BEST OF ...
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
A quiet, intimate and emotionally powerful Canadian tale — played out for the most part…
The Irishman
I watched this excellent 3.5-hour film in the theatre before it started streaming on Netflix…
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…
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…
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…
The Farewell
A heartfelt, human, touching and effective story written and directed by Lulu Wang (her first…
Gaza
This is a powerful documentary look at life within the Gaza Strip, focussing on the…
Ask Dr. Ruth
While the world famous sex therapist, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, is private about many aspects of…
Coriolanus: Stratford Festival on Film
In 2018 director Barry Avrich set up his cameras at a live performance at Stratford…
End Game
This short (40-minute) film — Oscar nomination for documentary feature — is a profound and…
Capernaum
An amazing and heart-breaking performance from a non-professional very young actor (discovered on the streets…
Roma
From the cinematography to the sound to the acting, this is one excellent film. In…
Ben is Back
You’ve probably heard of this plotline: young adult becomes addicted to drugs, parents try to…
Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary Story of Ben Ferencz
It may sound like a cliché, but this gripping, educational (in the best sense of…
The Hate U Give
Based on a best-selling book, this is a powerful and moving story centred on a…
Can You Ever Forgive Me
A fantastic — and serious — performance by Melissa McCarthy anchors this based-on-a-true story of…
The Wife
Glenn Close dazzles as the wife of a self-satisfied American professor/writer (well played by Jonathan…
BlackKKlansman
Director (and one of the writers) Spike Lee at the top of his game. Based…
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot
Joaquin Phoenix (with solid supporting roles by Jonah Hill and Jack Black) takes command of…
Three Identical Strangers
A fascinating, emotional and well put together documentary about identical triplets separated at birth in…
Leave No Trace
Ben Foster is excellent (as is an up-and-coming young actress, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, as his…
Hearts Beat Loud
A sweet and charming story, which Nick Offerman, and a young actress to watch out…
Won’t You Be My Neighbor
A very well-put together documentary (by filmmaker Morgan Neville, whose doc “20 Feet from Stardom,…
The Reckoning: Hollywood’s Worst Kept Secret
More than a follow-up to documentary filmmaker/director Barry Avrich’s (full disclosure: he’s my brother-in-law) Unauthorized: The…
Isle of Dogs
Another unique and imaginative offering from the creative mind of director and co-writer Wes Anderson.…
Foxtrot
Israel’s entry for this year’s Oscars, this is an emotionally tough, but rewarding, story of…
The Insult
A Best Foreign-Language Oscar nominee (from Lebanon) this year, the story is set in contemporary…
The Shape of Water
Top-notch acting from Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon and Octavia Spencer make this a…
Sweet Virginia
A tense and highly effective US low budget film noir, set in a small Alaskan…
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
It’s a dark comedy and it’s a drama, but a very human story, powered by…
Lady Bird
Saoirse Ronan (who was wonderful in the film Brooklyn, but don’t ask me how to pronounce her…
The Florida Project
An impressive, engaging and delightful, yet melancholy, visit with several six-year-olds — we get to…
Human Flow
The ads for this documentary (by the celebrated Chinese artist Ai Weiwei) about the tens…
Long Time Running
A sweet, fun, and sad documentary which covers the Tragically Hip on its 2016 cross-Canada…
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…
I, Daniel Blake
Ken Loach’s most recent work, about a British widower who, after losing his job due…
The White Helmets
All of the words written about the human destruction taking place in Syria cannot, unfortunately,…
Mr. Gaga
A terrific documentary — filmed over the course of eight years — about the life…
Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened
A thoroughly charming and very sweet (tinged with melancholy) documentary about the making, and the…
La La Land
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling make this modern-day musical, set in a version of L.A.…
Lion
This based-on-a-true-story (which was based on a book) film deserves its label as a crowd…
Manchester By the Sea
One of my favourites of the year. Casey Affleck and the rest of the cast…
Moonlight
Powerful, beautiful and sad are words that appropriately describe this film — based on a…
The Commune
Thomas Vinterberg (who directed the excellent films The Celebration, and The Hunt) drew on his…
Little Men
A quiet, sweet and poignant film, centred around two NYC 13-year-olds (one an introvert, one…
Life, Animated
Fascinating and very moving documentary about a boy, diagnosed with autism-spectrum disorder at the age…
Gleason
Speaking of inspirational and emotional stories, this is the true and amazing tale of Steve…
The Innocents
One of the most impressive and disturbing films I’ve seen this year. Set in occupied…
Son of Saul
Star Wars, this ain’t. Definitely not for the faint of heart, this is a powerful…
Anomalisa
Wow! A stop-action animation film that made the relationship between a middle-age man in, at…
Mustang
This wonderful, sad and haunting Turkish film (set in a small village in the north…