Peter Howell
TorontoStar
Canada
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Past articles by Peter:
10 Hot Docs hot picks from the tragedies in Ukraine and Lac-Mégantic to 21st-century witchcraft and Einstein’s brain
Toronto’s Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival has grown over three decades into a sprawling cinematic canvas of what’s on the world’s fevered brain. → Read More
‘Renfield’ gushes fountains of blood, but it’s not all that funny or scary
Blame director Chris McKay and screenwriter Ryan Ridley, not the actors. Nicolas Cage was born to play Count Dracula and Nicholas Hoult is engaging as his obsequious manservant. → Read More
Cannes 2023 festival lineup is a hotbed of sex, ‘cancelled’ stars (including Johnny Depp) and buzzy Canadian movies
Monia Chokri’s “Simple Like Sylvain” and “The Idol” — starring The Weeknd — lead the Canadian charge at the 2023 festival de Cannes. → Read More
Wahoo! A “Super Mario Bros.” movie finally gets the game right
Game-based shows are having a cultural moment, perfect timing for Nintendo to have another go at its most famous franchise with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” → Read More
Ben Affleck-Matt Damon movie ‘Air’ is the highly entertaining story of Nike’s Air Jordan deal
“Air” is that most familiar and satisfying of movie stories: believing in yourself and persuading other people to accept your quest, despite long odds and questionable methods. → Read More
Farewell to Noah Cowan, the ultimate film buff and “true child of TIFF”
An appreciation for former TIFF co-director Noah Cowan, who expressed his love for film and life with equal intensity. → Read More
Sundance preview: ‘Cat Person,’ Brandon Cronenberg’s ‘Infinity Pool,’ among buzzy films
Indie showcase the Sundance Film Festival is returning to Park City, Utah, with a hybrid in-person and online fest, as it reinvents itself following two years of pandemic-enforced virtual screenings. → Read More
French arthouse classic unseats Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ as the best movie of all time, according to influential film poll
Chantal Akerman’s rarely seen neorealist classic “Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” tops the 2022 edition of the Sight and Sound “Greatest Films of All Time” poll, dethroning Hitchcock’s famous suspense thriller “Vertigo.” → Read More
Black Panther sequel feels Chadwick Boseman loss keenly, labours to find a narrative
The late Chadwick Boseman is sorely missed as the title character in the dispiriting “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which labours to find a compelling narrative in this second chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. → Read More
‘Halloween Ends’ has clever bits and will probably satisfy fans. Just don’t trust that title
The film promises to finally conclude a horror franchise that began 44 years ago. But even as star Jamie Lee Curtis swears it’s her last, can this series ever really die? → Read More
Couldn’t make it to TIFF? Here’s our guide to the best of the fest, plus what’s getting Oscar buzz
Theatres were full, lines were long and the talent showed up for Q&As, just like the old days at TIFF, and there were a lot of great movies to catch. → Read More
A sad donkey, a space doc and David Bowie: Here’s 12 picks for TIFF
TIFF serves up another cinema fest as it strives to return to post-pandemic normal. Here’s a dozen features you can’t miss, plus a bonus short, selected by Peter Howell. → Read More
48 films coming to TIFF 2022 that movie lovers really want to see
Clement Virgo’s sibling drama “Brother” and Eric Appel’s comedy biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” top our 22nd annual Toronto Star “Chasing the Buzz” polls of what film buffs want to see at the Toronto International Film Festival. → Read More
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey talks about the return of the in-person fest, plus breakout and wish list films
As he prepares for his first Toronto International Film Festival in three years where COVID-19 doesn’t loom large, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey finds that filmmakers are celebrating the enduring appeal of movies. → Read More
TIFF announces films by Sarah Polley, Steven Spielberg and Tyler Perry for September fest
Sarah Polley’s sex assault drama “Women Talking,” Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness,” and dramatic works by comedy directors Peter Farrelly and Tyler Perry are among dozens of movies announced Thursday for the 47th Toronto International Film Festival. TIFF unveiled 18 Gala and 45 Special Presentation features for two of the most popular programs at the festival, which this… → Read More
Jordan Peele’s UFO saga ‘Nope’ resists giving up its mysteries, which made me want to watch it again right away
In truth, there’s no great message in “Nope.” Instead Peele prompts the dread realization there are more dangers in the natural world than we can comprehend. → Read More
Austin Butler is absolutely magnetic in the title role of Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’
Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker threatens at first to make this the “King Richard” of rock biopics, but Butler’s Elvis is just too good to be upstaged by a conniving hustler. → Read More
‘Jurassic World Dominion’ is nothing but a sad, bad monstrosity
Supposedly final “Jurassic” movie pounds a great concept into the dirt, Peter Howell writes. → Read More
Satisfaction at the end of a scalpel in David Cronenberg’s ‘Crimes of the Future’
Toronto writer/director David Cronenberg is genuinely touched to be recognized by the Cannes Film Festival where, at 79, he’s once again competing for the Palme d’Or, the top prize. He’s Canada’s sole challenger among the 21-film international competition. → Read More
Highlights from Cannes where they’re ready to party, once again
After two years of being nearly silenced by the pandemic, the Cannes Film Festival is rebounding with some great movies. → Read More