(Note: I have been asked by several readers to discuss the incident that occurred last week involving Roger Ebert and Lou Lumenick. However, while I was present at the screening and in fact was sitting rather near to Mr. Ebert, I did not personally ...
It's impossible to notice the date and not think back. Thoughts of 9/11 don't linger in my mind the way they did at the film festival in 2002 or 2003, but they're still there. Of all the memories I have of spending time in Toronto, those from 9/11 ...
Today is Wednesday, and it's already possible to start feeling the stirrings of the end. It's like this every year. The festival has its most active and chaotic days early then, on Sunday, settles down to a slow, contented bubble for the first half ...
Watching movie after movie after movie in sequence throughout this film festival, a thought has occurred to me: Where have the opening credits gone? As recent as ten years ago, the norm was for every movie to have opening credits. When exceptions ...
An interesting synergy exists between Judd Apatow and Kevin Smith. With films like Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy, Smith opened a door that, only about 10 years later, Apatow walked through. Now, with Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Smith has fully ...
The only thing needed more at a film festival than a large supply of coffee is an equally generous abundance of volunteers. Without them, chaos would reign supreme, fistfights would break out from line cutting violations, and the festival would ...
A quasi-scandal had grabbed some attention this year, and it highlights the fine line that film festivals walk when balancing the desire to program creative, interesting movies with the need to generate as much publicity as possible. By veering a ...
It was good to see Roger Ebert in Toronto yesterday. For me, this festival has always been associated with Mr. Ebert. It was based on his advice that I first attended in 1997 (after receiving accreditation in part because of a letter of ...
Every festival is different, but this year’s edition of the Toronto International Film Festival may prove to be much different than "usual." This is my twelfth consecutive trip to this festival. Unlike many who make this annual late summer ...
This summer, there has been considerable talk about an Oscar nomination, or even a victory, for Heath Ledger. Such discussion, while premature (the main "Oscar bait" films have not yet been released), is understandable. Ledger's interpretation of ...
This Labor Day weekend has provided the movie-going community with a first: three wide releases not screened for critics. Of the four films newly opening in multiplexes this weekend, only one - Traitor - provided advance screenings. The other three...
A crisis of conscience can be good for the soul - or the writing. So I have always believed. Over the course of nearly 17 years of writing reviews, I have had many instances of self-doubt. The roots can be varied and hard-to-define. Perhaps I ...
It's time to begin hoping that The Quantum of Solace is a home run because, if it isn't, this could be a very dry holiday movie season. Over the years, the studios have done a good job of programming the November/December schedule such that there is...
Any kind of recasting is a potentially dangerous minefield. Once audiences have become familiar with an actor in a role, or once an actor has been inextricably linked to a character, it can become difficult to change the actor without risking the ...
Sequels have been around for as long as movies have, but it's only in the last 30 years (or so) that they have begun to dominate the summer box office. Thus far this year, two of the top three movies are sequels. Last year, four of the top five fit...
It's becoming increasingly difficult to defend George Lucas. It's hard to reconcile the greedy corporate fat cat at the top of Lucasfilm's empire with the hungry filmmaker who transformed cinema and enthralled millions in 1977. Fans who once ...
I love irony, even when it's directed at me. Thanks to the reader who made me aware of the following amusing little bit of information.Yesterday's ReelThoughts entry, "Interviewing False Deities," was designed primarily to be a commentary about the ...