Film Reviews

TIFF Review: Through myth and folktale, ‘Night of the Kings’ is rich and immersive and wholly unique

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: Through myth and folktale, ‘Night of the Kings’ is rich and immersive and wholly unique

Mina Takla September 12, 2020

Plot: A young man is sentenced to the MACA prison in Abidjan, and must tell the other prisoners stories to survive.  Review:  One of the... Read More

TIFF Review: ‘Penguin Bloom’ avoids ableist pitfalls with a compelling narrative and standout performance by Naomi Watts

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: ‘Penguin Bloom’ avoids ableist pitfalls with a compelling narrative and standout performance by Naomi Watts

Diego Andaluz September 12, 2020

Australian director Glendyn Ivin’s newest film Penguin Bloom tells the true story of Sam Bloom, who suffers a tragic accident during a vacation that changes... Read More

TIFF Review: A brilliant performance by Peter Sarsgaard anchors the harrowing true story of ‘Mr. Jones’

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: A brilliant performance by Peter Sarsgaard anchors the harrowing true story of ‘Mr. Jones’

Mina Takla September 11, 2020

Plot: Based on true events, Mr. Jones dramatizes the story of Gareth Jones, a journalist from Wales, who in 1933 travels to the Soviet Union... Read More

TIFF Review: Despite a compelling Kate Winslet, ‘Ammonite’ remains at a distance

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: Despite a compelling Kate Winslet, ‘Ammonite’ remains at a distance

Mina Takla September 11, 2020

Plot: In 1840s England, a fossil hunter, Mary Anning who owns her own fossil business but rarely gets proper credit for her major discoveries, falls... Read More

TIFF Review: ‘Shiva Baby’

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: ‘Shiva Baby’

Meghan White September 11, 2020

It would be easy to dismiss Danielle (Rachel Sennott) as a wildly self-absorbed and irresponsible college student. Out of the nest, half-settled on a “frivolous”... Read More

TIFF Review: In ‘Penguin Bloom,’ Naomi Watts can’t save a Hallmark card exhibition of resilience and rebirth

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: In ‘Penguin Bloom,’ Naomi Watts can’t save a Hallmark card exhibition of resilience and rebirth

Prahlad Srihari September 11, 2020

“Everything was perfect,” says young Noah Bloom (Griffin Murray-Johnston), as he recollects his family’s Thailand vacation in Penguin Bloom. Then, it was not. Noah’s mother... Read More

Film Review: Tom Holland is far from home in ‘The Devil All the Time’

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Film Review: Tom Holland is far from home in ‘The Devil All the Time’

Jack King September 11, 2020

The Southern Gothic is as American as the second amendment. Flannery O’Connor’s “Wise Blood,” the tale of a cynical preacher searching for redemption in his... Read More

Frameline Review: ‘No Hard Feelings (Futur Drei)’

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Frameline Review: ‘No Hard Feelings (Futur Drei)’

Jack King September 11, 2020

“The future is ours” says Banafshe, an Iranian woman in Germany on the verge of deportation, towards the end of No Hard Feelings (Futur Drei).... Read More

TIFF Review: Byrned Bridges in ‘American Utopia’

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: Byrned Bridges in ‘American Utopia’

Rubin Safaya September 10, 2020

“My Name is David Byrne.  I can’t take credit for that.  I had no choice in the matter.” The Randy Newman of New Wave Dadaism,... Read More

TIFF Review: World War II era ‘Tove’ paints a picture of love and loss

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• Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF Review: World War II era ‘Tove’ paints a picture of love and loss

Meghan White September 10, 2020

We rarely recognize the most formative moments in our lives at the time of their occurrence.  Seeking cover during an air raid during the second... Read More