October 20th, 2025

John Candy: I Like Me: Canadian comedic icon John Candy passed away back in March 1994 while working on the movie Wagon’s East at the age of 43 years old. It is surprising to me that it has taken 31 years to bring this documentary forward. Ryan Reynolds is one of the producers and it is directed by Tom Hanks’ son, Colin. The movie brings together outstanding comedy performers like Bill Murray, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, Mel Brooks, and Conan O’Brian among others. It also shows John’s two children, Jennifer and Chris and his wife.

In typical documentary fashion we go through a chronological history of the man, beginning at the end at his funeral, but then going back to his earlier times. He was born on Halloween in 1950. He has an older brother and his parents. A lifechanging moment for him was when his father passed away from a massive heart attack at 35yo when John was just 5 years old. That shaped his life going forward as those around him never really talked about it, as that generation of people was known for doing. John loved football but an injury ended those dreams. Then he stumbled into theatre in high school and was later encouraged to try out for the newly opened Second City in Toronto. The original Second City comedy store in Chicago was expanding. From there his talent blossomed to the point where Stephen Spielberg came to Toronto to speak to John about a part in his movie 1941. The movie continues with his career highlights, including his many roles working with director John Hughes which coincided with his connection with Hughes offscreen.

What sticks out about John is how he was so genuine, and authentic with those around him. He was heavy set in stature which stood out upon first glance but his depth of character and caring about people became more memorable for those who knew him. Bill Murray hopes jokingly early on in the interviews that someone “will come up with some dirt on John” because he couldn’t. He did struggle with his weight to be sure, but the discussion turns more on John’s belief that dying early was hereditary in his family and he felt that he was on borrowed time. His older brother had a heart attack working as a member of a film crew John had arranged for him. Despite this, he didn’t like going to doctors and never seemed to stop his love of smoking, drinking and eating well. The comedic genuis and timing remained throughout. Sharpening his skills on Second City and later SCTV he created so many memorable characters. From the Schemgie brothers, to Dr Tongue 3-D horror films to Johnny LaRue and the Fishin Musician he could work on many levels. Movies came calling and he preferred them. There is a touching scene at the end of the movie which I won’t spoil. But suffice it to say that the Canadian from Newmarket made his mark on the world in a most profound way even if he was taken from us far too early. I enjoyed this movie and I would encourage you to see it. It can be found on Prime now.

Splitsville: This new release starring Dakota Johnson and three others that I am not familiar with, seems to be a pet project for these actors. Playing two separate couples, both married we see a change in their relationship over the course of the movie. Johnson is married to Paul, played by Michael Angelo Covino who also directed the movie. We learn that their marriage is an open one, but that the husband isn’t really as receptive to its openness when his wife talks about her recent relation. The other couple is Kyle Marvin playing Carey and his wife Ashley played by Adria Arjona, have been married 14 months and we see them at the beginning singing in the car on a trip to visit the other couple. Carey and Paul are best friends. There is a bizarre incident on the drive, and then Ashley confesses that she no longer wishes to be married anymore. Carey is caught fully blindsided. He up and runs away leaving the car and his wife behind.

There are a couple of funny moments early, but it quickly goes into the strange and stupid downhill really quickly after that. There is a rather bizarre fight sequence and we quickly learn that two of the people in these marriages are pretty repulsive people. The details are unimportant but the crucial fact for the audience is that they aren’t really likeable people and you are cheering for them and hoping for them to get themselves sorted. Rather, we things happen later on one feels incredulous that this is a course correction that one felt was necessary or even believable. Pity the young child who seems to have a way of taking things that don’t belong to him, all the while he gets conflicting and dyametrically opposed advice from the adults around him. All in all, this was a movie where I had seen a preview and thought “this might be worth checking out” especially since the other romantic movie with Dakota Johnson Materialists was quite enjoyable and thought provoking. This is NOT that movie. So this is a hard pass, and you can thank me later for giving you back 1:40 of your life! You’re welcome!

The Diplomat – Season 3: The latest season of this excellent series has been released on Netflix. I have watched the first three episodes and they pick up exactly at the moment of the end of Season 2. There was a surprising ending to last season and this continues on with the excitement and the intrigue. The series stars Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, who was the current US Ambassador to the UK, but had ideas of being in a higher level position within the Administration. She is married to Hal, played by Rufus Sewell, and they have a complex relationship. During this season we learn more of the backstory on just how complicated it is. Both are in the civil service. He is very experienced and was once the Ambassador to Lebanon. He has a way of speaking when he shouldn’t and pissing off all the wrong people. The relationship is more professional than romantic, and Russell is the partner with the higher profile job as the season begins. Hal, it seems, can’t help inserting himself and creating trouble along the way. This causes tremendous stress for Russell and those around her.

Allison Janney plays Grace Penn who is the Vice President in Season 2. There was intrigue on whether she would continue in that job at the end of the season. Janney is excellent. The rest of the cast playing both US and British personnel are all very good. From those supporting Russell in the Ambassador’s office to the British PM, and his supporting staff they all contribute to make this an engaging, exciting, very watchable series. The writing is excellent with clever storylines and good banter. The viewer is kept wondering where this will go next, and it remains a surprise often because we get the sense that the characters themselves don’t know which way they are leaning. Jobs are at stake for people who are ambitious and smart and work incredibly hard. Mistakes too are made and they must be dealt with effectively. Overall this Emmy nominated series takes its place alongside other political thrillers and holds its own, with Russell leading the way showing the challenges of the jobs she undertakes, but also the chess match of doing them effectively while also a woman in those roles. It isn’t lost on me that she has always needed to be smarter and more cagey then the men that are around her, most notably her husband. Janney explained to her in Season 2 about being a woman in powerful positions and how they are judged differently than their male counterparts. It’s true. All of it. I will continue to watch, but I am mindful of watching too quickly and then being over this season so quickly. I like the pace, the dialog, the performances and interplay among the cast. This is currently one of the best shows on TV in my opinion.

