TIFF 2023 Review Seven Veils

Seven Veils – TIFF 2023

A young opera director’s personal trauma transfers over into her production of Salome in Seven Veils. Jeanine (Amanda Seyfried) is a young theatre director tasked by the Canadian Opera Company with remounting a production of Richard Strauss’ biblical opera Salome, previously produced by her recently deceased mentor Charles. As Jeanine deals with her recent separation…

Mank

Mank

The events that lead to the writing of the screenplay for Citizen Kane are dramatized in Mank. Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) is a washed-up, alcoholic screenwriter who is hired in 1940 by RKO to write a screenplay for Orson Welles (Tom Burke). Put up in a secluded house while recovering from a broken leg,…

You Should Have Left

You Should Have Left

A troubled man and his family encounter strange occurrences at their Welsh vacation home in You Should Have Left. Theo Conroy (Kevin Bacon) is a former banker, who plagued by nightmares and the lingering fallout from a past event. Theo decides to go on a vacation to Wales with his much younger actress wife Susana…

First Reformed

First Reformed

A country priest has a crisis of faith in First Reformed. Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the pastor of the First Reformed parish, a historic yet poorly attended Dutch Reform church. Toller is approached by Mary (Amanda Seyfried), a pregnant parishioner, who asks Toller to talk to her husband, an environmentalist, whose despair about the environment…

First Reformed

First Reformed

A country priest has a crisis of faith in First Reformed. Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the pastor of the First Reformed parish, a historic yet poorly attended Dutch Reform church. Toller is approached by Mary (Amanda Seyfried), a pregnant parishioner, who asks Toller to talk to her husband, an environmentalist, whose despair about the…

Ted 2

Ted 2

The adventures of the talking teddy bear and his human best friend continues in Ted 2.  Things looks happy for Ted (Seth MacFarlane) as he marries his girlfriend Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth), even though it’s a sad time for John (Mark Wahlberg), who has recently divorced.  When Ted and Tami-Lynn try to have a child, Ted’s rights…

Les Misérables

Les Misérables

Les Misérables is notable for being the first of the few musicals I’ve seen on stage.  As such, I was somewhat curious in seeing this new film adaptation directed by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech).  The film stars Hugh Jackman as ex-convict Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as the determined Inspector Javert, Anne Hathaway as the…

TIFF09: Jennifer’s Body

TIFF09: Jennifer’s Body

This film opens tomorrow, so this can also be considered a normal review. The big thing that is apparent about this film is that it is more dark comedy than horror. There were a lot of parts in the film that caused people to laugh, but I considered them more bad puns than anything. The…