“We have all the time in the world”, Daniel Craig’s James Bond purrs to Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) as they zip along a spectacular winding Southern Italian coastal highway in his latest tricked-out Aston Martin. Although the title of this installation of what became an interconnected franchise is No Time To Die, no Bond is forever. Following the lead of his 007’s retirement from MI6, Craig’s intention to get out of the big screen spy game were well known, so this one marks a long goodbye that’s largely successful for the Bond of it all, even if the story gets overly knotty in trying to give everyone a sendoff.
Author: Josh
The Many Saints of Newark digs up the Ghost of Sopranos Past
David Chase spent six glorious seasons creating the world of Tony Soprano in weekly installments on HBO. From start to cut-to-black finish, it felt like complete and fully realized world. Yet, we live in an entertainment ecosystem where established intellectual property is king and our hunger for content is perpetual. So, it’s back to the well of New Jersey crime families we go with a new film whose poster’s tagline “Who Made Tony Soprano” is three times larger than its actual title.
Orcas Island Film Festival’s dynamic leadership trio on bringing a treasured celebration of cinema back amid a pandemic
In the midst of putting the finishing touches on their event, the festival’s leadership trio — Donna Laslo, Jared Lovejoy, and Carl Spence — were kind enough to make some time in their busy schedules to chat with me over e-mail to share some insights about the the practicalities of re-launching the in-person festival in the midst of a pandemic, highlights from a stacked schedule of film, and some recommendations for a visit to Orcas Island.
TIFF 2021: The Forgiven
Clearly, a big mood for mid-pandemic entertainment is the foibles of the insufferably privileged on holiday. Here, it will prove to be ghastly weekend for Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain in Morocco where a drive to a housewarming takes a tragic turn.
TIFF 2021: The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Presented as part of TIFF’s tribute to Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a surprisingly loving portrait that tells her often outlandish story without making a complete joke of her sincere faith and boundless love.
TIFF 2021: The Worst Person in the World, Arthur Rambo
Brief reviews from the Toronto International Film Festival of new films about young Europeans navigating identity. Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World and Laurent Cantet’s, Arthur Rambo.
TIFF 2021: Dune
You might say Dennis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel plays like ponderous messianic nonsense and write an obituary for blockbusters when you stream this on HBOmax, but you haven’t really lived until you’ve watched Timothée Chalamet projected 100 ft tall, popping his head out of a sand dune like a floppy-haired prairie dog. Sure, Dune has it’s premiere-premiere in Venice last week (and seems to have screened for select critics elsewhere), but they granted Toronto the honors of hosting the film’s international IMAX premiere.
TIFF 2021: The Humans
Is there anything more unpleasant than being stuck with another squabbling family’s seething Thanksgiving drama? The Humans, Stephen Karam’s film adaptation of his Tony Award-winning answers: Being stuck with it in a cramped old Chinatown apartment with no furniture, a bunch of secrets, thin walls and shoddy wiring!
TIFF 2021: Last Night in Soho
The Toronto International Film Festival kicked off this weekend in hybrid form. Among the splashier in-person screenings was the long-awaited premiere of Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho.
Nature is healing … Orcas Island Film Festival Returns for 2021
Like most other film festivals, the much-beloved Orcas Island Film Festival took 2020 off for the pandemic. It’s usual fall dates coincided …