Open Thread

So... what have we missed while we've been away at TIFF? Today is travel day as Chris and Nathaniel depart Toronto so fill us in so we can catch up on the regular non-festival world. What movie or TV thing are you hearing the most about this past week? Are you eager for the Emmys tomorrow? What do we need to write about immediately that we haven't. Fill us in.

Regular programming resumes Monday along with some leftover TIFF bits like Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool and more.

TIFF: "Kings" and "I, Tonya"

TIFF wraps up Sunday and since we'd like the last few pieces to be positive let's get some negativity out of the way. Here are two films which yours truly did not respond well to. One is certain to be trashed by critics and the other, though trashy, is being widely praised. But they're both bad.

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TIFF: McDormand Dominates in "Three Billboards..."

by Chris Feil

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri unfolds in typical fashion for writer/director Martin McDonagh: unspeakable violence provides a backdrop to profanity of everyday people. Here McDonagh provides us one of his most righteous heroes in Mildred Hayes, a mother grieving the brutal murder of her daughter and the local police’s inability to bring justice. Verbal fireworks and bloody consequence is to be expected.

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First Look: Elizabeth Debicki as Virginia Woolf

by Murtada

click to embiggenHere’s our first look at Elizabeth Debicki as Virginia Woolf in Vita & Virginia, currently shooting in Ireland. The film will tell the story of the love affair between the noted author and socialite Vita Sackville-West (played by Gemma Arterton). Set in 1920s London, Vita & Virginia is the sophomore feature of director Chanya Button, following 2015 comedy drama Burn Burn Burn.

The clincher here though is the involvement of Dame Eileen Atkins, a Woolf scholar and the definitive authority on the famous writer...

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Review: Darren Aronofsky's "mother!"

This review contains mild spoilers from the first half of the film since everything is essentially a spoiler given the cryptic promotions. The review was previously published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad. 

“Baby?” is the first line spoken in Darren Aronofsky’s new film mother!  but not its first image. The film begins with a defiant girl burning in a house consumed by fire. Javier Bardem collects a gem from the ashes. He places it on a shelf with other less brilliant but similar gems and we watch as the house restores itself from blackened ash. What to make of this rebirth… or is it a timelapse reversal of the destruction? Are we seeing the future or the past?

Cut to Jennifer Lawrence, waking up suddenly in bed. Where is her husband?

Baby?

While Lawrence is the star she’s a cypher-like presence in this particular film (new for her) a mostly passive figure to whom the action happens... We learn very little about her marriage besides the fact that he is a writer and she spends her time restoring their massive home.

Then a knock on the door…

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