Like everything else planned for 2020, the Toronto International Film Festival has had to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result, this year’s edition of the festival is thoroughly different than what we’ve seen in previous years. While many festivals opted to cancel this year’s edition, TIFF has pressed on with a mix of digital screenings and socially distanced premieres, along with a scaled-down version of the festival boasting only a fraction of the titles they’d normally show. Even still, one can’t deny that all things considered, they’ve pulled together a strong line-up of premieres, many of which I’m looking forward to covering here on JoBlo, albeit remotely.
Here are some of the films we plan to cover!
Marvel's ETERNALS director Chloé Zhao turns her gaze to an itinerant worker, played by Frances McDormand, who roves the American West in her broken down RV, trying to scrape by on seasonal work. The first trailer makes this look like a powerhouse part for McDormand, who may well wind up in Oscar consideration for what's also one of the few major studio films (Fox Searchlight) to hit this year's edition of the fest. Clearly Disney/Fox has a lot of faith in Zhao, whose prevous film, THE RIDER, was a sleeper hit a few years ago.
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Kornél Mundruczó's last film, WHITE GOD, proved to be a nightmarish journey into hell on the backs of some very angry dogs and by all accounts his follow-up, PIECES OF A WOMAN, is a searing domestic drama that's no less jarring. "The Crown"'s Vanessa Kirby is already getting awards buzz for her turn as a businesswoman faced with a personal tragedy that puts her at odds with her construction worker husband, played by the always interesting (and controversial) Shia LaBeouf. THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO's Jimmie Fails co-stars with Sarah Snook, Benny Safie (one half the duo that directed UNCUT GEMS), Molly Parker, Ellen Burstyn and more. Plus, Martin Scorsese is one of the producers!
One of my favorite things about TIFF has always been the amazing Midnight Madness screenings at the Ryerson. Sadly, those aren't happening this year but the fest has still managed to sneak a few genre titles into the official lineup, including SHADOW IN THE CLOUD. A WW2 monster flick starring Chloe Grace Moretz and LOVE, SIMON's NIck Robinson, as well as Beulah Koale, who seemed like a rising star to me in the underrated THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, this looks like a welcome dose of adrenaline courtesy of New Zealand director Roseanne Liang.
Regina King, fresh off of winning an Oscar for TIFF pick IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK and her turn on HBO's "Watchmen", steps behind the camera for this acclaimed historical drama which imagines an encounter between singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) one evening in Miami. Anyone who knows anything about the lives of any of these men, particularly Cooke's ultimate fate, can tell you why ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI is no doubt going to be a provocative, illuminating piece of drama that's one of the year's must-see titles.
Mark Walhberg takes a step away from more commercial fare to stand up for what's right in GOOD JOE BELL. In it, he plays a grieving father who walks across country to speak-out against the bullying that claimed the life of the gay son he'd only recently learned to accept. It co-stars Gary Sinise, in a rare non-CSI turn, as well as Connie Britton and Reid Miller. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green's previous film, MONSTERS & MEN, was an under-seen gem, so it wouldn't surprise me if he's able to pull an amazing performance out of Wahlberg, in a film that will hopefully encourage a little empathy among his more conservative fans.
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