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TIFF 2023: The Films We Saw (and Reviewed)
Stories
TIFF 2023: A Playlist of Memorable Soundtrack Moments
As has become a September tradition at That Shelf, we’re taking time out of our recovery to revisit our favourite needle drops from the many memorable films we screened at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). So now that the People’s Choice picks have been announced (American Fiction was tops!) and the final film screened, it’s time for a well-deserved rest. So relax, put your feet up, and settle in for a playlist of songs that hack immediately back to…
Moanin’ over Moana? Disney’s been doing remakes for 100 years
It’s been a weird year to be a Disney fan. Putting aside the corporate drama — like Bob Iger’s return as CEO in November and the continuing feud in Florida with Gov. Ron DeSantis — we’ve seen the company struggling at the box office, despite several high-profile releases. The once-untouchable Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t selling tickets like it used to, The Little Mermaid failed to make a splash, and Pixar’s return to theatres, Elemental, is underperforming financially (so far, anyway)…
The Criterion Shelf: LGBTQ+ Favourites That Shelf
The Best Films of 2023 So Far: Uncle BlackBerry Who Can Recall His Past Lives
If you thought going to the movies in 2020, 2021 or 2022 was weird, take a look at theatres in 2023. At least in Toronto, a homegrown movie like BlackBerry is packing them in, while rooms showing the latest Marvel movie have a vacancy rate that’s usually reserved for Canadian films. Audiences are back and the movies are back, so pass the popcorn because 2023 is only halfway done!
Asteroid City Is Wes Anderson’s Wacky Ride with Meta-Theatre
The stage was set for Wes Anderson. The auteur de quirk’s latest film, Asteroid City, opens with a prologue that admittedly threw this reviewer for a loop. A host (Bryan Cranston) advises the audience that Asteroid City, the film you’re about to see, is actually a play. Anderson’s film is a film-within-a-film. Or, rather, it’s a play-within-a-film. The conceit seems like a smart continuation of the formal sophistication Anderson displayed with The French Dispatch. After paying homage to the literary world with an anthology…
It’s Time to Embrace the 3-Hour-Long Blockbuster Again
“Why would they do that?” questioned my 7-year-old daughter as the credits began to roll for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Her query did not stem from the foggy haze of confusion surrounding a plot point, but from the clear-eyed rage of anger. For 2 hours and 20 minutes, a child who normally gets restless in movies was fully engrossed in the adventure of Miles Morales and his Spider-Verse friends and then the plug was pulled.
The Boogeyman Interview: Sophie Thatcher That Shelf
Interview: Jared Harris on The Ghost of Richard Harris
Irish actor Richard Harris may be best known to modern audiences as the first man to inhabit the role of Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter franchise but for older audiences and classic film fans, he is an iconic actor on par with Albert Finney and other ‘angry young men’ who rose to prominence during the 1960s. A Golden Globe and Grammy Award winner, and two-time Oscar nominee, he’s often held up as one of the greatest actors Ireland has ever produced.
Lists
TIFF 2023: The Films We Saw (and Reviewed) 61 films
A list of all of the films we saw and reviewed at TIFF 2023. For all reviews, head here.
The 25 Best Biopics of All Time, Ranked 25 films
This list features biopics that have the genre formula down to a T and others that truly defy convention. There…
TIFF 2023: What We're Most Excited to See 14 films
Best Films Of 2022 47 films
The movies are back! 2022 began with a flash freeze on moviegoing just as films like Parallel Mothers, Licorice Pizza,…
Apple's 2022 "Made in Canada" Spotlight 12 films
AppleTV is celebrating Canadian film over the next 12 weeks with their 2nd annual "Made in Canada Spotlight". Re-watch or…
Movies that Matt Damon just kinda shows up in… 16 films
“Oh, hey, it’s Matt Damon!”
Don’t call it a cameo. It’s a minor Matt Damon appearance.
Liked lists
Recent reviews
There is no time like the present to have a science fiction film where artificial intelligence (AI) is the central controversy. Much like Starship Troopers and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, genre film’s flexible necessity to stick to the laws of physics and biology carves out a space to explore unexplored ethical dilemmas on the horizon for humanity. Though AI is now quite commonly used (far more than you might think) there is still a societal anxiety about computers who…
Director Mahalia Belo’s feature debut, The End We Start From, is a poetic and layered look at motherhood and resilience in the face of unexpected disaster and unbelievable odds. Her confident and creative direction proves an excellent creative fit for this adaptation of Megan Hunter’s haunting novella, but it is Jodie Comer’s riveting central performance that proves truly unforgettable.
In the not-too-distant future, London and the rest of England are hit by catastrophic flooding. Brought on by the climate crisis,…
Man on Fire introduced audiences to a version of Denzel Washington unseen before 2004. As former CIA operative John Creasy, Washington set the screen ablaze in his quest for vengeance, setting the stage for Washington’s turn as Robert McCall, The Equalizer. Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) updated the television show’s premise with a grittier tone and stylistic violence that is expected from today’s vigilante films. The result was a surprise hit, doing well with audiences and critics.
The second Equalizer…
Movies based around toys are not always about the toys themselves. The Lego Movie was really about finding a place to belong and accepting yourself for who you are. And Battleship… well, let’s not talk about that one ever again. Similarly, Barbie is not really about Barbie. The film flirts with awareness about the iconic doll’s cultural shortcomings and negative impact on society, but never really delves into any of the messy bits. Instead it takes a wafer-thin look at…
Liked reviews
"How doth ye like yon apples?!"
Simultaneously one of the great action parodies because beyond the expertly crafted Looney Tunes visual gags, on a filmmaking level it's frequently indistinguishable from the real thing (god McTiernan) and one of the best movies about a movie star literally wrestling with their own Hollywood fantasy image and myth. "You've brought me nothing but pain!"
15-YEAR OLD ME: "Oh boy! A RESIDENT EVIL film and a remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD! I hope this means there will be a new wave of zombie films!"
*A FINGER ON THE MONKEY'S PAW CURLS*
Zack Snyder can craft a fun action scene, but I am baffled as to why he wanted to make ARMY OF THE DEAD.
It's a zombie heist film (There's potential there!), with a charming gang of actors (I do love Dave Bautista!), buckets…
So weird, so Danish, and yet, not even Anders Thomas Jensen’s weirdest Danish film.
A list of all of the films we saw and reviewed at TIFF 2023. For all reviews, head here.