October 13th, 2025

Anemone: When the greatest living actor decides to return for a film, any film, then I will choose to seek it out. In this case, it is Daniel Day-Lewis, taking on a passion project undertaken by him and his son Ronan. Newly released I wanted to see this in the theatre. I saw a quick interview from Ronan where he talked about working through the script with his Dad, and then also directing his first major motion picture. Ronan had a self professed photography background and you can see it from the images in the film. The movie stars DDL as Ray Stoker, with Sean Bean as his brother Jem, and Samantha Morton as Jem’s partner who is raising teenage son Brian. It is a good cast. It tells an Irish story.

The movie starts with young Brian who is at home, and Sean Bean’s Jem tells him that he is going away for a few days. He embraces Mom, Samantha Morton and then heads out. Through the beautiful Irish countryside Jem seeks out the elusive, reclusive, quiet Ray, his brother. Even upon meeting very little is said between the brothers. The movie itself is sparse on dialog and much more about shots with silent characters, either panning in as a close up, or panning back. There are some beautiful shots, certainly those with the sky and oncoming weather. It takes time for the movie to get to the point. It seems that both brothers have military backgrounds, and years before they were dealing with the troubles in northern Ireland. Ray has stories to tell, and this is the strength for DDL. Day-Lewis embodies Ray, and takes his time in telling the stories that have profoundly impacted him. He has a number of soliloquies throughout which provide the background but also the desire for his brother. I just wish that there was more. There is plenty of brooding and quiet as men are wired to do it seems, but that doesn’t take away that as an audience we want to better understand it all.

Certainly there are some universal truths involved with relationships between partners, brothers and family but also fathers and sons. Add in some environmental turmoil, and the situation can turn toxic for those involved. Everyone has scars, and however much one feels that they can relate to one perspective, another party can view it quite oppositely. Boys grow to men and have particular relationships with their parents. Sometimes despite that history, they can unknowingly also have negative impacts on their own offspring, and can channel a parent that they didn’t feel served them well at all. Welcome to being a parent! The pace of the movie was slow. Some actions weren’t always explained. There was a Magnolia-like moment that takes place which in my interpretation was nature, viewed as a safety net by the humans, then having a sudden turn. Religion is also explored in depth and most starkly between the brothers. I am glad that I saw this. I don’t see this as a popular film for the masses, but for those who want to see more of a legendary actor it provides a taste to whet the appetite.

Love is Blind Season 9: The latest season of this franchise was dropped by Netflix October 1st. Nine episodes have now been released (the last three dropped October 8th) with the last two to be released on October 15th. The format remains the same, couples talk in pods with each other, without seeing one another to establish a relationship and become engaged. Only then do they get to meet one another. They then head off for a tropical vacation before returning to the real world of their cities. This latest group of hopeful romantics (or 15 minutes of fame TV wannabes) is from Denver. Note that there are some spoilers included below. You have been warned.

I cannot in recent memory think of a more disheartening group of people to provide cringe-worthy television than this crew. My goodness. I don’t even know where to start. From the first ever proposal in the first episode that I can recall, which is just shocking in its own right, to the later virtual pronographic descriptions used by a temptress (Kacie) to enshare her man (poor Patrick) for good. But then, just moments after setting eyes on her prey, confessing that she just “can’t proceed with the experiment any more”. Apparently love is definitely NOT blind for her, and her desire to find her “Chad”. A Chad is a good-looking, successful man with the three sixes; six feet tall, six pack abs, and six figure income. Now you know. But the men are also as disturbing if not more. From liars who blantently hide with a wink the number of tattoos they have, to another who professes his love to two separate women literally minutes apart and to the emotionally crippled man who can’t seem to stop crying while being passive aggressive with his fiancee at the most inopportune times. It all amounts to a train wreck, where I am genuinely shocked that in previews for the coming two episodes, there are actually couples who will be putting on wedding dresses and tuxedos! Really??!! It is a forgettable season with unlikeable people involved. A couple of seemingly genuine people were dissed earlier by those playing the multiple people juggling act (“my Number One just did [insert offensive act or speech]”). They should consider themselves very lucky to have dodged a bullet with those who chose otherwise. From my perspective, if you are so torn about which of your opposites might be the right one for you, then the answer is, neither! You’re not ready to be heading into marriage if there isn’t some true certainty for you. The fact that you bring your families and friends into this is quite shocking. So in the end, I cannot recommend this and you are welcome from being saved from almost eleven hours of mindless TV.

October 6th, 2025

Weapons: there has been an online buzz around this movie and the movie Sinners which I reviewed a couple of weeks back. People are raving about it, and I was intrigued. The horror/thriller genre has gone through a shift away from the gross-out hacker/slasher films like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Saw and Halloween into more psychological thrillers with less gore and more jump. Sinners was a good example of this. This movie too was a different take on a thriller with a novel approach. It stars Ozark‘s Julia Garner, Josh Brolin and Benedict Wong. I was entertained. It didn’t suck and kept my attention, despite a couple traditional and anticipated scare tactics.

Garner plays an elementary school teacher, and one day she comes to work to find that all her students except one have disappeared inexplicably. She is stunned, and quickly the townspeople are anxious to get answers from her. The movie is filmed in six separate segments that focus on different characters in the story. Individually they show one perspective, but as more segments are seen, then more pieces come together. It is very effective, most notably when the segment with the principal, played by Benedict Wong is revealed. There are a few good shocks as the mystery around these children deepens.

Brolin plays a father of one of the missing children, and he is impatient with the police and their apparent lack of progress, and lack of investigation into the teacher. Garner too decides that she needs to reach out to her only remaining student and ask some questions, despite being cautioned against doing so by the principal. It is all good fun, and the climax comes together as a surprise. I won’t reveal any more than that because I was surprised by the resolution and the notion involved. I will say that the actor involved in it, who I have seen in many roles, looks virtually unrecognizable. It is startling but a nice pay off with a satisfying resolution. All in all, I like this trend with horror movies and enocurage it. Others like Hereditary, Nope and Talk To Me are fine additions along with Sinners which to me is a notch above. This movie is worth your time if you like a good thought-provoking scare once in a while.

Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery CBC Documentary: I watched this on YouTube this past week. Lilith Fair was a women’s music festival organized by Canadian Sarah McLachlan from 1997 to 1999, with a brief reboot in 2010. McLachlan was already an established star with numerous hit albums to her name. She has come up with the idea of having a music festival that would focus on female artists of all genres in music. Despite her success, she had heard a typical refrain from (male) music business executives that she can’t have multiple women music acts and “it just won’t sell”. Earlier in her career she had heard that some of her new music couldn’t be released at a certain time because another artist, like Sheryl Crow (who was a member in Lilith) had released a song and they couldn’t have them together. Determined as Sarah is, and wishing to show those naysayers what can be accomplished she gathered up some female artists and had a concert at The Gorge amphitheatre in Washington State on July 5, 1997. The event had 15,000 tickets sold out to see the all-female performers including Sarah, Paula Cole, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Fiona Apple and the Indigo Girls. It was a rousing success.

McLachlan not only wanted to support female artists, she also wanted to support causes that she and women generally believed in. A portion of ticket sales would be used for charity in the cities where Lilith played. Charities like Planned Parenthood, Battered Women Shelters and many others were supported. Over the first three years, over $10M was raised for charity alone. As part of the event, there would be multiple stages, and this would allow for up and coming artists to be seen and heard encouraging more female artists. In total there would be 139 shows in those first three years. The documentary shows the backstage interaction among the artists as well as the challenges in booking certain acts. Getting Tracy Chapman was a big deal, but also Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders. Artists came and went with a core group that stayed throughout. It was strange to hear about the backlash about the concerts. First there wasn’t enough diversity in acts and their ethnicity. Then it was exclusion of men that became an isssue. Also there was push back in markets like Texas where they objected to Planned Parenthood to be encouraged along with abortion. You can see the look on Sarah’s face when asked about these issues, as she just wanted to be a positive and support women, without really considering all the other angles in which it can be viewed. The artists were very good, they all proved a valid point that an all-women line up can sell out concerts, and they had fun while doing it. Charity benefitted. New artists benefitted. I think that Sarah McLachlan showed the music world that for that time, this was a niche that needed to be filled. In 2010 they tried once again to modest success. It won’t be resurrected again, as in this day and age an artist like Taylor Swift has shown that a female artist can be a dominant force in music with the largest and most successful tours. I enjoyed seeing this, as I never did get out to see the festival when it was playing near Toronto. I missed out in that.

The Lost Bus: This is a new movie released on Apple TV starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera based upon a true story in Paradise California back in late 2018. It is a survival story about a wildfire which starts small but quickly grows into a massive scale. It surprises the residence in a nearby town eight miles away from where the fire first starts. The story focuses on a bus driver McConaughey, Kevin, who can’t seem to buy a break. He has a sick mother who has medical bills that are piling up, and he is divorced from his wife, and they share a teenage son. His father had recently passed but they weren’t close, and he needs jobs to get on top of these bills. He acts as a bus driver for the local school board where he has a strained relationship with the bus manager and dispatcher who finds him to be unreliable. She isn’t wrong.

Kevin ends up on the day in question when the fire begins running late and ending up picking up 23 school children from a school in the evacuation zone, along with a teacher where they were supposed to move about ten minutes away to an evacuation gathering point where the children’s parents would be. Unknown to them as Kevin picks them up, the fire has intensified, with firefighters having no luck slowing down the inferno. The evacuation gathering point is overcome with flames and they cannot proceed there. There is traffic. There are flames gathering around as the bus looks to make some headway into getting away from the flames. All the while Kevin’s teenage son is under the weather and with a flu. His ex-wife is calling him and wanting to know the son’s status. The story continues.

What I learned from this story is that school busses and virtually indestructible. They are a modern day tank. The bus Kevin drives, goes through hell and back in places it appearing like the fire was going to get the better of them all. There were some scary moments, and a whole lot of therapy will be required for these young students should they ever get out of the bus. The movie feels like a composite between Speed and Backdraft ably directed by Paul Greengrass who directed the Bourne movies with Matt Damon. I have to imagine that filming fire and working with it wouldn’t be easy. All is handled well in this film. Jamie Lee Curtis is involved as a producer, and she has been doing the talk show circuit on this. This didn’t suck. There are certainly parts of it that seemed to be unbelievable. The size of this fire and how quickly it spread, along with the number of casualties was very surprising. This is the highest death toll fire in American history. The fire chief during a press conference talks about such fires happening more frequently and with greater intensity and shakes his head as how little is done to combat them proactively. Global warming deniers are put into their place. I am glad that I saw this and I was entertained.

September 29th, 2025

One Battle After Another: Paul Thomas Anderson has a habit of bringing forth thought-provoking stories that also bring out the best performances from his cast. From legend Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread or There Will Be Blood, to Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia and The Master or Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights he brings forth movies too that have timely social commentary. For me, I can find that the depth of his films require multiple viewings to fully explore his themes and messages. In this movie the cast includes heavyweights Leo Dicaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Regina Hall. Each of whom provides an excellent performance. Added to these well known actors includes newcomers to me Teyana Taylor (looking quite a bit like Rhianna) who plays anarchist Perfidia Beverly Hills and Chase Infiniti playing her daughter Willa.

