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Critics Survey of Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 23, 2009

Film Review: “Drive My Car” Takes the Scenic Route on the Way to Catharsis
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
November 23, 2021
Drive My Car (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, 2021) 4 out of 4 stars. Two years after his wife’s sudden death, renowned stage actor Yûsuke Kafuku accepts an invitation to travel to Hiroshima for a theater festival, where he will stage a production of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, a play in which he has previously performed the title role. His particular mise-en-scène stands out by incorporating multiple languages, the actors not only Japanese, but also ... >>
Film Review: “India Sweets and Spices” Delivers Lush Spectacle and Deeper Meaning
By Robin C. Farrell
November 19, 2021
India Sweet and Spices (Geeta Malik, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars. India Sweet and Spices has a lot to say. There are significant statements about culture, class, generational divides, and economic disparity, but writer/director Geeta Malik (Troublemaker) has a deft hold of her film and conveys these messages in a delightful story that largely avoids clichés, staying grounded, throughout. The film has a self-awareness and compelling rhythm that draws ... >>
Film Review: Breathtaking “Prayers for the Stolen” Laments Lost Innocence
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
November 16, 2021
Prayers for the Stolen (Tatiana Huezo, 2021) 4 out of 4 stars. Out of tragic circumstances can come beautiful art, and Tatiana Huezo’s Prayers for the Stolen (“Noche de fuego” in Spanish) shows us how it’s done. Adapted from Jennifer Clement’s eponymous 2014 novel, the film marks the director’s first fiction feature, though she has previously made feature documentaries such as the 2016 Tempestad. Filmed in the town of Neblinas, located 360 ... >>
Film Review: “Speer Goes to Hollywood” Tackles the Big Lie with (Mostly) Truth
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
November 7, 2021
Speer Goes to Hollywood (Vanessa Lapa, 2021) 3 out of 4 stars. In a film about Hitler’s architect, it seems more than appropriate for the subject to revolve around the manipulation of facts, given the Nazi leader’s early embrace of the “big lie” to sell his populist ideology. Albert Speer (1905-1981), who eventually became Germany’s Minister of Armaments and War Production, first rose to prominence redrawing the city plans for a future Berlin, ... >>
Film Review: In “Gaza Mon Amour,” Love Keeps Hope Alive
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
November 4, 2021
Gaza Mon Amour (Arab Nasser/Tarzan Nasser, 2020) 3 out of 4 stars. A deceptively slight, sweet tale of autumnal passion under occupation, Gaza Mon Amour proves of greater significance than we at first think it will. Slowly, the quotidian humiliations of arbitrary subjugation reveal themselves, all wrapped up in a gentle dramedy that keeps the narrative surprises coming. Though the machinations of the ruling party, Hamas, are always in the ... >>

Film Review: “Being the Ricardos” Brims with Triumph and Tragedy
In >> Breaking, Film Reviews, Robin C. Farrell, Spotlight
Film Review: “West Side Story” Gets a Mostly Fine Facelift
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Spotlight
Film Review: George MacKay Howls Magnificently in Uneven “Wolf”
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Spotlight
Film Review: “The Last Rite” Is a Carbon Copy of Other Exorcism Films
In >> Breaking, Film Reviews, Matt Patti, Spotlight

Victoria Reviews “Dune”
November 3, 2021
Dune’s messiah is a 14 year old scrawny boy. He’s the prettiest and his best friend picks him up ...>>
Victoria Reviews “The Last Duel”
October 18, 2021
Ridley Scott’s THE LAST DUEL is rightfully an epic given the stars and the vast production. And ...>>
Victoria Reviews “Titane”
October 13, 2021
Provocative, daring and fearlessly original. The director, Julia Ducournau, has inherited Lars Von ...>>
Victoria Reviews “No Time To Die”
October 4, 2021
You’ll be thrilled to know that the Woke Army has won. The masculine icon of a 60 year reign is ...>>