Calm With Horses is certainly one of Toronto’s strongest contenders among the films that are not playing in the Gala or Special Presentations programs. Horses may appear in the title but they don’t really have much to do with the film’s plot. Oh, we’ll get some glimpses here and there but if you’re expecting them to play a major role, you’re going to be disappointed. Douglas “Arm” Armstrong was once a boxer but now he’s…
"Toronto 2019: Calm With Horses"Category: Film Festival
The Lighthouse features two very strong performances from both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson in this beautifully shot movie. Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) and Efraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) are lighthouse keepers in this period piece set off the coast of 1890s New England. When a four-week period is over, a storm hits the island. This means that their ride back to the mainland will never arrive. One could already feel the tension in the room…
"Toronto 2019: The Lighthouse"
Daddio stars Casey Wilson and Michael McKean in a short film depicting how father and daughter approach grief differently. Based on real death events, Paul (Michael McKean) and Abby (Casey Wilson) have very different approaches to loss. For example, Paul treats his late wife’s funeral as if it were a Hollywood production, requiring another take of Abby’s eulogy. This doesn’t quite sit well with Abby (or anyone else, I would imagine). What really shows is…
"Toronto 2019: Daddio"
Relish offers a contemporary take on The Breakfast Club with poignant commentary while even factoring in today’s standards for inclusion. After flipping back 48 hours, we meet the five teenagers before a group therapy session at the Deacon Treatment Facility. This isn’t going to be a film where they’re going to stay in one room all day. Instead, Kai (Tyler DiChiara) is plotting their escape. The other five include social media influencer Aspen (Hana Hayes), …
"Burbank 2019: Relish"
Murmur offers a taste of bold experimental filmmaking surrounding the connections between humans and the animals in our lives. Documentary-narrative feature hybrids are starting to become more of a thing. The main focus in this film is Donna (Shan MacDonald). Donna is an alcoholic and following a recent DUI charge, she’s been ordered to perform community service. Her community service obligations find her serving or time at an animal rescue shelter. While putting in her…
"Toronto 2019: Murmur"
When a single mom invites her ex-husband’s wife and daughter to live with her, a rather interesting family dynamic begins to form in The Rest of Us. Aisling Chin-Yee makes her feature directorial debut with a story about a complex relationship. When Cami’s (Heather Graham) ex-husband, Craig, tragically passes away, she invites Rachel (Jodi Balfour) and her young daughter, Talulah (Abigail Pniowsky) to move into her house. If it must be said, Rachel is much…
"Toronto 2019: The Rest of Us"
The Barefoot Emperor is a satirical film about forming a new Europe and is very fitting given the current political climate. Nicolas III (Peter Van den Begin) is so close to being able to get back home to Belgium. The only thing standing between him and members of the Belgian military retrieving him is a re-enactment of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s 1914 assassination. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong! Of course, he gets…
"Toronto 2019: The Barefoot Emperor"
American Son makes the transition from the stage to screen with a powerful performance from Kerry Washington while still feeling theatrical in scale. Kendra Ellis-Connor (Kerry Washington) is a worried mother. Her son, Jamal, has been missing for a few hours. As she sits in the Miami police state, the anger begins to start flowing. How is a mother expected to stay calm when the calms hardly tell her anything. Forget a missing persons report…
"Toronto 2019: American Son"
Coppers is an informative film with regards to the psychological toll that police officers undergo but the film doesn’t break new ground in the genre. Thirteen retired police officers share stories from their careers working the beat. Some of them share stories about their home life as result of growing up in a cop house or serving on the force themselves. One retired woman said that police officers tend to be “control freaks.” Should they…
"Toronto 2019: Coppers"
Sea Fever offers viewers a genre hybrid but the film is more so on the thinking person’s level than being an action-packed adventure. Siobhán (Hermoine Corfield) is a solitary marine biology student. Because of her studies, she soon finds herself on a fishing trawler for a week. She’s a student who generally feels more at home when she’s working in the lab. Regardless of what her preferences may be, she is a redhead and this…
"Toronto 2019: Sea Fever"