Leo plays Bob Ferguson, who begins the film as a pyrotechnical expert brought on board by the leader of an anarchist group, led by Perfidia Beverly Hills. She is looking to attack an immigration deportation centre and free the captured. It is at the Deporation Centre that, unbeknownst to Bob, that she meets up with the Penn character who she humiliates. It begins a singular focus by Penn with Perfidia that sets the main plot in this movie in motion. Bob falls in love with Perfidia and they begin a relationship as they continue with their attacks on the world at large. Perfidia comes from a long line of anarchists and revolutionaries, but we find too that she is also a person focused on her self-preservation and she will do virtually anything to ensure that she can carry on. Perfidia ends up pregnant but she has no real interest in being a Mom, but rather she wants to keep doing what she does. The child and the responsibility for raising her becomes Bob’s. Bob wishes that Perfidia shared in his commitment to the young baby girl. But Bob is not very committed to anything, and he wallows away with alcohol and weed living life each day with very little direction. He loses his direction, but is snapped back into reality quickly when his former life of anarchy comes back to change his life again.

Although this movie is being marketed as a DiCaprio film, I would say that the more startling performance within it is from Sean Penn. The two-time Oscar winner plays military man Steven J Lockjaw with a single-mindedness on his own glory and advancement all the while revealing that he has his own particular fetishes and needs. He is the main foil to Ben and Perfidia. He embodies this quirky intense man through and through, from his odd haircut right down to his gait, which looks like he is bow-legged. Lockjaw will do whatever is required for him, and utilize any means available to him. There is no ideal about community nor social utility in what he does. The fact that he is a decorated military man, just gives him more levers at his disposal.

There are other supporting characters including Benicio Del Toro who assists with the young daughter Willa with training her in martial arts. Later he helps Bob out while also showing how spanish-speaking people are reacting to the current hostile environment in that area in California. There is also an all-white “Christmas Adventurers Club” who use all means possible to advance the aims of their unique and highly selective group. Lockjaw wants to become one of them. So within the movie you run from a socialist anarchist perspective, to the military right wing dictator to a extreme right wing elitist group all interacting. It speaks volumes about the world we are living in today.

As the credits rolled in the theatre I was still processing what I had just watched. There is an element of “what did I just watch?”. But the performances were all really strong, with likely plenty of Oscar buzz within. Will everyone like this? I doubt it. But it is unique story-telling in a time when sequels and superheroes rule the box offices. It has some genuinely funny moments surrounded in a serious story where the characters play it seriously. It does show how divided those in America have become and how more extreme they are becoming in their actions and views. Of course this isn’t everybody, but maybe too that is the point that the vast majority of ordinary citizens are ignored so that these extremes can advance their aims at the general populous’ expense. I do think that I will likely need to see this again, but likely not on the big screen. I came away entertained. It has stuck with me as I think through it and discuss it. So if you are an Anderson film fan, then you should seek this out.

September 22, 2025

This entry was delayed in being posted because I was out of the country and my eSim didn’t allow me to login. So this is the result.

Kelly’s Heroes: This is a war film from 1970. It stars Clint Eastwood (as Kelly), along with Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland and Don Rickles. I have never seen it, and had an opportunity to watch it on an airplane. I knew nothing about it, except that it was a notable film for Clint Eastwood. As a general overview, this is a heist movie in the midst of WWII. There is plenty of discussion about Nancy France. The Germans are well entrenched, and while American forces try to hang on, they are looking to potentially pull back. Within this context, we have an American officer who measures a yacht to take back to the US, while he leaves to Savalas (Sargeant Big Joe) in charge of fighting the battles in the war.

Inexplicably we have Kelly (Eastwood) bringing through a German position a Nazi colonel who has been kidnapped and asked some questions about the German position. As part of the interrogation, Eastwood finds a metal bar in the Colonel’s possessions which the Nazi dismisses as “lead”. It turns out that it is gold, and it is learned that there is a sizeable sum of gold bars in a bank behind German lines (30 miles into that territory). Kelly has the idea to rob the bank, and seeks to recruit a few people to help out. Among those approached is hippy dippy free spirit Donald Sutherland who happens to be leading three Sherman tanks, and necessary. The story unfolds with a tangental over-the-top performance of a general by Archie Bunker Carroll O’Connor.

This movie isn’t as good as other 1970 war flicks Patton nor Tora Tora Tora. Patton was excellent and won George C Scott an Oscar for Best Actor (which he refused). This film seems to think it is a combination between Dirty Dozen and Great Escape with colourful American characters coming together for a common goal, against the Germans. But war as we know is for strategic aims rather than selfish goals (like bars of gold for those involved). It doesn’t work with the idea that these assets should be used to line individual pockets. I am also amazed at how poor the Germans are portrayed, with them having seemingly no communication from one area to another, nor any way to have a coordinated attack against the American attackers. Right up to the end, the Germans are soundly defeated and have horrific shooting ability, nor do they question why a church bell in the town with the bank would be ringing inexplicably. The Americans don’t have heavy casualties, despite the challenges. As the credits roll, one is left to wonder where this group of soldiers will go, on both sides. The war isn’t over. More battles are to come, and yet they will need to address their individual gains and return to their units. It’s pretty confusing and not particularly satisfying. I won’t recommend seeing this but would suggest those who are interested in the war genre should seek out other better films.

Emmy Awards: The Emmy Awards were handed out before I went away and I was please to see that the Netflix series Adolescence received many well-deserved awards. Other shows that I have not watched like The Studio and The Pitt also won multiple awards. I was extremely please to see that The Penguin‘s Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone won in her category. This made up for the Golden Globe. Also both actresses from Hacks winning was excellent and well-deserved. Nate Bargatze was the host and he tried a novel idea of donating $100,000 to the Boys and Girls Club if the winners keep their acceptance speeches to 45 seconds or less. They didn’t. But it was a creative way to keep winners on topic and on time. Seth Rogan and John Oliver took the challenge to heart to be sure. The awards certainly give me ideas on what to watch next when there is truly so much content out there.

September 15th, 2055 (TIFF edition)

Glenrothan: One of the many things I love about the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), running this year for its 50th time, is that you see films that you may not otherwise see, but also that directors and talent will show up. The city has a buzz around it, surrounding King Street by Roy Thompson Hall and Princess of Wales theatre. I was lucky enough to go to both theatres on Thursday night. For the audience, you see the movie and then afterwards the talent come out to speak about it and answer questions from the audience. It provide a really interesting perspective into the film you just watched on the screen.

