Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay’s hotly anticipated film adaptation of the bestselling science fantasy novel for children A Wrinkle in Timeis a marvel. Not many films, let alone children’s films, dare to take on spirituality and philosophy, literature and mythology, and non-ironic travel to new dimensions. Oprah, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kahling in her best performance to date are three “Mrs.” sent to guide the children of a scientist who invented a way to travel in time and space. He left to explore but never came home. The children along with their outrageous new female guides set off to find him and bring him home. It’s a dangerous mission but in the circle of Mrs., they feel safe and embark on a magical mysterious tour of new galaxies. They witness incredible sights, energies, flora and fauna but face terrible disasters meant to keep them separated from their father. Good versus evil, illusion versus reality and the power of love move the story in almost mystical terms. And a young girl, played with heart by Storm Reid saves the day! DuVernay melds childlike wonder with adult common sense and wisdom and it’s a new cinematic world totally in sync with today’s female empowerment movement. Co-stars Levi Miller, Chris Pine as the missing father and the delightful Deric McCabe (see our interview) as the boy prodigy.
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If you’re itching for a fun, darkly comic and twisted crime drama, your search is over. Nash Edgerton’s Gringo starring the director’s brother Joel, David Oyelowo, and a trash talking Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Thandie Newton, and a nearly unrecognizable Sharlto Copley more than fits the bill. BTW here’s Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris in her first film role.
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Story goes like this – a man’s role in an international business is puppet to his unethical and wily boss. The boss has partnered with his lover to scam the company out of money and that means going to its Mexican factory and knocking a few heads together. They care little about upsetting the local drug cartel. The meek businessman doesn’t show for the flight home so he’s reported missing and that’s covered by insurance. And if he’s dead, the payout is even better. A former black ops mercenary turned international care worker is hired by his brother, the boss, to find him and cash in on the insurance, one way or another. Layers on layers of characters and agendas set the pace for this lighting fast, witty, and satisfying romp. And it’s loaded with irony. Gringo will blast away the winter blues.
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Vancouver filmmaker Mina Shum’s delightful Meditation Park celebrates a cocooned woman shedding her skin to renew herself, a universal story told with love and humour. An elderly wife and mother, played by Pei-Pei Cheng, (a major star in China) lives in a Chinese community in Vancouver rarely leaves the house. She is dedicated 110% to her husband; she has no friends, no money and doesn’t speak English; she is completely dependent. Her grown daughter (Sandra Oh) has her own family and she’s exasperated by her mother’s traditional lifestyle and lack of selfhood. One morning, mother discovers an orange thong in her husband’s trousers and throws it in the garbage. But she retrieves it and puts it back, not knowing how to proceed. She decides to get a job parking cars (her rival parker is a desperate Don McKellar) and learn to ride a bike. And then she throws herself into a new identity, private detective, seeking out “the other woman” and the truth about her husband. What she’s really investigating is her own ability to grow. Wonderful!
READ: Mina Shum on Meditation Park
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Forrest Whittaker and Eric Bana star in the fact-based The Forgiven about Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s (Whitaker) meetings with imprisoned racist serial killer Piet Blomfield (Bana). Blomfield is as devilish a character as we’ve seen onscreen, filled with bottomless rage and capacity for violence. He seeks amnesty following a Truth and Reconciliation Committee ruling that those who committed atrocities against humanity during apartheid could receive clemency if they confessed. Tutu, the South African Anglican cleric and Nobel Peace Prize winner professed non-violence in his activism against apartheid. Blomfield attacks Tutu repeatedly, intent on destroying his idealism, but it doesn’t work. Each time, Tutu surfaces and opens himself to Blomfield. It’s extraordinary, horrifying and profound. Tutu says of it “The film is a tribute to the remarkable and healing power of forgiveness and the outstanding compassion and courage of those who offered love and forgiveness as an antidote to hate and inhumanity… a paean of hope to humanity at large.” Vince Vaughan had originally been cast as Blomfield. Available on VOD and digital.
