1. The Bleeder
Another TIFF, another Philippe Falardeau movie on this list. The French-Canadian director nimbly shifts between intimate homegrown stories and prestige stateside fare (which he nevertheless keeps intimate). Now he’s got a boxing biopic on his hands. Liev Schreiber plays Chuck Wepner, the New Jersey fighter who could take a long beating and keep standing. Wepner famously lasted 15 rounds against the late Muhammad Ali, and ultimately became the inspiration for Rocky. Both Ali and Sylvester Stallone are listed as characters in this film, so I’m eager to see how Falardeau addresses that legacy.
Sep 10, 10 pm, Princess of Wales Sep 11, 1:30 pm, Winter Garden
2. Certain Women
Films by about 70 female directors will be screened at the festival, a heartening sign that the international film scene is closing the gender gap. Kelly Reichardt, a TIFF veteran, is one of them, and her quiet, meticulous and achingly beautiful films (Wendy And Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff) have earned her a spot in the Masters program. In Certain Women, a triptych set in Montana, Reichardt and her muse, Michelle Williams, join forces with Laura Dern and Kristen Stewart. It’s the female superhero movie we’ve been waiting for.
Sep 11, 12:15 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1 Sep 17, noon, Scotiabank 3 Sep 18, 9:30 pm, Scotiabank 1
3. King Of The Dancehall
Americans have never latched on to dancehall the way Canadians have. We were jamming to Beenie Man’s Girls Dem Sugar in 96. They waited on Mya to come up with an R&B remix in 2000. That’s why dudes like Sean Paul and Popcaan would come to Toronto, ringing up our dancehall queens to help out with their videos why the riddims would permeate Drake’s music and why Nick Cannon would call on Canada’s own Kreesha Turner to star as his leading lady, teaching him all the right moves in this much-anticipated pic.
Sep 11, 9 pm, Ryerson Sep 13, 9:15 pm, Scotiabank 12 Sep 16, 5 pm, Scotiabank 12
4. The Magnificent Seven
I’ve never loved a movie by director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer), and I know there are complaints that TIFF’s opening-night film is a studio-produced remake of a remake (everything that’s wrong with Hollywood and all that). But what if this remake has something new to say? The Western is an evergreen genre that keeps evolving in the ways it looks at American violence and justice. Last year we had The Hateful Eight tackling gun control. “Man carries a gun he tends to use it,” says Denzel Washington in The Magnificent Seven‘s trailer. If this movie doesn’t continue that conversation, I’ll raise a pitchfork, too.
Sep 9, 1 pm, Roy Thomson Hall Sep 10, 2:30 pm, Scotiabank 12
5. Una
Rooney Mara plays a sexual assault victim who visits her assailant a decade later and is surprised by who he’s become. The two-hander is an adaptation of David Harrower‘s explosive play Blackbird and just one of many films at TIFF contributing to the uncomfortable conversation around rape. I’ve already seen Paul Verhoeven’s disturbing and brilliant Elle, a look at a victim who refuses to play to the media and courts’ standards of how a victim should behave. Hoping Una offers an equally resounding take on an all too relevant subject.
Sep 14, 9:30 pm, Princess of Wales Sep 15, 3 pm, Princess of Wales Sep 16, 3 pm, Ryerson
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