The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
A quiet, intimate and emotionally powerful Canadian tale – played out for the most part…
Dark Waters
Mark Ruffalo is very good as a serious and driven corporate lawyer in Cincinnati, Robert…
Honey Boy
Actor Shia LaBeouf (whom I last saw in the terrific The Peanut Butter Falcon) penned and…
Richard Jewell
At 89 (!) Clint Eastwood can still entertain with style and emotionally engage his audience,…
Marriage Story
(Now streaming on Netflix)Noah Baumbach wrote and directed this heartbreaking story of the crumbling of…
The Laundromat
(Now streaming on Netflix) Director Steven Soderbergh – with the help of some big-name actors…
Bombshell
Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margo Robbie, John Lithgow and other high-wattage stars tell the story…
The Irishman
I watched this excellent 3.5-hour film in the theatre before it started streaming on Netflix…
Pain and Glory
There’s little if any work of director and writer Pedro Almodovar that I don’t appreciate,…
Harriet
Cynthia Erivo is excellent as Harriet Tubman, who: escaped the brutality of slavery by risking…
Ford vs. Ferrari
I know very little about the world of professional racing, and was unaware until I…
Queen and Slim
In one the worst cinematic first-dates ever (courtesy of Tinder), an African-American couple (Daniel Kaluuya…
Knives Out
A throwback, American-style, to the Agatha Christie murder mysteries, packed with some terrific actors. Daniel…
Frankie
The wonderful Isabelle Huppert plays the titular character, a famous and well-to-do actor who gathers…
The Report
The title refers to the so-called Torture Report that was the result of a U.S.…
The Good Liar
Watching superb actors such as Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren play opposite each other is…
21 Bridges
If you suspend your disbelief before settling back for this tale of cops and robbers…
The Lighthouse
A black-and-white film about two men sent to maintain a remote island lighthouse, somewhere in…
Parasite
South Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s very, very dark comedy – which took the top…
Human Nature
A very smart and entertaining documentary about our brave new world of gene editing, focusing…
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
I didn’t know much about the life of this wonderful and hugely talented singer, other…
Where’s My Roy Cohn
Although not the point of this fascinating and engaging documentary, hearing from and about the…
Western Stars
Instead of touring for his new album Western Stars, Bruce Springsteen gathers a 30-piece orchestra in…
Terminator: Dark Fate
The Terminator robots have evolved over the years since the first movie in this series,…
JoJo Rabbit
While the reactions of critics and audiences have been decidedly mixed, folks who like the…
Joker
Joaquin Phoenix seems to fully inhabit the character of Arthur Fleck, a none-too-successful professional clown…
Dolce Fine Giornata
An intriguing but relatively superficial – and very unsubtle – look at what happens when…
Gemini Man
I’m a fan of Will Smith, but neither he nor his computer-generated younger self can…
Zombieland 2: Double Tap
Who doesn’t love a story about the living fighting the undead to the, um, death?…
The Cave
(Seen at TIFF) Syrian director Feras Fayyad and his incredible team have crafted a documentary…
For Sama
Another impressive documentary that presents us with both some of the worst and the best…
Honey Bee
An impressive small budget Canadian film about a young woman, smart but emotionally troubled (Julia…
Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles
A joyous and fascinating documentary journey exploring the origins of Fiddler on the Roof, the…
Official Secrets
Keira Knightley is very good as a real-life (relatively low level) British intelligent analyst who…
Monos
Combine: child soldiers fighting for who-knows-what in the mountains and jungles of an unnamed Latin…
Judy
Renee Zellweger is tremendous as the extremely talented and fascinating Judy Garland, a woman who…
Ad Astra
This story, set in the “near future,” of an astronaut (Brad Pitt, staying very cool,…
Brittany Runs a Marathon
In her later 20s, Brittany, proud resident of NYC, played by the always funny and…
Blinded By The Light
Based on true events (in a co-screenwriter’s life), this story, in broad strokes, is a…
The Moneychanger
(Seen at TIFF) Director Federico Veiroj’s tale of the rise and fall of, yes, a…
The Sleepwalkers
(Seen at TIFF) A very intense, in-your-face portrayal of what happens when several generations of…
Red Fields
(Seen at TIFF) A bizarre, wild, and occasionally poignant drama/musical from Israel, based on a…
American Factory
(Also streaming on Netflix.) An excellent documentary about the nature of work and workers, the…
The Peanut Butter Falcon
A charmer of a story about a 20-year-old with Down’s syndrome who, because he has…
Ready or Not
A fun ride with this comedy/drama/horror pic – it’s got blood, gore and humour (of…
