RECOMMENDED
MOVIES
Cunningham
Visionary and influential dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham is the subject of this interesting and…
Golda
Golda Meir is commonly known as Israel’s first (and so far only) female Prime Minister…
Les Misérables
No, this film has little to do with Victor Hugo’s story, but is a seething…
Uncut Gems
Adam Sandler is near perfect as NYC jeweler Howard Ratner, who can’t sit still for…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Rocketman
Lead actor Taron Egerton (playing Elton John as an adult) does a tremendous job of…
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…
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…
Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes
This documentary tells well the story of the legendary Blue Note Records label, from its…
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…
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…
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…
Free Solo
A charming documentary about a, yes, real-life free soloist, the eccentric, sweet, naïve, and obsessed…
Bill Murray: Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man
A light, funny, human and sweet ode to the magic of Bill Murray, the man,…
A Private War
Marie Colvin was a fearless American-born war correspondent who met her untimely end while reporting…
What They Had
Talented actors Blythe Danner, Hillary Swank, Michael Shannon and Robert Forster make this story of…
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
The title relates to the label a number of scientists and others want to give…
93Queen
An inspiring and fascinating documentary set in the (usually) closed to outsiders Hasidic (i.e. ultra-orthodox…
The Guilty
Tense, clever and very enjoyable story of a Danish policeman serving time at a 9-1-1…
Love, Gilda
A sweet and funny documentary about the late and great comic Gilda Radner, with enjoyable…
Boy, Erased
Based on a memoir of the same name by Jared Conlon (sensitively but not melodramatically…
1945
When two Orthodox Jews (who rarely speak) arrive by train to a small Hungarian village…
Eighth Grade
A highly impressive performance by the young Elsie Fisher, who plays a, yes, eighth-grader —…
The Last Suit
A kind and sad Argentinian film that follows an elderly Holocaust survivor who, before his kids…
Mission: Impossible — Fallout
One of the most enjoyable of this franchise that I’ve seen. Great set-pieces, not weighed…
Sorry to Bother You
An inventive and creative satire, set in, more or less, modern day Oakland, CA, that…
Ant-Man and the Wasp
I wasn’t that familiar with Marvel Comics’ Ant-Man character — a man with the ability…
The Accountant of Auschwitz
A fascinating, troubling and thought-provoking documentary about the trial, in Germany, of Oskar Groning, nicknamed…
The Death of Stalin
How else to tell a story surrounding the death in the early 1950s of Joseph…
Unsane
Director Steven Soderbergh has put together a very effective relatively low-budget psychological thriller about a…
1987: When the Day Comes
The murder in 1987 of an university student by members of South Korea’s intelligence officers…
Phantom Thread
I’m no expert on the movie industry, but I can’t imagine it would have been…
Molly’s Game
The true story of Molly Bloom (well played by Jessica Chastain), a once top competitive…
Darkest Hour
Gary Oldman is excellent as Sir Winston Churchill as he becomes Prime Minister for the…
Killing of a Sacred Deer
An excellent but tough film to watch, dealing with themes of revenge, crime and punishment,…
Stronger
Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany shine as they portray a real life victim (Jeff Bauman,…
Wind River
An excellent, slow-burn thriller set in the cold and open spaces of Wyoming, about a…
The Big Sick
One of my favourites of the year, this story is based on the real-life experiences…
Dunkirk
This take on Britain’s (including many civilians) rescue of hundreds of thousands of British and…
I, Daniel Blake
Ken Loach’s most recent work, about a British widower who, after losing his job due…
The Wedding Plan
Set in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, this is a tale of a thirty-plus-year-old woman abandoned by…
Certain Women
Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and Kristen Stewart play characters whose tales in three loosely interconnected…
Graduation
A Romanian film (by the director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days — Cristian Mungiu) about…
Colossal
Some adjectives/terms that come to mind during and after watching this movie: indie, surreal, imaginative,…
Bobbi Jene
