(**) 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 […]
Rustin
(**1/2) He was the man behind the man. Martin Luther King’s chief lieutenant. Why is he only getting attention now? Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) was gay at a time in the ‘60s when he was shunned by MLK’s other associates. He regained his stature in the civil rights leader’s camp when he […]
American Fiction Wins the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival People’s Choice Award
(**1/2) The people have spoken. Amuse them and there will be acclaim. Hence the bestowing of TIFF’s People’s Choice Award on a screen adaptation that’s fueled by wit, sarcasm and tepid drama. It’s blatant cynicism. Those who aren’t Black buying Black books that are filled with tropes, cliches and stereotypes that fulfill previously conceived notions. The Black authors who […]
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