Redemption (Geula) follows a widowed Ultra-Orthodox rock singer as his daughter is fighting a very serious battle with cancer. Menachem (Moshe Folkenflik), best known as Menny these days, is a former rock singer. This was until he grew closer to Chasidic Judaism following some tragic times in his life. These days, he’s working as a clerk in a grocery store just to make ends meet. As if losing his wife wasn’t enough, tragedy has struck…
"TIFF 2018: Redemption (Geula)"Category: Film Festival
A timely film for the #MeToo era, Working Woman speaks to the problems surrounding a grey area of sexual harassment at work. Orna (Liron Ben Shlush) recently started working in the real estate business. The place seems to be nice at first. After all, the company are building a nice complex along the beachfront in Rishon Lezion. Unfortunately there’s more than meets the eye with her married realtor boss, Benny (Menashe Noy). Instead of being a…
"TIFF 2018: Working Woman – A #MeToo Film"
Telling the story of Neil Armstrong and the mission to the moon, First Man is an intense ride and an IMAX screen should be considered required viewing. Starring as astronaut Neil Armstrong, veteran actor Ryan Gosling captures the very essence of his persona. Armstrong lived with a public profile but he was very much a private person. He saw this as just a job. He got up every morning and went to work for NASA. …
"TIFF 2018: First Man is Intense, IMAX required"
Strong performances lift up What They Had as one Chicago family realizes that they must come to a decision on what to do about a loved one’s health. It’s the blistery cold of December when Ruth (Blythe Danner) has wondered off again. Not knowing where she is, Bert (Robert Forster) calls Nick (Michael Shannon) who in term calls California-based sister Bridget (Hilary Swank). The next thing we know, Bridget and her daughter, Emma (Taissa Farmiga),…
"TIFF 2018: What They Had"
Largely funny in the way the story is told, Driven brings the story of car inventor John DeLorean’s downfall to the big screen. This film wisely grounds its story through a series of flashbacks as Jim Hoffman (Jason Sudeikis) sits on the witness stand. The drug dealer-turned-FBI informant is at court to testify against his neighbor, John DeLorean (Lee Pace). Before we know it, we go back to where everything started with his arrest by…
"TIFF 2018: Driven is A Lot Of Fun"
With first-time director Paul Dano at the helm, Wildlife benefits from a stand-out performance from actress Carey Mulligan. Based on the book of the same name, we view the events through the eyes of teenager Joe Brinson (Ed Oxenbould). As his parents struggle financially, he decides to quit the football team to work for a photographer. Having lost his job at the golf club, Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) runs out of town to fight fires in Montana. …
"TIFF 2018: Wildlife"
The Truth About Killer Robots follows three unfortunate deaths caused by robots as well as the aftereffects a way of examining the technology at hand. As we go move further along into the 21st century, technology is catching up to the science fiction work of the past. Sci-fi writers like Isaac Asimov or Phillip K. Dick could never have anticipated reality catching up to their work. Asimov was writing about robots during the 1940s. I…
"TIFF 2018: The Truth About Killer Robots"
Created by an Oscar-winning duo, Animal Behaviour is one of the finest animated short films that anyone will see in all of 2018. Writers-directors-animators Alison Snowden and David Fine won an Oscar for Bob’s Birthday back in 1995. This was also the last time the two filmmakers made any kind of theatrical short. They’re back over 20 years later with a film revolving around a group therapy session. What makes this therapy session so fun and…
"TIFF 2018: Animal Behaviour"
Boy Erased is able to broach conversion therapy with such sincerity, emotional drama, and gripping performances from its cast. The film starts as Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges) is sent for a 12-day assessment at Love in Action after a college counselor calls his parents. It’s not a choice he made in as much as his father, Baptist pastor Marshall Eamons (Russell Crowe), did. Russell Crowe is able to disappear into the role of the pastor to…
"TIFF 2018: Boy Erased Adds to the Conversation"
Where Hands Touch is a coming of age film that brings to light the little known stories about biracial children living in Germany during World War 2. Despite having a German-sounding name, Leyna (Amandla Stenberg) is not your typical German girl. The teenager is the daughter of a white German mom, Kerstin (Abbie Cornish), and a black African father. This came as a result of the French following World War 1. Because Leyna is biracial,…
"TIFF 2018: Where Hands Touch"