March 21, 2025

Welcome to the TFCA weekly, a round-up of reviews and coverage by members of the Toronto Film Critics Association.

In release this week

The Alto Knights (dir. Barry Levinson)

“Do we really need another Robert De Niro crime picture?” asks Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “Maybe not, but there’s a conviction to the actor’s work here that puts it a notch above many of his roles this century. De Niro’s solid acting contrasts nicely with the appealing looseness of Levinson’s direction, which relies more on characters — and composer David Fleming’s throbbing score of saxophones and synthesizers — to set the mood, rather than extravagant locations or action set pieces.”

“Reportedly in development for decades and initially carrying the title Wise Guys, Pileggi’s script might have felt fresh had it initially been made back in the 1970s, before so many other gangster movies – including Pileggi’s own – made the moviegoing public overly familiar with such infamous incidents as the Apalachin Mafia summit of 1957 or the barbershop assassination of Albert Anastia that same year,” notes Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “Instead, every single beat of The Alto Knights feels like an historical footnote from Goodfellas or The Godfather Part II stretched out to interminable feature length – musty, dusty, dry. This new-old racket? It’s pretty fuggedable.”

“The dialogue of the script from the writer of Goodfellas is spot on, hilarious and makes the movie, aided by Robert De Niro who in his 70s can still deliver dialogue, motor-mouth like his younger counterparts like Jesse Eisenberg and Jim Carrey, while keeping appropriate accents,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The film thrives on its dialogue more than the action scenes, so mores sophisticated audiences can enjoy better.”

Appalachian Dog (dir. Colin Henning)

“Director Colin Henning who also wrote and stars as Teddy in the film offered a really slow burn of a movie,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “But slow burn does not necessarily translate to ‘boring’, for the film surely isn’t. But the slow burn allows the film to unfold without any rush and allows the audience to get into the skin of the story’s characters.  On can also see what goes on in the inside and also to read between the lines of dialogue.”

Bob Trevino Likes It (dir. Tracie Laymon)

“[It] is just the thing for a positive, warm feeling,” advises Anne Brodie at What She Said. “The heart and soul of the film is growing, if unlikely friendship between the tween and middle aged Facebook Bob. Lily’s father took away her beloved dog as a child so new Bob kindly surprises her with a trip to a shelter to cuddle a few; the look on her face is priceless. Their low key, sweet adventures glow with positivity in this feel-good film we all need. I don’t cry at movies probably because I see too many but this one is a worthy instigator.”

Diane Warren: Relentless (dir. Bess Kargman)

“Diane Warren: Relentless offers an engaging spin on the music doc as it looks at the life and career of a woman who wrote many of the hits that topped the charts, made movie magic, and pulled on heartstrings for years,” writes Pat Mullen at POV Magazine. “Too few documentaries provide insight into the idiosyncrasies of below the line talents, but few of such figures have the level of celebrity that might easily inspire a doc like Warren does.”

Invader (dir. Mickey Keaton; Mar. 25)

“The best home invasion film is Funny Games made by Michael Haneke who specializes in creating human individual angst amidst social issues,” notes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Invader is ok, given its limited budget and the fact that director Keaton is no match for world renowned Austrian director Michael Haneke.”

Little Siberia (dir. Dome Karukoski)

“[T]he culture of Finland, the mores, customs and practices are all on display, all tied into a realistic story about what life is all about,” remarks Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

Lucy: The Stolen Lives of Elephants (dir. Fern Levitt 🇨🇦)

“To borrow from an ancient parable, if you set loose several blind people on this well-meaning documentary, they might each come away with a different idea of what it’s about,” says Chris Knight at Original Cin. “Regardless, Lucy: The Stolen Lives of Elephants covers a lot of ground at a sometimes dizzying pace. But the bottom line is clear enough; migratory animals with a potential hundred-year lifespan should not be penned. Less certain is what to do with the ones that are already in that state. But if Lucy merely prevents any more elephants from joining the ranks of zoo captives, it will have served its subjects well.”

Calling the film “eye-opening, gut-wrenching, and utterly persuasive,” Pat Mullen at POV Magazine speaks with director Fern Levitt about her documentary that’s inspiring legal threats and helping to make change in the Senate. “I wanted people to learn what I have learned so that things change,” says Levitt. “Blackfish was a brilliant film that made us aware of horrible it is and how cruel it is by keeping dolphins and whales in captivity and goes against all the natural needs. This film shows us the truth of what it does to these beautiful animals by keeping them in these spaces and in these places they don’t belong in.”

Magazine Dreams (dir. Elijah Bynum)

“[W]atching Magazine Dreams does not only require its audience to simply participate in the age-old art vs. the artist debate,” admits Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “Because the film itself is entirely focused on toxic masculinity, and because Majors fills nearly every single one of its frames, watching the movie necessitates engaging in an entirely new kind of dialogue, one that considers what is happening both on screen and off, and how each world might have informed the other. While recognizing that this is completely unfair to writer-director Elijah Bynum, there are simply few ways to watch his feature without grimly dissecting every one of Majors’s decisions as an actor.”

