The Chinese artist and activist is asked to direct a new production of Puccini’s opera in Ai Weiwei’s Turandot. In 2018, the Rome Opera asked Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei to direct a new contemporary production of Giacomo Puccini’s China-set opera Turandot. This is a full circle moment for Ai Weiwei, who once appeared …
COVID-19 pandemic
A fugitive punk rocker encounters a young woman, who happens to be the biggest fan of his band, in Dinner in America. After being kicked out of rehab, Simon (Kyle Gallner) is on the run from the police, due to his tendency of being a pyromaniac. Simon ends up crossing paths with Patty (Emily Skeggs), …
A young couple have to adjust after adopting a rescued dog in The Heirloom. Eric (Ben Petrie) is a workaholic filmmaker, who gives in to the desires of her partner Allie (Grace Glowicki) to adopt a dog. The two drive to the airport to pick up the scared Whippet, Milly, who was flown in with …
British actors try to stage a full production of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the world of Grand Theft Auto Online in Grand Theft Hamlet. Unable to find acting roles during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sam and Mark spend their time playing Grand Theft Auto Online. While running from the in-game police, Sam stumbles upon and Vinewood …
Tomorrow morning the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is scheduled to announce the line-up for the 31st annual edition of the film festival to be held from April 25-May 5, 2024. Earlier this month, it was reported that the festival is still trying to recover financially post-pandemic and that there is a chance that …
A musician turned politician runs against Uganda’s decades-long president in Bobi Wine: The People’s President. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, better known as Bobi Wine, is a popular Ugandan musician and activist. Bobi Wine is an MP when the Ugandan government votes to remove age limits from the constitution, allowing President Yoweri Museveni to continue holding an …
A Toronto carpenter builds tiny homeless shelters amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Someone Lives Here. As Toronto’s homeless population rose throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto carpenter Khaleel Seivwright took it upon himself in the fall of 2020 to create tiny shelters that he would leave for the homeless in Toronto parks. While the public championed …
A family tries to deal with the aftermath of an “Airborne Toxic Event” in White Noise. Jack Gladney (Adam Driver) is a college professor living with his fourth wife, Babette (Greta Gerwig) and their four children. The lives of the family change when a railway tank car crashes outside of town, releasing an unknown toxin …
We return to the naval flight academy after three decades in Top Gun: Maverick. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (Tom Cruise) has never ranked past Captain and has only remained in the Navy due to the influence of Adm. Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky (Val Kilmer). Following a supersonic flight test, which Maverick performs against the orders of Radm. …
A unhappily married man becomes a suspect in the disappearances of his promiscuous wife’s lovers in Deep Water. Vic (Ben Affleck) and Melinda (Ana de Armas) are a unhappily married couple, who are avoiding divorce with an arrangement that allows Melinda to see various lovers on the side. This results in a seething jealously in …
Welcome to the year 2022! In theory, this is supposed to be a big year for me, since I will be turning 40 in just a few months’ time. However, the year is really getting off on the wrong foot thanks to the seemingly never-ending COVID-19 pandemic, which is fast approaching its third year. Despite …
A new adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel hits the big screen with Dune: Part One. In 10191 A.G., Duke Leto I (Oscar Isaac) of House Atreides is assigned by the Emperor to the desert planet of Arrakis to takeover harvesting of the precious substance melange, also known as “spice.” Leto’s son Paul (Timothée …
Today is supposed to be Canadian Thanksgiving, but we are also at the start of the so-called “Second Wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic, which will dampen many plans for families to get together, including my own, with me just having a much less extravagant dinner with my parents tonight. This is being called a Second …
UPDATE: Since writing this post I ended deciding to return to cinemas after all. It was the morning of March 11, 2020, when I commuted to the Cineplex Yonge and Dundas cinema to attend a press screening of the movie The Hunt. That was the last time I saw a movie in a theatre. To …
UPDATE (Mar 16, 9:30 PM): Since I originally wrote this editorial, Cineplex released a second statement saying that they were going to cease operations until at least April 2. When I first made my statement about the COVID-19 pandemic just a few short days ago, I mentioned that technically cinemas were remaining open. That quickly …
This has been a very rough week for me as the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 coronavirus, which has been steadily spreading around the world since the end of December, a full-on pandemic. This resulted in the suspension of most large public gatherings, including all the sports leagues, and the general advice was …