Peter Howell
TorontoStar
Canada
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Recent articles by Peter:
‘House of Gucci’ and Lady Gaga stumble on the runway
Ridley Scott’s mechanical take on a real-life tale of betrayal and homicide is dry and suffers from an unfathomable lack of style, writes Peter Howell... → Read More
Will Smith gives Oscar-worthy performance in Venus and Serena Williams biopic
“King Richard” is the inspiring and involving story of Richard Williams, the father and first coach of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. Ju... → Read More
Thanks to Jane Campion, Benedict Cumberbatch and a superb supporting cast, ‘The Power of the Dog’ is one of the best films of 2021
Benedict Cumberbatch simmers and boils brilliantly as Phil, the Marlboro Man from Hell, a cattle rancher in 1920s Montana who is determined to wreck t... → Read More
‘Belfast’ is crowd-pleasing vanity project, focusing on Kenneth Branagh’s boyhood anxieties and reveries at the expense of a larger drama
Kenneth Branagh hopes to charm his way to an Oscar with “Belfast,” a film of his childhood memories and feelings growing up in Ireland during the sect... → Read More
An organic and resonant vision of ‘Dune,’ ripe for modern times
Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic 1965 sci-fi novel of interstellar colonization and environmental exploitat... → Read More
In ‘No Time to Die’ Daniel Craig elevates the Bond franchise in a way it hasn’t always deserved
“No Time to Die,” the 25th official James Bond movie, has all manner of vexations. But it also has the essential Daniel Craig, who gives a magnificent... → Read More
Here are our movie critic’s hits and misses halfway through TIFF
With the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival past the halfway mark, Peter Howell has some films to recommend and a couple to avoid. Do see “The F... → Read More
Jessica Chastain thinks she would have loved Tammy Faye Bakker: ‘She just sounds like such a kick’
Chastain, who’s getting Oscar buzz for playing Bakker in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” has empathy for the former disgraced televangelist, she tells Peter... → Read More
TIFF 2021: 10 films you can’t miss from our movie critic
From Kenneth Branagh’s ode to the city of his birth to sci-fi epic ‘Dune,’ to Oscar-baiting performances by Jessica Chastain and Kristen Stewart as Ta... → Read More
A lot of people warned Denis Villeneuve not to make ‘Dune’ — he refused to be deterred and this is why
“I love to jump without having a net under me. You cannot create without taking a risk. I have to give everything, otherwise it’s meaningless,” the Os... → Read More
36 TIFF movies that people who know film want to see
The Toronto International Film Festival is still fighting the pandemic, but reel life must go on — and so must Chasing the Buzz, our annual hunt for t... → Read More
‘The Suicide Squad’ hurls so much blood and viscera onto the screen you may feel like hosing out your eyeballs
Prepare to be splattered, but also satisfied in a summer blockbuster kind of way, writes Peter Howell. James Gunn has retooled DC Comics’ under-achiev... → Read More
Jane Campion returns to the big screen with ‘The Power of the Dog’ at TIFF 2021
Jane Campion’s star-laden western drama “The Power of the Dog,” her first feature film in 12 years, expected to be a major awards contender, is among ... → Read More
TIFF cautiously rebounds from pandemic with 100-plus features planned, but no popcorn
The Toronto International Film Festival is on the rebound for its annual 10-day celebration of cinema, hoping COVID-19 will be more of an annoyance th... → Read More
Premiere of Céline Dion biopic among Cannes Official selections, as organizer declares ‘Cinema is not dead!’
Cinema is back, but kissing isn’t, as the pandemic-delayed Cannes Film Festival announces its rebirth with a full slate of films for its 74th edition ... → Read More
As he turns 95, new biography of Norman Jewison confirms why he’s Canada’s most celebrated filmmaker
“Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life,” by Ira Wells is a scholarly book that also makes for a great read about how tough it is to survive Hollywood and ... → Read More
In the entertaining thriller ‘Those Who Wish Me Dead,’ Angelina Jolie once again proves her prowess as an action star
‘Those Who Wish Me Dead,’ starring Angelina Jolie as a Montana woodlands firefighter, offers satisfying escapism, perhaps because its many onscreen da... → Read More
These 12 films are good bets at the online Hot Docs documentary festival
Films about personal identity and cultural preservation are among the highlights of Toronto’s Hot Docs festival, an annual celebration of documentary ... → Read More
Here’s who will win the Oscars — and who should — after movies’ strangest year
It may seem like there were no movies worth giving prizes to over the past year. But the Oscars beg to differ, as the Academy gets ready to once again... → Read More
Oscar nominee ‘Nomadland’ ponders the meaning of home
Bound for Oscars glory, Chloé Zhao’s road movie ‘Nomadland’ dramatizes author Jessica Bruder’s urgent reportage about rootless Americans, with a cinem... → Read More