Free State of Jones shackled by good intentions
Movie Review: Free State of Jones
Matthew McConaughey raises a slave army and an earnest eyebrow as little-known rebel Newt Knight in director Gary Ross's well-intended Civil War drama that feels stiff in its Sunday best
Hot Docs gets million-dollar boost from Rogers
News: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund
Rogers Foundation partners with Hot Docs, Canada's leading documentary festival, to create new production fund named after late Canadian communications mogul Ted Rogers
By The Ex-Press
The cash-strapped world of documentary film just got a million dollars richer: Hot Docs and The Rogers Foundation announced the creation of a new fund to help filmmakers realize their non-fiction visions through production grants worth up to $35,000 Thursday.
Part of a $5-million dollar endowment from The Rogers Foundation that also includes a $4 million gift to buy the Hot Docs theatre on Toronto’s Bloor Street, the new Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund will be administered by Hot Docs and support up to three or four projects each year.
“Hot Docs has a remarkable history of strengthening the documentary industry and supporting documentary filmmakers,” said Martha Rogers, chair of the Rogers Foundation. “We are proud to join their tradition with the establishm...
Genius strikes generic notes
Movie review: Genius
Despite perfecting his gift for blending dour disdain and puppy-eyed sympathy in a single glance, Colin Firth's performance as Thomas Wolfe's editor feels cut-out
Finding Dory, losing story
Movie Review: Finding Dory
Ellen DeGeneres returns as a fish with short-term memory loss in a largely forgettable sequel to Finding Nemo
-30-
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau shuns royal treatment
Interview: Susanne Bier and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau get A Second Chance
He sports prosthetic golden fingers to play the role of Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones, but Nikolaj Coster-Waldau hates getting a fake hand for any performance, which is why he's grateful for the firm grip of fellow Dane Susanne Bier
By Katherine Monk
TORONTO—In the opening episode of Game of Thrones, his character pushed a young boy from a window without a hint of remorse. But put a fussy newborn in Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s arms, and the handsome Dane turns into a human pacifier.
“It didn’t matter what the babies were doing… if Nikolaj picked them up, they would almost immediately fall asleep,” says director Susanne Bier, referring to the off-camera vibe on her latest film, A Second Chance (En chance til). A relatively small Danish-language drama about a police officer who makes a life-altering decision with good intentions, A Second Chance has been making a slow pass through North American ...
Now You See Me 2 spells deja-vu
Movie review: Now You See Me 2
The sequel to a sleeper hit about illusionists who use their skills to steal from the rich and give to the poor doesn't conjure a sense of magic, but its A-list cast ensures it's entertaining
TIFF announces STUDIO slate
News: TIFF talent development
A lucky dozen writer-directors get their hands metaphorically dirty with development sessions and skills workshops at this year's TIFF STUDIO programme
By Katherine Monk
“Writer-director” sounds good, but in the world of Canadian Film, it often means a hand-to-mouth existence without external support.
The Toronto International Film Festival wants to change that, and this year, it refocused its STUDIO programme to assist writer-directors with a series of professional workshops designed to empower the nation’s storytellers.
The monthly modules began Friday with sessions that include peer review, project development, packaging and talent, working with actors and casting agents as well as the requisite art of the pitch pep talk.
“Since its launch in 2013, STUDIO has boasted immense success in readying Canadian producers for the global film industry,” said TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey in an announcement released Monday.
...
Popstar: Never Stops Stopping Sucking
Movie Review: Popstar - Never Stop Stopping
The team that brought your their Dick in a Box reunites for another round of thigh-slapping comedy dependent on short attention spans and Justin Timberlake in a bird suit
Rebecca Miller gets screwball
Interview: Rebecca Miller
She may be the daughter of the man who penned Death of a Salesman, but Rebecca Miller reveals an undeniable talent for thoroughly goofy comedy in her latest film, Maggie's Plan
By Katherine Monk
Rebecca Miller’s intellectual pedigree cannot be argued: daughter of Pulitzer-winner Arthur Miller, graduate of Choate and Yale, and married to the towering dramatic talent named Daniel-Day Lewis. But speaking to Miller over the phone, the legacy of Willy Loman walks out the door and the inner goofball emerges.
It’s a side of Miller that’s on full display in her latest work, Maggie’s Plan, a feature film that charmed audiences at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and opens theatrically this week. A full-on comedy that’s been drawing comparisons to Woody Allen’s witty dissections of the academic elite, Maggie’s Plan stars Greta Gerwig as a modern gal looking to enhance her life in a millennial way.
Maggie wants to have a baby without ...
