Author Archive
 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “Mothering Sunday,” “Petite Maman” & “All My Puny Sorrows”

  MOTHERING SUNDAY (Sony Classics – Nov 19):  Eva Husson’s film, adapted by Alice Birch from a Graham Swift novel, has many of the rote trappings of prestige costume drama.  We’re back in the English co...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “The Power Of The Dog,” “Violet” & “The Story Of My Wife”

  THE POWER OF THE DOG (Netflix – theatrical release Nov 17, streaming Dec 1):  Jane Campion’s first feature in a dozen years is a powerhouse that won’t be to all tastes.  It’s a western that sets...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “The Worst Person In The World,” “Encounter” & “Compartment No. 6”

  THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (Neon – TBD):  The Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, despite being a subject of critical raves over the years, hasn’t penetrated the space where arthouse favorites become known...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “The Forgiven,” “Dashcam” & “Montana Story”

  THE FORGIVEN (Focus/Universal – TBD):  In 1963, Pauline Kael famously wrote a piece entitled “The Sick-Soul-Of-Europe Parties,” and almost 60 years later, if you add the US to the guest list, John Mich...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “The Humans,” “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” & “The Wheel”

  THE HUMANS (A24/Showtime – Nov. 24):  There are typically two strategies for adapting a celebrated play about a small number of people in a limited space to the screen.  One is to “open it up,” adding...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “The Guilty,” “Lakewood” & “The Starling”

  THE GUILTY (Netflix – Oct. 1):  One way to cope with the challenges and costs of movie production during Covid is to limit the number of actors who have to be in front of the camera.  That’s tough for a thr...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “Belfast,” “Benediction” & “Jagged”

  BELFAST (Focus/Universal – Nov. 12):  Kenneth Branagh’s semiautobiographical film walks a path laid by many great works by master filmmakers, including Fellini’s Amarcord, John Boorman’s Hope and...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” “Sundown” & “The Mad Women’s Ball”

  THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE (Searchlight/Disney – in release):  The reason for expanding a documentary into a scripted narrative is typically to allow for an exploration of motive and emotional background not available...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Review: “The Survivor,” “Charlotte” & “I’m Your Man”

  THE SURVIVOR (no distrib):  So many films and television productions have tackled the subject of the Holocaust over the decades that it takes real effort to break through with a story that feels fresh.  Barry Levinson&...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “Bergman Island,” “True Things” & “France”

  BERGMAN ISLAND (IFC – Oct. 15):  Mia Hansen-Love’s Bergman Island asks to be poked and scrutinized in several ways.  It takes place on the island of Faro, where Ingmar Bergman filmed some of his most celebr...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “The Good House,” “Where Is Anne Frank” & “Official Competition”

  THE GOOD HOUSE (DreamWorks – TBD):  By my count, it’s been two full decades since Sigourney Weaver was at the center of a feature film (that was Heartbreakers, where she shared the spotlight with Jennifer Lo...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “One Second,” “Wolf” & “Silent Night”

  ONE SECOND (Neon – TBD):  Zhang Yimou’s film was notoriously the subject of controversy with the Chinese government, which held it back from its originally scheduled film festival debut in 2019, and forced s...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

Behind The US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 9.26.2021

  OPENINGS:  DEAR EVAN HANSEN (Universal) clunked badly with a $7.5M debut, following on the heels of the underperforming In the Heights and underlining that while musicals can score at the box office, they remain a risky...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 10.3.2021

  OPENINGS:  The blockbusters are delivering even if other box office segments still aren’t, and that’s good news for pandemic-weary theater owners and studios.  In the US, VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE (Columb...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY’s Saturday 10.2.2021 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED

  BROADCAST FINALS:  The primetime leader was ABC’s COLLEGE FOOTBALL game at 0.85, although it was outrated by the late-night season premiere of NBC’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE at 0.92.  Back in primetime, FOX̵...
by Mitch Salem