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Charlotte Rampling is so vulnerable in Andrea Pallaro’s Hannah that she’s almost transparent; she’s so skilled that we seem almost able to see beneath her skin to her soul. Hannah lives in poverty and regret. Once used to the finer things in life, she’s now living in poverty, her husband is in prison and she must fend for herself at her advanced age. She works as a cleaner and comes home to emptiness and regret; acting lessons and swimming are her only joys. She’s’ estranged from her children; her son blames her for her husband’s fate. Even so, she bakes a painstakingly elaborate cake for her grandson’s birthday but when she comes to his house, she’s brusquely sent away and told not to come back. The long sad silences as Hannah arranges flowers, cries, realises that she’s in trouble are soul sucking as you wonder how someone’s life got to this point. If youre feeling vulnerable, don’t go!! Otherwise, Rampling is astounding. She won Cannes’ Volpi Cup Best Actress award. Available on VOD and digital.
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Johannes Roberts The Strangers: Prey At Night was too scary for me to see! Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, Martin Henderson star in this horror outing about a family staying in a secluded mobile home park for the night when three masked psychopaths show up. I couldn’t even watch the trailer. Here, you try.
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Britbox has a new version of a beloved old series but its star may come as a bit of a shock. Rowan Atkinson, whose absurdist alter ego Mr. Bean has given us so much comic joy over the decades continues to amaze; now starring in a renowned dramatic role. He is Jules Maigret, the brilliant French Chief Inspector created by Georges Simenon working the mean streets of 50’s Paris. As in previous British shows, Wallander and Zen the action takes place in a foreign country, with foreign signs and lifestyle, but all characters speak English with an occasional word nod to the setting, a fun artistic jape. The gentle mystery, lack of gore and focus on intellect and insight makes it a nice before bed treat, and Atkinson is terrific. Nice production values and shots of Paris.
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Why is fully forty percent of food grown for human consumption never used? Easy. We waste it. That’s the conclusion in a CBC Passionate Eye documentary March 10 and 11th. Wasted! Tells us something we already know. That we don’t manage food properly, we buy more than we need and think nothing of tossing still viable foods. Meanwhile, 800 million people on this planet starve. Anthony Bourdain, Dan Barber, Massimo Bottura and Danny Bowien looks our bad habits, steps to take to change the picture and feed more people, curb environmental damage from greenhouse gases emitted by food garbage, use tech and business for change and improving health worldwide. Canada’s already habitual green garbage practices and the growing popularity of composting helps, but this needs a big fix.
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TIFF’s annual International Kids Festival is on now, and it’s a heck of an action packed week down at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Film workshops, screenings, parties and interactive stations promise entertainment and information. Here’s a quick look at the lineup:
Recommended for ages 3 and up
Maya the Bee – The Honey Games |dirs. Noel Cleary, Sergio Delphine |Australia/Germany | English
Anchors Up – Boats to the Rescue | dirs. Semen Alsvik, William John Ashurst | Norway | English
Gordon and Paddy | dir. Linda Hambäck | Sweden | Swedish
Recommended for ages 4 and up
The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear |dirs. Philip Einstein Lipski, Jorgen Lerdam, Amalie Næsby Fick | Denmark | Danish
Recommended for ages 6 and up
The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island | dirs. Daniel Chuba, Mark Dippé, Wonjae Lee |USA/South Korea/Colombia/Guatemala | English
Recommended for ages 7 and up
Nelly & Simon: Mission Yeti | dirs. Nancy Florence Savard, Pierre Greco
Next Door Spy | dir. Karla Von Bengtson | Denmark | Danish | Canada, French
Recommended for ages 8 and up
