Yes No Maybe So: LBJ

 by Seán McGovern

Debuting at TIFF on September 9th and primed for a theatrical release on November 3rd, Rob Reiner's LBJ brings to life the story of the man who immediately succeeded John F. Kennedy, following his assassination.

Lyndon B. Johnson appeared on our screens twice last year, with Bryan Cranston in All The Way and John Carroll Lynch in a supporting role in Jackie. Reiner's film looks set to follow the Vice President as he navigates his way from tragedy to the Oval Office. For this LBJ we get Woody Harrelson at his brusque best, with what looks to me like a... prosthetic chin? And when actors get out the heavy make-up you know they mean busines...

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Review: The Incredible Jessica James

By Spencer Coile 

 The Incredible Jessica James is a marvel to watch -- at a sharp 85 minutes, it breezes by as if on a cloud. It premiered on Netflix last week, and tells the story of its leading character named, you guessed it! Jessica James (Jessica Williams). Living flat broke in "deep, deep" Bushwick, she is harping over the recent break-up of her and her ex (Lakeith Stanfield), all the while struggling to get one of her plays produced on Broadway. 

When given the chance to go on a blind date with an app creator (Chris O'Dowd), Jessica soon finds herself questioning herself, her potential as a writer, and what it means to be a 20-something living in contemporary New York City. If that plot sounds generic, well, it is. But what makes the film truly soar is its star, Jessica Williams. 

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First & Last: The Bravest Of Us

the first image and the last line of dialogue from a motion picture

His song shall be sung forever."

Can you guess the movie?

"Borg/McEnroe" to Open TIFF

Chris here. We're very excited that the Toronto Film Festival is right around the corner, and last week's first announcement of the films in the lineup were just the beginning. One of the conspicuous gaps in last week's films was the fest opener - and now we know that film to be tennis biopic Borg/McEnroe.

This makes the second real-life period tennis film playing the fest, after the likely more lighthearted Battle of the Sexes. Here Shia Labeouf stars as the hot-tempered John McEnroe facing off against his rival Björn Borg, played by Sverrir Gudnason, during Wimbledon 1980. The opening slot hasn't had the best luck in recent years, with past films being the The Magnificent Seven remake, Demoliton, The Judge, and The Fifth Estate - bet you hadn't thought of those movies in a bit! Could Borg/McEnroe turn it around? Or, perhaps more importantly, is tennis the next sports movie obsession?

TIFF also just announced their Midnight Madness, Docs, Shorts lineups! Check those out after the jump...

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Doc Corner: Three Music Docs Cover A Century of American Culture

by Glenn Dunks

As Madonna once opined, music makes the people come together! There's literally centuries of the stuff to cover so it's little surprise we get a lot of documentaries on the subject - and we didn't even get to cover the four-hour Grateful Dead doc from earlier in the year, and who knows if we'll get to cover Chavela, Tokyo Idols, Give Me Future: Major Lazor in Cuba, G-Funk, The Go-Betweens: Right Here, Revolution of Sound: Tangerine Dream or any of the others that are fluttering around the festival and VOD circuit.

So this week rather than just covering one, I'm looking at three!

RUMBLE: THE INDIANS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD

The history and influence of Native Americans in music is explored by director Catherine Bainbridge and co-director Alfonso Maiorana in Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World. Taking its name in part from Link Wray’s famed 1958 instrumental (the only of its kind to be banned), it is perhaps easy to align the films with other popular music history docs such as 20 Feet From Stardom and Waiting for Sugarman, but doing so only highlight this new feature’s shortcomings.

More Rumble + East Bay punk and the woman who made the sounds of '80s after the jump...

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