Last week was quiet. This week is insane, even with the subsequent discovery that Let There Be Light isn’t opening in Toronto after all, but playing in nearby Whitby. So let’s get right into it.
Entanglement: I will watch Thomas Middleditch and Jess Weixler in anything. And this film is proof of that.
A Fantastic Woman: Susan and I were both impressed by Daniela Vega’s performance in Sebastian Lelio’s drama about a Chilean woman whose life is derailed by the death of her older partner; Susan was also more forgiving of its script.
Fake Blood: Without saying anything at all about the plot of this meta-horror project, Rob Grant and Mike Kovacs have pulled off something pretty nifty. Check it out, maybe?
Fifty Shades Freed: Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan find their BSDM bliss as Twilight, But with Spanking reaches its conclusion. Rad submits.
The 15:17 to Paris: Clint Eastwood’s latest — about the three American soldiers who stopped a terrorist attack on the epoymous train — arrives without a press screening, so I’m catching it this afternoon. I mean, it can’t be worse than American Sniper. UPDATE: They’re both awful!
Machines: Susan really liked Rahul Jain’s study of a textile factory — and the human labour required to run it — when it played at Hot Docs.
Oscar Shorts: As has become tradition, TIFF is screening the nominated Live-Action and Animated short subjects in two programs. I wrote about them, which is also traditional.
Permission: Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens are terrific in Brian Crano’s dramedy about a New York couple whose perfect relationship is destabilized by the realization that they’ve never been with anyone else. It’s really good, and never quite what you expect it to be.
Peter Rabbit: Rad really liked Will Gluck’s live-action take on the Beatrix Potter characters, which is heartening because I really love Gluck’s Easy A and was hoping this would be better than the hideous Alvin knockoff the marketing campaign suggested.
Spettacolo: Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen follow the brilliant Marwencol with another doc about art deliberately imitating life — this time in Tuscany, at 1:1 scale.
Phew. That’s too many movies, isn’t it. I need a nap.
I was hoping for your take on Peter Rabbit since the trailer looks like it’s completely missed any charm in favour of frenetic action. It could just be a misleading trailer, and I’m sure kids will like it anyway, but will it hit any nostalgia buttons for my childhood like Paddington did so well? Should this have been Peter Rabbit, or should they have gone with a generic rabbit and a non-MacGregor farmer if they were going to stray so far from the tone of the original?