With a stellar performance from Emma Thompson, The Children Act tells a moving story of a judge who must decide on life or death. British High Court judge Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) is given the sole responsibility of well, choosing life or death for a minor. The minor in question is Adam Henry (Fionn Whitehead). He’s suffering from leukemia and is denying the hospital from giving him a blood transfusion. Even though it’s the very…
"The Children Act: Emma Thompson is Remarkable"Author: Danielle Solzman
Danielle Solzman
Kursk tells a worthy story but one wonders what the film would look like if left to examine everything from the submarine to the government. It’s been just over 18 years in which the submarine fell to the bottom of the Barents Sea. This was a submarine that was over 200 yards long. The submarine in the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet is said to be unsinkable. Unlike the Titanic, most of the men serving on board…
"TIFF 2018: Kursk"
Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz tells the life story of the last surviving prosecutor of thee Nuremberg Trials. If you don’t know Ben Ferencz’s name, you really should take the time to learn about him. The Romanian native would move with his family to the United States when he was ten months old. This is because of the anti-Semitic persecution during this time. It wasn’t safe to be Jewish in Europe at…
"TIFF 2018: Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz"
Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 is without a doubt the most crucial documentary to be seen heading into the midterm elections. Moore starts off the film by taking us to Election Eve 2016. This was a different time in America. Everybody had all but assumed that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be elected president the next day. The Donald Trump presidential campaign had a 15% chance of winning according to the polls. Laughable, right?…
"TIFF 2018: Fahrenheit 11/9 is Crucial for Midterms"
The Front Runner offers striking commentary not only on American politics but the media’s responsibility to report on the players involved. American politics was different in the 1980s. There was no such thing as cable news. People weren’t walking with a computer in their pocket, let alone their palms. Reporters didn’t have the ability to be published instantaneously. While some aspects such as the traveling beat are the same, it’s how they are able to…
"TIFF 2018: The Front Runner"
The Grizzlies takes us to the Arctic where a teacher new to the area must come up with ways to inspire his students if it means keeping them alive. We’re taken back in time to 2004 when the small town of Kugluktuk, Nunavut had one of the highest teen suicide rates around the globe. When Russ Sheppard (Ben Schnetzer) takes on a job teaching history at the Kugluktuk High School, he’s in for a whole new world. A…
"TIFF 2018: The Grizzlies – An Inspiring Sports Drama"
Taking place during Detroit in the 1980s, White Boy Rick tells the story it wants but only to an extent. The biggest thing that I felt could have been explored better were the unjust treatments towards Rick Wershe, Jr. (Richie Merritt). This is someone who became the youngest person to ever serve as an FBI informant. The fact that the FBI turned their backs on a deal is wildly upsetting. It isn’t unfair to say…
"TIFF 2018: White Boy Rick"
A family sees massive fighting when they reunite to bury their father’s remains in writer-director Yona Rozenkier’s semi-autobiographical feature, The Dive. As Avishai (Micha Rozenkier) is finishing up his mandatory IDF training, he’s reunited with his older brothers who prepare him for the harsh realities of war. Itai (Yona Rozenkier) is the first of the older brothers who we meet. As the family, including their mom, Franca (Claudia Dulitchi), gather, Yoav (Yoel Rozenkier) shows up and…
"TIFF 2018: The Dive (HaTzlila)"
While it’s not for everyone, Touch Me Not is a documentary that examines intimacy in the way one handles their own sexuality. What director Adina Pintilie is trying to do here is get some sort of emotional response from her subjects. There’s three main subjects. Another one is a transgender woman who uses her experience in sex work as a form of therapeutic exercises. There’s a lot of exploration of sexual identity featured within the film. …
"TIFF 2018: Touch Me Not"
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)"