TIFF: Shekhar Kapur’s ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

It’s fun to see a director known for a particular kind of film try something new. At the premiere for his film What’s Love Got To Do With It, Shekhar Kapur, best known for Elizabeth, joked about how he responded to being told that he doesn’t do rom-coms: “Watch me.” His latest is a joyous celebration of culture and heritage and the way they can serve to both unite and divide, offering many genuine laughs and some heartfelt commentary on what it means to stay true to family… 

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Baby Clyde's TIFF Diary #1: "Bros" First!

Editor's Note: We will have some reviews at TIFF from Abe and Matt. Meanwhile Baby Clyde will be offering daily diaries. Hope you enjoy!

En route to TIFF!It’s a long-accepted fact in my office that for the first two weeks of September I will be away. No phone calls. No emails. No invoices. I’ll be travelling to Canada to spend 10 days in dark theatres watching the newest Oscar Bait all by myself and doing my very best to avoid speaking to anyone else whilst I’m there. Only this time I'm skipping the last bit as I'll be taking directly to you beloved readers. Nathanial has persuaded me to keep a TIFF diary to keep you abreast of all my festival adventures; He may regret it. 

So here I am back for the first time since 2019. It was of course Covid-19 that kept me away for the last couple of years, but it was only on planning this trip that I remembered the Coronavirus was nothing compared to the travails of the TIFF ticketing system...

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Monday Monologue: "Three kinds of pipe" in Moonstruck

Bringing back an old series Monday Monologue* for fun - will try to do this weekly since we love amazing combos of actors and screenplays.

The women of Moonstruck (1987), mother and daughter Rose (Olympia Dukakis) and Loretta Castorini (Cher), get all the credit. It's not hard to see why since both actresses won richly deserved Oscars but the men in the movie are indispensable to its pleasures, too. Though we've seen Moonstruck many times, when we were prepping for a recent episode of Streaming Roulette, we chanced upon a brief character comedy scene we'd completely forgotten about. In the scene, the family patriach and plumber Cosmo Castorini (Vincent Gardenia) is trying to convince a couple that they need to pay for a huge upgrade to fix their a bathroom leak...

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Yes No Maybe So: Billy Eichner's gay rom-com "Bros"

by Nathaniel R

You've all heard about Bros by now, surely. It's the first major studio romantic comedy about two men. The first major studio gay male drama was way back in 1982 (Making Love) and it only took another 40 years to get a romantic comedy. So, yes, it truly feels like an event! After the jump at statement from Billy Eichner and we'll talk about the trailer, too...

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Almost There: Audrey Hepburn in "Charade"

by Cláudio Alves

The Almost There series continues its traverse through the Criterion Channel's May offerings. After Cher in Robert Altman's Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, and Ida Lupino in Vincent Sherman's The Hard Way, it's time to look at Charade, directed by the incredible Stanley Donen. The rom-com spy thriller  was a critical and commercial success upon its original release, and its reputation continued to grow with time. Featured in multiple AFI Top 100 lists, Charade is beloved by many a classic movie aficionado, as well as Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn fans.

The stars are in top form, delivering blinding charisma and irresistible charm. So much so that one has to wonder how close they came to Oscar nominations. Especially Hepburn, who was at the peak of her popularity…

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