So first the movie, which starred Brian Cox (Succession) and Alan Cumming (The Good Life), which is Cox’s directorial debut. When asked about being a director, Cox admitted he never thought he would be behind the camera. The story is about estranged brothers, through 40 years being apart and geographically with Cumming in Chicago, and Cox in Scotland. The movie’s third main character is Scotland itself, as this is really a love letter to the Scottish highlands.

For me having been in Scotland in May 2024 for the first time, the breathtaking scenery brought about many fond memories. It was a magical place. The brothers are the living descendants of a family who have been distilling scotch whiskey for centuries. Older brother Sandy has been running the distillery after father had passed away about 25 years earlier. Mom had predeceased father fifteen years earlier. Father was a crusty and driven man, who as a father and husband handed out love and support sparingly. He was a hard taskmaster with his two boys. We see the results as the movie progresses and we begin to better understand the estrangement. The story continues in a predictable way. I enjoyed it. I thought that Cumming was very good with a troubled grandfather, with a daughter and grand-daughter in tow heading back to a homeland that he never thought that he would revisit. He has run from his troubles for most of his life. But this is a story about family, legacy, duty, love, choices and relationships. The measure of its effectiveness for me is did you care for the characters, and what happened to them? I did. Those who are hoping to see Cox playing Logan Roy will be sadly disappointed. Funnily enough, that was more the father’s character in this movie, and it wouldn’t suit him. The movie ended and the audience erupted in applause. On came Cox, with co-stars Shirley Henderson (who forever for me will be Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter) and Alexandra Shipp (playing Cumming’s daughter who plays peace maker). They all sit down as pictured here (I was seated in the balcony):

An audience member quickly blurts out a question (“May I ask a question?”) to which TIFF director and host says “we will take questions in a little while”. The immediate response back is “can Brian please cross his legs?” Cox wearing a kilt, and being a Scot he is naturally not wearing anything underneath. As he says “if you’re going to wear a kilt, nay on the undergarment”. He is a very good sport and the audience laughs. So the interview proceeds as follows:

I have never seen anything like this in all my years at TIFF and it was just excellent. The true character of Brian Cox is shown in an unexpected way. I am so glad that I saw this movie, and even more excited that I was part of this unrehearsed exchange. As Cox finishing commenting, sounding more like Logan Roy, “it was probably the fucking producer encouraging the wearing of the kilt to begin with…” A good laugh!

The Wizard of the Kremlin: we are living in strange times, with wars in Ukraine, Gaza, new incursions into Polish airspace by Russia and continued beliefs of foreign interference with western elections (most notably the US Presidential election, where current President Trump continues to deny he lost in 2020). I am painfully aware, and this movie makes more aware that I know so very little about Russian President Putin. But he and his countrymen are well engaged in many of these current hotspots within the world of 2025. This movie directed by Frenchman Olivier Assayas (who attended this screening) is based upon the book by Giuliano da Empoli (not read by me). The movie has a dream cast with Paul Dano playing Vadim Baranov (the wizard), Jude Law as Putin, Alicia Vikander as Ksenia, and Jeffrey Wright as an American researcher and writer in Russia.

This is a advertised as a political thriller and comedy. There are some laughs within it, but it a much more serious story with a history lesson of the fall of the Soviet Union and the emergence of Russia with their version of democracy, freedom, oligarchs and later a new authoritarian leader in Putin. Divided into various stages, we see the early life of the Paul Dano character. He speaks into the past after having invited Jeffrey Wright to his residence where he would speak to him about “something interesting”. There Wright hears about the early days of being in Soviet Union where Gorbachev takes over, immediately hiking the price of vodka and looking to provide freedoms. Then power transitions ultimately to Boris Yeltsin, and finally transitioning to Putin. Baranov had gone to school to be an artist, in putting on plays and expressing his new freedoms. He puts on plays effectively. Later he moves into television and creating content for a private TV station. Throughout the movie there are truisms about people, certainly the Russian people, but people generally and how they can be manipulated. There are poignant observations about battling for the minds of people and those of your enemy. We see the public TV executive persuading then KGB Director Putin to think about running as the leader of the country. The Putin reaction is a fascinating one, focusing on where he thinks he can have an impact, and how he can retain any power he is given, not ever wanting to lose it. This is where he seeks the assistance of Dano’s character. Time and again, Dano’s insight into a situation provides the tools for Putin to move forward in a confident and self-assured manner. World events are spoken about between the Wright character and Dano.

I am very glad that I saw this. It gives a perspective for actions taken by Putin now and in the past, without a western spin. A few years back at TIFF I saw the movie Kursk later renamed The Command, which spoke about the sinking of a nuclear submarine in the North Sea and those Russian sailors aboard her and their families. It was heart-breaking and moving. This movie addresses that as an early test to the Putin leadership as he was summering in Sochi while it was taking place, refusing any help from Western countries. The Putin regime is committed to staying in power and ensuring that what they felt was the dissolution of the great Soviet state will be reversed. Ukraine is living proof of this commitment. I come away feeling as though I need to learn more about this man Putin, and those who advise him. It was noted at the beginning of the film that this is a work of fiction. Director Assayas mentioned that the Baranov character was a complilation of other people for the book, which then was taken further within the movie.

This was a tour de force roll for Dano, who is the focal point. His paints the picture of a calm and collected man, who had started out so wild and full of life. As he becomes more deeply involved in the Putin administration he looks to pull away and lead a quieter life. At the same time, he wants to be known as we all do in some way. This is someone who has quietly become a most powerful person, unexpectedly, but embraces it and regards himself as a professional who can organize events like opening ceremonies at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, but also manipulating the internet to serve the Russian purpose as being seen as the country controlling it. Perception is reality, whether true or not. This is definitely worth checking out for those who wish to better understand the world we live in.

