Renée Zellweger remarkably transforms into actress/singer Judy Garland in the upcoming Judy and will surely contend during Awards Season. While the film mostly takes place in late 1968-early 1969 prior to Garland’s tragic death at 47, there are flashbacks to childhood. If you didn’t read Garland’s autobiography or take a quick glance at MGM co-founder Louis B. Mayer’s Wikipedia page some of the film’s contents will come as a shock to you. Mayer molested the…
"Toronto 2019: Judy"Tag: Toronto International Film Festival
Joker presents a new retelling of the character’s origins as a villain but the film fails so horribly on just about every single level. SPOILER ALERT: I apologize in advance for any spoilers but when it comes to reviews, please read at your own risk. There are so many problems with this film. First of all, the Joker is a straight-out villain in the comics. In prior movies, he has never once been presented in…
"Toronto 2019: Joker"
Ford v Ferrari is an exhilarating crowd-pleaser that should keep audiences on their seat in Ford’s quest to build a winning race car. Race car driver-turned-car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and British-born racer Ken Miles (Christian Bale) are racing legends. We owe a great respect to their efforts in racing because without them, who knows what type of advances Ford would make. Shelby had quit racing sometime prior due to health issues. However, their…
"Toronto 2019: Ford v Ferrari"
Marriage Story presents an authentic look into one family’s life as they breakup and raise their child together while living on opposite coasts. Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver) are married. However, the two of them are going through a divorce. While they originally had no intention of bringing on lawyers, they eventually turn to legal cancel. Nobody said that divorce would be easy, right? What makes it so important for the two of…
"Toronto 2019: Marriage Story"
This Is Not a Movie follows journalist Robert Fisk in his quest to seek the truth in war zones–especially within the Middle East. The Middle East is home to many of the world’s international conflicts. Filmmaker Yung Chang follows British journalist Robert Fisk on the ground while he’s hard at work. Fisk has been doing this for forty years. As one can imagine, it’s not always easy getting the pertinent facts when there’s a war…
"Toronto 2019: This Is Not a Movie"
There’s a tricky way of addressing the Holocaust and/or World War 2 through satire and humor but Jojo Rabbit does so in a perfect way. Jojo Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) is a fanatical member of the Hitler Youth. This is where Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell, playing another racist) leads the youth in training. He’s bought into the Nazis so much that his invisible friend is none other than Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi) himself. Only Taika…
"Toronto 2019: Jojo Rabbit"
The Audition is about a high school teacher who sees a lot of talent in a student and ends up training him much to the detriment of her family. The Audition follows music high school teacher Anna Bronsky (Nina Hoss, in one of two leading roles during TIFF). Anna sees a lot of talent in a student, Alexander (Ilja Monti), and wants him to play violin to the best of his potential. Unfortunately, pushing Alexander…
"Toronto 2019: The Audition"
A pre-teenage boy wants to tell a fellow classmate how he feels about her in 1982 but this is just one aspect of the film. Writer-director Oualid Mouaness grounds this film by way of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. It’s the last day of school but for one 11-year-old, Wissam (Mohammad Dali), he just has one goal before the school year comes to end. This particular goal is to inform fellow classmate Joanna (Gia Madi)…
"Toronto 2019: 1982"
Knives Out may be a murder mystery comedy but no stone goes unturned in what is certainly one of the best laugh riots in 2019. Crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is discovered dead on the morning after his 85th birthday party. We don’t know whether he was killed or whether he did the deed himself. What we do know is that members of the Thrombey family are being questioned by Lt. Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield)…
"Toronto 2019: Knives Out"
An elderly Austrian man requires the services of an Afghan refugee in Nobadi so that he can bury his late dog in the backyard. Heinrich Senft (Heinz Trixner) is north of 80 years old and his dog just died. The dog’s death wasn’t sudden or anything but it was merely a case of age. Unfortunately, local services aren’t able to dispose of the carcass without paying a nominal fee. As a result, the old man…
"Toronto 2019: Nobadi"