By Nick Maylor (***1/2) Official Film Synopsis: ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch is the third collaboration between award-winning photographer Edward Burtynsky and acclaimed filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier following Manufactured Landscapes and Watermark. In breathtaking tableaus, their latest documentary continues their exploration of industrialization and extraction in astonishing scale and perspective. I walked into the upper…
By Nick Maylor (***1/2) Paul Dano shows the patience, confidence and wisdom of an older, more experienced filmmaker for his directorial debut. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Richard Ford first published in 1990 and the script was adapted by Dano himself and Zoe Kazan. When explaining why he chose the book, Dano…
By John H. Foote OUTLAW KING (***) Though made for the streaming company Netflix, Outlaw King, which opened TIFF last night at Roy Thompson Hall deserves to be, no, demands to be seen on a vast movie screen. The better to take in the glorious helicopter shots, the lush greenery of old Scotland, and the…
By John H. Foote Always a slow one as some of the major studios are still arriving. THE FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE (****) French Canadian director Denys Arcand has been a staple with TIFF for as long as I can remember. His films The Decline of the American Empire (1986), Jesus of Montreal (1990),…
By John H. Foote TIFF begins today, the 26th consecutive time I have attended this massive festival, one of the rare film festivals that is also a public festival. Since its modest beginning in the mid-seventies it was insisted upon by the creators that it be for the people and has remained such ever since.…
By Alan Hurst The advance buzz for the Bradley Cooper helmed remake of A Star Is Born (2018) is positive to the point of hysteria. It did well at the Venice Film Festival and is one of the big-ticket attractions for TIFF. It stars Cooper and Lady Gaga and word is that both give superb…
By John H. Foote There will be a profound sense of melancholy at this years Toronto International Film Festival, not because of the films or the celebration of the art form, but because it is the last festival with the great Piers Handling at the helm. The popular, intelligent zen master will step down after…
By John H. Foote This year marks the 24th Toronto International Film Festival I have covered as press. In that time, I befriended the creator William Marshall and his wife Sari, two lovely people I came to love; Piers Handling, one of the most extraordinary men I have ever met; interviewed my idols, became friends…
By John H. Foote As expected, and hoped, Boy Erased will be here this September, the controversial film about a family struggling with their sons homosexuality, believing sending him to a religious camp will heal the gay right out of him. Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Lucas Hedges star in a film directed and written by…
WORLD PREMIERE OF DAVID MACKENZIE’S OUTLAW KING STARRING CHRIS PINE IS THE TIFF 2018 OPENING NIGHT GALA FILM. WORLD PREMIERE OF JEREMIAH TERMINATOR LEROY TO CLOSE OUT THE 2018 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. Nick MaylorNick is an actor/writer/comedian/musician from Hamilton, ON Canada. Having been a film nut since the early days of his life, Nick…