Supa Modo | dir. Likarion Wainaina | Germany/Kenya | Swahili
Children of Genghis | dir. Zolbayar Dorj | Mongolia | Mongolian
DHH | dir. Manish Saini | India | Gujarati, Hindi
Lotte & Luise: Twins on Board | dir. Lancelot von Naso | Germany | German
Recommended for ages 9 and up
Double Trouble |dir. Marta Karwowska | Poland | Polish
The Famous Five And The Valley Of Dinosaurs |dir. Mike Marzuk | Germany |
The Witch Hunters |dir. Rasko Miljkovic | Serbia/Macedonia | Serbian
Rosie & Moussa | dir. Dorothée van den Berghe | Belgium | Dutch
Ballad from Tibet |dir. Zhang Wei | China | Chinese, Tibetan
Recommended for ages 10 and up
Zoo |dir. Colin McIvor | Ireland/United Kingdom | English
The Breadwinner |dir. Nora Twomey | Canada/Ireland/Luxembourg | English
Rock My Heart |dir. Hanno Olderdissen | Germany | German
Recommended for ages 12 and up
Almost Famous | dir. Marco Carmel | Israel | Hebrew
Zombillenium | dirs. Arthur de Pins, Alexis Ducord | France/Belgium | French
Plus themed shorts as follows:
Where I Fit
Siblings |dir. Michael Chiang | Canada | English
French | dir.Josza Anjembe | France | French
The Language of Ball | dir. Ramón Rodríguez | USA | English, Arabic, Spanish
Pride & Prejudice | dir. Mirjam Marks | Netherlands | Dutch, French
Adventures from Around the World
Inclusion Makes the World More Vibrant | dir. Genevieve Clay-Smith | Australia | English
HADIA (The Gift) | dir. Sinem Sakaoglu | Germany/Turkey | Arabic, Turkish
Dear Henri | dir. Matthew Sandager | USA | English
B F F | dir. Roopa Rao | India | English, Kannada, Tamil
Doctor of Monster | dir. Gustavo Teixeira | Brazil | Portuguese
Coin Operated | dir. Nicholas Arioli | USA | No dialogue
Sherbert Rozencrantz, You’re Beautiful | dir. Natalie van den Dungen | Australia | English
Strawberries |dir. Alessandro Sasha Codaglio | Italy | Italian
The Wishing Cranes | dirs. Kaiya Telle, Ellen Arnold, Thomas Anderholm | USA | English
Shoot For The Moon | dirs. Lauren Hoekstra, Doug Turner | USA | English
IRL (In Real Life)
I Am Black and Beautiful | dir. Hawanatu Bangura | Australia | English
Beauty | dir. Christina Willings | Canada | English, French
Kendis | dir. Bibi Fadlalla | Netherlands| Dutch
Hold My Hand | dir. Alexandre Lefebvre | Canada | French
It’s All Relative
Changyou’s Journey |dir. Perry Chen | USA | No dialogue
The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm | dir. Amy Schatz | USA | English
Iron Hands | dir. Johnson Cheng | USA/China | Chinese
Footsteps | dir. Hannes Þór Arason | Iceland | Icelandic
Stardust | dir. Aldo Sotelo Lázaro | Mexico | Spanish
Bachir in Wonderland | dirs. Evelien Vehof, Els Duran | Netherlands | Arabic, Spanish
Rise Up
Songs of Wild Animals | dir. Mara Weber | Mexico | Spanish with
You are my Sunshine | dir. Jun Jie Huang | Taiwan | Mandarin
Blues | dir. Maria Eriksson | Sweden | Swedish
Shadow Boxer |dir. Andreas Bøggild Monies | Denmark | Danish
Fragile Ground
Rupture |dir. Yassmina Karajah | Jordan/Canada | Arabic, English
Gold | dir. Abbe Hassan | Sweden | Arabic
TV in the Fish Tail | dir. Iesh Thapar | India/USA | English, Hindi
Towards the Sun | dir. Monica Santis | United Kingdom/USA | Spanish, English
Out of this World
Scrambled | dir. Bastiaan Schravendeel | Netherlands | No dialogue
The Door | dir. Adrià Guxens | Spain | Spanish
Amelia | dirs. Maribeth Romslo, Cristina Pippa | USA | English
Afloat | dir. Kristina Mileska | Canada | No dialogue
Bui | dir. Inga Lisa Middleton | Iceland | Icelandic
Stella1 | dirs. Roberto D’ippolito, Gaia Bonsignore | Italy | Italian, English, Japanese
Scrap Dolls | dir. Aude Cuenod | USA | English
Me, My Way
New Boy | dir. Norman Tamkivi | United Kingdom | English
Elen | dir. Andy Newbery | United Kingdom | Welsh
Pastel | dir. Mariel Cortés | Mexico | Spanish
The Glass Pearl | dir. Tommi Seitajoki | Finland | Swedish
Mrs. McCutcheon | dir. John Sheedy | Australia | English
Home Away from Home
Hello Salaam | dir. Kim Brand | Netherlands | Dutch, English, Farsi
Antouni | dir. Alik Tamar | Armenia | Armenian
The Children’s Mayor | dir. Susan Koenen | Netherlands | Dutch
The Line | dir. Alessandro Stevanon | Italy | Italian
Bismillah |dir. Alessandro Grande | Italy | Italian, Tunisian
by @annebrodie
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