misconceived and sloppy. A lothario (Levitt, doing a grating […]
Siddharth Contemporary World Cinema Director: Richie Mehta A deeply resonating look at an uneducated, poor street labourer in India searching for the missing son he essentially sold into child labour, Mehta’s film offers a lot of questions but thankfully never tries to make sense out of a situation that’s unanswerable from the start. Mahendra (Rajesh […]
Sarah Prefers to Run Discovery Director: Chloe Robichaud The feature length debut from Robichaud is nothing short of a revelation for both her and her star Sophie Desmarais. It’s the rare kind of coming of age story that captures the first year of university and everything leading up to it as a scarring sort of […]
Le Demantelement Contemporary World Cinema Director: Sebastien Pilote A subdued Quebacois drama divided into two parts, the second film from Pilote (The Salesman) follows a 53 year old, long since divorced farmer (an excellent Gabriel Arcand) coming to terms with having to leave his family’s profession behind to help his eldest daughter (Lucie Laurier) get […]
Metallica: Through The Never SPECIAL EVENT Director: Nimrod Antal Trip (Dane DeHaan) is a young roadie living the dream: working on the road with Metallica. During a show he gets summoned to head out on an urgent mission for the band. What at first seems like a simple errand ends up being a trippy and […]
The Past Special Presentation Director: Asghar Farhadi While not up to the same dramatic highs as his previous award winning effort A Separation, Asghar Farhadi returns with an even more melodramatic look at a crumbling family going through a scarring, drawn out divorce. Ahmed (Ali Mosaffa) returns to Paris from Tehran to finalize his divorce […]
A Story of Children and Film TIFF Docs Director: Mark Cousins Following up his epically lengthy Story of Film, film writer and scholar Mark Cousins takes a look at cinematic tropes, theories, and histories in a much smaller space. Using his niece and nephew as a microcosm, Cousins uses their childish playfulness to talk about […]
Gloria Special Presentation Director:Sebastian Lelio Gloria, a character driven story about a middle aged divorced woman (Paulina Garcia) looking for her second chance at love, offers TIFF enthusiasts a lighter option that’s easier to digest amongst the more serious titles. The fifty-something dynamic lead can usually be found at her favourite disco for older singles. […]
Young & Beautiful Special Presentation Director: François Ozon François Ozon explores the initial sexual experiences of a seventeen year old French girl over four seasons. At the end of summer, Isabelle, beautifully played by newcomer Marine Vacth, loses her virginity in a less than stellar first roll in the sand. As the season changes into […]
Tracks Special Presentation Director: John Curran Headstrong and antisocial Robyn Davidson (Mia Wasikowska) feels a need to escape from everything civilized and trek across the harsh, Australian Outback in 1977. With four camels (Dookie, Bub, Zeleika and baby Goliath) and her dog Diggity, the 27 year old leaves Alice Springs, commencing a 2700 kilometre walkabout […]
Tim’s Vermeer TIFF Docs Director: Teller Dutch master Johannes Vermeer’s paintings have confounded art historians for generations. The level of detail he achieved seems unfathomable with a few controversial theorists suggesting that he used a camera obscura to paint virtual photographs. That’s the kind of clever conspiracy ripe for debunking that tends to appeal to […]
For No Good Reason Mavericks Director: Charlie Paul Best known for his hallucinatory drawings that somehow managed to visualize the unique madness inside the mind of Hunter S. Thompson, Ralph Steadman has for years remained somewhat of a mystery. His artwork is iconic, yet the man behind the inkblots tends to stay out of limelight […]