O’Dessa (dir. Geremy Jasper)

“Everyone who dunked on Jacques Audiard for taking a big swing with Emilia Pérez should eat crow after seeing O’Dessa,” says Pat Mullen at That Shelf. “This rock opera proves that there’s a huge difference between a big swing and a big swing and a miss. O’Dessa is not so much a swing and miss, but a case of the batter cranking up to hit that ball so hard that he flings the bat into the face of an unsuspecting fan in the bleachers without scoring a single base. That’s a lot of pain for a foul ball. But getting a concussion is surely less painful than watching O’Dessa.”

Revelations (dir. Yeon Sang-ho)

“The story shifts between the individuals pursuing their own beliefs as director Yeon tackles a more complicated film.  Not only that, but the film shifts between the genres of obsession to the point of paranoia and thriller suspense,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Director Yeon builds a good balance, though the end result might disappoint some audience due to the meticulous buildup of the story.”

Snow White (dir. Marc Webb)

“Onscreen, though, all the chatter tends to melt away – especially any time that Zegler is the focus, with the West Side Story ingénue delivering a thoroughly charming performance that carefully manufactures innocence and naiveté. Gadot is not nearly as strong – at times, it seems as if the erstwhile Wonder Woman is going for high camp, only for her to retreat to straight-faced solemnity – but she’s at least got the bone-chilling look locked in,” says Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “Like Disney’s exhaustive Marvel machine, it feels as if audiences are entering an era of remake fatigue – a malaise that Webb’s film won’t come close to curing.”

“In terms of reworked, progressive Disney themes, this one is far from the worst; it intentionally conflates ‘fair’ — as in kind-hearted — with the Evil Queen’s ‘fairest-of-them-all’ rhetoric, putting into question what really makes someone worthy of adulation,” writes Jackson Weaver at CBC. “It’s what’s inside that counts, this Snow White aims to teach, while stumbling through the weirdly political subtext of land rights, colonization and fascism that its opening number is ecstatic to introduce, but never fully unties… And though the film included actors with dwarfism (like Martin Klebba, who voices Grumpy), visually, the final characters are an ambiguous digital analogue — CGI monstrosities that blur the line between realism and fantasy. In animation, everything is fantastical. In live action, fantastical things look creepy.”

The Twister: Caught by the Storm (dir. Alexandra Lacey)

“The doc suffers from trying to humanize the tragedy too much resulting in sappiness reigning for the day,” sighs Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

A Festival of Festival Coverage

At The Globe and Mail, Barry Hertz reports on the announcement of Diana Sanchez at the new executive director of Hot Docs. “Sanchez will step into the role as Hot Docs prepares to launch the 32nd annual edition of North America’s premiere documentary film festival, albeit in a slimmed down fashion,” writes Hertz. “This past fall, festival organizers said that this year’s edition, which runs from April 24 through May 4, will feature about 100-plus titles, down from the 168 featured in 2024 and the 214 screened in 2023. The organization is also pausing its annual Hot Docs Forum – a renowned international co-financing market for filmmakers – as the festival similarly downsizes its industry component.”

At POV Magazine, Pat Mullen also reports on the Diana Sanchez news at Hot Docs, as well as the festival’s latest programming announcements, like Come See Me in the Good Light and 2000 Meters to Andriivka.

At The Globe and Mail, Barry Hertz speaks with Canadian Film Festival director Ashleigh Rains about harnessing a patriotic mood. “I’m hoping that for audiences who have never engaged with Canadian film all that much, they come to the festival and find a film that resonates with them,” says Rains. “That challenges what they think about when they think about Canadian film. And then they can proactively search out those kinds of stories. It’s great that there’s a conversation now about supporting each other. But my hope is that we can look back at this moment in the future as a turning point.”

At Afro Toronto, Gilbert Seah previews the Canadian Film Festival selections, including Darkest Miriam: “Director Jaye uses Allen Gardens well, except the titular dog park is missing.  Though the film occasionally seems aimless, all over the place, the quirkiness of the piece still warrants an audience’s attention.’

File Under Miscellaneous

At The Globe and Mail, Barry Hertz previews the Canadian Screen Awards, which won’t be airing on the CBC, but will instead stream on Gem. “We wanted to deliver a level of accessibility and flexibility by moving to CBC Gem – there’s just so many positives for us,” Tammy Frick, the chief executive officer of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, tells Hertz. “One thing is that we get to show the gala in its entirety – 90 minutes instead of an hour – which is difficult to do when you’re in a linear-broadcast situation. People are also consuming content differently. Being on a streaming platform affords us an opportunity to engage with audiences in a different way.”

TV Talk/Series Stuff

At What She Said, Anne Brodie visits Queen of the Castle, Ann Kaplan Mulholland’s property show: “Eight hour long episodes are staggering; we peek into the world of the uber wealthy, the culture divide between Canadians and Europeans/British, disdainful villagers concerned the refurb will ruin their peaceful lives, etc. Kitchen staff secretly scoff at her insistence on a vegan menu – these are fish and chip folks – but smile hard in agreement.” Meanwhile, in Good American Family, “Eight episodes cover the legal implications of Kristine’s (Ellen Pompeo’s) actions, crooked agencies, trauma and the courts.” On the other hand, Netflix’s The Residence is “a witty, outrageous, and fast ride in eight thrilling parts… Superior screwball/comedy/farce/murder mystery.” Ludwig also brings laughs: “Mitchell’s timing, delivery and expressions are the stuff of hilarious dreams.”