September 8th, 2025

TIFF has begun on Thursday. I will be heading out this Thursday to see UK’s Glenrothlan directed by Succession‘s Brian Cox, and then also Paul Dano starring in The Wizard of the Kremlin. I am going in cold to these movies, with little to no background at all. My life experience with TIFF has been that this is the best way to see the movies being shown. The less I know the better. I did look to try and see Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, but it will be released on Netflix in the next few weeks after a short theatrical release. I am noting that tickets are expensive and will take away from the number of movies that I attend.

Small Things Like These: Cillian Murphy stars in the smaller film set in Ireland in 1985 (which appears more like 1955 save the music on the radio) adapts the book by Claire Keegan (unread by me). It is on Crave. I was curious to see how Oscar winner Murphy follwed up his Oppenheimer success. The story told is a small town in Ireland where a father, Bill Furlong played by Murphy, has a wife and four girls. He is a simple quiet man who sells househeating coal for a living. One of his customers is the local Catholic church. He begins noticing some strange occurences with some young women at the church.

Like many churches, they take in young women who are pregnant, and this has been the case for decades in the UK. The movie Philomena from 2013 starring Dame Judi Dench. Some of the same ground is covered, although here there is a community around the church who is anxious for Bill to forget what he had noticed. Bill has some trauma from his younger days which we see in flashback. It can impact him in present day at strange times, and Murphy is so expressive on his face that we see how he is affected. With very few words, but looks and gestures, Bill keeps his feelings and emotions to himself all the while struggling with opposing forces. At the church Emily Watson, once again like in her role in Dune Prophesy, plays an authoritative Mother Superior, wielding her power with surgical precision. Guilt and peer pressure are powerful tools, and some well offered monetary gifts in tough times. Although this was a slower pace, I think that this was well acted and showed the dilemma that a father has when thinking that he risks plenty for doing the right thing, rather than choosing to stay quiet and look the other way. I am glad that I saw this.

Blazing Saddles: Director and actor in a few roles Mel Brooks just celebrated his 100th birthday. I then noted on TV that they were showing this 1974 film without edits and commercials on Saturday night. I chose to watch. I remember having seen this back in the theatres. Like Mel Brooks films it is completely politically incorrect and offensive, certainly to 2025 sensibilities. It is meant to offend, but through humour. It stars Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, Madeline Kahn and Harvey Korman. The premise is a small town is likely to benefit from a new railroad being brought into its boundaries. Scoundrel Harvey Korman, playing Hedley Lamarr (yes they make fun of his name), wants to terrorize the town and scoop up the town from its currents owners. He starts by trying to bring in a sherriff who the townspeople would hate. The answer was black man Bart, who was destined to be hanged but caught a break. As he arrives into town the multiple uses of the n-word is uncomfortable to 2025 ears. It was offensive in 1974 too but now is certainly more grating. The sherriff befriends a drunken quick-draw cowboy, played by Wilder, and together they begin to solve the towns problems. Moving on from that failed idea, he wants to bring in “Mongo” to kill the sherriff and then follows up with hiring Kahn as a seductive singer from Germany to distract and break the heart of the sherriff.

There are visual gags, some plays on words, and of course the classic campfire scene with the cowboys eating beans and then flatulating one after another. It’s a moronic joke, but still makes me laugh. There were a couple of laughs. For the most part, the jokes don’t translate that well to a 2025 audience, but it was still good to see Gene Wilder again. Brooks plays multplie roles including a cross-eyed governor with a busty assistant, and the indigenous leader allowing Bart as a youngster to pass with his black family into their territory. This was fun to re-visit, but isn’t really a film for today’s audiences other than to show the things that passed for comedy back 50 years ago.

September 1st, 2025

Superman (2025): One of my challenges with Superman has always been his invincibility, and that the only thing that can affect him in a material way is kryptonite, from his home planet of Krypton. It makes any human adversary laughable as there is nothing that a human can do hurt Superman. Most who are interested in the superhero genre are very aware of the Superman backstory as we have seen it as early as 1978 with Christopher Reeve in the lead and none other than Marlon Brando playing his father Jor-El. We also further explored it in Man of Steel, in 2013 with Henry Cavill donning the blue suit with red cape. In both versions we see the baby, and younger Clark growing up in Smallville before he embarks on working in Gotham City at The Daily Planet. In this latest version, we start the film with an adult Superman and Clark already acting as a reporter. It feels like we missed a lot of the set up.

For me a drastic improvement for this story is the casting of Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Brosnahan has more chemistry with the new Superman played by David Corenswet. This was sadly lacking with Amy Adams and Cavill. Here we see that Lois and Clark are already well within a relationship, as his appearance in her kitchen making her dinner shows. I give very little away by bringing this forward. The difference is that Lois and Superman in prior versions takes time and we see their connection (or lack thereof). Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve showed it well. Their first flying scene together was sweet.

On to the plot and the villain, in this case once again it is Lex Luther this time played a bald Nicholas Hoult, as opposed to Gene Hackman from 1978. I will cease with the comparisons with prior films, and discuss the plot points. As indicated earlier I have a challenge with invinsibility, and the solution proposed is to lean harder into the entire concept of “mega-humans” skating very closely with the concept of mutants in X-Men. It seems Lex Luther has found a mega-human and imprisoned him in a basic way to then do something utterly ridiculous. I won’t describe it further, except to say that this impacts Superman directly. But I getting ahead of myself. Before we have this imprisonment, there is a creature (looking like a demented Stitch) who grows enormously quickly that attacks Gotham City. The uber-pacifist Superman intent on saving everything and anything, like a squirrel notably, ignores the hundreds and perhaps thousands of people in the buildings that are collapsing like dominos during his battle with Stitch 2.0. We also have a character called The Hammer who also seems to battle Superman effectively. The explanation for this just leaves me to shake my head. Yes, it’s a superhero movie and there is a level of disbelief expected, but holy crap! This seems to all be instigated by the leader of the fictional country of Baravia, who looks more than a little like Albert Einstein.