Last month I wrote about the wonderful documentary, Mr. Gaga, which showed us some of…
Mr. Gaga
A terrific documentary — filmed over the course of eight years — about the life…
The Settlers
A documentary focussing on the settlers of the Israeli West Bank and their outsize impact…
The Salesman
Even though I didn’t think this film — which won the 2017 foreign film Oscar…
I Am Not Your Negro
The writer James Baldwin set out to write a book about three of his friends…
Get Out
A very clever and socially aware dark comedy/horror film in which a white woman takes…
Land of Mine
An emotionally moving and difficult (based on a true) story of how at the end…
Cameraperson
Kirsten Johnson is a documentary cinematographer who has stitched together footage from over the last…
Julieta
One of the less melodramatic (but quietly dramatic) films by Pedro Almodovar. The acting is…
Deepwater Horizon
Based on the events surrounding the collapse of the BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in…
Sand Storm
This tale of the clash between a teenage girl and the patriarchal society in which…
The Stairs
A fascinating documentary which, over the course of five years, focuses on three Toronto colourful…
The Ivory Game
A fascinating and well executed documentary about the illegal ivory trade and the unsung investigators…
Hell or High Water
Yes, there is a plot, and an ok one, about two Texas brothers (played by…
Closet Monster
Winner of the Best Canadian Feature Film at the last TIFF, the lead actor (Connor…
De Palma
Almost two hours of listening to director and writer Brian De Palma (along with lots…
Eye in the Sky
I enjoy Helen Mirren in pretty much any movie/theatrical role, and she does a very…
Janis: Little Girl Blue
Although I enjoy Janis Joplin’s music, I didn’t know much about her until I saw…
Straight Outta Compton
Fictionalized account of the birth of popular (gangsta) rap and the rise and fall of…
Cartel Land
Hard-hitting documentary on the destruction caused by the drug cartels that straddle the US —…
Amy
I didn’t know much about singer Amy Winehouse prior to seeing this fascinating and sad…
Trainwreck
Before seeing this movie my exposure to the comedienne/actress Amy Schumer was quite limited. But…
Best of Enemies
American conservative William F. Buckley was up against leftist public intellectual Gore Vidal on ABC…
Red Army
I haven’t followed hockey (professional or otherwise) much since my teenage years, but I found…
The Backward Class
A charming and uplifting documentary highlighting the success of India’s first class of “untouchables” to…
Timbuktu
What happens when religious fundamentalists (jihadists, in this case) invade a peaceful Malian city is…
The Wrecking Crew
A delightful documentary about the unsung (no pun intended) heroes of the U.S. music industry…
Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
I had a great time watching Michael Keaton impress as a washed-up actor (known for…
The Hundred-Foot Journey
This charming and sweet fable — a family of talented cooks fleeing violence in India…
Million Dollar Arm
Based on a true story, I was pleasantly surprised to quite enjoy this tale of…
Tough Love
A fascinating documentary about the inner workings of child welfare systems. The focus here is…
Four Letters Apart
An inspiring documentary of how some Danish children are being treated for ADHD without the…
Maidentrip
It’s a great true story — 13-year-old Dutch girl Laura Deker battles the courts to…
Spinning Plates
An interesting and entertaining documentary about three US-based restaurants (a high-end and highly rated one…
Headhunters
A fun, noirish modern-day Norwegian (subtitled) crime/mystery/thriller that I found worthy of the effort required to…
Men In Black 3
I wasn’t expecting much but I quite enjoyed the silliness and humour of this third…
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
A charming documentary about an 80-something-year-old Michelin rated sushi chef in a small nondescript basement…
Footnote
Israel’s entry for the best foreign film Oscar, the performances make this movie worth your…
Big Boys Gone Bananas!*
A well-made doc which follows the Swedish filmmaker of an earlier film, Bananas — about the multinational…
The Cabin in the Woods
A nifty little horror film which has some fun with horror film conventions. Some genuinely…
Sound of My Voice
An impressive small budget American film about a couple investigating the leader of cult who…
The Salt of Life
A small Italian (subtitled) film that follows a 60-year-old recent retiree who, because he believes…
The Raid: Redemption
A violent Indonesian film (subtitled) tracking a SWAT-type police team, complete with police corruption, trying…
Turn Me On Dammit!
