I love underdog sports movies, and I know I’m not the only one, because they keep cycling around, but Cody Lightning has taken the trope in his new feature and done something wonderful with it. The team we are introduced to, Treaty 6 Blades, is an indigenous team playing in the country league in Northern…
Category: Film Festivals
TIFF ’26: Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple dir. Scot McFadyen, and Sam Dunn
I came to Rush later in life. During the 70s and 80s, I was definitely more of a pop kid (though Tom Sawyer seemed to permeate even the geek culture I was in), but when I found them- introduced to a co-worker who suggested 2112- I became a fan. I listened to all of their…
TIFF ’26: Half dir. Samjad
On paper this one sounded like a complete winner to me, and perfect Midnight Madness fare for which it was programmed at TIFF. A Curry Western with vampires, sign me up! I love the sound of it, we know there’s going to be blood and violence – its action sequences were choreographed by Very Tri…
TIFF ’26: The Spiral dir. Paolo Strippoli
A Faustian thriller that drips with dread, The Spiral is fantastic TIFF fare. It will not only appeal to the Midnight Madness crowd for which it was selected, but also countless film lovers as it plays within the genre, but also raises lots ot morality questions, and is executed seamlessly and skillfully. Spirals can be…
TIFF ’26: Love is the Monster dir. Neto Villalobos Brenes
How far would you go for love? Would you do something truly monstrous? Director Neto Villalobos Brenes delivers a female-driven narrative (men only show up a couple of times throughout the film, and each time makes an impression) that lands the viewer in a not-so-distant, dystopian-leaning future. The men are gone. They left two years…
TIFF ’26: The Stunt Driver dir. Michael Dowse
There’s always time for some Canadiana at TIFF, and The Stunt Driver delivers it fantastically with lots of humour and great performances, and explores a small but fascinating corner of Canadian pop culture history that I had no clue about. In the late 70s, it seems everyone knew who Evel Knievel (Ben Foster) was. Heck,…
TIFF ’26: Coward dir. Lukas Dhont
Instead of retreading antiwar themes so brilliantly evoked in films like All Quiet on the Western Front (1930, 1979, and 2022) Lukas Dhont’s third feature film delivers a poignant character film that explores hope, love, the horrors of war and the shattering of youth and the illusions they hold for their lives. Pierre (Emmanuel Macchia)…
Jaws 50th Anniversary
What a great way to begin and end my TIFF experience this year. Even as TIFF celebrates its 50th year, so does my favourite movie of all time, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. I’ve told the story countless times of how it was my first ever film experience. I’ve seen this movie more times than any others…
TIFF 25: The President’s Cake dir. Hasan Hadi
Set in the 1990s, young Lamia (Baneen Ahmad Nayyef) lives under Saddam Hussein’s regime with her grandmother, Bibi (Waheeda Thabet) and her pet rooster. Hussein’s 50th birthday is two days away, and every year, one child from each class is selected to make a birthday cake, no matter their circumstances. Lamia, Bibi and the rooster…
TIFF 25: You Had to Be There – How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution… dir. Nick Davis
In 1972 and 1973 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre here in Toronto, almost everything we know about modern comedy was born. The cast included Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Andrea Martin, Victor Garber and Dave Thomas. From the seeds planted by this special group being brought together sprang SCTV and SNL, not to mention…