But that aside, I was also deeply troubled by the treatment of the midwestern Kents. Here they are turned into rednecks with very little to impart on Clark. There was one quality exchange between Jon Kent and Clark but it is overshadowed by the whole Clark portrayal. Superman’s actual parents (Jor-El and Lara) also don’t get a much better treatment. For me, the one highlight in this version was Jimmy Olsen (played by Booksmart’s Sklyer Gisondo) who is looking to impress Perry White by finding new information to assist the quickly unfolding worldwide event. A weak aspect is the introduction of the Justice Group (Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and Mr Terrific!!) (I am not making this stuff up!). Oh and the introduction of Superdog Krypto who is altogether annoying and incapable of obeying the simplest of commands. Finally the whole pocket universe sidelight. In all, as you can see from the above, it is A LOT. So much is going on many levels. The CGI fighting that we saw notably in The Matrix when Neo fought multiple agent Smiths, comes across as not realistic. It’s been done before, and nothing has been added to the premise. So in summary, I like Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane. I think that this Superman embodies the role well, and shows that he can have an edge, although Henry Cavill is still my Superman. The rest of it was forgettable and I am glad that I didn’t spend any money to watch it. For those who place this high on the overall Superman library, I cannot agree. It is simply too much. I will note that there is some swearing in this movie which may give some parents pause in taking their children. Margot Kidder never swore before.

Spirited Away: In looking at some of the lists of Best Movies since 2000, there was listed in a few this cartoon from 2001. This is on Netflix, and I choose to check it out, especially since I was pleasantly surprised with Princess Mononoke from 1997. I can see many similarities between the two, which makes sense as it is the same director. I will say that I preferred the prior film to this one.

This film opens with a family moving to a new location. Father, mother and daughter, named Chihiro, who is spoiled, entitled and whines to get what she wants. None of these are endearing qualities. Quickly the family travels to a tunnel and they walk through into what they think is an abandoned amusement park. The parents get separated from their daughter and choose to eat some fresh at a restaurant. Daughter meets up with a young man, named Haku, who tells her that darkness is coming and she must leave that place straight away. Chihiro feeling helpless without her parents seek them, only to find that they have been turned into pigs. She is escorted into the main bathhouse, and Haku implores her to demand a job at the house. You see those in the bathouse don’t like humans and they will try and throw her out.

The story develops and Chihiro finds a way to endear herself to those in the bathhouse. There is an ongoing battle between the woman in charge of the bathhouse and her twin sister. All within the bathhouse are embroiled within this, as creatures come and go. One in particular customer is a large smelly slug-like creature that requires some assistance, both with a wash and with an injury. The story carries on with Chihiro simply looking to find her parents, return them to human form and return them to their own world. Haku assists in securing a deal for Chihiro to accomplish this.

The animation is good, with many new and creative creatures in this alternative world. Some are quite repulsive, and others quite novel. The Faceless customer is quite intimidating and capable of horrific things. This isn’t Disney animation, nor Pixar and that is to its credit. This story and the other are new takes for a genre that can do things that real film of people simply cannot do. I was not as satisfied with the resolution in this film in comparison to Mononoke but that doesn’t take away from this being an enjoyable viewing. I would not, and did not, include this in my top films in the past 25 years listing. That is a very high bar to reach but it is a valiant try and an effort worthy of a viewing.

August 25th, 2025

The Room Next Door: It is a shame at times for me to see accomplished and talented actors being used in a story which doesn’t seem to challenge them (or at the least) to show off their ample talents. This movie principally stars Oscar Winner Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. It also has John Turturro who adds depth to any role that I have ever seen him in.

In this story Moore plays Ingrid who is a successful writer. Early at a book signing in New York she meets an old friend who mentions a mutual acquaintance Martha (Swinton) who sadly has been diagnosed with cancer. Ingrid ventures to the hospital to meet up with Martha. They begin a conversation and old times and old friends. Martha tells of her strained relationship with her adult daughter. Martha has been experimenting with a new treatment for cervical cancer despite her best instincts when she first of her diagnosis. Martha was a war correspondent working for The NY Times. She has faced many times. She looks upon this as another battle. It turns out that the treatment isn’t as effective as hoped and Martha has privately to herself decided to forego any more. Instead she wants to live out her days in peace, with enjoyment and simple pleasures. She has asked Ingrid to accompany her on this final vacation. In short this is a story about the right of the individual to choose their fate. There are many discussions. Some are more insightful than others. For me, I found that this was a story which had aspects of it added to fill in the time without moving the story along. There are so many times one needs to see Ingrid wake up and check in on Martha. In the last act, there are some avenues explored but never to their completion. As a person who believes strongly in a person’s right to choose and I don’t see a criminal aspect of (despite what the religious people believe or their interpretation of the Bible) one of these avenues isn’t very sensible. In fact there are more important and pressing criminals acts to be investigating. In the end I felt that such talent was not utilized well. I have seen other stories that address the subject matter like Whose Life Is It Anyway? with Richard Dreyfuss as well as Euphoria with Eva Green and Alicia Vikander. Both of those were better.

I was away for the past number of days and although I didn’t watch any movies, I did see a number of stage performances in the UK. Each of them were very good and the one was remarkable. So if you have an opportunity to catch any of these plays I would encourage you to do so. I will provide the play and where I saw it, in the order that I recommend them.

Good Night Oscar (London): This is a Tony winning play from a couple of years ago and stars Will & Grace supporting actor Sean Hayes. It tells the story in 1958 of an early appearance on the Tonight Show with Jack Parr of Oscar Levant. Jack Parr was the host before Johnny Carson. Oscar was a first rate piano player and composer while also having been in a number of movies including Singing in the Rain. Oscar is an eccentric guy, bordering on insanity. What I can say is that the performance of Hayes is extraordinary as he fully embodies the character. Known for wise cracks and being unpredictable and frank Oscar was the perfect guest. He might say something offensive. Maybe not. The themes include talent, artists performing others’ works, mental illness, eccentricity, marriage, and TV’s treatment of those involved in it. This runs until early September in London and if you can see it. Do. It was a memorable evening for which I am grateful.