A small Norwegian film (subtitled), set in a very small town, about a 15-year-old girl…
Twelfth Night
The film of a live Stratford production of Shakespeare’s play. Super acting — Brian Dennehy…
A Separation
One of my favourite films of recent years, and a winner of this year’s Oscar…
Monsieur Lazhar
A quiet but very moving portrait of a Canadian immigrant’s (from Algeria) stint filling in…
Pina 3D
Although I didn’t learn much about the life of the late dancer, Pina Bausch, Wim…
Coriolanus
Ralph Fiennes’ striking modern day setting of Shakespeare’s tale struck me in some places as…
Tyrannosaur
This tale of two strangers, an abused woman and an abusive male, who meet by…
In Darkness
A powerful and true WWII tale of Polish Jews who survived for 14 months during…
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
A well-made but at times confusing cold war tale of cross and double cross. Gary…
My Week With Marilyn
A light but quite enjoyable tale of a short time in the life of Marilyn…
Contraband
A decent but not great action/suspense film with Mark Wahlberg as a smuggler called back…
The Artist
An almost silent film, it is an homage to the silent films of yesteryear, masterfully…
Café de Flore
An impressive work from the Quebec director of the 2005 film C.R.A.Z.Y. (which I also…
Tomboy
French film (set outside of Paris) with amazing acting by two young girls, one of…
The Skin I Live In
The new Pedro Almodovar, so expect melodrama, gender and relationship issues. More disturbing and much…
Point Blank
A fast paced, French (from France, 2010) film about corrupt cops and some innocents caught…
Elite Squad 2
Speaking of violent films with plenty of corrupt cops, this Brazilian sequel (I did not…
Mission Impossible 4
Yes, another sequel. Yes, the plot is ridiculous, but so what. The movie breezes along…
Margin Call
Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Irons help me this a very nicely down tale of confusion…
The Muppets
What can I say about the muppets: they sing, they dance, they’re so damn cute!…
Young Adult
Not for all tastes, this a story of a physically beautiful woman (Charlize Theron) who…
Mesrine: Part 1 Killer Instinct
(From 2008) Inspired by the true tale of the bank French 1960s and 70s bank…
Poetry
A captivating South Korean film which plays out in almost 2.5 languid hours; super acting…
Another Earth
Billed, mistakenly I think, as sci-fi film (relating to the desire to travel to another…
Goodbye
A very bleak and slowly paced Iranian film about a pregnant young woman in Tehran,…
The Guard
A very witty and entertaining film set in Ireland where a visiting FBI agent tries…
Moneyball
Even though I have little to no interest in professional baseball, this movie kept my…
The Ides of March
Decent political intrigue story with George Clooney and Ryan Gosling during a run for the…
Contagion
More of an outbreak procedural than what one would expect from the title and genre. …
Higher Ground
A rare film about the struggle of religion seen through the eyes of a woman…
The Whistleblower
Based on the true story of a private company security officer (a US policewoman) who…
In a Better World
The 2011 winner of the Academy Award for best foreign film, this slow moving but…
Life Above All
A sad but powerful tale of a 12-year old in a South African township trying…
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
A very cool and interesting 3D documentary look at relatively recently discovered pre-historic drawings in…
Beginners
A charming tale (based on the director’s life) dealing with the main character’s (Ewan McGregor) inability to sustain…
The Trip
Delightful small movie with British comedians/actors Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden travelling to fancy restaurants…
The Tree of Life
Terrence Mallick’s overly long and a bit pretentious in parts, this grand tale of life…
Page One
Documentary about the media, focussed on the NY Times media desk. The star of the…
The Names of Love
A French film that follows a free-spirited left wing female activist and her relationship with…
Bridesmaids
A crude, rude but laugh-out-loud funny movie about, what else, a bridesmaid and how she…
Winter’s Bone
A very bleak but tremendously well-acted film about a teenage girl’s search for her long…
The Social Network
One of my favourites for the year as I quite enjoyed the sharp dialogue, the…
Incendies
Powerful film from Quebec (based on a play) about a woman’s (and her brother’s) search…
Ajami
Tale of generations and neighbours in a hard neighbourhood outside of Tel Aviv. Good acting…
Another Year
A delightful Mike Leigh film centred around a happily married couple and their not-so-happy friends…
The Fighter
Rises above the clichés of a boxing and redemption film to be really about more…
Waiting for Superman
Depressing but interesting documentary on the state of public education in the parts of the…
Of Gods and Men
Very languidly paced French film but absorbing nonetheless with quiet but powerful acting; based on the…
Rabbit Hole
The performances of the two lead actors really make this film about a couple dealing…
Blue Valentine
A bleak film about the disintegration of a marriage that is carried by the acting…
The Ghost Writer
A enjoy political thrillers in general, and I liked this one. It’s the tale of…
Solitary Man
In my opinion an underrated film that is carried by a very unappealing (but captivating)…
A Prophet
Another bleak film, set primarily in a French prison, about a convicts rise in the…
The Kids Are Alright
Well acted film about a lesbian couple with kids and the impact that the biological…
Inside Job
Very good documentary on the origins and impact of the recent financial crisis. Wisely does…
Biutiful
Powerful drama of the life of one man (played by the always impressive Javier Bardem)…