Tel Aviv on Fire
Who knew that a story set in present times of a Palestinian slacker who works…
Honeyland
The most unique documentary I’ve seen in quite a while. Filmed over three years, we…
Tigers Are Not Afraid
It’s an effective fable, fantasy, horror story and a very gritty reminder of the toll…
Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw
I hadn’t seen any of the four-dozen or so (J) previous instalments of the Fast…
David Crosby: Remember My Name
Singer and songwriter, part of Crosby, Stills and Nash, as well Crosby, Stills, Nash and…
Luce
This film, about a star high-school student and athlete, Luce, an example to his (especially…
Angel Has Fallen
Gerard Butler returns for another go as a Secret Service agent with personal problems, this…
The Farewell
A heartfelt, human, touching and effective story written and directed by Lulu Wang (her first…
Wild Rose
Irish actress Jesse Buckley (who I thought was captivating in the 2018 movie Beast) is terrific…
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Hot off its win for best director (and a special jury prize) for Joe Talbot…
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino’s latest is a star-studded affair – Leonardo DiCaprio (who is quite good here)…
Spider Man: Far From Home
A nicely executed popcorn movie – family-friendly story, good acting, decent special effects (especially on…
The Art of Self-Defense
A very black comedy/satire with Jesse Eisenberg once again playing a fish-out-of-water, socially awkward man…
Sword of Trust
This very droll and very low-key comedy (with a bit of drama and a dash…
Midsommar
I went to see this bizarre, challenging, disturbing and head-scratching film primarily because it stars…
Pavarotti
I did not know much about the life of Luciano Pavarotti before watching this lovely…
Echo in the Canyon
An interesting and entertaining documentary looking back at the incredibly rich and influential music scene…
Gaza
This is a powerful documentary look at life within the Gaza Strip, focussing on the…
Rocketman
Lead actor Taron Egerton (playing Elton John as an adult) does a tremendous job of…
Yesterday
I love the premise: what if (due to some kind of freak electrical storm) everyone…
Late Night
Another film with a premise with great promise: The always terrific Emma Thompson plays the…
The Fall of the American Empire
Acclaimed director/writer Denys Arcand (responsible for film gems such as The Decline of the American Empire in…
Toy Story 4
I missed the second and third Toy Story installments, but even so I found this…
Ask Dr. Ruth
While the world famous sex therapist, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, is private about many aspects of…
Miles Davis: The Birth of the Cool
Jazz legend Miles Davis had talent and audacity galore, along with a troubled soul that…
Knock Down the House
(Also on Netflix.) A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at four first time female Democratic candidates in…
Ordinary Days
When a young woman disappears, we try to figure out what has happened by viewing…
The Grizzlies
Uplifting, charming, although sometimes clichéd, the tale – based on actual events that took place…
Meeting Gorbachev
Co-director Werner Herzog sat down several times with ex-President of the USSR (1985-92), Mickhail Gorbachev…
Diane
Long-time TV and film actress Mary Kay Place is terrific as a woman with many…
The Unorthodox
A fascinating fictionalized look at the rise, starting in the early 1980s, of the ultra-Orthodox Shas political…
Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind
This interesting and entertaining documentary follows Canadian music legend Gordon Lightfoot (still touring in his…
All Is True
The always impressive Kenneth Branagh plays Shakespeare in his later years, returning to his estranged…
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
Keanu Reeves does what he needs to do, a third time out, as a black-suited…
Booksmart
Two high school freshman (engagingly played by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitly Dever) discover that while…
Non-Fiction
Perhaps this French film, set in the publishing world of Paris (at a time when…
Long Shot
Seth Rogan, as an out-of-work self-righteous journalist (playing the usual tiresome Seth Rogan type of…
White Crow
The life and art of Rudolph Nureyev, as presented in this fictionalized story by writer…
Leona
In Mexico City, a young, Jewish female artist falls for a non-Jewish guy. However, her…
Amazing Grace
In the summer of 1972, the incredibly talented singer Aretha Franklin joined the Reverend (and…
Carmine Street Guitars
Rick Kelly, from his cluttered Greenwich Village store, together with a young female apprentice, custom…
Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes
This documentary tells well the story of the legendary Blue Note Records label, from its…
Her Smell
Elisabeth Moss is a standout as a once (in the 1990s) punk rock sensation who…
Giant Little Ones
Josh Wiggins (who I had not heard of before) is excellent as high-schooler Franky, still…