A Winter’s Tale (Stratford UK). A few weeks back I attended the Stratford festival in Ontario outside Toronto and saw this Shakespearean play performed. At the time I thought that they did a very good job performing this difficult play. It’s difficult because it has two different tones within it. The first half of it plays like a tragedy with a tyrannical King accusing his wife of adultery with his best friend, and taking this mania to extreme ends. The second half picks up the story sixteen years later with a more jovial and comedic turn. For me I came into a second viewing of the play in the UK with skepticism. I didn’t think the Ontario version could be improved upon. I was wrong. The performances in UK version were all excellent and most notably by the tyrant King but also his shocked and surprised wife Hermione. I think that they bridged the tone better and finding a common thread to tie it together. It was less comical and jovial. It was more satisfying and stuck with me for some days afterwards. Both the Ontario and UK interpretations of this play are very well done and worth you seeking out. In dark times it speaks well to tyrants in power and addressing uncertainty.

The Pillowman (Dublin): Based upon the play by Martin McDonagh this is very dark tale about a man who tells stories. As the play opens the writer named Katurian Katurian, played very well by Fra Fee is being interrogated by the police about his stories. He is an adult and has written over 400 stories and many are dark. We learn that he and his younger brother, who is mentally challenged, are all they each have left of family. Their parents are no longer around. Act Two then has the brothers meeting up together and talking about the interrogations by the police and some surprises are revealed. The play continues down the path of exploring the stories and why they are interest to the police. It starts making a lot more sense. It is disturbing. It speaks to parenting and the long term impacts of adults on children in the most dramatic way. Each of the principal characters are damaged in profound ways. The story of the Pillowman as the title of the play suggests becomes more prominent but it isn’t all of it. I admit that the early acts puzzled me more than a little, with me scratching my head on where the second half of the play could possibly go. It was a satisfying and thought provoking performance. Well worth your time to check it out if you can, for me notably for the lead character’s performance. He carries much of the dialogue and he makes this believable. It is on until September 7th.

Hedda (Bath): This is a play which is an interpretation of the early Henrik Ibson play Hedda Gabler. I had seen the original back at Stratford Ontario last year. I enjoyed it. It was a period piece, in the late 1800s with a woman who is capable of many things, but is pigeon-holed into a limited number of options for her. She is trapped and becomes trapped even more deeply as the play moves forward. This modern telling of it stars Lilly Allen and from Downton Abbey Brendan Coyle. The updated time for me doesn’t assist with the character of Hedda. In the original play Hedda is a more sympathetic character for her times and her plight. Her trap is real from outside forces that she cannot control. A modern audience thinks “if only she was born later” she would have had a much different. Sure women still marry for convenience and to be with someone “safe” to this day, but the stigma of being the spinster is less lessened and it’s more socially acceptable to be single. Sadly in this rendition, Hedda comes across as mean, spoiled and entitled. She has built her own chains including a refusal to work, all the while having demands of how she is prepared to live. There are many demands on any suitor, including her new husband who is thrilled to be with her but she is filled with such contempt for him. Of the plays that I saw this was the least satisfying but still there were some good performances. Bath is a very picturesque town and seeing live theatre was a terrific evening out.

August 18th, 2025

My Oxford Year: Recently released on Netflix, my interest in this movie was not in the romance, but more as a travel vlog into Oxford UK as I was heading out to go there in just over a week from viewing. I wanted to see the quaint university town and the incredible iconic buildings who have had students and professors like Tony Blair, Canadian PM Mark Carney, Bill Clinton, Indira Gandhi, as well as Hugh Grant, Stephen Hawking, CS Lewis, Michael Palin (Monty Python), JRR Tolkien, Oscar Wilde and Sir Thomas More to name but a few. This at first seems like an Oxford version of Emily in Paris with Lily Collins as an American visiting a new place and then finding romance. Many a story has begun with this outline. In this case, Emily is Anna De La Vega from Queens NY with immigrant parents. She is played by Sofia Carson. She meets up with Jamie Davenport, played by Corey Mylchreest, a handsome new professor who just happens to be filling and teaching Anna. Of course they don’t meet with the best of circumstances. Anna does have her life planned out well, having deferred a Wall Street job at Goldman Sachs for a year in Oxford.

There are quirky roommates and family who are about. For Jamie, his parents are played by well-known 80s personalities Catherine McCormack (Braveheart) and Dougray Scott (from Ever After as the prince or MI 2). Jamie has some challenges with his father as well as some women on campus. He also seems to have a female companion often times. So his story is a little murky and too complicated for Anna’s taste. Things happen. Then the story turns a little darker with a few unexpected turns. The tension with the father for Jamie is revealed and we have a better understanding of Jamie’s situation and his past. Of course this is a story that isn’t new, and there are times when it feels very forced and manipulative. Likely it’s not trying to be, and the performances are as you would expect. For me, one of my early gripes is that no one at the University seems to have any issue with a professor and a student having a romantic relationship. One would think that there are rules about such things, and likely someone might complain about the conflict of interest at least in that class, as well as the power dynamic. But nevermind, as no one else in the film seems to care. This film is meant to illicit an emotional response and does. Life is about choices. There are plenty of poetic quips and memes that can speak to life being a series of small moments. There are other adages like “no one is promised another day” and “none of us know how much time we have together” as a romantic couple. The movie City of Angels with Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage explored that concept fully in 1998, released close to Braveheart (1995) and Ever After (1998). This is worth a viewing if you want to see Oxford in drone footage and on the campus, or if you feel like seeing pretty people fall for one another.