Mudbound Dee Rees (director), Rachel Morrison (cinematographer), Mako Kamitsuna (editor) Adapted from the Hillary Jordan novel by Dee Rees and Virgil Williams Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige (cast) January 21, 2017 (Sundance), September 10, 2017 (TIFF), November 17, 2017 (USA) Mudbound is a raw, historical family drama with a…
The Shape of Water Is a Fairy Tale That’s As Steadfast as It is Strange
The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro (director and writer), Vanessa Taylor (writer), Dan Laustsen (cinematographer), Sidney Wolinsky (editor) Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins (cast) September 1, 2017 (Toronto International Film Festival 2017), August 31, 2017 (Venice International Film Festival) An invitation lies at the heart of Guillermo del Toro’s newest…
Disobedience Is A Slow-Burning Portrait of Grief, Love and Community
Disobedience Sebastián Lelio (director), Danny Cohen (cinematographer), Nathan Nugent (editor) Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola (cast) Adapted from the Naomi Alderman novel Disobedence by Sebastián Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz September 10, 2017 (TIFF) Sebastián Lelio made two films this year about women being denied access to the formal grieving process of their society. In…
Black Cop Engages Canadian Audiences on Police Brutality & Black Lives
Black Cop Cory Bowles (director and writer), Jeffery Wheaton (cinematographer), Jeremy Harty (editor) Ronnie Rowe, Sophia Walker, Simon Paul Mutuyimana (cast) Released September 11, 2017 (Toronto International Film Festival 2017) It seems like the best was left for last because I thoroughly enjoyed watching Black Cop on the final day of the Toronto International Film Festival. In…
Marlina the Murderer: Questioning Choices in the Indonesian Feminist Western
Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts Mouly Surya (director and writer), Rama Adi and Garin Nugroho (writers), Yunus Pasolang (cinematographer), Kelvin Nugroho (editor) Marsha Timothy, Dea Panendra, Egy Fedly, Yoga Pratama (cast) September 7, 2017 (Toronto International Film Festival 2017), May 24, 2017 (Cannes Film Festival) Warning: Spoilers Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts is described as an Indonesian contemporary feminist…
Backlight: TIFF, Hellboy Casting, and the State of Women in Hollywood
TIFF 2017: Great Films and the Famous Descend on Toronto Megan and I covered some of the films at TIFF 2017, so you can check out the reviews on the site. The festival is usually really great at being organized and making the process of purchasing tickets not a terrible experience. That said, this year…
A Fantastic Woman Is Fantastic
A Fantastic Woman Sebastián Lelio (director), Benjamín Echazarreta (cinematographer), Soledad Salfate (editor) Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco, Aline Kuppenheim, Nicolas Saavedra, Amparo Noguera, Nestor Cantillana, Antonia Zegers, Sergio Hernandez (cast) Released February 12, 2017 (Berlin), April 6, 2017 (Chile) Marina and Orlando enjoy a night out to celebrate their relationship, which is only a…
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Is Not Wondrous
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Angela Robinson (director and writer), Bryce Fortner (cinematographer), Jeffrey M. Werner (editor) Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote, JJ Feild, Oliver Platt, Connie Britton (cast) September 9, 2017 (TIFF), October 13, 2017 (USA) I met Angela Robinson, writer and director of Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman, at San…
Angels Wear White Is Sun-Drenched Modern Day Noir
Angels Wear White Vivian Qu (director and writer), Benoît Dervaux (cinematographer), Hongyu Yang (editor) Wen Qi, Zhou Meijun, Shi Ke, Peng Jing, Geng Le and Liu Weiwei (cast) September 9, 2017 (Toronto International Film Festival 2017), September 12, 2017 (London Film Festival) My first screening at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival was quite the experience. This…