(***) Writer/director John Carney scored big with his Irish rom/dra/mus Once. That gem won an Oscar® for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song for the tune “Falling Slowly.” In fact, the story and music were so rich that project evolved into a popular Broadway musical. This new stab at the same genre isn’t […]
Copa 71 — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***) The six all-female, international soccer teams that converged on Mexico City in 1971 were in a league of their own. They were unsanctioned by the patronizing, condescending FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). Both hailed and harassed by the press. What was their objective? Winning the Women’s World Cup. Daily, 100,000 football fans gathered to watch them […]
Ezra — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(**) It’s rare that films venture into the world of autism. In that way, audiences will be grateful for this family dramedy, even though its far-fetched storyline misses the mark. Max (Bobby Cannavale), a New Jersey standup comic, leads an alternative lifestyle. He isn’t a 9-5 type and makes his money doing gigs. His ex-wife Jenna […]
Reptile — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(**1/2) Benicio Del Toro doesn’t appear in a lot of films. So, his fans need to catch him when they can. Even in meandering crime/dramas. Music video director Grant Singer (The Weeknd, Sam Smith) adds feature filmmaker and screenwriter to his resume. He teams up with co-screenwriters Benjamin Brewer and Del Toro as they tell a story […]
The Holdovers — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***) This gathering of three lost souls, pushed together by circumstance and location, takes a bit of time to weave its sardonic magic. But it gets there. In 1970 New England, Barton is an elitist all-boys, live-in, private high school. Over winter break some kids aren’t going home. They’re the “holdovers.” The most unpopular and […]
The Teachers’ Lounge – Toronto International Film Festival Review
(****) New teachers face certain perils whenever they walk into a classroom. Those dangers are on view in this riveting drama. Carla (Leonie Benesch), a Polish immigrant, works in a German junior high school. The principal and her administration are conducting an investigation into a series of thefts. After grilling students, in the most intrusive […]
Sing Sing — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(****) It’s refreshing when a film poses answers to the most confounding social issues. Countless feature films and documentaries exam the plight of systems and institutions that treat Black folks unfairly. Too few offer solutions. That’s the reason this based-on-fact and real people drama is so illuminating. It offers results. Prison reform is a hot […]
Origin — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***) It’s a lot to contemplate. Race, racism. Caste systems. Engineered prejudice, segregation and oppression. It’s all so thought-provoking. No wonder Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Discontents became a Pulitzer Prize-winning best seller. Tracing her theories and thesis through the history of slavery, genocide of Jews in Europe and marginalization of the Dalit (untouchables) in India […]
Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***/12) The job of a good documentary is to speak truths. The job of a music documentary is to do that and mesmerize audiences with alluring vocals, instrumentals, songs and tunes. And in this case, stage performances too. In that way, this mus/doc gets the job done. Montero Lamar Hill was 19 years old when […]
Les Indésirables — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(**1/2) Back in 2019 French filmmaker Ladj Ly’s directing debut Les Misérables was a revelation. A gritty, grassroots-type movie about life in a low-income, immigrant-filled housing project outside Paris. How good was it? Good enough to win a Cannes Jury Prize and be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®. This time, Ly is mining the same […]
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