Nureyev
An imaginative documentary about one of the greatest dancers of all time, Rudolf Nureyev. Plenty…
Sir
The actress Tillotama Shome is captivating as a poor young (widowed) woman from a small…
Midnight Family
(Seen at the Hot Docs Festival) Sad but educational documentary about a family who runs…
Hotel Mumbai
An effective dramatization – with plenty of dramatic license, I’m sure, but with a disturbingly…
High Life
This is the great French director Claire Denis’s first English-language film, starring the always impressive…
The Hummingbird Project
Who would have thought that watching Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgard play two cousins out…
Firecrackers
A low budget (and impressive first film for writer/director Jasmin Mozaffari), emotional slice of small…
Acquainted
Man meets beautiful and friendly woman at a bar (they attended the same high school),…
Stockholm
Inspired by the crazy but true story of a bank robbery in Stockholm in the…
Coriolanus: Stratford Festival on Film
In 2018 director Barry Avrich set up his cameras at a live performance at Stratford…
Apollo 11
A fascinating documentary view of the 1969 Apollo 11 space mission – this year celebrating…
Captain Marvel
You’ve got your Kree warriors and your Skrolls (a shape-shifting community) plus other intergalactic things,…
Us
Director/writer/producer Jordan Peele’s latest is not as sharp or as entertaining as his last (as…
3 Faces
Iranian director Jafar Panahi, one of Iran’s most prominent filmmakers (his last one was Jafar Panahi’s…
Ash is the Purest White
Set in China’s north, this is a slow-paced and small scale (but told on a…
To Dust
It’s hard to believe that this story of an ultra-orthodox Jewish man in upstate New…
Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel
A light, breezy and charming documentary about Team Israel making it, for the first time,…
Greta
The talented and always delightful French actress Isabelle Huppert appears to have great fun as…
Birds of Passage
This rise and fall story of families and the drug business, from the late 1960s…
What Walaa Wants
Walaa, a teenager (when we first meet her) living in a West Bank refugee camp,…
Furie
This decent action/revenge flick comes to us from Vietnam, where a young girl is kidnapped…
Level 16
Take a very basic, forbidding girls-only boarding school, where the outside world does not seem…
7 Days in Entebbe
I did not think it would be possible to make a boring film of some…
Triple Frontier
Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac and Charlie Hunnam are among the half dozen or so ex-US…
Oscar Shorts: Live Action
Each year, for a few years now, the five Oscar-nominated live action short films are…
End Game
This short (40-minute) film – Oscar nomination for documentary feature -- is a profound and…
Everybody Knows
The latest film from acclaimed Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (who made the Oscar winners “A…
Cold War
This story about troubled love, set against the backdrop of 1950s (primarily) Warsaw, Berlin and…
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
The director sets out to paint a picture of African American life (focussed on two…
The World Before Your Feet
Great idea for a documentary: have a camera follow an entertaining person as he walks,…
Miss Bala
I did see the original Mexican film of the same name (from 2012) about a…
Extreme Job
An intriguing concept – hapless team of narcotics detectives in Seoul park themselves for a…
Cold Pursuit
Another American remake, this time of a Norwegian film (In Order of Disappearance, which had…
Capernaum
An amazing and heart-breaking performance from a non-professional very young actor (discovered on the streets…
Shoplifters
A very wise, intelligent and touching tale, set in in a poor district of Tokyo,…
If Beale Street Could Talk
A powerful and haunting story – directed by Barry Jenkins, and based on a book…
Maria by Callas
Fascinating documentary about the art and life of the late, great Greek-American, world renowned opera…
On the Basis of Sex
RBG, as US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is now known, is all the…
Stan & Ollie
John C. Reily and Steve Coogan work well together to capture a difficult time during…
Wildlife
Carey Mulligan steals the show in this low-budget story, set in the small town Montana…
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The newest of the Coen brothers’ creations, this Western anthology, in six segments, starts strong…
Destroyer
Nicole Kidman is captivating in the role of a burned out (although she does have…
Springsteen on Broadway
As a Springsteen fan I was surprised to be a bit underwhelmed by this recording…
The Mule
For Clint Eastwood fans only, I think. This tale of an elderly man, broke and…
Night School
Kevin Hart (as one of number of eccentric folks attending night school to obtain their…
Vice
Director Adam McKay (The Big Short) wastes an opportunity to seriously explore how Dick Cheney…