Is Musical Drama ‘Sapphires’ Actually the Next ‘Artist’?
Last year, Harvey Weinstein picked up The Artist at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and successfully paraded it all the way to the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards. When The Sapphires premiered at Cannes 2012, the mega-producer knew he had another hit on hits hands and the bold comparison forcefully pushed the film into awards contention. Harvey Weinstein: war strategist. Read more…
‘The Impossible’ Helps Us Understand What Tsunamis Really Do
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated the coastlines of Southeast Asia was a shocking and upsetting experience, no matter who you are or where you were. From the comfort of my home on the East Coast of the United States, I watched news channels and websites as more and more news poured in, the scope of the catastrophe painted clearer and clearer with each passing minute. Read more…
TIFF 2012 Acquisitions: Ryan Gosling, ‘Great Expectations,’ and More
Film studios have brought their wallets to the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, and movies are being bought! In the literal sense–not in a shady, conspiracy theory-type way (Let’s save that sort of story line for an actual film). Read more…
Ryan Gosling’s ‘Place Beyond the Pines’ Aims for ‘Godfather’-Style Slow Burn
According to director Derek Cianfrance, The Place Beyond the Pines was born when his Blue Valentine star Ryan Gosling explained to him a fantasy he had of robbing a bank on a motorcycle. Echoing just how in tune with one another the actor/director really are, Cianfrance told Gosling that’s exactly what was going to happen in his next movie. Read more…
Artsy Vampire Flick ‘Byzantium’ Is Perfect for the YAF Reader
The latest entry in the escalating catalogue of vampire dramas isn’t an adaptation of a young adult fiction novel (it’s actually based on a play by English writer Moira Buffini), but it wouldn’t be hard to mistake it as one. Read more…
‘Hyde Park on Hudson’ Sports Great Bill Murray, Not Much Else
There is one scene in Hyde Park on Hudson where it’s apparent how great Billy Murray is as the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt. After a lengthy meal, FDR takes King George VI, aka Bertie, into his study for another round of drinks. He sits him down to talk about his recent appointment as the King of England and the potential for war overseas. Read more…
Kristen Wiig & Darren Criss’ Backstreet Boys Impression Keep ‘Imogene’ Afloat
Kristen Wiig is developing a recognizable shtick: authentically funny, but as people who watch her material know what’s coming. Her latest, the indie Imogene which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, supports the theory. It’s not an especially inspiring film, but Wiig delivers plenty of laughs with her signature mumbly awkward style that made her a huge star on Saturday Night Live and, now, the big screen. Read more…
Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence Give Career Bests in ‘Silver Linings Playbook’
There’s a second step to early stardom that’s hard to muster. You break in with a few movies that wow audiences; for Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, it was The Hangover and Winter’s Bone. The next stage: could they keep up the critical momentum or were they one-hit wonders? Good news for fans of Cooper or Lawrence: They’re the real deal and Silver Linings Playbook is evidence. Read more…
‘Cloud Atlas’ Is a Big Picture That Explores the Big Picture
David Mitchell’s novel Cloud Atlas consists of six stories, set in various time periods between 1850 and a time far into Earth’s post-apocalyptic future. The various stories remain intact for Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski’s (The Matrix) film adaptation. The massive change comes from the interweaving of the book’s parts into one three-hour saga. Read more…
7 Reasons ‘Seven Psychopaths’ Is One to Watch
The trailer for writer/director Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths only touches the surface of the wild ride of a film. Playing at Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness program, Psychopaths unleashes a fury of demented characters into a fight-to-the-death arena — in this case, Los Angeles, California (the deadliest of all) — and sits back observing the circus. Read more…
‘Spring Breakers’ Marks the End of Selena Gomez’s Innocent Era
Teaming up with a provocateur like Harmony Korine is a daring move for Selena Gomez and her Disney-spawned costar Vanessa Hudgens, whose role as Candy dives even further into the realm of R-rated flamboyance. Not just because of the sex, drugs, and boozy mayhem that go hand and hand with a party atmosphere, but because Spring Breakers will challenge most of her fans (or maturing male onlookers). Read more…
‘Amour’ Is a Touching Punch to the Gut for Viewers Young and Old
Michael Haneke is not in the “movies for entertainment” business. Or, at least, not the kind of cinematic entertainment that relies on bombastic visuals and wild plotlines to hook audiences. He’s a realist, a philosopher, and the dramatic equivalent of MMA fighter Randy Couture. Get in the ring with him and he’ll knock you out with only a few punches. Read more…
‘Anna Karenina’ is Cinema, Theater, Opera, Ballet, and Brilliant
We often hail the masters of Hollywood — Capra, Scorsese, Lean, Coppola, Spielberg — with an added tag that few modern filmmakers could follow in their footsteps. After the Toronto International Film Festival’s screening of Anna Karenina, I’m inclined to invest hope in director Joe Wright. Read more…
Walter White & Joan Harris Are Married… In ‘American Beauty’ Live Read
In what world could Breaking Bad‘s Walter White nab a vixen like Mad Men‘s Joan Harris? Well, it could happen in a world that only Jason Reitman could dream up. Read more…
Renée Zellweger Makes Directorial Debut with ‘4 1/2 Minutes’
Since kicking off her career in the early ’90s, Renée Zellweger has been a largely polarizing actress: some love her, some… not so much. Even in some of her more universally acclaimed movies, like Jerry Maguire and Chicago, Zellweger has faced adversity for her performances.Read more…
TIFF 2012: 10 Films to Watch For
On September 6 the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival kicks off, bringing with it a bevy of A-list star power and some of this year’s biggest, buzziest movies, not to mention early Oscar contenders. The festival, now in its 37th year, will present 372 films over the span of just 11 days. So which films playing at the world’s second most prominent festival (right behind the incomparable Cannes) should movie buffs be paying closest attention to? Read more…
Films from Affleck, Redford, Malick Among Toronto Line-Up
With just 44 days until the start of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival (oft considered the unofficial kick-off to Oscar season) the lineup has finally been announced. There’s no doubt aboot it, either: there are some high-profile films and major Oscar contenders at this year’s festival. Read more…
‘On the Road,’ Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad 25’ Added to Toronto Line-Up
The 2012 Toronto International Film Festival has added even more buzzy, star-studded projects to its lineup. TIFF organizers announced on Tuesday that Kristen Stewart vehicle On the Road, Spike Lee‘s documentary about Michael Jackson titled Bad 25, and Brian De Palma‘s erotic thriller Passion will be screened at the festival. Read more…
